5 Reasons to Join I Like Crochet

Have you looked at the I Like Crochet online magazine? It's packed full of crochet patterns for everything under the sun. 

© Prime Publishing LLC

Here are five reasons why you should go check them out ...

1. Six issues are published every year. Approximately 190 projects and 42 tutorials yearly. That's a lot of content for one magazine. 

2. Each issue has at least 30 projects and 7 tutorials. From beginner to advanced, home, baby, garments, accessories, there's something for everyone in each issue. The latest issue is February 2016.

3. Back issues are available once you have a subscription. This magazine started in April 2014 and you have access to all those patterns too. 

4. Famous designers have published patterns that are available to you. You can find patterns by Dora Ohrenstein, Roseanna Beck, Amy Gunderson, Darleen Hopkins, and so many more.

5. My designs are available there. 

© Prime Publishing LLC

What's holding you back? Head over the I Like Crochet and check them out. I know you won't be disappointed!

Happy Crocheting!

Gift-A-Long 2016

It's starting ... this years gift-a-long on Ravelry and it's something I look forward to at the end of each year. So many indie designers come together for a fun time connecting with our customers through knitting and crochet. And of course there's the SALE and PRIZES that are an incentive for you to join us!

20 of my Patterns on SALE with CODE giftalong2016

What is the Indie Design Gift-A-Long? 

It’s prepping for the holidays as only fiber folks can, with special deals from tons of indie designers!

The Indie Design Gift-A-Long is a 6 week long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by hundreds of independent designers. From November 22nd at 8pm (US-EST) through November 30th at 11:59 pm (US-EST) these indie designers will be discounting between 5 - 20 of their patterns 25% for this event.

There are eight KAL/CALs to participate in, prizes of all sorts given out, games, and generally a lot of fun! The Gift-A-Long KAL/CALs will run from November 22nd at 8pm US EST through - December 31, 2016 at 11:59pm US EST. All patterns by the participating designers are eligible for the KAL/CALs and all not-free patterns by the participating designers are eligible to win prizes.

Which Designers are participating? 

There's a list of participating designers with photos here. 
My discounted patterns can be found here.

How do I get the discount?

Just purchase the patterns you want directly from the designers' Ravelry shops between 8pm US EST on Tuesday, November 22nd and 11:59 pm on Friday, November 30th. Put them in your cart and enter the COUPON CODE giftalong2016 at checkout and 25% will be automatically taken off the total price.

Happy Knitting and Crocheting!

Knitscene Winter 2016

Have you seen the latest Knitscene magazine? Winter 2016 edition has Fête Cardigan designed by me, pictured on page 26 and 27. 

Knitscene Winter 2016

It's a top down, raglan sleeved cardigan with lots of pretty cables and a touch of lace too.

Fête Cardigan

If you plan to knit this cardigan, I've created a tutorial for the pkyk stitch that is only available to newsletter subscribers. Sign up for my newsletter and you will find a link to the tutorial inside the October edition emailed on October 12th.

Photo by KLMPhotos.com

There are lots of beautiful patterns in this magazine, so I hope you check them all out!

Happy Knitting!

Two New Hats

September has been a busy month for me ... Not only organizing my 2 teenagers to get them ready to go back to college, but also on the knitting front.

Two new hat patterns are available on Ravelry and Love Knitting websites.

First up is Strolling Hat ... a pretty leaf and cable pattern is worked on this slouchy hat. I used cashmere fingering weight yarn so the hat is super soft. My daughter stole it from me already!

Strolling Hat

This is Burghal Hat .... I used to do a lot of quilting and still do a bit of sewing occasionally, but knitting has taken over my life. I saw this beautiful, modern quilt and thought it would make a bold knit hat. Worked in 4 colours of fingering weight yarn, I used Blacker Yarns 4ply Classic for this version. Head over to Ravelry to see the colours two of my testers used.  

Burgal Hat

Happy Knitting!

Working Cables In The Round

Have you ever tried working a simple cable in the round? How do you keep track of which round you are on so the cables are crossed consistently? 

