Tartan & Tweed Redesigned !

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Jen

I am so glad to be finished with this redesign. And so glad to introduce my new Tartan & Tweed Mitts! One size adjustable with gauge to fit Men’s Large down to Kid Size. Here they are modeled by Jeff in Men’s Large…

large alpaca fingerless mitts

jenjoycedesign©Man Tartan & Tweed Mitts (1)

… you can’t easily distinguish the colors, there’s grey, blue, and green. I very intentionally knit with colors of weathered Fraser tartan (um…they are Outlander mitts!), these in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (sport/DK) which this wool-fearing man seems to be quite okay with.

I’ve been feverishly knitting these mitts in several popular yarns, more Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light with a slightly tighter gauge to fit me, women’s small to medium, in lovely greys…

I think the different tones of greys best shows the different contrasts in value, without the color distraction. Here is examples of the medium stripe (top), lightest stripe (middle) , and darkest stripe (bottom).

But then when the colors play in, it’s magic ! These in Malabrigo Arroyo…

jenjoycedesign©Tartan & Tweed Mitts - square

Some really interesting variations of chart are now included …

And remember these?

The ” itty bitty mitties ” are miniature Tartan & Tweeds in sock yarn knit up in tiny US 1 needles, made for Nora last Christmas, who is only three. Oh! I almost forgot to mention, I have condensed the original pattern , that was in Shetland fingering yarns and 4 sizes, and included it at the end of the ‘new’ pattern. So that should be fun, and you should have a full plate of knitting options !
So folks, I’m kicking off this redesign with a promotion….

Edit in February 5 : PROMOTION ENDED.

Our Castle

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Jen

We discovered a castle !

That is, part of a castle, more the entrance of the castle. A gothic brick & stone building at the gate of the Castello di Amorosa.

Which was actually quite perfect, for nobody was about and we could just be creative with the knitwear. . .

007jenjoycedesign©una cosettina

We did actually drive up to the castle, but there were hundreds of people swarming about, and that was less than ideal for photographing. But we did get a shot of Miss Fifteen standing through the sky window of my car, with the castle in the background …

It was a GREAT discovering this new favorite photo place, all three of us were very taken by the gothic feel of iron & brick & stone & arched windows, and all agreed it should be the new design image for us. Modelled in photos are holiday & birthday presents from me; a pair of Una Cosettina mitts and accompanying infinity scarves “Una Cosettina Sciarpa Infinita” which is all upcoming… we just had to give ‘er a test run here at the castle today !

Here are a few more of the shots…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Yarn Scapes

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Jen

I am loving the new year so far, and the varied yarn-scape through which I am setting out to wander indulgently. Rowan greets me on this sunny January day, a nice tall stack of Felted Tweed, just look how substantial and tasteful the three tweedy colors look ! I just can’t wait to begin throwing stitches. Yarn tasting of the classic (though often spendy) yarn is one of my New Year resolutions by the way, this is my first purchase of Rowan yarns, and I want to well-familiarize myself with their yarns in 2015. Add Isager as one of the LYS lines, and a few local boutique yarns.

And only just days ago I had undertaken a very fastidious project, a rather inventive rendition of Una Cosettina Mitts. With a photographic opportunity ahead (tomorrow) I hurried through the knitting and finished in two days, involving these two yarns ; Isager Alpaca-Merino 2, and Shibui Silk Cloud…

held together to make these . . .

I am quite pleased with them, and so will Miss Fifteen I am certain.

(( Warning: Half mitts made of dangerously fuzzy & soft yarns,

one could trip & injure themselves from the distraction of wearing them. ))

Tomorrow morning, my nieces and I have a little photo shoot for their knitted holiday bounty,

so watch this space!

A Frolick On The Knitting Trail

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Jen

Ready , set ….

Hats on !

Before setting out into the woods on my Knitting Trail, Maya, Molly & Rosanna each chose hats out of my chest of knitted pattern prototypes, plus other bits, then we set out with Emma leading & me in the back with the camera, and no end to my demands while taking still another photo as we tried to cover trail, and so a twenty minute trail walk turned to fifty. But we really had a great time, and for me this was the absolute highlight of the whole holiday family get-together, though it lasted less than an hour. I couldn’t be happier with the many great shots (although fuzzy in low light of the forest) , best of the Bohemian Raven Goths! Thank you Rosanna, Molly, and Maya, for a wonderful impromptu knitwear photoshoot on the knitting trail!

Vineyard Rows Tam

Chalten Beret

Dicey Highland Hat

Gift Making

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Jen

Another cowl of the design I am working on for gifts. The cowl would normally get a steam press just to help open up all that lacework, but since the fuzzy mohair is knitted in I decided against it.

There are three yarns held together for this blue cowl, yarns from this post here.

