For the Love of Shawl Knitting

Hi, Knitters,

I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of knitting ahead. I know I do amongst other things. I'm starting my Saturday morning out very early with a bit of quiet shawl knitting and a mug of coffee. As you can see I am on the home stretch of my Sonora shawl. I am so in love with this shawl. It is the simplest pattern, a two-row repeat, and one of those rows is knit only. Then every once in a while you add in the garter slip stitch pattern which is so much fun. It's a perfect springtime knit.

Anyway, I am closing in on the final garter lace border and honestly, I'll be sad when it's over. But then I'll get wear it so that is the good part.

Pattern: Sonora by Kirsten Kapur for Barrett Wool Co. (available for purchase on either Ravelry or Barrett Wool Co.)

Yarn: Barrett Wool Co. Home Fingering Weight in Pepin (Main Color ~ 2 skeins) and Ellie Gray (Contrast Color ~ 1 skein)

And I want to let you know that over on Barrett Wool Co. we are celebrating Memorial Day Weekend with a Free U.S. only Shipping offer for any purchase over $25! 

The code to use at checkout is: GRATITUDE

Click here to visit Barrett Wool Co.! Most of the yarn, both lines, are in stock right now and there are a few kits available for order as well, the Wildflowers Cap Kit, Sheep! Kit, and the Flower Fairy & Leaf Sprite Kit. Take advantage of the free US shipping and enjoy!

Earlier this week I literally took almost everything out of my tiny studio to organize and get ahold of the situation. When I am super busy things tend to build up and get messy. I spent a few days reorganizing, getting rid of tons of stuff (so much stuff!) and cleaning. It was an overwhelming process and it was not fun. But what is fun is the final result. I made room for a very nice work table which I have never had before in my studio. It is small but kind of perfect. I now have my sewing machine tucked neatly underneath, too. Before I had to take over the kitchen table if I wanted to sew. 

I even have a new chair on order that will be arriving next week. It feels so light and airy in here now and hopefully, I can be more productive. That's the plan anyway. Spring is such a good time to refresh and clean out your home even if it is only one room. 

Once all of the pieces are in place I will share some photos of my tiny studio space with you if you are interested.

Early last night I went for a run and the day was definitely running out but it was just so pretty outside. It had rained earlier in the day, which you can see on the grass. The lighting was kind of golden and it made me happy to be out in the world. I feel so much gratitude and inspiration when I am in the out of doors. 

I'm planning on being out a lot this weekend and I hope you can get out there, too!

I'll be back with more next week. Thanks for spending a moment with me today.

xo ~ susan

Wildflowers Cap & A Good Retreat

Hi, Knitters,

I hope you are all having a good week. I am finally home for a stretch here and that feels wonderful. I want to mention a couple of things today. Last night over on Barrett Wool Co. we released our newest kit for the fantastic Mary Jane Mucklestone's Wildflowers Cap. This pattern originally appeared in Making Magazine No. 1 / Flora. I can't say enough about this super fun, simple and fast hat. It is addicting and it makes the perfect quick summer knit. 

Click here for Mary Jane Mucklestone's website!

Click here for more information on Making Magazine! 

Click here for more information on the Wildflowers Cap Kit on Barrett Wool Co.!

There are lots of pattern options and a few different colorways for the kits. You can purchase the kit without a pattern if you already have it, or with a Ravelry download code, or with the Making Magazine that includes the pattern and much more. Each of these options has a different price.

The Wildflowers Cap Kit includes either our Wisconsin Woolen Spun or Home Worsted Weight. The kit in the first photo includes the Wisconsin Woolen Spun in Rainshower and Sherwood. Our yarns are the perfect match with this Maine wildflowers inspired design. I love Mary Jane Mucklestone's designs and she is one of the most wonderful knitters of our time. She is talent and personality all rolled into one of the best people around.

The kit above includes Wisconsin Woolen Spun Worsted in Rainshower and Hazelnut. I love the look of this one so much. 

