For the Love of...

Do you know what I love about merino wool? That moment when you've got a project off the needles, and you're proud of it and all, but it's just not quite right yet...

And then you dunk it in water, let the liquid seep into every fiber of your hard work, knowing that something disastrous might come out in place of your dreams-- what if it felts? What if it grows four sizes? What if I made some huge mistake and I'll have to unravel all this yarn after it's already set?

And then you pull it out of the water, and it smells heavenly-- like sheep and happiness and love and wonder-- and you can feel that it's ten times softer now, which you hadn't thought possible, and not only that, but it drapes like a dream... 

And you lay it out on a towel, and squish it and set it and pin it out until it fits the math you've already worked out so carefully, and you bounce to yourself a bit because now you have to wait before you can use it the way it's meant to be used, even though you know already that it's perfect.

That's what I love about-- well, really, yarn in general. Especially really nice, high-quality, deliciously woolly yarn, like the project I've just set to blocking. (Yes, that was what inspired this post.) It's a design, and it's sort of cold-weathery, and I haven't gotten the pattern part written up yet, so it might be a while in coming, but, gosh, do I love it.

It's moments like these that make me so glad to be a knitter.

Featuring Cutthroat Worsted, the story behind which is coming next post!

Works in Progress; also, Rapunzel!

Now that school is finally out, I've been able to get the wheels turning on a few projects. The first of which is something that's been in the works all semester, that is finally (almost) ready to be released!

So, I've been on something of a Disney kick lately, which has inspired the creative part of my brain with so many knitting ideas that I think there could be a Collection in the works (if I can ever get up enough follow-through to knit them all!). The first of these ideas to reach glorious woolly fruition is a sweater-dress inspired by Rapunzel.

The dress is meant to evoke the ethos of Rapunzel's dress in the movie Tangled: the stripey shoulder-puffs become ribbed raglan sleeves; the lace-edged square neck becomes a square scoop neck with a fold-over picot edging; and the corset-lacing down the front becomes an intricate (but easily memorized!) cable panel, framed on either side by cable-knit braids. I also found just the right shade to match Rapunzel's signature color in Knit Picks' Swish DK line: Sugar Plum.

The sweater-dress is just now going into testing, so I hope to release it not too much later this summer.


Rapunzel promises to be the first of (hopefully) many future garment designs of mine to get their inspiration from the stories of the Disney Princesses. I've already got sketches drawn up for some of them, and others are as yet amorphous concepts. In the meantime, I'm also working on some smaller projects, including one using some delicious yarn I picked up at my first visit to a proper LYS! Stay tuned for more on that. ;)

Celebi Headscarf and Other Updates:

Goodness gracious, it's been a while. This semester has been incredibly busy, but school hasn't been the only thing on my plate!

Freshly released, just in time for spring (and upcoming summer): the Celebi Headscarf.

This project has been waiting patiently for the return of warm weather, so I'm really excited to finally release it! It's a feather-light headscarf (with two additional scaled-up sizes) made in Knit Picks Gloss Lace, in the Peapod colorway. 

Celebi is a tiny, green, fairy-like Pokemon, whose power is deeply connected to the forest and the protection of life. The scarf is super-quick to knit, and light enough to knit in the middle of upcoming summer. 

And there are more things on the way! I have a freshly-finished project lying around now, a new type of pattern that I've never attempted before, inspired by a new fandom. Stay tuned!

Shores of Valinor: A New Mystery Knit-a-Long!

I have been woefully negligent in posting here, especially when there's something so newsworthy going on:

I would say this shawl has been in the works since last summer, but truthfully, I've been batting the idea around since late 2012, when I bought two skeins of a beautiful DK-weight silk/merino blend from a friend of mine (Carolyn of Tale & Tendril). The yellow one is called "Lady of the Golden Wood", and the blue one is "Galadriel's Mirror". I knew when I saw them both in her shop that they belonged together permanently, I just had no idea what project they wanted to become. 

My only criterion in sketching up design ideas for these skeins was that the pattern had to be inspired by Lord of the Rings, or, more specifically, the Lady Galadriel. So after a lot of sketching, exploring, writing, and rewriting, I finally admitted to myself that what the yarn wanted to become wasn't exactly the shimmery, flowy sort of thing that Galadriel herself might wear on an everyday basis. Instead, it was becoming something a little sturdier, a little warmer... Something that you might wear on a long journey... 

At that point, I knew that the pattern had declared itself to be an elven travelling shawl, done up in a golden-sand-and-crystal-blue-seas sort of colorway. The final product is warm and squishy, but also elegant and drapey. 

This is the first clue. The knit-a-long group has already made it to the second (again, apologies for my negligence in posting!), so if you want to join in the fun, see the pattern page on Ravelry, here: Shores of Valinor. The full details of the shawl and the knit-a-long are located there. Happy knitting!

Mewkerchief Is Available!

I froze in place as soon as it saw me. The rarest of the rare, the legendary-- Mew. A collector's dream catch.  

My hand tightened around the Pokeball I held, nerves threatening to shatter my composure. You can't blow this now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

The small pink Pokemon hovered over to the space just in front of me. It looked curious-- like it was studying me, sizing me up. I didn't dare to breathe, much less move. 