I also am reworking these…

Tartan & Tweed Mitts which I am busy making several different ones so that in the new year I will be updating the pattern to include more weights of yarn and size ranges. These are made from some Cascade Sport Superwash which was gift yarn from Carol (hello & thank you Carol… xx 🙂 )

Oh , the joys of hand-made gifts. I can never get over it… the high I feel when I am finished with yet another. The pile is growing quite a bit, and thankfully I still have 12 days to make. Everyone, how are you doing with your hand-made gifts?

First Cowl Ever!

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Jen

Here is a first ! My first cowl ever knit, and I’m rather sure it’s actually a design in-process. I’ve held three strands of murky shades of Malabrigo Sock yarn together and knit them using US 11 – 8mm needles to make this cowl , um, kitchener grafted at the two ends which disguised itself rather nicely I might say. It is a very simple lace repeat design , though difficult to see, yarn is plush & thick with two lace pattern repeats. The colors’ variegations play with each other nicely making a very subtle earthy overall, but with specks of clearer colors jump out …

and oh , I didn’t use circulars for it, but my mother’s retro blue anodized aluminum straights and let me tell you, it was nice to hike along knitting with straight needles for a change.

Another knitted gift done & dusted !

Dicey Highland Cap !

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Jen

For some time I’ve been wanting to put together this third straight-sided shape to add to the bonnet & beret shapes of my Dicey Highland Hats pattern ~~ I’m calling it the “Dicey Highland Cap”. Now have it done & dusted, and pattern is updated to include it ! All that is needed is a bit of fun with my nieces and a photo shoot for all three shapes, when they come this weekend to visit.

Speaking of Highlands, here, the California Highlands is having a lovely slow turning of Autumn, alternately misty & cool and bouncing back up to clear warm days. Now we expect some rain and it will glue down all the lovely maple & oak leaves which have fluttered to the ground. I’m looking forward to some lashing blustering rain!!! For now we’re still out walking every day, at least once !

Was just out on the trail knit-walking and overlooking this …

Penny Candy Winter !

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Jen

It’s here, finally, after redesign & re-knit of the yokes, and this morning re-photographing of… my Penny Candy Winter ! My nieces, their mom, and I met at the Calistoga Roastery as we usually do for these occasions, and then … Continue reading →

Yoke Redesign

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Jen

Well folks, my smug happiness at being done ahead of the equinox for these sweaters did not last long. In the post two weeks ago of my nieces modelling in Calistoga their new sweaters clearly shows how way off I was on the mark. I thought they were just accidentally ‘big’ and ‘tunic length’. What I did not know, and what I know very well now, is that one doesn’t arbitrarily decide to knit so many decrease rounds because it ‘looks good’… no, I’ve learned the hard way (as usual) that these things are mathematical considerations, not entirely artistic. Yoke shaping is math. This is the difficult fact I’ve had to learn, and have been working with sharpened pencil , calculator and reams of paper in the last week, after it came to me a little over a week ago, in the early morning hours before waking, just why those sweaters were hanging on my nieces. I had to ask for the sweaters back, meet their mom Patricia in St. Helena yesterday, and there is no more hiding my head in the sand. I’ve ripped back now, and am going to make it right.

So, I have redesigned a theoretic yoke , and now I am going to test knit my redesign of last two weeks by knitting the yokes of the Autumn sweaters over again from the sleeve join. Fingers crossed, wish me luck.

Sweater Success !

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Jen

Here they are folks, my beautiful nieces in their Autumn sweaters.

I’ve been quite busy with these sweaters since July.

This Autumn I have designed a Winter version of last Spring’s design, because to my amazement it was so well received, I just couldn’t resist making another Penny Candy design for cold weather. It has some unique features that are different from the tee, but I won’t go into the details until the pattern comes out.

These are two longer ‘tunic’ examples of Penny Candy Winter.

One thing I’m a little embarrassed about is that it seems that Miss Fourteen has ‘shrunk’ a little in the last year, from training so much with her school’s cross-country & track team, and I somehow anticipated her needing more room for a winter pullover, so I apparently made it a bit on the ‘too’ big side.

While Miss Eleven has grown even more since I last saw her last August, and wearing her pullover with not much room to grow into. She’s grown inches and inches this year, and doesn’t seem to be stopping, and already passing me up in height !

jenjoycedesign©027 We flounced around Calistoga in the late morning, seeking out our usual spots, hoping for shade, but missing it for the most part. The ‘four corners’ on Lincoln & Washington streets, then the mural of Old Town Calistoga. One thing, it was incredibly HOT while taking these photos, in case you can’t imagine, it was probably in the 80’s easy at 11:30, when we finished.

Miss Eleven is modelling the Penny Candy Winter in it’s signature stripes & lace in four colors, whiles Miss Fourteen models the basic solids version. I’ve been working on the pattern like an ox through all the summer it seems, and I am very close to finishing, so I thought it a good thing to show you the photos from this morning.

You can see the rest of this morning’s note-worthy photos in the slideshow …

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Click image below to see all Sweater Successes past .

September 2010

Autumn Sweaters Done & Dusted !