The Wildflowers Cap Kit above includes our Home Worsted Weight in Peppercorn and Picket Fence. The hat above was photographed and knit by @kellythecarelesscat on Instagram. Thank you, Kelly, for permission to use your beautiful hat and photo!!

The Wildflowers Cap Kits are selling quickly so if interested jump on over to check it out! 

And enjoy! You will love the yarns, the pattern, and Mary Jane!

Last weekend I had the privilege of teaching so many wonderful students at the Good Retreat in Orlando, Florida. The retreat was hosted by A Good Yarn which is in Sarasota, Florida. While I was there I did some knitting on my Sonora Shawl and I started my second Wildflowers Cap. 

The Sonora Shawl is really one of my favorite knits ever. The design is by Kirsten Kapur and I am using Home Fingering Weight in Pepin and Ellie Gray. It is all garter stitch goodness from start to finish! 

Click here for the Sonora Shawl and Home Fingering Weight!

Click here for more information on the Sonora Shawl pattern on Ravelry!

I also did some stitching on my Satin Stitch Sampler by Dropcloth on Etsy.  I am loving Flower Thread lately. It is such a treat. 

For the retreat we stayed at the enormous and magnificent Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. It was lovely. The classes were so much fun, I just loved the students. We really just stayed in the resort the entire time and had meals together, too. I loved spending time with Ann Budd, Romi Hill, Clara Parkes and of course, the best event planner around, Cindy Hallam. We laughed a lot.

I took the photo above from my hotel room window.

The highlight for me was the most informative and fun speech by Clara Parkes to end the retreat. She is a delightful and smart speaker. She knows her topic (which is wool!) so well. It was the perfect end to a successful retreat. 

Have a good rest of your week, Knitters. I'll be back soon with more.

xo ~ susan

Weekend Cast On:: Sonora

Hi, Knitters,

The gorgeous new Sonora shawl by Kirsten Kapur has captured my attention and all I can think about is casting one on for myself. Kirsten graciously accepted my invitation to design a shawl for Barrett Wool Co. and when the finished shawl arrived in the mail I could not get enough of it. It is my favorite shawl. The shawl takes 3 skeins of Home Fingering Weight. Two skeins of a main color and one skein of a contrasting color.

The Sonora pattern is on sale for $4.00 right now with the code: SONORA

The code is good on Ravelry and Barrett Wool Co.

The sale is on now through Sunday, April 30, 2017! On May 1, 2017, the pattern price will be set at $5.50. 

Click here for more information or to purchase the Sonora shawl pattern on Ravelry!

Click here for more information or to purchase the Sonora Shawl pattern on Barrett Wool Co.!

Click here for the Home Fingering Weight yarn! Free U.S. Shipping for the purchase of any 3 skeins of yarn on Barrett Wool Co. through Sunday, April 30, 2017! 

Click here to see different Sonora color combinations I pulled together!

We took the shawl to the Grand Canyon with us in hopes of getting a couple good photos to use for the pattern. We got more than a few. The shawl seemed so at home in the setting. It was a blustery day but when we took the photos the wind didn't affect us at all. My son's girlfriend modeled the shawl and she really is a natural in front of the camera. How lucky am I to be surrounded by such wonderful young women in my family? I absolutely love it.

The day was sun-kissed and the beautifully scenic photos only added to the happy mood. 

Kirsten Kapur has some of the most beautiful designs. If you aren't following her you really should. Here are some of her links:

Kirsten's Website, Through the Loops

Kirsten's designs on Ravelry

Kirsten's Instagram

Drop Dead Easy Knits (Kirsten's first book! I have a project in here, too.)

The shawl is worked completely in garter stitch, not a purl to be found. The diamond pattern is done with slipped stitches and uses only one color at a time. I can't wait to try this stitch pattern! It looks like so much fun. Even the lace border is done in garter stitch. Kirsten Kapur is one of my favorite designers because her work is beautiful, fun to knit, and the end result is always stunning and wearable.

Click here to read more about the shawl on the BWC Journal!

This is the perfect spring knitting project! I'm casting on this weekend.... now for what colors to use.

The shawl in the photos is knit in the color Bluff for the main color and Morning Sky for the contrast color. 

