These hats were designed exclusively for the Plucky Shindig in June, but they’re available now for wider release. They both use the luscious Plucky Knitter Traveler Sport – an absolutely divine mix of merino, silk, and yak – a light sportweight yarn.

This pattern and its companion piece (the Coruscant Hat) will be available for $5.50 each or $7.00 for both. There is no need for a coupon code. When both patterns are put in your cart, the discount will appear automatically.

Promotion: To celebrate their release, the patterns will be available for $4.00 each or $5.50 for both (no need for coupon codes, just put both patterns in your cart) until Sunday, June 22nd 11:59 p.m.).

Coruscant Hat


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Alderaan Hat


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Alderaan and Coruscant were inspired by my love of the original Star Wars series (yes, I am a big old nerd – Return of the Jedi was the first movie I saw in the theater) and in particular Princess Leia’s hair. Designing this really put my problem solving skills to the test and is one of the most enjoyable aspects of designing hand knits. To get the “braids” to lie across the head, I needed to knit the hat from side to side. But knitting side to side meant that in order to have less fabric at the crown than at the brim (something that is easily done by decreasing stitches when knitting a more standard bottom up hat) I had to make the rows shorter on one end of the hat.

I plan to get some tutorials up on this website to cover some of the techniques used in these hats – 1) a lifted short row which is a bit more invisible than the standard wrap and turn, 2) a provisional cast-on using waste yarn and a crocheted single chain, 3) Kitchener stitch on patterns other than stockinette.

In the meantime, however, I found these tutorials online immensely helpful:

Provisional Cast-on with a crocheted chain:
http://tutorials.knitpicks.com/wptutorials/crocheted-provisional-cast-on/

Kitchener Stitch to graft two pieces together seamlessly (love this technique!):
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html

Short rows (I used Variation 3 – creates a neater short row):
http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2009/10/short-rows-method.html

We collected ideas, sketches of designs, and an outline of a plan. I think the resulting collection is a good representation of each of us and our distinctive voices while meshing cohesively as a whole. There are lots of projects to suit all tastes – from simple but beautiful accessories to slightly more complex manipulations of color and texture that would easily fit in amongst a family’s most prized heirlooms. I’ll talk more about specific designs in the collection in a future guest blog post during our tour’s stop at Ysolda’s website, but for now, here are a few photos to whet your appetite. Patterns are available as part of the e-collection until October 1st. Thereafter, patterns will only be available individually.

Now for the contest…
Post a comment in the comments section on who your favorite person to knit for is. It doesn’t have to be a child or even a human! I’ll choose a winner randomly in a week to receive 2 skeins of Dream in Color Groovy in Velvet Port to knit my Kyle vest, pictured below (though of course, you don’t have to knit Kyle!). Groovy is a great, plied 100% superwash (!) merino wool yarn in chunky weight dyed in a variety of gorgeous nearly solid and variegated colors. Check out the full palette on Dream in Color’s website. Contest closes at midnight EST on Wednesday, April 16th. I’ll announce a winner on Friday, April 18th.

Be sure to follow the rest of our blog tour (italics for completed posts):
Friday, April 4th, Carol Sulcoski of Black Bunny Fibers
Monday, April 7th, Melissa LaBarre of Knitting School Dropout
Tuesday, April 8th Tanis Gray of Tanis Knits
Wednesday, April 9th, yours truly
Friday, April 11th, Susan B. Anderson
Monday, April 14, Kate Gagnon Osborn of Kelbourne Woolens
Wednesday, April 16, Vickie Howell, Host of Knitting Daily
Friday, April 18, Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches
Monday, April 21, Kate Chioccio of Dragonfly Fibers
Wednesday, April 23, Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss
Friday, April 25, Katie & Kara of Nice & Knit
Monday, April 28th, Ysolda Teague (Guest Blog Post from me)
Tuesday, April 29th, Karida Collins of Neighborhood Fiber Co.
Friday, May 2nd, Cecily Glowik McaDonald of Winged Knits
Monday, May 5 – Carrie Bostick Hoge of Maddermade
Wednesday, May 7th – Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails
Friday, May 9th – Kate & Courtney, of Kelbourne Woolens
Tuesday, May 13, Jessica Correa, of Dream in Color Yarn Co.
Thursday, May 15, Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops
Tuesday, May 20, Tanis Lavalee of Tanis Fiber Arts
Friday, May 22, Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting

