I made this shawl last fall for the new Tension Magazine and it’s finally been released. This narrow shawl was worked in Filatura di Crosa Superior, a very fuzzy cashmere silk that was lovely to crochet. It’s a filet-crochet style pattern that shifts organically from triangles (hence the isoceles) to diamonds (double triangles) and back to triangles at the end. It’s been a season of shawls. I have had three in the works for most of the winter, and now they’re all finally done and will be released in one form or another over the coming months.

Before I sent off my shawl, I got my friend Erica to model it for me. Here’s another one:

You can find all of this chilly photoshoot in the slideshow below. Luckily the Orca Books, where we finished up, has hot coffee!

If you haven’t been sucked into the world of vampire fiction, you can just consider my newest pattern something sweet for Valentine’s day and spring.

$4.00

This scarf celebrates my love of hearts and my love of vampire fiction–especially Charlaine Harris’ novels, The Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries. Sookie sometimes wears a little scarf around her neck the morning after an encounter with her vampire-amour Bill. I thought, in February it’s even cold in Louisiana, and she might like something with a little warmth. I know I would. So this bandana-esque scarf was born.

Fold the scarf and wear the point in the front, side or back. Worn close around the neck, the scarf will keep you warm and hide any little “love bites.”

The scarf was made using center increases which gives it a nice diamond-y shape and the hearts are simple fillet-crochet designs, which can be easily memorized once you’ve tried the chart out once.

We’ve been in Anchorage for the weekend attending the Folk Festival there, we performed and jammed and generally had a good time making music. We got back last night and I’ve spent the day un-packing and re-packing because tomorrow I leave for Friday Harbor to attend Cat Bordhi’s Visionary Retreat. I’m excited to be returning and working more on self-publishing. There are going to be some great knitters and writers in attendance this year, some who I’ve met before and some who I only know online. I can’t wait to meet and work with everyone.

GRANNIES!!!!!!!!!! This is how Julie Holetz and I have felt lately talking about granny squares.  Julie and I are working on a new project: A small book of granny square and granny inspired projects that will have you running for your hooks and your scraps of yarn.

What is it about grannies that are so appealing? Maybe it’s because they’re small, self-contained and take only a few minutes to make each one. They allow you to play with color.

“Grantastic” by ChocolateGirl64 on Flickr CC, some rights reserved.

We’ve been brainstorming and coming up with ideas and trying to limit ourselves because the possibilities are endless. So I’ve been thinking a lot about how granny squares are designed and I thought I’d share a bit of my process here.

First the important bit: Granny Squares are not *really* squares. When you’re making a granny square, you’re working in the round and your artfully placed chain spaces determine the ultimate shape of the thing. (Note in the photo above, that the first two rounds are, indeed, round, but the ultimate motif is square).

You can design your own granny squares! You just need to be consistent. Just like when you’re working a hat in the round, making a granny square involves using a consistent number of increases. In a traditional granny square, like the one in the chart below, there are 20 new stitches per round.

So, if you wanted to play around with the look of the square–you could alter the arrangement of the stitches and chain spaces as long as you kept the number of stitches and the rate of increase consistent.

A first round like this one:

Establishes the corners right away, but one like this:

Would work just as well. Sort of like this one:

The way they get to square is by concentrating the increases in the corners in the final few rounds.

I love how this one by KnittyCent turns the square on its side, then back again.

Julie is working on a great post about planning the arrangement of your squares in a project. Stay tuned to the Skamama blog to see it.

Yesterday we got a huge dump of wet, wet snow, the city almost shut down which is saying a lot for Cordova. The snow removal machines (And James who seems to be constantly shoveling our BIG driveway) have had a very hard time keeping up. Snow keeps falling off the roof (roofalanche!) and piling up in front of our windows,  so we get a lot less light in the house during our short days, but the view outside is very pretty now that its gotten a little colder and the snow has slowed. I’m just hoping everything is cleaned up by the time we fly out on Sunday.

Meanwhile, even in the thick of the snowstorm people were out in droves walking through the foot-deep slush in town shopping and generally having a good time. The Net Loft was busy yesterday and several friends stopped by and we did some exchanging of gifts. I gave my friend Angela a little Noro scarflette like the one I made myself back in May.

Angela gave ME this adorable little handmade doll by an Alaskan artisan. The doll is a weaver and has a little in progress basket in her hands. She’s also wearing a Kuspuk which is a traditional native Alaskan garment.

I haven’t mailed this little scarf yet, and the recipient may or may not be reading this blog post, (I hope she likes it when she gets it!) but Colleen was kind enough to model it for me. The scarf is made using the snowflake garland pattern from Red Heart, I made it with Brown Sheep Bulky and a USM hook, and added the tassels at the end.