Over at Barrett Wool Co., we are so excited to be fully stocked again with our Home Yarn Collection. All of our 100% American Wool in fingering and worsted weight are back in stock.

And just a reminder, we are celebrating by offering free U.S. shipping for any purchase of 3 or more skeins starting now and running through the end of the day on Sunday, April 30, 2017. You don't need a coupon code, the free shipping will be automatically calculated into your order.

Click here for all of the yarns on Barrett Wool Co.!

I'll leave you with this gorgeous photo of the Grand Canyon taken by my son. Indescribable.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy knitting and happy spring to you all.

xo ~ susan

Skating Hat & Barrett Wool Co.wl and more!

Hi, Knitters,

I have so much to share with you all today. 

Thank you for the huge response to my new yarn and pattern line over at Barrett Wool Co. We have had so much fun this week packing orders and hearing from knitters some I've known for many, many years and I've heard from many new friends, too. I really appreciate the support. We feel very excited. And when I say we I mean my oldest son and me. Evan Anderson is my business partner and co-founder of Barrett Wool Co. Some of you may remember Evan from Corcoa a couple of years ago. It was the coaster project to end all coaster projects. Ha! You were all so much fun. It still makes me smile.

If you want to find out more about our new family owned company click here! We have so much planned in the coming months. One thing I want to emphasize on the new website and new blog is that everyone is welcome, all knitting levels, shopping or no shopping, and it is a welcoming place for learning and exploring knitting. 

I have four new patterns which were published this week through my new company, Barrett Wool Co. I am going to spend a little time on here introducing each pattern to you. Today I am starting with the Skating Hat and the Barrett Wool Co.wl.  

First, let me quickly share some links. Please join me and subscribe on these new venues if you are so inclined! I'm going to share tons of tutorials and blog posts and knitting information in general. I'd love to see you there.

Barrett Wool Co. website

Barrett Wool Co. on Instagram

Barrett Wool Co. Ravelry Group

Barrett Wool Co. YouTube Channel

Barrett Wool Co. on Twitter

Let me introduce you to two my new patterns today. The first pattern is called, Skating hat. This is a fun to knit and versatile hat. The pattern offers instructions for both a fingering weight and a worsted weight version. The hat is sized to fit a head from 20 to 23-inches in circumference. This will fit an older child through an adult sized head. 

The photo above is of Mrs. Molly and she is wearing the worsted weight version. 

Click here for more information or to purchase the Skating hat pattern!

Click here for some yarn choices for the worsted weight version! 

The top of the hat is fully-fashioned and carries on with the broken line motif that is in the body of the hat. I love the way it looks. The colorwork is very simple and charted. The motif is an 8 stitch repeat which works out well for hat numbers. 

TC is wearing the fingering weight version of the Skating Hat. It is the exact same colorwork motif as in the worsted weight version only I added in stripes for the background colors. It gives the fabric a different dimension that I love. You could work the entire hat in two colors like the worsted weight version.

You can see that on both hats I added some French Knots in three lines of the motif. I have a new French knot tutorial coming up on our YouTube Channel. Once I mastered how to do a proper French knot I wanted to put them everywhere. You might feel the same way.

Click here to see Home Fingering Weight on Barrett Wool Co.!

Here are the hats side by side, fingering weight on the left, worsted on the right. It is a fun, sweet and quick hat pattern and it's a great place to work on your simple colorwork skills. You are only using two colors at a time on each round. 

And by the way, don't you love those poms? I have a color block pom-pom video tutorial coming soon if you are interested.

And quickly, so you don't miss out the Barrett Wool Co.wl is being offered as a free pattern for signing up to my new newsletter. When you sign up you get an email that includes a download link for the new pattern and a Ravelry free download code so you have the pattern stored in your pattern library. 

I've already posted a new video tutorial for the Fisherman's Rib stitch that is used in this pattern. 

Click here to watch the new video tutorial on YouTube! I have many more of these little tutorials in the works.

Click here to sign up for the Barrett Wool Co. newsletter and get your free pattern!

