New Knitting Pattern - Greyhaven Hat

I'm happy to announce the publication of my latest design for hand knitting, the Greyhaven Hat. 

The hat, along with the coordinating Greyhaven Cowl, 

was inspired by the lush imagery of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series (more details can be found in this post).

The Greyhaven designs feature an arched, leafy stitch pattern worked seamlessly in the round from the bottom up. 

Integrated shaping creates a soft, slouchy silhouette that continues into the patterned crown of this design, 

and an easily memorized stitch pattern using just one skein of decadent Primo Worsted yarn from The Plucky Knitter make this hat a luxurious treat to knit! 

The patterns are available individually or as part of a set including both the hat and cowl. I've finally gotten around to setting up coordinating patterns in an 'e-book' format on Ravelry. Although it's really a simple combining of the PDF patterns with a cover, it's just one of those things I hadn't gotten into. Now though, I love the idea of being able to put like items together, especially when this way makes it easier to offer a savings on the multiple pattern set.

I want to give a great big thank you to my wonderful test knitters Laurie, Josefina, Connie, Paula, Julia and Kim. These ladies are all super-talented knitters and lovely people to work with. 

It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to getting out into the sunshine and working in the garden today and going for a long run tomorrow. I hope you have some fun plans too. Thanks for stopping by my studio today, I wish you a wonderful weekend and much happy knitting!

Out Like a Lamb & Happy Easter!

There is a saying that if March comes in like a lion (cold & wintry), then it will go out like a lamb (mild & spring-like) and vice versa. Thankfully, as our first day of the month was cold and lion-ish this year, this saying held true and this weekend was warm and gentle. I love winter, but this has been a long one and I'm happy to see it go. 

Although the weather is warming, I'm still knitting, crocheting and working like crazy on my next pattern project, a hat to match the Greyhaven cowl. 

The hat pattern will be ready for test knitting very soon.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I wish all my friends celebrating Easter a very happy holiday!



photo via pinterest

The Return of the Greyhaven Cowl

The Greyhaven Cowl design has been around for several years and I love it, but a while ago, I decided this little pattern deserved an updated format and an additional sizing option 

to add to the existing cozy neckwarmer design.

I had a lot of fun knitting several experimental prototypes and I'm happy to announce the return of the newly updated and expanded Greyhaven Cowl pattern.

I am an inveterate tweaker, and experimented with many interesting and entertaining ideas, but ultimately I kept the original stitch pattern unchanged (although I added sleeker shaping to the bottom of both sizes when I designed the Slouchy option). 

I've also expanded the pattern instructions and charts and provided a tutorial for one of my favorite bind off methods. I'm extremely happy with the fresh new pattern format.

The original Cozy size cowl is a super fast, one-skein project that's easy to tuck into a coat collar.

I love the original version, but I also enjoy that the new Slouchy size offers plenty of styling options including wearing it draped simply around the neck,

folded in on itself for coziness, 

or closed with a fun pin.

I think the larger version would make an especially nice gift presented with a pretty stick pin or brooch. The twig shawl pin shown in the photo above is from Jul, you can read more about it in this post. 

The Greyhaven design is one I did more than two years ago, originally inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of Rings trilogy (and made into movies by Peter Jackson). I'm looking forward to the release of the film version of Tolkien's The Hobbit this weekend, and I planned to have the pattern available just in time for the event.

When I designed Greyhaven, I adapted a lace stitch pattern that I thought looked rather like leaves and/ or arches - both themes which are heavily used in the LOTR movies. The stitch itself is fairly simple and easy to memorize, and the cowl is worked in the round, so requires no seaming or grafting. 

Although I knit several of the prototypes for the update in leftover stash yarn (including the natural white one shown in this post), 

the gray and plum yarn featured in the new pattern is the scrumptious Primo Worsted from The Plucky Knitter. 

You may remember that I used Primo Fingering in my Amethiste pattern, and was thrilled to be able to work with the heavier weight of this merino/ cashmere/ nylon blend.

The yarn is wonderfully soft, the stitch definition is superb and it blocks lace like a dream!

I've already worked out the matching hat and fingerless mitts, but those patterns will have to wait until later this winter, I'm going to get busy now preparing for the holidays.

