I’ve been thinking a lot about the great discussion of FREE that I mentioned Thursday on the blog. Essentially, its the idea that by giving away information you create a caring community of people who learn about you and what you have to offer as a crafter. It’s a big part of blogging. We give away information, tutorials, tips, etc. I love reading blogs, and I love creating useful posts. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want my blog to be structured, and I’ve been thinking I’d like to do even more on the tutorial side, too.

One of my other favorite free things to do is interact one-on-one with users of my patterns. Occasionally, but not too often, knitters and crocheters will write me with questions and I enjoy helping them. Often it helps me identify what might be a tricky bit in a pattern, and what might be a concept that I could explain better. So if you would like help or advice on a pattern of mine, please feel free to contact me, via e-mail: (aoh@ipsmedia.com), or ravelry (amyo) or twitter (plainsight). I look forward to hearing from you.

Speaking of free, this is a good bit of the yarn that was sent up by generous Portland yarn dyers for members of Cat Bordhi’s visionary retreat to try out. (Thanks to Leila Wice for taking the picture.) Seeing, touching and working with new yarns is such an important part of the design process. We are all so grateful to the yarn companies who donated the samples.

Last week I was thinking it would be fun to make something valentiney, and then while I was working at The Net Loft, I re-discovered the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted semi-solid colors. This combined with the fact that I’m currently taking a knitting class in designing nordic mittens led me to try out a stranded hat with the new yarn and Valentine theme. I’m considering it a warm-up for the crocheted fair-isle bear sweater I’m about to start. I was out of practice doing crocheted colorwork, and I had to play around a bit with holding the yarn to get a comfortable technique. I ended up holding both colors in the left hand.

I began the hat at the top, and concentrated the increases instead of spiraling them throughout the crown so that I didn’t have to worry about changing colors and increasing at the same time. I also didn’t want obvious increase lines since the color patterning is what should get the attention.

I used the special tapestry crochet graph paper from Carol Ventura’s More Tapestry Crochet to initially chart the hearts. The slanted graph paper shows what the charts look like in crocheted stitches which don’t stack vertically, especially when worked in the round. I then transferred it to standard graph paper so it’s easier to follow while crocheting.

Then after working the heart chart, I worked even to create the rolled brim. (BTW, the mist on the lake behind me? They call that “frozen fog.” Selma and I think the back yard looks like Narnia under the rule of the White Witch.)

I didn’t write a conventional pattern, but I drew out the chart so if you want to make the hat too, you can.

I used a partial skein of skein of Lamb’s Pride in Creme (M-10) and almost the whole skein of Strawberry Smoothies (M-200). My gauge with a 5mm hook was about 4.3 sts per inch. The hat has about a 23″ circumference.

Starting with 6 sts, I doubled in the sts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and again in the 5th. In rnd 9, I increased again in every other st, and in rnd 12 in every 3rd st for a total of 96 sts. I increased once more to 99 sts before beginning the hearts.

The chart represents 1/2 of the hat. So, you’ll continue each pattern row as you began to the end of the round. (The rounds are spiraled, but I’d recommend placing a marker at the beginning, so you can keep track.) The x’s mark the white stitches. Clicking on the chart will take you to its flickr page where you can download a hi-res version.

Like I said, I had to fiddle a bit before getting comfortable again changing colors. I made a little (low-quality) video so you could see what I ultimately ended up doing. It also demonstrates how to yarn over with the new color in the stitch before the color change.

Let me know if you have questions. I’d be happy to answer them. We’re taking a trip to Anchorage with the kids for Valentine’s day. It will be my first time on the ferry in Prince William Sound and I’m looking forward to it. We’ll be seeing the new movie Coraline based on the book by Neil Gaiman that Selma got for Christmas and loved, and we’ll be stocking up on chocolate hard-to-find groceries.

Robyn alerted me to the fact that Detroit Public Television has episodes of Knit and Crochet Today streaming on their web site, including the episode where Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, demonstrates how to crochet my toe-up sock design.

Drew does a great job of showing all the fun parts of sock-making. It was nice to see all of those darn step-outs I made put to use! And the pattern for the socks is still available for free from the Knit and Crochet Today web site.

Today I taught at The Net Loft but instead of working on a teddy varsity jacket like I intended, I felt compelled to create something valentiney. I’m giving myself the rest of the evening to work on it, and if I like the results, I may have a wee love-day gift for you all before the weekend is out.

Just a few days left and the hat and scarf I designed for the Twist Collective will no longer be free! After February 1st, the Elissa hat and scarf will be available for sale on their web site, but until then, you can still download it. (via the Twist blog)

Feel free to Tweet/Retweet this post by simply pasting the following into Twitter:

Countdown for Elissa: Amy (@plainsight)’s hat & scarf pattern available free at Twist Collective only until Feb 1 http://tinyurl.com/alzv5f

Sometimes my designs are inspired by fashion or nature or an idea or problem I want to solve, but sometimes, they are the simple result of harmony between yarn and hook. This cowl is such a design. The quiet undulating texture and soft scalloped edges developed organically as I worked.