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Jen

I’m ecstatic for two reasons. For one, the Autumnal Equinox has turned, and two, both sweaters I set out to design & knit by the equinox are done & dusted! I did have to reknit an awful lot too. This is all you get to see of them for now, but we have the date set with my nieces to give them these and they will model them and we will have a boatload of fun with a photo shoot in Calistoga, and then you’ll get to see photos galore of them. Then sometime in October I will buckle down get the pattern done & dusted too. But for now, just a happy chirpy sort of pleased-with-myself post on the first day of Autumn.

Autumnal Equinox Sneak Preview

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Jen

Autumn Sweater Sneak Preview

One down, the most colorful for youngest Niece of Eleven, which is now finished. I basically knit this critter twice! This Autumn’s sweaters will be a relative of Penny Candy Tee. It is in worsted-weight yarn and construction is altogether different enough to warrant a whole different design . Backstory: I knit this one up to the underarms somewhere in the first week of August, thinking I was ahead of the game, to have two Autumn sweaters designed and knit for the traditional Autumnal Equinox sweater photo shoot. Way ahead. Um… small detail… youngest niece grew like a rampant ninja weed all spring & summer, and when they came for a mid-summer visit a few weeks back, I slipped it over her to try on and to my horror it was already way too fitted, with not much room for this Slipover to be slipped over anything.

I just couldn’t carry on with it, so ripped that out, knit over to underarms. Knit one sleeve half-way, but didn’t like the cuff and knit over, and finished two sleeves finally. Joined at the yoke and was going to go entirely circular, knit all the way up to the lace yoke section, decided it was going to be floppy as heck, ripped back to armholes. Decided to do raglan , and a wide decreasing lace neckline, but it was too wide and lacy (therefore see-thru), and also discovered where I missed a decrease on one corner down near the armhole… ripped out the whole yoke back to the mistake, and reknit the raglan decreases, though higher. Finally, the lace neckline! Okay, so too wide, ripped ripped back and knit over narrower, i-cord cast-off too loose, ripped back did over again. There you have it. I knit it twice I figured. I can’t believe I went and showed off one without the other, so uncharacteristic of me, as the two sweaters always make an appearance togethr. However, I just felt like I needed to cheer up Yarnings a bit, and feel some sort of reward in Show & Tell, as I am just in the middle of such a knitting grind.

The good news is that I practically wrote the pattern with that one, so IF & WHEN I ever get around to writing the official pattern, it won’t be such a bear. I am honestly hoping I can get it together by November, but Christmas knitting kind of gets in the way too… so I’ll try my best. Oh, and Eldest Niece of Fourteen’s will only be in two colors , subtle wintery colors, and will rattle off like quick. It will be nothing short of a miracle if I get these done by the Autumnal Equinox, but I am going for it!

Chaltén

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Jen

Dear Jen, when you asked me what is the paradigmatic mountain of Patagonia, I did not hesitate in giving you the answer: Chaltén, the blue smoking mountain. In the last trench of the Andes range, Chaltén raises like a magnificent … Continue reading →

Its Only Knitting

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Jen

I’ve been busy as a bee working away on my designs, coming up with new ones and further test-knitting my existing ones. Add now tutorials. I have gotten to the point in the whole knitting Thing where I really don’t have time or energy to put into anything which is not my own design. I really can’t regret this , because whether or not I endeavor to write the design into a pattern, I’ve just come to face the fact that I have to make up for lost time. I’ve embraced Indie Design, and am committed to wear ‘all of the hats’ in the job, and I’m ready for a lot of hard work ahead. The more I tell myself this the more I want to work like an ox towards succeeding. However, the elusive truth often escapes me, and that is ” Its only knitting. ” A quote of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s used by over-zealous knitters everywhere. Although it is ‘only knitting’ , I am practically ‘only knitting’. I have little chalkboards I’ve made which I’ve placed in prominent places of my work space , with lists or sage messages to give me perspective, and I use them to keep my focus clear wherever I turn. Today’s brilliant message . . .

Jamieson’s Dicey

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Jen

I’ve been busy making some shaping improvements to my Dicey Highlands Bonnet design. Here knit with Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift 2ply wool yarn, with my new favorite diced band style using three colors. I think this particular one is more a man’s cap, and there is a particular Scottish fellow who may just have his name on it come Christmas. About the design elements. I’ve come to the opinion that it should be blocked flat , with the diced band brim eased into flatness as well , instead of blocking it with faced-band standing up . . .

The toorie is as before, one simply threads the ties of the toorie through the middle of the crown and ties it on . . .

Simple & pure ,

strong & good mannered too . . .

Such personality !

I am smitten already with this handsome creature . . .

The confident, all-natural, pragmatic sort . . .

My Dicey pattern is already a year old, and now I am only just now studying it’s many facets while trying out all kinds of yarns and test-knitting, for I honestly feel that the design is so deserving of every attention. This pattern will be having extensive test-knit samples knit up by myself and some friends, and is undergoing an update soon.

I’m already casting on another , testing my new shaping ideas, in a lively ensemble of colors… so watch this space ! 🙂