Click here to see the Barrett Wool Co.wl on Ravelry!

The cowl is squishy and stretchy and can be worn multiple ways as you can see. Plus, the size is easily adjusted. It is a fast and fun project that is a great introduction to the new yarn and the fisherman's rib stitch. You need two skeins in contrasting colors of the Home Worsted Weight yarn.

If you are looking for color combination suggestions here are a few. There are many more that you choose from but these are some of my personal favorites. This project makes the perfect gift for the upcoming holidays.

You can see all of the colors in the worsted weight by clicking right here!

Also, I am adding a new technique option to the Smooth Operator Socks pattern later today. I have figured out a new way to close the gap that occurs on both sides of the heel when you remove the waste yarn to work the afterthought heel. You don't have to pick up ANY stitches to close the gap with this technique! There is no guessing at all and no stitching up after you are done.

Click here for more information or to purchase the Smooth Operator Socks pattern!

I'm calling it the No Pick Up Gap Closer. The new option will be added to the addendum of the pattern. I will be sending out a pattern update for all past pattern purchasers and it will be included for all new pattern purchasers.

The sock in the photo is worked in Barrett Wool Co. Home Fingering Weight yarn in the Humble Gold and Bluff colorways. The needles are from Signature Needle Arts, US size 1/2.25mm, 6-inch length double-pointed needles. The sock blocker is from The Loopy Ewe.

The pattern in the photo is the Smooth Operator Socks with a stitch pattern twist. I am working on a little collection for ways to spice up your socks. This will include some stitch motif, lace, and cable options and more color work fun. This collection won't be out for awhile as this is only my second pair for the collection.

Well, that's a lot of information for today. I will be back with details on the other new patterns but in the meantime if you'd like to check the other two patterns out now....

Click here to see the Baa pattern!

Click here to see the Snowy Pine Shawl!

Both of these pattern use fingering weight yarn and I'll share more details in the days ahead.

I'll be back soon with more. Much love to you all. I heard a rumor that it's supposed to start getting colder around here. I have blooming buds on my geranium plant from last summer that's sitting in the yard, in mid-November! So strange.
xo ~ susan

One Love Shawlette ~ and a sock blank club giveaway!

Hi, Knitters,

I want to quickly announce that I am off to Vogue Knitting Live this weekend in NYC. I am having two book signings for my new book, Kids' Knitting Workshop. One is Friday night about 5:15pm at StevenBe's booth and the second one is 5:15pm on Saturday night at the Knitty City booth! I hope to see any or all of you there if interested. My books will be sold at the booths, too, during the event.

Thank you for the many wonderful comments for my book and yarn giveaway! I read every single comment and loved your stories of learning and teaching and hoping to teach others how to knit. We all have a story and I enjoyed them all. I have randomly selected 10 winners from the comments pool and the winners are....

kimmin121, stripesandpolkadots, zip022, vermilliongirl, fromkersey, Lynette Larkins, GrAnLu, blondie11, bookboxer1, and VCR!

Congratulations to all of the winners! My book publicist, Breanne, will be in touch with you shortly either via Ravelry or through the email address left in your comment. Arrangements will be made at that time for you to receive your prizes. If your name is listed please be checking your Ravelry messages or emails so you can respond to Breanne.

Today I have a super fun new shawlette design to introduce to you and a fun giveaway (information at the end of the post). You can make this shawlette with ANY 100 gram sock blank or sock/fingering weight skein of yarn.  

I knit my new shawlette pattern out of one of Gale's Art's Secret Sock Blanks called, Blue Love. 

Click here to see more information or to purchase the One Love Shawlette on Ravelry! 

I am running a special discount price celebration for the week (the pattern is already marked down, no codes necessary). The pattern is on sale for $4.00 starting today Jan. 11 and will go up to $5.00, the regular price, after January 18, 2016.

Click here to go to Gale's Art on Etsy! The Blue Love Sock Blanks are up for pre-order right now if you are interested.

 The new pattern is called One Love and here is why.... 