I've tried counting rounds but could never figure out exactly which round the cable was crossed on. I've also tried those "click" type row/round counters and would get a few stitches past the beginning of the round and think .... "Did I click it or not" (I have a very, very short memory)!

Following are a couple of ways I keep track ....

If I'm working a hat for example with multiple cables that all cross on the same round I usually use this funky row/round counter (I found it on Etsy a long time ago). Each ring counts one round and the beaded loop counts each 10th round for a total of 100 rounds.

Row/Round counter found on Etsy

If, for instance, the pattern I'm using crosses the cables every 5th round, I would do so when the counter is at 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. rounds. Not too difficult? 

Place marker on first ring after first cable cross.

Work rounds in pattern until fifth ring is on the needle.
Cross cables on this round.

Work even until 10th ring on needle ... cross cables again on this round.
Continue in this manner and your cables will be even.

What if I have cables that all cross at different times? It could be very confusing to figure out which rounds to cross a specific cable. 

For example, the cable on the sleeves (worked in the round) of this pullover has a cable that crosses at odd intervals. 

Cable on sleeve worked at odd intervals

In this case, I use a removable marker to keep track of how many rounds I've worked since the last cable cross. 

Insert marker through stitch on round cable is crossed

Work even and count rounds worked from the marker to the current round
(2 rounds worked above)

Here 7 rounds worked and ready to work cable round

After cable is worked, remove marker and insert it into the new stitch

Work even until round for next cable cross
(1 round worked above)

After cable worked, remove marker and insert it into the new stitch

Continue in this manner (working cable cross and inserting marker into new stitch) and you won't have to wonder if it's time to cross that cable.

Happy Knitting!

Note: Here's a similar row/round counter on Etsy (Knitting Row Counter by WychwoodDreams). It counts up to 110 rows/rounds.

Yarn Weight Frustrations

I've had this frustration for a while now, but most recently with my latest cardigan design. Yarn labels that don't correctly label a yarn as the correct weight. What do I mean ....

Gorgeous Hazel Knits Lively DK in Frost

Here's a couple of examples:

Cascade 220 has 220 yards in 100g and is listed as worsted weight

Hazel Knits Lively DK has 275 yards in 130g and is listed as DK weight

Louet Gems Fingering weight has 185 yards in 50g and is listed as fingering weight

Quince & Co. Chickadee has 181 yards in 50g and is listed as sport weight

How do you then successfully substitute yarns in a pattern if the weights are all over the place?

Crafty Yarn Council yarn weight chart

You could look at this yarn weight chart found on the Crafty Yarn Council's website which looks a bit daunting to me or you could just go by the yards (or meters if you like metric) in a 50g ball.

Another example .... I used Hazel Knits DK Lively yarn which mentioned about has 275 yards in 130g. Doing the math this works out to be (275/130*50) 105 yards in 50g.

When substituting I look for something similar like maybe Cascade 220 which has 110 yards in 50g or Madelinetosh Vintage which has 100 yards in 50g or even Jo Sharp's Classic DK Wool with 107 yards in 50g. 

To me, looking at yards to figure out a substitution is much easier than looking at other options like stitches per inch or the yarn companies weight designation.

My latest knitting pattern, Strolling Cardigan can be purchased on Ravelry.

Strolling Cardigan Photo © KLM Photography

Happy Knitting!

Wood Work

Just released ... Wood Work. Knit in the beautiful Malabrigo Rastita with a slip stitch rib pattern on the cowl and hem. Pattern available on Ravelry and Love Knitting.

Wood Work © Paulo Chow

Wood Work © Paulo Chow

Wood Work © Paulo Chow

Happy Knitting!

Left Over Sock Yarn

If you like to knit socks as much as I do, you end up with lots of odd sized balls of sock yarn left over. Not enough to make another pair of socks but too much to give away.

Take a look at Over Left Socks. 

Over Left Socks

These socks are worked cuff down with 5 colors of yarn in a slipped stitch pattern. No working with multiple yarns at a time like stranded colorwork does. 

And it's fun to try out different colour combinations of yarn.

Have a look at the colours others have used on the project page.

Happy Knitting!