Before I sign off I must first give a huge thank you to my tech editor Katherine and my wonderful crew of Greyhaven test knitters: Laurie, Julia, Kim, Connie, Paula, Gillian, Cheryl and Josefina! These ladies are super knitters and were extremely helpful in working closely with me to craft a pattern I am thrilled with.

Thanks for stopping by everyone, have a fun and safe weekend!

Happy (1) Hundred Thousand!

OK, so I know it's not proper grammar (I'm not much into that anyway in case you haven't noticed), but it's much more alliterative to say 'happy hundred' than 'happy one hundred'.

In any case, when I logged onto my blog today I was astonished to realize I've had over 100,000 individual page views on this site! Woot!! And when I get enthusiastic enough to use meaningless internet drivel like 'woot' then you know I'm excited. Perhaps for you professional bloggers and other designers out there who get 100,000 hits per month that's small potatoes, but to me, well... woot! is all I have to say.

So what the heck, to celebrate, I'm posting a little coupon code for 20% savings off all Robin Ulrich Studio Ravelry pattern downloads through tomorrow, December 10th. Just enter code: Happyhundred at checkout to receive your savings.

For the Greyhaven fans out there, thanks for your patience while the pattern was being test knit and tech edited. The updated and expanded version (shown in the photo above) is about to make it's appearance at about the same time as the release of the new Hobbit movie (and since the pattern's name is derived from Tolkien's Bilbo's Last Song, I thought it a nice time for the release).

My warmest thank you for visiting my virtual studio and being one of my hundred-thousand-plus best e-pals. I wish you a creative week!



Hobbit photo

Favorite Things - Jul Shawl Pin

 

A dear friend kindly gave me a gift certificate to one of our LYS's and I used it to purchase a new Favorite Thing, this white bronze shawl pin cast in a delicate twig shape from Jul.  

Available at many local yarn shops and online retailers, Jul offers beautifully unique pins, buttons, handles and closures for knitwear in a variety of styles like the ones shown below, from the Dreamweaveryarns.com website. 

The pin in the first photo at the top of this post is shown on one of the half-dozen prototypes I knit for my next design release, an update and expansion of my Greyhaven cowl pattern. The stick pin is woven in and out of the eyelets in the lace pattern, although it's slender diameter would also allow it to easily slip between yarn strands without spearing them.  

I can think of lots of ways to wear this pin including to close cardigans, or even as a hair stick. It's definitely one of my new Favorite Things!

Almost an FO

To the many knitters who've inquired when my Greyhaven pattern will be re-released, thank you so much for your enthusiasm for my design. I've been rather amazed at how much interest there is in this little piece.

What started as a simple graphic update of the pattern morphed into new ideas as I played around with sizing and proportions and enjoyed some yarny awesomeness from The Plucky Knitter, shown in the unblocked project above. 

My seventh (!!), and final, version of this cowl is now blocked and the pattern is being test knit before release.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a wonderful weekend and happy stitching!

Knitting Giftables & Review - Vogue Knitting Holiday 2010

 

A blog I saw recently had a counter with a large, blinking number '40' - as in 40 days until Christmas! Suddenly the newspapers are full of toy ads and I already know every word to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" just from one trip to the grocery store.

I guess it's time to put on my Santa hat and get into full gifting mode.
 

 

Oh, and if you like vintage clip art graphics like this one, I recommend the Graphics Fairy's cool site.

I've been squirreling away completed projects all year, but there are still one or two things I want to make, and I thought I'd share some ideas for fast, giftable items (all photos to follow not mine, see source links). 

 

Gudrun Johnston's Shetland Shorty shrug from Knitty.com is sweet, simple and uses popular fingering-weight yarn.

 

 

My Estonian blogging friend Anna has some beautiful patterns for download on Ravelry (her username is Kuduja), including this lace shawl Sivilla.

Shawls and wraps make great gifts as they're very popular in current fashion trends, practical and useful items, and you don't have to worry about sizing for the recipient.  

Now might be a good opportunity to try cabling if you've never done so.  It's a lot easier than you might think!  You can't go wrong with Knitty.com's classic Fetching cabled mitts by Cheryl Niamath, 

 

or it's more male-oriented version, Dashing.