One Love Shawlette

One sock blank or one skein, one hundred grams and a one row increase repeat! The word one kept popping up all over the place when I was thinking about a name for this crescent-shaped shawlette. The shawl is knit in a Blue Love single sock blank from Gale’s Art. So I combined the two and One Love it is!

We all have a 100 gram sock blank or skein of fingering weight yarn sitting in our stash. Often times we are not sure what to do with it besides knitting a pair of socks. Well, I have the perfect solution with the One Love Shawlette. As the name implies this shawl takes one 100 gram sock blank or sock skein of yarn. The shawlette couldn’t be any easier to knit. You can either follow your yarn striping pattern as a guide or you can use the specific instructions provided to make a shawl like mine in any type of fingering weight yarn. I’ll share how to do both versions in the pattern.

Finished size: 15-inches in depth, 60-inch wingspan; finished shawlette weighs 99 grams.

Shape: Long-shallow crescent-shape

Yarn: Gale’s ArtSecret Sock Blank (single strand), 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon; 463 yards/100 grams. The sample is made in the Blue Love colorway.

Sock blanks are individual works of art and may be the same colorway but striping will vary due to the artistic nature of the dyeing.

Yarn Note: Any 100 gram sock blank or fingering/sock weight skein will work fine. Also, any striped, variegated or tonal yarn will all work great! If you have more or less yardage you can stop or keep going at any point.

The Blue Love Sock Blank (photo from Gale's Art)!

  

A note on using a sock blank:

I knit the shawlette straight from the Gale’s Art Secret Sock Blank - single strand (Gale has double-strand blanks but you'll want the single-strand for a shawl), unraveling as I worked. The yarn was very kinky while I was knitting, but it smoothed out significantly with a good soak and block when it was finished. However, some of the unevenness does remain in the final shawl. I like this appearance and think it makes for a fun watercolor-like fabric. If you don’t want this look you could unravel the yarn before knitting and make a skein (with lots of ties) to soak and straighten out before starting the shawl. After the smooth yarn is dried wind it into a cake or ball and then begin knitting the shawl. It’s up to you!

Needles: US size 6/4mm, 32-inch circular needle or size to obtain gauge

Gauge: 5.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

Materials:

Yarn needle

Stitch markers

Optional: Scale to weigh yarn in grams for starting the final edging. If you don’t have a scale you can just estimate.

In the pattern I have provided two options of choice in the pattern.

Option 1: Let the yarn be your guide. Gale’s Art Sock Blanks, like the one I used in the sample, are often striped. Instead of following or counting rows, I just changed sections in order every time the color changed until I had a certain amount of yarn remaining to finish off the final border (all details are included in the pattern).

Option 2: Row-by-Row Pattern. I wrote out exactly how many rows/repeats I did of each section, including a row checklist for your counting convenience, if you’d like a more detailed pattern to follow. Every aspect is written out in full-detail, step-by-step.

In progress photo before blocking.

Photo from Gale's Art

Do you remember the Gale's Art Sock Blank Subscription Club that I gave away a few months ago? Click here to see it.  

These three sock blanks would be perfect for a One Love shawlette!! 

Today I am so happy to be offering another chance for one lucky winner to win a 3-month Sock Blank Club subscription for February, March and April! For each of the three months you get a new exclusive sock blank in the mail from Gale. The club membership is worth $99 and the sign-ups are running now through January 15, 2016. Click here for the Gale's Art club information. I'll tell you how to enter at the end of the post.

That's a lot of information I know but here's where you get to enter to win a subscription to Gale's Art Sock Blank Club. The photo above shows the three sock blanks you will receive in February, March and April. They are so beautiful, works of art!

Please leave one comment on this blog post to enter to win the 3-month Sock Blank Club subscription. Please leave your Ravelry username or an email address so we can get in touch if you win. Please only click on Publish one time. There is a delay before you will see your comment appear.

Click here for the One Love shawlette pattern!
Remember the shawlette can be knit with ANY 100 gram skein of sock yarn (mine had 463 yards), not only a sock blank.

Good luck if you enter to win! Thank you, as always, for the support.
Let the comments begin!
xo ~ susan