One Pattern Down, How Many to Go?!

My Reversible Moebius Cowls pattern is finally up for sale in my online store and on Ravelry!

What took me so long?! I've been hyping it up for a month already.

It's partly because it's closer to Christmas and I have deadlines for things that needed to be worked on / finished. And partly because I've been perfecting the layout in the shuttlebus. I've also been designing  attempting to design other neckwear but they are not yet picture worthy.

What is picture worthy are a couple of projects that you may have seen me working on in the pop up store this past summer. These patterns will take a bit more time to compose because most people will want multiple sizes. As a retired math teacher, I know how much calculating goes into multi-sized patterns. Especially if you want an accurate fit. That's why I have so few of them.

For those of you who didn't see them this summer, these are the patterns I'm working on.

This top (above) takes two balls of Estelle's Rainbow Autumn (a long striping yarn) and makes use of a virtually invisible braided cast off. This size fits me and I could probably make two sizes bigger from those two balls. That being said, even a toddler size would require two balls if you want the garment to be symmetrical. For more defined stripes, one could also use Estelle's Magic Shawl.

To the right, you will see the first iteration of the crocheted version of my One Seam Sweater. If you haven't seen this knit pattern yet, I had to split it into two patterns because it runs from 3 months to adult 3X in size. The knit version uses a true chunky yarn (15sts = 4" or 10cm) and drapes beautifully. See Marble Chunky and Major.

Because of the nature of crochet (one strand of yarn wrapping around two upright strands), this size yarn is too bulky. The garment doesn't stand up on its own, but the fabric it creates isn't nearly as flexible so I had to downsize the yarn to a sport/dk weight just to achieve a desirable drape. So far I have not been impressed enough with the results from the yarns I have in stock to take a photo. I will update you with that progress when it happens.

Until then, I apologize for not having a blog for you last week. As I might have mentioned already, I've been busy. And since I don't see my project creations / shuttlebus renovating slowing down anytime soon, I am going to take a break from blogging for the remainder of the year and come back on the first Monday in 2022.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc and we'll reconnect in the new year.

Things To Look Forward To

I know, I know. As a retired teacher (of the Language Arts variety) I should know better than to end a sentence with a preposition but would you have read beyond the title if it had read ‘Things About Which To Look Forward’?

During the market season, many of you saw me starting (and sometimes even finishing!!!) some projects. Many of them were simply updates of current patterns with new yarns. A few, however, were some of those 5000+ patterns that have been swirling around in my brain trying desperately to come out. I have no definite timeline as to when the patterns will be available but if the shuttle bus buildout is delayed much longer, it may be sooner rather than later! FYI one pattern that was a bust (pun intended) was my cotton bralette with built in boob sweat ‘panels’. Every woman is built differently so a pattern for a fitted one like I was trying to create is impossible. You’re on your own for that one but I will share mine when I am finally successful. It can at least give you a jump off point for creating your own.

The most anticipated pattern is a crocheted version of my One Seam Sweater. The original knit pattern uses Aran (16 sts = 4") or Chunky (14-15 sts = 4") weight yarn. That will not be the case with the crocheted version. In order to achieve the same drape as the original pattern, this one requires Sport / DK weight yarn. So, if you loved the look of the sweaters created with James C. Brett Marble Chunky and Universal Major, you will have to find similar yarns in finer weights. Currently I have low stock on James C. Brett Baby Marble but Jawoll Magic 6 Fach and Lang Tosca Light would look great too.

Hopefully, all sizes from 3 month to adult 3X will be in one pattern (unless it gets too confusing, then it will be split in two like the originals).

The next pattern makes use of the long gradients of Estelle Yarns Rainbow Autumn. Using two balls and my favourite cast on, cast off and seaming methods, this fully reversible Feather and Fan tunic vest will fit up to a 48" bust with enough yarn to add cap sleeves if you choose. They, however, will not be part of the pattern. I'm showing both the front and the back to see if you can figure out where the seams are. I'll give you a hint: they're vertical. The curvy bottom is simply evidence that I don't block my projects before posting them 😉

The pattern that will probably be published first is still a work in progress as you can see by the photo. Moebius cowls that are truly reversible are hard to create but I managed it with this one. If you like cables but hate having to keep track of the cable needle, this four row pattern is for you! Those tiny cables are actually mock cables and there is no right side or wrong side to them. I attempted a longer version that was only about as deep as this one is so far but it was too short to be wrapped around twice and too loose to really be anything other than decorative otherwise. This one will actually keep your neck warm and only use ~125m of aran weight yarn. The sample uses Lang Yarns Mille Colori 200g and I only just now discovered when trying to create a link that this yarn has been discontinued by my supplier :( but any self striping wool blend should work nicely if you find the colour you like.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who is happy to have some time to get these projects worked on even though it is because the bigger project is on hold.

Two Projects Using One of the Newer Yarns in Stock - Cascade Yarns Anthem Rondo

 Many people freak out if they don't have the exact yarn that a pattern calls for. Many others just go full steam ahead with a yarn that's kinda the same size.

I decided to create two 18 month size sweaters: one following my own One Seam Sweater for a gauge of 15x30=4" on 5.5mm needles originally created with James C. Brett Marble Chunky, and the other following a free Yarnspirations pattern for a discontinued yarn, Bernat Mosaic, with a gauge of 16x32=4" on 5mm needles. If you are familiar with how knitting gauges work, you can get both of these gauges from the same yarn because the bigger needle has more ease, meaning the fabric relaxes enough to have fewer stitches in the same space.

The yarn I chose for both projects was Cascade Yarns Anthem Rondo, a long striping aran weight yarn which is actually smaller than the Marble Chunky and smoother than the Mosaic, which was a thick thin yarn.

So, how did they turn out? Well, I design according to the Craft Yarn Council guidelines with the recommended amount of ease so the sleeves of my One Seam Sweater look extra long in the rainbow (#07 Prep) colour because they aren't super deep at the armhole. The sweater based on the Bernat pattern (#04 Open Seas) (I say 'based on' because I knit the sleeves sideways, a trick you can do with garter stitch without changing the size of the garment piece) look more proportionate when laying flat but the sleeves are closer to 3/4 length sleeves than full length like my OSS. Guess what? They both came out to pattern gauge!

The bonus is that there was enough yarn left over from my OSS, that I was able to whip up a matching hat with about 2m to spare. The Side to Side sweater had only 5m to spare. If I actually sewed the seams together as recommended, there would have been less than that!

written by Lori, satisfied TCL owner, who is happy with the way both sweaters turned out.