Every third weekend of October, the streets of Rhinebeck, NY are filled with knitters, spinners, weavers, and other yarny folk converging on the Dutchess County Fairgrounds for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival — better known simply as “Rhinebeck”. The timing is ideal for sweaters. The hot, endless days of summer have given way to the shorter, crisper days of fall. Gorgeous foliage makes a beautiful backdrop for the yarn, barnyard animals, festival food, and meetups with friends — both planned and fortuitous.

For most knitters attending Rhinebeck, knitting the “Rhinebeck sweater” has become an annual tradition. Choosing the perfect yarn and pattern, last minute knitting as the deadline looms, all of this is very familiar to frequent festival-goers. And so it was with me and my sweater for Ysolda’s collection.

What better location for a photoshoot for the Rhinebeck Sweater Collection than Rhinebeck itself? But somehow, I found myself blocking my sweater the night before and setting up fans and the air conditioner to blow forced air over the damp piece to encourage it to dry more quickly. On the ride up, as my husband carefully navigated the winding roads leading up to Rhinebeck and my daughter babbled in her carseat, I was weaving in the last errant ends.

Somehow though I did manage to finish and I’m happy to finally be able to share the results.

For me, vests are the ideal transitional weather sweater and very versatile. They’re easy to wear and can be dressed up or down depending on what you decide to wear underneath. I kept the armhole edges and hem raw and unfinished because the yarn I used, Bijou Basin’s Tibetan Dream Sock Yarn, drapes beautifully. But if you’re using a springier, bouncier yarn, you may want to crochet an edging to help everything lie flat. A curved lace that mimics the look of cables cover the fronts, with some subtle shaping to narrow the lace as the neckline approaches. Mine is knit with a close to moderate fit, but I can see knitting this with a moderate to generous fit and lengthening it to be more flowy and romantic.

Check out the other great designs in the collection in the Rhinebeck Sweater Collection in the lookbook. I’m honored to be in the company of so many wonderful designers. Ysolda will have copies on hand at Rhinebeck, or you can order a copy online here.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that Melissa is a dear friend of mine. In fact, when I was gearing up to write this post, I did a quick email search to find our first correspondence, dated July 22nd 2006 (7 years ago!):

Hi Melissa,

Thanks,
Connie

The manner in which we met really speaks to her generosity as a knitter and designer. I fell in love with one of her indie patterns (Grannie Smith), bought it, and instantly ran into trouble with it because I was new to knitting sweaters and new to knitting lace. Because I didn’t know any better, I blithely emailed the contact on the pattern and Melissa responded within 48 hours and hand held me through how to block a lace gauge swatch, decreasing in lace, and the fit of set-in sleeves.

She’s continues to be the first person I go to for design advice and knitting encouragement. She’s active in her knitting community and really passionate about her craft. But I’ll let the rest of the interview speak for itself (my questions in italics, her responses in bold):

Your book is wonderfully varied — from textured stitches to lace to jersey and everything in between. Do you have a favorite fabric to work with? What are some of the qualities of hand knit fabric that speak to you?

I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite, every fabric speaks to me at some time or another. Although I must admit that I do love knitting lace and cable stitches, they keep the knitting interesting. I love designing hand knit fabric for the simple reason that I can start from scratch and get exactly the look I am going for, whether it is a slinky loose knit jersey cowl or a structured chunky cable cardigan. I am also drawn to rustic, woolly, sheepy yarns, something that you just can’t buy in any store.

I love how the designs in your book are very different and yet they totally work as a cohesive collection. You have very classic shapes such as the Magnolia Cafe Cardigan and Atrium Cardigan and then some very bold and dramatic pieces like the Carriage House Cardigan with its cinched back detail and free floating fronts. When you were planning the collection, what elements did you envision would tie the collection together?