I love that fingerless mitts let you to keep your hands warm while driving, and still have a firm grip on the steering wheel. And these make perfect gifts for teens or anyone who does a lot of texting.

For a super fast option, you might consider a very easy pattern I knitted for my husband last year, Ysolda Teague's Garter Stitch Mitts (seen photo at the top of this post).  My husband works at a computer in a chilly office building and he loves these for on-the-job warmth.

If lace is more your thing I (cough, cough) recommend my Greyhaven cowl, 

or for a super speedy project, the Lavande neckwarmer.

Both are easy introductions to lace knitting. 

And it wouldn't be the holidays without all the knitting magazines' special editions, including Vogue Knitting's recent Holiday 2010 issue.

 
This issue is a mix of styles, but I'd say on the whole, Vogue played it safe, rather than daring, with this one.

There does seem to be a little something for most tastes, albeit items more complicated to make than those discussed above and more likely to be worn by you for holiday revelry.  If you've already completed your gift preparations, maybe a little reward to yourself is in order?

The flowing lines of Mari Tobita's "Raindrops" dress are simple and flattering. 

Norah Gaughan's classic cabled yoke turtleneck is gorgeous in lush angora-blend tweed.

Several smaller items including a leaf lace capelet,

 

and a selection of delicate, traditional lace scarves could serve as gifts or festive accessories, depending on yarn choices.

For more everyday-type wear, Wayne's slouchy mohair stripe pullover.

By the way, according to their website, all of Vogue Knitting's patterns are on sale for $2.99 each now through November 19th. 

I hope this gets your creative juices flowing whether making something smashing for yourself, or a nice gift for someone else.  More gift ideas, reviews, and holiday recipes  coming soon!

Autumn Inspiration on the Needles & Hook

This time of year it seems the calendar starts to fly by.  Wasn't it just hot as blazes?  Now the air is cool and crisp with curls of woodsmoke rising from chimneys, mornings are frosty and I'm in the mood for warm, woolie things to wear.  I've winnowed down my works-in-progress (WIP's), but still have a lot going on.

This morning I went to one of my favorite nearby parks and took this photo.

The silvery-frosted leaves and berries against the backdrop of golds, greens and oranges made me want to get stitching!  I went home and dug through my stash to find several candidates but the winner was, hands down, a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in colorway S242.  

It seems Eisaku Noro must have a penchant for these same shades of Autumn as I have.

I've used the Kureyon Sock to start a crocheted shawlette called Elise Shawl  by designer Evan Plevinski.  This photo shows his shawl, mine is shown in the photos above and at the top of the post.

After the set-up rows, the pattern is a simple two-row repeat worked from the neck down, using only basic crochet stitches like double and triple crochet.  I'm working it with a US size I hook. Fast and fun so far!

Also on my needles are a gazillion prototypes for a hat to match my Lavande neckwarmer pattern, 

a cardigan, from another designer, left over from my vacation (more details when I have photos to share) and a couple of versions of this pattern project.

I'm also playing around with yarns for a variation on the Greyhaven cowl.  And I am excited to announce...

...that Greyhaven was voted as the November knitalong free pattern project for the Ravelry Cowls group!  Thanks to everyone who voted for this pattern.  By the way, I uploaded a new version of the pattern on November 1st, 2010, so if you downloaded one before that date, go ahead and grab a new one. 

This cowl KAL will be going on all month, so it's not too late to join if you still want to.  Some members have already completed multiple versions and are still casting on for more, many looking ahead to making holiday gifts. 

As for KAL's, the Ravelry Anthropologie group Brandywine Falls KAL will continue for quite awhile, so there's plenty of time to join in on that one too.  

This week when I stopped at the post office to pick up my mail, I had a surprise package waiting from my very talented, Chicago-based Ravelry buddy Loren (Twisted1 on Ravelry).  It contained some awesome birthday goodies including cute project gift tags, a Vogue stitch pattern calendar, and most especially this gorgeous scarf she knit for me!

Loren has been working a lot lately with Jane Thornley's amazing tutorials using color and texture in multiple yarns, and designed this scarf herself and titled it Ephemera.  Thank you so much Loren, I love it!  You're so thoughtful! 

Happy stitching everyone!