Aria With Variations: the pattern.

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Jen

jenjoycedesign© Abelene & Aria 2.JPG

Hi everyone, its me Abelene. Jen has veiled me in her new lace that she’s been hinting about for weeks in her series of veils & variations.

jenjoycedesign© Aria detail.JPG

The lace feels so lovely, so fine, I think I feel like what it must be like to be a bride, or a Shetlander, or an Estonian knitter, modeling as best as I can in the tiny house.

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About time she’s finished, because she is so exhausted of drawing and redrawing charts, doing math and wrestling mistakes, so she let me handle posting about the pattern.

jenjoycedesign© Aria & Variation 1 -10

Did you know that Jen’s UnSpun is the reason she felt compelled to write this pattern? She had just an overwhelming urge to make some really fine lace yarn after watching this video , and worked like an ox to get a bunch of really fine lace-weight out to some friends before the pattern was ready. The UnSpun yarn is beginning to show up now around the far corners of the world and Jen feels its time to finish up and get the lace knitting going!

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Oh but did you notice the diamond motifs showing up in a couple of the videos in her series of veils & variations Goldberg Variations? Jen tells me this was by pure chance and unplanned, yet something makes her think that the diamonds must be a subliminal Bach Thing.

so here are those favorite Goldberg Variations highlights !

The pattern actually is three styles; a stole, a square hap shawl, and a cowl, all and each in four sizes! You can see more information if you go see the pattern which is live now on Ravelry HERE. Jen would really love it if you would join in on her pattern give-away in the spirit of Valentines, so I’m suppose to mention her post on her group over here , which is running just for a very short time, so that folks can get yarn and cast on for Valentines day! I hope everyone is in a lace-knitting mood!

Last but not least, Jen is wildly looking forward to photographing youngest niece Miss Sixteen modeling Aria & Variations this weekend at the castle, which will make the pattern a real hit!

Ta ta,
Abelene

Just flew off the needles!

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Jen

jenjoycedesign© double-cappuccino-cowl2

Lace + ribbing = a beautiful springy cowl! I just finished my project in a cowl-along I’ve been knitting in recent week. I intentionally didn’t block it, being very pleased with the three dimensional waffled surface the merino lace yarn creates with the ribbed pattern & yarn-overs.

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It is a very easy modification of Double Cappuccino Legwarmers , and I chose to work the ribbed lace with really big 6mm needles for a frothy open look, so it grew in length fast, therefore naturally the patterning was easy enough that I knit it entirely while walking up on the ridge over the last week!

jenjoycedesign© double-cappuccino-cowl

So downy soft, yet athletic from the ribbing, that I plan to eventually give it to a certain dancer, hoping it won’t fly off in the middle of her leaping across the stage, I planned this to go with her mostly black dance wardrobe of course!

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This is the first of my start on gift knitting, for the holiday swiftly on its way. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the ridge for a hike while casting on for another !

Pattern: Modification from Double Cappuccino

Details: on Ravelry here

Summer Stripes

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Jen

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Striped lace cowls in cool blues and warm pinks, knit in a lovely summery linen blend yarn that is draping and soft. I am very happy they’re finished, and just in time for them to go to my Canadian nieces for their birthdays …

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I love this pattern, a traditional lace motif called ‘feather & fan’ which is so easy it can be knit in my sleep. But these are the first striped versions of the pattern I’ve tried, and will try one more in stripes, with yarn mentioned on this post, before the summer is over.

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As I dared myself to not make a peep until I finished these two, now there may be some chattiness! On my knitting needles, I have still some promised summer knitting for my two beautiful California nieces (whom all of you are familiar with ~ presently Miss Sixteen & Miss Thirteen ), and then its looking into a stretch of who-knows-what-may-come for a quiet spell of imminent lazy & hot summer weeks.

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Pattern: my own Altitude Lace Cowl

Yarn: Classic Elite Firefly (posted previously)

Blue stripes project details on Ravelry HERE, and pink stripes project details HERE.

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Una Cosettina Pattern Rewrite

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Jen

‘Una Cosettina’ has had a bit of an overhaul in recent winter weeks. I have knit up several more variations on the original design from nearly a year ago. Now pattern has options to work lace up the back of the hand, (I so wanted to do this , and now it is done and I’m satisfied!) . You can create a full lace gauntlet , or a sporty shorty little wisp of a mitt, or anything in between. Options to omit i-cord cast-on & bind-off and/or eyelet round, and skip straight to the lacework. To me a bounty of choices makes a good pattern and as much fun to wear as it is to knit as it is to write!

jenjoycedesign©Una Cosettina extra lace option

jenjoycedesign©Una Cosettina with ribbon (2)

jenjoycedesign©Una Cosettina with ribbon (1)

jenjoycedesign©Una Cosettina gauntlets 2

But frankly folks, this pattern is all about using that one-of-a-kind skein or ball you have. Perfect for those lovely singles of your own spindle-spun yarn or that lovely skein of luxury yarn you couldn’t resist buying from that great yarn shop you just visited. Maybe you discovered a ball of vintage yarn in your grandmother’s attic which narrowly escaped a pair of argyle socks in the 50’s, or that novelty yarn you bought from the 13th-Century wool mill while visiting the town of Biella in Italy.

Una Cosettina meets One-Skein-Project-itis and makes a stunningly beautiful friendship.

This pattern can be found on Yarnings HERE, and detailed on Ravelry HERE.

Penny Candy Socks Redesign

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Jen

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Penny Candy Socks modelled by Niece Who Is Fourteen.

I had been knitting these for a couple of weeks and rewriting now for two long days ~~~ finished !!!

The socks have been redesigned due to the fact that I wanted them to match the very recent

Penny Candy Tee

… how sweet, a tee & sock Spring Duo !

Its all over on the Penny Candy Sock Pattern Page . . .

and way more details than you need to know, over on Ravelry HERE

Penny Candy Socks modelled by Niece Who Is Eleven.

Penny Candy Tee !

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jen

Well friends, I’ve finished up Tee One, which is also the prototype for Penny Candy Tee, and here she is slung over a chair back , just to show off how well the fabric drapes. This flavor ” Licorice Vanilla ” is for Niece Who Is Fourteen . . . sultry greys and creams, and a classic ensemble of colors suits her perfectly. Perfectly!

The pattern is already well on it’s way but I am being childishly impatient not to wait until it is ready before I show it off.

The fact that this design has moderate waist shaping is indeed a milestone for me!

Also, I figured out a clever way to work short-rows at the back of the neck, and miter the centered lacework too, though admittedly, a bit of improvisation is necessary.

I think the winning feature of this design, is that the scalloped bottom edge of the lace motif is so sturdy & stubborn and the fabric of the stockinette (sock yarn on big needles) is so lightweight & sheer … that the stripes completely yield to the lace’s personality!

Shown with the bottom folded up to meet the back neck.

Best of all , the steep raglan shaping is well-complimented by the stripes . . .

This lightweight springtime knit folds up into practically nothing. . .

I am going to go be busier than a beehive and finish Tee Two. Stash yarns in a mix of different yarn brands will do nicely… orange, peach, and rusty red are fav colors of Niece Who Is Eleven ! I’ve got the Calistoga photo session with my nieces already marked on the calendar for two weeks from today, so there’s no letting up until then. I will probably do some lovely still photos and show off Tee Two coming up soon as I race the clock, so watch this space!