When planning the collection, the overall idea of New York City and little details throughout my designs then acted as a larger umbrella in which each chapter fell under. For each chapter, I wanted to tie everything together in three ways. Sticking to a season (either Fall, Winter, or Spring), a loose feeling of uptown, downtown, and city parks, and a separate color story for each chapter. I felt as long as I stuck to these three ideas for each chapter, I was a little less restricted in developing the silhouettes for the book.

What do you like best about designing hand knits (and more broadly speaking, knitting)? What do you like least? How does your day job as a designer for a junior sweater company inform your work – or are they completely separate endeavors?

I love seeing other knitters make my creations. While knitting them for myself is quite enjoyable, it isn’t quite the same as seeing your sweater show up at a fiber festival or even Ravelry. With so many great patterns out there to knit, having a knitter choose to invest their time in my design is the ultimate compliment.

There isn’t really much that I don’t like about designing hand knits, although swatching for new designs isn’t exactly high up on my list. I have missed so many submission calls even though I had some great ideas because it involved knitting up a swatch. I don’t know why this should bother me so much, especially since I live for gauge swatches! When I can communicate my idea with only a sketch, yarn and stitch description is when I am happiest.

My full-time job as a sweater designer is pretty different from the hand knit side in regards to how the product gets made, but I do gain knowledge and inspiration from each that cross over. For example, I have measured and fit more sweaters for my full-time job than anyone would care to imagine! I then take this experience over to my hand knits to tailor a really nice fit for my patterns.

Like many designers working today, you share your work in a variety of venues. What is your favorite medium for show casing your work? What do you think is the future of hand knit design?

This is a tough question for the simple reason that I share my work in a variety of venues for different reasons. I think when it comes down to it, it is really the design that decides where it belongs. Every publication has a different audience and I try to cater my design work with this idea in mind. For example, while having a larger audience such as a magazine is always nice, sometimes a design is too unique to fit in and calls to be submitted to a smaller internet publication or be self-published. Also, diversification never hurts! Sometimes new fans are found this way.

Hmm, future of knit design…….if I knew, I’m not sure I would tell!

How did you come upon New York City as the overarching theme for your book? In what ways is the city represented by your collection? Do you have a follow up collection in mind? What’s next on your plate?

When I was offered the chance to do my book, without even thinking about it too hard, I knew New York had to be the main theme. There is just so much inspiration to be taken from the city and the people living in it. With 20 patterns, I felt this was the perfect venue to really let my the idea of the city shine. I tried to represent a different part of the city in each of the three chapters. In Heart of the City, the designs are a bit more polished and uptown in feeling. For Urban Bohemia, I went for a more casual downtown feeling. And finally for City Gardens, I was inspired by all of the different green spaces around the city from Central Park to the High Line.

I’m not really sure what will be my next project. I’m taking a little bit of time off to recover, promote the book, and fill back up the well after such a large project. I do hope to get back to publishing new designs soon though!

I was introduced to this shop by a friend who’s very much into card crafting and makes the most gorgeous, tasteful, thoughtful cards. When I first visited the store with her, I was definitely overwhelmed. I stood meekly in the corner, flipping through Treasured Notions (a craft book inspired by the products of Tinsel Trading) while she confidently navigated aisles stacked with boxes of silk flowers, rolls of lace, and drawers of beads. Just to give you an idea of how random some of this stuff is – one jar was filled with tiny bird figurines made from paper feathers, another had small discs of carpet, and a third contained old, yellowing matchbooks.

The shop owner’s grandfather was apparently a bit of a hoarder and spent his lifetime collecting odds and ends from all over the world. The result is a fascinating and contradictory blend of found treasures and random flotsam. Stepping into this warehouse of new and vintage notions, ribbons, lace, and paper products feels like entering the world’s biggest garage sale or a great aunt’s forgotten attic, a feeling heightened this month by the moving sale currently underway. Yes, Tinsel Trading Company is moving to somewhere on the upper east side – and to lighten their moving burden, they’re having a huge sale through the end of this month. I didn’t have much time today, but I think I’ll be back to collect a few trinkets to bring home to Olivia. She’s recently gotten into crafting (through art classes at Gymboree) and she’d get a kick out of making collages out of some of this stuff.

