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!

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!

Multiplying Hexipuffs

Ok. I would say this is starting to get ridiculous, but I have actually seen completed hexipuff quilts on Ravelry, so I know that my collection is meager in comparison.

But seriously, I had forgotten how addicting these little puffs are to knit. I hadn't touched this project in years, but I sat down to make a new puff on a whim a couple days ago (because I had fun new sock yarn scraps, I think) and suddenly I have fifteen more.

These tiny projects-in-themselves are exactly what I have been craving to knit, apparently, because my other recent projects have all been long in the making (and especially long in the writing up-- yes, there are some new designs in the works, LotR and Pony fandoms ;) ). It was high time for some Instant Gratification. And a lot of it. 

The thing I really love about the idea for this quilt (besides the aforementioned instant-puff-gratification) is that it traces your yarn history, and fingering-weight tends to be especially significant and precious, at least in my stash. In this picture alone, you can see seventeen different yarns and colorways. I haven't linked them all on my project page because that would get messy by project's end, but I can detail some of them here. The yellow-and-blue stripey ones were from a skein dyed for me by a friend for my birthday, and the brown-and-green one in the top right and the three yellow-and-red ones were from her shop. The dark blue tonal ones are leftovers from my Sherlock Cowl, from Knit Picks. And the purple-yellow-green-blue ones are a colorway called "Shire" that was one of (if not the first) hand-dyed, fancy wool purchase I made as a new knitter. The pink-and-purple one I won in a group giveaway back during my Nerd Wars days, and the dark blue sparkly ones are leftovers from my Luna Scarf. The white-and-blue one in the middle I remember tie-dying at another friend's birthday party. (Nothing says you're a nerd for knitting like bringing yarn to a shirt-dying party. XD)

So, anyway, I'm sure there will be more of these by the end of summer. They seem to breed like tribbles, which is at once awesome and also... disconcerting. Because we all know what happened once those critters got going... (And if you've never heard of a tribble, google it and hope that your hexipuff bucket fills as quickly, but not at the expense of your pantry.)