Finally, I re-discovered this custom colorway of Three Irish Girls Gallenas at The Net Loft on Wednesday, and had to get it to make some small ornaments for gifts. This is the heart from simplebeans.

I hope you’re all finding a little time to crochet during these busy weeks. I’ve been saving this skein of handspun from Blonde Chicken Boutique since I bought it last spring. I’m thinking of making my Elsinore Woods Scarf [Ravelry Link] with it this evening if I get the chance. The scarf pattern is in the latest issue of Inside Crochet (issue #5).

One of the fun things about this project is finding out about new blogs and web sites that I haven’t seen before. I found out about today’s snowflake ornament from someone on Twitter. She pointed me to the blog, Attic24–written by a wonderful British crocheter with a love for granny squares. She has a step-by-step tutorial for this snowflake which she originally discovered on the Red Heart web site.

Here are Lucy’s snowflakes from Attic24:

(Photo from attic24.com)

The Red Heart Snowflakes began as a garland–I was teaching at The Net Loft today, and taught a young girl to make the garland version out of Brown Sheep Bulky–she whipped out a pile of them in a jiffy, and they join as you go–fun!

(Photo, from redheart.com)

I made two today in different sizes with the Jaimeson, but I’ll need to photograph it tomorrow, it was already too dark here at 3:3o when I left work!

I guess I still have hats on the brain. I’ve been trying to finish a lovely lace shawl, but it’s a little slow going, and I got sidetracked on Wednesday. It was James and my 14th anniversary, and I wanted to make him something even though he’s not here. I’m leading a knit-along next week on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Maltese Fisherman’s Hat (from the Knitter’s Almanac), and I thought it would be good for me to have made one before helping others through it, so I chose to make that for James. (Shh… don’t tell!) It is a bit of a silly hat (I’m kind of a fan of silly hats), but quite warm and practical around here with the ear-flap-neck-warmer. And, everyone in town who’s seen it so far has wanted one, which either says something about the weather here or our collective taste in head-wear. Or both.

Here’s my friend Erica modeling the hat.

The hat is constructed beginning with the ear-flap neck warmer piece, which is shaped with short rows. Then you cast on a few extra stitches for the front and start working in the round.

Elizabeth calls her instructions pithy, and they are. Hardly line-by-line, they take up about a paragraph. I love this about EZ patterns-you still get to think a bit.

I made the hat in the pattern gauge, but in the knit-along I’ll teach how to make it using any weight of yarn, figuring a new cast on, short-row details, etc.

The pattern ends, “make the tassel of your dreams.” That’s about my favorite knitting instruction ever.

Well, this hat actually isn’t new. It’s been in the wholesale catalog for the Stitch Cooperative for some time, but somehow I didn’t realized I never released it as a retail pattern. So here it is! I designed this pattern last year and my friend Lisa knit the sample for me. It’s become my favorite hat. I love that it’s loose enough to wear without smooshing my hair, and the bright red color makes me seem more awake and alert on chilly Cordova mornings. Here’s my friend Heidi modeling the hat last year back in Maryland.

The cool ruching affect is achieved by dramatically increasing and decreasing the stitch count as you work the hat. I’ve been thinking about making one in blue. I have a skein of Hazel Knits in a light aqua that would do the trick. Ironically, while I was putting together this post, I got a call from my friend Lisa who knit the hat saying, Hey, I’d like to make that hat again, do you still have the pattern? So it must be the right time to release it.

The details: Knit with one skein of Pagewood Farm Chugiak Handyed Sock yarn (100% merino, 450 yards/5.5 oz) using size 2 and size 3 circular needles. Gague 23sts/4 in. in stockinette st. with larger needles.

Finished Measurement: Hat Circumference, 22″ at brim. The hat has a loose fit.

$5.00

Downloadable PDF

This pattern is available as a downloadable file in PDF format. To read this file, you will need appropriate software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free here.

By purchasing this pattern, you are granted a limited license to download the pdf file to a single personal computer and to print out a hard copy of the pattern, solely for personal non-commercial use. Any other use, including commercial reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission or republication, without prior written permission from Amy O’Neill Houck is strictly prohibited, and is a violation of intellectual property rights. Garments created from this pattern are not to be produced for commercial purposes, nor are they to be made into items for sale.

Because everyone should get a little treat on tax day, and because I wore Waltz the other day and renewed my love for it, I think you should have one too.  Therefore, for today only, Waltz is only $2.00. Enjoy!

Waltz is cozy, and lightweight, stretchy and lacy all at once. It’s flattering and fun to wear. It’s worked in fingering-weight organic O-Wool 2-ply yarn, (sock yarn would be a great substitute, and would require just 2 skeins, most likely). The pattern is sized from 32″ – 44″. I used a 3.5mm hook.

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.