Forgive the self-portrait–I had to take the photo while there was still some acceptable level of daylight, and there was no one around but me. This was at noon, but it seems like nearly dusk. The sun is at such a low angle these days, we never get bright sunlight, but the sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.

At TNNA, Eileen and Carl, the owners of Bijou Basin Ranch asked me to come up with a one-skein pattern using their luscious Yak-Cormo yarn. This yarn is a bit thick and thin, and it’s soft and light as a cloud, and extremely warm. It was certainly one of the exciting yarns at this years’ show. Clara wrote about it in her recent TNNA recap. I had first envisioned using it for a lace pattern, but the yarn wanted to be more of a solid fabric. I was chatting with Jess, who helped me wind the yarn in the bar/lobby of my hotel on Saturday night, and she mentioned she had been thinking of a feather and fan cowl which is the idea that eventually lead to the textured stitch you see here.

I checked in with Eileen on Sunday morning, and she liked the direction the cowl was going, so I proceeded, happy to have something non-teddy-bear-related to work on. The plane ride home was all it took to finish, and I put it to the test today. It did a great job keeping me warm in Cordova where it was crisp and in the high twenties today. (It didn’t help me remember that it takes extra time to scrape off the car before going anywhere so I was late to work at the yarn store this afternoon. By the way, nowhere else I have lived have I found frost INSIDE the car. Does anyone else have that issue?)

In the spirit of momentum, I wrote up the pattern today, but I’d love to test it out before releasing it. So, I will give a free draft of the pattern to the first five people who request one in the comments. The pattern uses about 150 yards of fingering (sock or slightly heavier) yarn and a 2.75mm crochet hook (USC). Please don’t ask for the pattern if you don’t think you have time to test it in the next week. Thank you!

I got back Monday night from TNNA with a cold. I’m recovering, and it’s nice to be home. Cordova has noticeably more daylight than when I left. There were hurricane force winds and torrential rain while I was gone that washed away all the snow.  I’m hoping well have more snowfall before winter is over.

TNNA was productive and fun despite people’s fears about poor turnout. The yarn companies I spoke to were feeling optimistic about their place in this tough economy. It seems like people still want to knit and crochet–especially with lovely handcrafted yarns from independent companies–these were the folks who did best.

I’ve been trying to remember to check up on the Knit and Crochet Today web site to find the URL for my Step by Step socks pattern. It’s there now. You can now download the PDF for free.

The new Twist Collective is out. I’m so excited because I’ve been sitting on this little secret since June, and I was losing the ability to keep it to myself: Twist has Crochet! When I met Twist Collective’s Kate Gilbert and Julia Farwell Clay this summer the first thing I thought was “wow.” They were getting ready to launch the first issue of their new magazine and they really had it all together with a fabulous presentation for advertisers and contributors alike. They were passionate about the new publishing model they had constructed and l was pleased when the first issue launched that it looked like they were meeting with success. Of course, when we got to talking, I immediately started asking them about crochet in Twist, and they both were interested and open to giving it a try. We talked about starting with a project that would be accessible and appealing to their mostly knitter audiance. The Elissa Hat and Scarf is made with sock yarn (wonderful squishy sock yarn from Pagewood Farm ). The stitch pattern is simple and fun to learn and easy to memorize. The pattern is being made available free until February 2009.

James grabbed this shot right before I sent the set off back in August. One of the wonderful things about working with Twist, is unlike other publications, I’ll get it back, eventually!

The whole winter issue is full of glorious patterns. I love the felted Heroine coat by Jennifer Lippman Bruno, and the collar and herringbone pattern on Stormsvale by Robin Melanson is dramatic and inspiring. The Gytha hooded pullover looks so wearable and fun to knit; and the I love the patterning of the Postwar Mittens.

I also wrote a short article for the issue, kind or an open letter to knitters who have yet to pick up the hook. (Thanks to the members of SSK for being the inspiration for my article opener!) For most of you dear blog readers, the article is preaching to the converted, but the sentiment, that you need to approach any new skill with a beginners mind and heart (watch a kid learn something new–they are ready for multiple failed attempts before eventual success) has helped me when I need to learn new things, like my recent dip into the waters of spinning.

Wow–I just realized this is the FOURTH Halloween that I’ve been blogging, so I have a bit of goolish content on the blog that it might be nice to revisit.

In 2005, my first year with the blog, I made a crocheted Halloween Treat Bag for a class. You can get the bag on my Ravelry store, but this week only, I’ll e-mail it for free to anyone who leaves me a comment on this post requesting the pattern.

In 2006 we carved a “knit-witch” pumpkin:

Speaking of which–I’m hosting a pumpkin-carving party later this week, and we’re contemplating making our own apple cider I’ll take pictures and report here if we do.

Ghoulish Snacks: Make this easy Halloween snack that jay brought home from preschool last year:

Bake and decorate Halloween Gingerbread Cookies with my recipe from last fall:

And of course, there’s Selma’s Hermione Tie which I made just this weekend:

What are you making this year?