Cooking up something here… I think Olivia will get a kick out of having a matching sweater with her little brother.

My pattern distributor, Deep South Fibers, has had the correct pattern in their hands since late January, but I wanted to also post the errata on my blog and will link to this post from my Ravelry shop in case someone tries to find the errata through that avenue.  Please accept my apologies.  This pattern was both tech edited and test knitted and as far as I know, the PDF in my Ravelry shop has always been the correct version, but do check your copy against the errata here in case you have lingering questions. Errors are in red and their corrections are in blue below:

Wee Austin Printed Pattern Errata:

On page 2, 1^st column, in the Woven St Guide, row 3 says:

Row 3: *Sl1 wyif; rep from * to last st, k1.

And it should say:

Row 3: Sl1 p-wise wyif, *k1, sl1 p-wise wyif; rep from * across.

On page 5, 1^st column, last sentence of the HOOD paragraph, the final stitch counts after all the stitches are picked up are incorrect.  The last sentence ends with:

– 85 (91, 97, 101, 105, 109) sts.

And it should say:

– 63 (71, 79, 87, 95, 95) sts.

On page 5, 2^nd column, 1^st sentence of the 1^st paragraph, the number of stitches given is incorrect.  The sentence says:

Next row RS), placing center of hood markers: Work 5 garter sts, sm, work 37 (40, 43, 45, 47, 49) sts as they appear, place center of hood m, work 1 st as it appears, place center of hood m, work 37 (40, 43, 45, 47, 49) sts as they appear, sm, work 5 garter sts.

And it should say:

Next row RS), placing center of hood markers: Work 5 garter sts, sm, work 26 (30, 34, 38, 42, 42) sts as they appear, place center of hood m, work 1 st as it appears, place center of hood m, work 26 (30, 34, 38, 42, 42) sts as they appear, sm, work 5 garter sts.

On page 5, 2^nd column, 1^st sentence of the 2^nd paragraph, the number of stitches given is incorrect.  The sentence says:

Next row (RS), inc row and incorporating increased sts into ribbing: Work 5 garter sts, sm, work 37 (40, 43, 45, 47, 49) sts as they appear, m1, sm, work 1 st as it appears, sm, m1, work 37 (40, 43, 45, 47, 49) sts as they appear, sm, work 5 garter sts.

And it should say:

Next row (RS), inc row and incorporating increased sts into ribbing: Work 5 garter sts, sm, work 26 (30, 34, 38, 42, 42) sts as they appear, m1, sm, work 1 st as it appears, sm, m1, work 26 (30, 34, 38, 42, 42) sts as they appear, sm, work 5 garter sts.

After class, I wandered around the market floor for a little while. It was crowded, but there were lots of interesting booths of yarns, notions, bags, lotions — too many to list! But what caught my eye was the very crowded Plucky Knitter booth. I’ve admired her yarn online for many months and was thrilled to see some of it in person. Sarah and her sister, Hayley, are lovely — and I took home a gorgeous skein of Plucky Feet that I’m currently petting and dreaming about.

I snapped two quick photos to mark my time at VK Live — photography unfortunately was not high on my list of priorities that weekend!

I went to Purl Soho this Sunday to pick out some Koigu for a new granny square blanket.  I had made one for Olivia before she was born with colors very similar to the shop’s sample — pinks, reds, oranges, browns.  This time, I decided to go with some more masculine colors for the little boy we’re expecting in May.  I wanted their blankets to be similar, but different.  And I knew I wanted Koigu — I just love their nearly solid colors and the tight twist in the yarn.  And with the leftovers, I’ll have enough to make several newborn socks.

I will be back in a few days to talk about upcoming plans for designs and my experience teaching at VK Live this past January.

The clothes were really well made. And mostly from France (made in China though).

Some quick cell phone snapshots from my afternoon…. I went to Kisan Concept Store, Makie, Les Petites Chapelais, and Bundle (no photo).