With a high-pitched giggle, Mew poked my nose with its two little paws. "Boop!" it seemed to say. 

I was bewildered, but there was something infectious about its laughter, something that lightened my heart and made me feel like a child again, fancy-free. I felt a giggle bubbling up in my own throat, and I released it to join with Mew's. It tagged me, and I started to chase. Mew never flew too far out of my reach.

My Pokeball dropped, forgotten, to the ground. 

There is something therapeutic about being able to act like a child every once in a while-- not out of immaturity or a shirking of responsibility, but by letting go of your grown-up cares and worries for a little bit, to recharge, before you have to go back and attend to them again.  

Mewkerchief is a little bit of that whimsy of childhood that can apply to all ages. And that's one of my favorite things to do with my designs: take a piece of my childhood and ossify it in yarn, making something useful and beautiful that hopefully will delight others the way it delights me.

Pattern for the Mew Plushie (which is the most adorable, accurate Mew pattern I've seen out there, and which was designed by Linda Potts) can be found here.

Baggins... or Took? A new pattern is up!

I love versatility in patterns. I look for that quality in projects I make from other people's designs, and I try to create it in the patterns I make myself. This scarf has a two-pronged inspiration, manifesting in two ways to make the project: the prim and proper Baggins Cravat, or the long and swishy Took Scarf. 

Bagginses, you see, are respectable folk, dressing smartly, eating well, and-- most importantly-- staying at home. A Took, on the other hand, yearns for bigger things, wanting to see mountains and go places. Inspired by both sides of Bilbo Baggins’s genealogy, this pattern comes in two sizes. The cravat is for the Bagginses, emulating their sensibility and 19th-century dress style. The scarf is for the Tooks, harking back to adventures over mountains and into cold places, where you’ll need all the squishy alpaca warmth you can get!

The yarn used in this project (well, both of them) is Wonder Why Alpaca Farm's My Pedro, a gloriously soft blend of suri alpaca, merino wool, and bamboo, giving the yarn a sheen and drape that is perfect for a luxury scarf.

There will be a knit-along held here, in the Lord of the Rings group over on Ravelry. If you want to join in, drop by, ask a question, or just chat, that will be the place to be!

Why I Love Lord of the Rings

Once upon a time, there was a Burger King.

No, I'm not kidding; that's where this story begins. When I was about nine or ten, I went on a field trip with my church youth group-- I can't remember the particular activity now. But whatever it was, it required a break for food on the way to or from it, and so our van stopped at a Burger King.

Being a Capable and Competent girl (who had never done this before), I walked up to the counter with my lunch money in hand and quickly ordered, "Just a kid's meal, please." Surely that was the easiest thing for all parties involved, requiring the least Decision-Making and Talking To Strangers on my part.

So, fully expecting to be at least mildly teased by my just-short-of-tween peers, I brought my food to a table, where I deflected initial inquiries in favor of eating my food and, out of curiosity, finding out what the toy was.

"Lord of the Rings? What's that? It looks kind of creepy..."

This was the initial reaction of the entire table, myself included, when I pulled out the toy, which was a light-up base with a figure called, "Sell-a-born?" "She looks totally creepy..." "Are you sure it's a she?" "Pretty positive." Convinced that the toy was doomed to the Goodwill box if not the trash, I determined to take this Celeborn home (may as well, right?) and show it to my parents to see what they thought of this "Lord of the Rings" thing.

I never would have guessed that my mother would say that Lord of the Rings had been one of her favorite books growing up. I never would have guessed that I'd later find the books and their little prequel and devour them in a matter of days. I never would have guessed that this fandom would become my most deeply rooted literary love, spanning years of rereads and dozens of projects.

I love being able to mix my favorite story with my favorite medium: yarn. So here are some of my favorite patterns and projects that take the realm of Middle-Earth as their inspiration:

Legolas Kerchief, by Susan Pandorf:

I remember discovering Susan Pandorf's designs when I first began looking for beyond-beginner patterns to experiment with. Just out of curiosity, I searched on "Lord of the Rings" in Ravelry's pattern database, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found a few directly inspired by my beloved books. Evenstar, Mithril, Bombadil, Argonath, and Rivendell are just some of my favorites. Seriously, check her out; she's amazing!

Grey Havens, by Maria Olson
This sweater has been at the top of my queue for ages-- I just need to get around to knitting it! The cables are amazing, inspired by misty shores, and the asymmetrical neck is intriguing.


Evenstar Gloves, by Audreym:
The cables on these gorgeous, cozy gloves take inspiration from Arwen Evenstar. This was a pattern I really enjoyed knitting: the cables were simple enough for a beginner to figure out, but also quite interesting. (Also, the pattern is free!)




Beorn Sweater, by Josie Mercier:
This is another really brilliant LotR-inspired sweater, this one evoking warm and cozy Beorning vibes due to its thick cables and comfy fit. (I haven't put the sleeves on mine yet because it makes such a handsome vest!)






Finally, in the Lord of the Rings group on Ravelry, there is a massive database of Middle-Earth-reminiscent patterns that has been compiled by the members there. They're always adding to it, so if you're looking for a Ringish knit, be sure to check it out!