New Knitting Pattern - Amethiste

Today I am happy to introduce you to Amethiste, a simply pretty shawl with an unfussy character (or at least I think so!).

Amethiste is a fun project to knit as well as being a versatile shawl to wear, with the wide triangle shape easily draping over the shoulders or around the neck in a variety of stylish ways. This versatility is exactly why I love a wide triangle shawl shape. 

Knit from the top down in a choice of two sizes, this design is excellent for  knitters with a little lace experience but who are looking to move on to something more than a scarf. The shape, size and open edgings use very little yardage, showcasing just one or two skeins of special fingering weight yarn - perfect for that cashmere you've been hoarding.

I knit several prototypes in different yarns, but the main pattern projects were knit in Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering (small shawlette in purple), and Fiber Optic Footnotes (larger shawl in gray), both wonderful options.

The little bit of cashmere added to the Primo lends an incredible softness and extra drape that I love. This little shawlette used just under 385 yards, or almost the entire skein.

The Footnotes is wonderful to knit with and has such a beautifully subtle variety of color with hints of purple peeking out here and there from what looks at first glance like pewter gray. This larger shawl size used less than two skeins.

I've also knit several other versions (a couple of which are still being blocked and photographed), with the shawlette shown below knit in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock.

If you've read my most recent post, you know that this design was inspired by my appreciation for the beauty of natural gems and crystals, including the purple amethyst like this geode specimen.

Beyond the wide triangle shape already mentioned, the basic parameters for the pattern were a solid stitch base bordered by one or more lace edgings (I settled on two). Also, it had to be relatively easy and fast to knit but not boring.

The various shapes, planes and facets of the gems prompted my selection of many, many possibilities of stitch combinations, requiring weeks of swatching, and eventually leading me to these choices.

The pattern begins with a simple stockinette section followed by easy lace patterns that flow smoothly from one into the other. 

Both written & charted instructions and plentiful photos are included to make the knitting a breeze.

And... I can finally share my newest secret fun project! This was somewhat of a juggling act between art and technique as I wanted to have a little fun and bring in some artistic sensibility without losing too much in the way of information. You may be surprised by this little movie as it is quite a departure from any knitting video I've seen.

I enlisted the technical aid of my husband and I believe we managed to strike a balance in the middle of information and atmosphere. We certainly learned a lot and had fun creating this together which is an important thing too.

So without further ado, I wish to introduce the 'world premiere' (said completely tongue-in-cheek of course, lol) of...

 

A Robin Ulrich Studio 
Demonstration Film 

 featuring 

  

the
 Garter Tab Foundation Cast On Method 
for 

AMETHISTE

 

And by the way, Youtube doesn't allow you to choose just any cover shot for the video and the 3 options they selected were pretty boring. If anyone has any suggestions or experience with overriding to choose a good cover shot for a video, I'd love to have your input! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today everyone, I hope you enjoy our little film and wish you much peace, blessing and happy knitting!

New Knitting Pattern - Frostlight Scarf

Our winter has been unusually warm and free of snow, not that I'm complaining! Even without snow though, there is a delightful chill in the air that makes me want to relax with a cup of hot tea and knit by a warm fire. I love how winter's cold makes me want to snuggle up in cozy knits, including scarves.

Recently one morning I took photos of a spectacular sunrise, the rays of the breaking dawn sparkling through exquisite frost crystals along a wooden railing. 

Crystallization on the railing created strong lines

and ribs along the natural grooves in the wood.

Nature's stunning display inspired my latest design, the Frostlight scarf.

Definition in the lines of frost, highlighted along the railing, influenced my selection of a strongly-vertical, rib and eyelet stitch to reflect the motif of grooves and ridges. I also wanted the stitch to be super-simple and easy to knit on the go, but not terribly boring.

Malabrigo Merino Worsted was chosen for the main pattern yarn although I knit several of these scarves in other yarns that I liked as well.

The Frostlight scarf shown below was knit in a luscious orange-red yarn from Fiber Optic. I'll have better pics and more details on this and other versions in an upcoming post.

Knit in an appropriate color, this design might make a nice project for a man or woman. Stylish, optional fringes at each end provide graceful movement and are an easy way to add variety to the simple design.

As usual, this pattern has been test knit extensively by some wonderful knitters including Laurie, Tam and Gail - thank you!!

My tech editor for this design was none other than Greentrianglegirl on Ravelry, aka A Playful Day podcaster. This talented podcaster and blogger writes feature pieces for both online and print publications and has considerable experience in copy editing and social media development, as well as being a terrific knitter, foodie and multi-crafter. She made valuable contributions to the pattern, including proofreading for style and errors and suggesting wording and placement of text, helping make the instructions easy to follow and hopefully, one of my best patterns yet.

Another exciting new venture for me is the release of tutorial videos featuring techniques that I hope will be helpful in knitting this and other patterns.

The first video demonstrates a method for working a reverse yarn over, a trick which helps equalize the size of your yarn overs when they follow a purl and precede a knit stitch, or as in the case of Frostlight, a slip, slip, knit. 

The second video offers instructions for making and adding fringe to your knitted projects.

I'm a very quiet person, so the decision to 'appear' (even though only my hands show, lol) on video and speak on camera was a big one and kind of nerve-wracking for me! However, I am a teacher at heart and I wanted to utilize video potential as a teaching tool.

We have only a still camera with short video capability, and the camera was sitting as close to my shoulder as possible, so I'd still like to find a way to angle the camera directly overhead.

My wonderful husband was a patient director and camera operator, helping me edit take after take for brevity and clarity, and I believe I only 'umm'ed once, so perhaps it's not too bad of a start. 

Frostlight is available for download here on the blog or through Ravelry.com, and is currently being offered for free.

If you choose to knit a Frostlight scarf, I'd love to see your photos! I hope you enjoy the pattern, and thanks for visiting my online studio today, I appreciate every reader. Peace, blessings and happy knitting to you!
 

Short Rows and Wraps Video Tutorial Link

I love garter stitch, but that's ALL I have been doing lately as I finalize some projects.  I'll be glad to get back to some different things soon, including a new lace pattern to post here eventually.  Today I want to share a great way to pick up short row wraps, as I've been doing in these garter stitch projects.  

I know sometimes the wraps are left in place when working every row in knit stitches, because they usually hide nicely in the fabric.  However, there might be times when you want to neaten things up or when you're using more than one yarn color.   And sometimes the public side looks nice, but the back side looks messy.  

The photo above shows the back side of a swatch worked in multiple colors in garter stitch where the wrapped stitches lay neatly along the mitered corner, important if your project will be seen on both sides.

There are several techniques for picking up the wraps in both knit and purl stitch, but the one I used here, and I think my favorite method for many types of knitting projects, is to pick the wrap up, pull it over the left needle tip, and place it over and behind the next stitch on the needle, then knit them together.  This is demonstrated by Cat Bordhi in these helpful You Tube videos. 

Video #1

Video #2

Happy knitting!