Round Table Yarns sale

For the whole "Black Friday" weekend, I'm offering 25% off orders of in-stock yarn at Round Table Yarns. Visit the shop and use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY2015 to save!''

I love packing up yarn and sending it on its way to its new home and hope to get to do that a lot more this weekend!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Varian Brandon

If you are at all interested in stranded colorwork, you have to check out Varian Brandon. It's her passion and specialty and she does it so well! Whether you want to try out a smaller accessory pattern or a larger garment, Varian has you covered.

How about her Blue Flame Cowl to get you started?

© Varian Brandon

Or maybe the Knights Banner mitts or matching cowl. (I had to pause at this point in my writing and buy the cowl pattern.)

© Varian Brandon

Or if you wanted a larger project to really work on that stranded technique, how about a men's vest? Eastlake Revisited

© Varian Brandon

Or be really adventurous and try something like the Wilkins sweater. Here's a closeup--the colorwork is throughout the sweater. Beautiful!

© Varian Brandon

Just imagine the possibilities and the color choices that could be made with any of these patterns!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Libby Jonson

Libby Jonson is a designer from New Zealand. Along with designing knitting patterns, she is the creative mind behind the Truly Myrtle Handmade Newsletter, which is really a "mini-mag" that contains a ton of useful and helpful information. I really enjoy receiving each newsletter, so I highly recommend signing up!

As for her knitting patterns, I picked my favorite three to feature here, but truly I like all of them. I think that for these, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Rattan Shawl

© Truly Myrtle

Reminisce

© Truly Myrtle

Big Dotty

© Truly Myrtle

I'm definitely adding these to my queue!

Finally, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the States!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on C.C. Almon

C.C. Almon and I have several things in common. She was born in the town where I now live (although she lives across the ocean now). And we're both fans of Doctor Who and other geeky fandoms. So I love the inspiration behind so many of her patterns.

She has a whole series of Doctor Who inspired socks. From the Come Along Pond Socks to the Socks for Ten, I don't know which ones I'd want to start with!

© C.C. Almon / JavaPurl Designs

If you're not a Doctor Who fan, don't despair. C.C. has a couple of other fandoms covered, from Firefly/Serenity (Also I Can Kill You With My Brain Socks) to Outlander (Lady of Lallybroch Socks).

Not into any fandoms? No worries. C.C. has a collection of coffee-inspired socks for you. I think my favorites are the I Love You More Than Pumpkin Spice Socks.

Not into socks? Try Round, Round, Get Around Shawl or Striations.

Definitely a designer to check out and keep an eye on. By the way, she has a really fun podcast that she does with her daughter, called Geeky Girls Knit.

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Jill Wolcott

Jill Wolcott is both a knitwear designer and a teacher, and her patterns show it. If there's any part of a pattern that you're not familiar with, Jill has probably created a tutorial for it. Just take a look through the Techniques Library and the How-to Videos on her website! She also has a class available through Craftsy on picking the perfect stitch pattern, so be sure to check that out as well.

So when you knit one of Jill's patterns, you're getting a lot more than just "simple" instructions. Take a look at her example pattern in the Content of Patterns page on her website. So her patterns may seem like they are expensive, but there is a reason for the higher price since you're getting a lot more with that pattern purchase.

So which of Jill's patterns grab my attention the most?

First up is Roundhill, which is a pattern for cuffs. But "cuffs" doesn't really do this design justice. Look at those ruffles. Those cables. These cuffs are delicate and seem so soft yet warm.

© Jill Wolcott Knits

And if you have a little one to knit for, you've got to check out St. George's Baby Hat. So cute! Or if you want to make something other than a garment or accessory, try the Sand Pillow.

I'm going to go explore more of Jill's website. So much excellent information there!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Mindy Wilkes

Two things spring to mind when I think of designer Mindy Wilkes: I love her logo and I need to knit a Holden someday. Holden is one of those runaway hit patterns with thousands of projects (over 8500). Its original version used to be free, but Mindy has since added multiple sizes and other options so the pattern is now available for purchase.

And I think this year's GAL is time for me to finally make my own Holden. I'm going to be using some yarn that has been sitting in my stash for ages (since 2007 or 2008): Spindle City Yarns Handpainted Sock Yarn in the In the Navy colorway.

Mindy has a number of pretty shawl patterns as well as some cowls. I'm thinking several more of those are going into my queue!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Karen Whooley (knit and crochet)

I focused on a crochet designer yesterday, and I'm doing the same today. Karen Whooley is primarily a crochet designer, although she does have a couple of knitting patterns as well. She is also a teacher and has a couple of crochet classes on Craftsy, including a new one for crocheting bags.

Although crochet is a craft of its own, I enjoy seeing places where crochet and knitting meet, such as in Karen's Fair Isle Fingerless Mitts since I usually think of Fair Isle as a knit-specific technique (note: this particular pattern is available in a book, not as a Ravelry download).

But, for me, Karen excels with two types of patterns: shawls and socks. And yes, crochet socks!

Shawls
Karen has patterns for shawls that are knit, such as the pretty Dahlia Shawl:

© 2015 KRW Knitwear Studio

And at the same time, she designs lovely crochet shawls, such as the Tanglement Shawl.

© 2015 Karen Whooley / KRW Knitwear Studio

Socks
Like I said before, I don't crochet, so I'm not sure how popular crochet sock designs are, but Karen has made some great entries into the crochet sock world. From basic crochet socks--Toe-Up Socks--to patterns socks--Cassandra Socks--Karen has your feet covered. (She's actually giving the sock patterns facelifts right now, so they may not be available at the moment, but keep them in the mind for the future!)

© 2011 KRW Knitwear Studio

Maybe someday these crochet designers will inspire me to try crocheting again. It's nice to see what other things are possible with yarn!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Tanja Osswald (crochet)

Although Tanja Osswald does have some patterns for knitting, she mostly works with crochet. But I have to admit that her fingerless mitt patterns really make me wish I knew how to crochet (I took a beginning crochet class once and tried it for a while but just never felt comfortable with it).

I mean, seriously, how awesome does Wanderwellen look?

Copyright Tanja Osswald

Or Comet?

Copyright Tanja Osswald

And I know that owl cables are used in knitting quite a bit, but look at these super cool crochet owl mitts: Consider Owls!

Copyright Tanja Osswald

But for those of you, like me, who don't crochet, Tanja does have one knitting pattern for some awesome mitts: Mohnteilchen (which is a knitted version of the crochet version of Himbeerwellen). It looks like there are some new things to learn to do this pattern, and I do see some project pages where knitters used two colors (which is what I really love about Tanja's designs), so perhaps at some point I'll attempt to make these myself.

Copyright Tanja Osswald

I've focused on the mitts in this post because that's what really drew my attention, but Tanja does quite a few other types of accessories such as hats and shawls, so even if fingerless mitts aren't your thing, if you crochet, you should definitely check out the rest of her patterns. And if you don't crochet, maybe Tanja's patterns will inspire you to learn!

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Joeli's Kitchen

When I was first looking around for a tech editor, Joeli's name came up quite a bit. Not only is she a fabulous tech editor, but she also has developed courses for those who want to become a tech editor or learn more about tech editing.

But Joeli is also a fabulous designer. Her designs focus on knits for the whole family that bring about a feeling of comfort. I especially love her sweaters for little guys (since I have one of those!), such as Mud Pie Pullover, Foxy Loxy Jumper (oh my gosh, how cute is this one!?), Gooseberry Pie (this is the one I'd most likely knit for Luke), Pepo Pie (such a darling vest!), and Everyday Sweets Pullover.

But I'm thinking that for this year's GAL, I might make Cherry Rascal. This looks like a fun hat that would be a quick knit. I have some pink Malabrigo Merino Worsted that would be quite nice for this hat. And I do need another hat as a teacher gift. I'm not 100% decided, but I've just added this to my queue, so I'm thinking it needs to happen.

So if you haven't already, check out Joeli's designs since you're likely to find something for anyone on your gift list.

Indie Design GAL: Spotlight on Clare Devine

I've scheduled this post so that it goes live right at the moment when the GAL starts. (Not sure what I'm talking about? Refer to this post for more information.) I'm hoping that at that moment, or very shortly thereafter, I'll be casting on my first project for the GAL, a gorgeous hat designed by Clare Devine.

Clare is a knitwear designer with a number of lovely patterns in her portfolio. Earlier this year, she launched The Tea Collection, an eBook with 13 patterns inspired by teas from around the world. Mostly hats, the collection contains beautiful photographs (I mean, really beautiful photographs!) and some nicely designed hats.

Although I like quite a few of the patterns in this collection, the one that really stands out to me is Peppermint Leaves, most likely because of the exquisite top of the hat.

Photo copyright Clare Devine. Used with permission.

Isn't that just fantastic? I'm going to be using Dream in Color Everlasting DK in the Grow colorway, which has been in my stash for almost three years. It's all wound up and ready to go as soon as the event begins. (Well, I have to buy the pattern first as it's part of the GAL sale which doesn't start until the event begins.)

You should take a look at some of Clare's other patterns. Besides hats, she's got socks and cowls and shawls, so lots of great gift ideas within her patterns.

Indie Design Gift-A-Long

Have you heard about the Indie Design Gift-a-long over on Ravelry? I participated in it last year, both as a designer and a knitter, and it was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to joining in again this year. Here are the basic details:

What is it? For 6 weeks, craft-a-long with other knitters and crocheters to work with patterns from indie designers, with a focus on getting your holiday crafting done.
When is it? Thursday, November 19th through the New Year's Eve party, Thursday, December 31
Are patterns on sale? Yes! Each participating designer will put 5-20 of their self-published patterns on sale for 25% off to kick off the event. The sale will run from November 19-27.
Which patterns are eligible for the GAL? Any pattern by any participating designer, whether or not the pattern is part of the sale.
Why would I want to join the GAL? Why wouldn't you? But in case you need more encouragement, here are just five possible reasons:
1. Find hundreds of patterns on sale at the start of the event.
2. Be encouraged to get through your holiday crafting by posting your progress and being inspired by the other participants.
3. Discover new-to-you designers.
4. Win prizes! Each participating designer donates coupon codes for free patterns in their Ravelry store and those are given away throughout the event. Participants also donate other physical prizes, such as yarn and books.
5. Have tons of fun! Not only is there a lot of lively discussion, there are also games to play, such as the Name That Designer game.

Okay, I'm convinced. How do I join the fun? Go to the Indie Design GAL group on Ravelry and become a member. There's a thread in the group that explains the rules of the GAL. You can view a thread with the participating designers here, which includes a photo collage for each designer so you can get a feel for the type of patterns you might find in that designer's portfolio. Here's mine:

The event kicks off today at 8 PM US EST. I'm going to go write another post talking about the first pattern I'll be knitting and then I'll be posting throughout the GAL with suggested patterns that catch my eye.