When I received this yarn support in the mail it was one of those love/hate things. The colors are loud and amazing and fabulous – my inner yarnie screamed with delight. But my inner designer was afraid. How do you take something this awesome and this variegated and not turn it into a pooling muddy mess?

The answer was surprisingly simple. Chevrons to the rescue. Sideways chevrons to be exact.

They break up pooling and add cute little stripey bits and pieces.

And the simple lace edging isn’t obscured by the riot of color.

And you end up with some quite wearable and vaguely Missoni-ish. Long and narrow with a gentle crescent shape that makes it easy to wrap up in.

Needles: Size 6 needles (4.0 mm)

Yarn: 400 yards of fingering weight yarn, sample is shown in Dyeabolical Yarns Strong Arm Skinny in Flower Shop Inferno.

Gauge: 18 stitches and 20 rows = 4 inches in blocked chevron

Sizes: 72″ wide and 16″ deep

The Vittorio Shawlette is available to purchase for $6.00 USD

A long time ago Woolgirl contacted me about doing a sock club pattern for her. Let me just say, working for Woolgirl is awesome. She sends me gorgeous yarns to work with and she always has the neatest themes going for her clubs. Anytime she comes asking, I say yes! And if you haven’t had  a Woolgirl club package, well you are missing out. It’s not a pattern and a skein of yarn. It’s all the fixings. She finds the most amazing people and each package has different little extras, all geared towards the theme and always amazing.

So last winter she sent me this:

This being some Smooth Merino Fine from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks. Beautiful, yes? So soft and so pretty. The colorway is based upon the descriptions of the book, and in the book Munchkinland is decidedly blue. So I got some of that, and I sent her back some of this:

This being the Munchkinland Sock. I wanted something a little different. I didn’t want a plug and play sock, so this sock is chart heavy. There are written instructions too, but trust me, it’s easier to use the charts. It’s got all sorts of details that make me happy. Like the way the patterning comes to a point on the instep:

And the way the lace pattern extends all the way to the back of the heel. These are great socks to wear with clogs:

There is no heel flap, no short-row heel. The gusset has an insert panel that does all the increasing for you so everything stays all pretty and organic:

And here’s the beauty part. The skein of yarn that you see below? It’s an extra! An extra that I’m giving away to launch the public release of the Munchkinland socks patterns. And sadly, Kitchen Sink Dyeworks is out of business, so this is like a collector’s item! All you have to do to be entered to win is comment with your favorite Wizard of Oz character.

So comment to enter, and you could win this skein of Munchkinland Sock Yarn, and a copy of the Munchkinland sock pattern. The winner will be chosen on Monday, March 19th. Or pick up a copy of the Munchkinland Sock pattern, which is now available for purchase. The details:

Needles: Size 2 needles (2.75 mm)

Yarn: 400 yards of fingering weight yarn, sample is shown in Kitchen Sink Dyeworks Smooth Merino Fine, 100% Superwash Merino – 400 yards

Gauge: 30 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in stockinette in the round

Sizes: Small/Medium (64 st) and Medium/Large (72 st)

Munchkinland Socks are available to purchase for $6.00 USD

This one is a long time coming. Like over a year long. For Christmas of 2010 (!!!) I decided to knit hats for the teacher presents. For two of the teachers I knew exactly what colors to knit them in – FSU (Scarlet & Gold) and UF (Blue & Orange). I came up with some design ideas and got to work. The other teachers were a bit harder, I actually had to research their alma maters to figure it all out. The night before the last day of school before Christmas break I literally stayed up all night finishing the last hat for my older’s son teacher. That day a night came home that the teacher was quitting mid year and wouldn’t be back. Couldn’t someone have told me that *before* I pulled an all-nighter?

I did four different designs, and only one of them did I truly, truly love. So I grabbed my FSU leftovers and knit up a Gryffindor hat sample:

And then I realized how I could make it better. So I broke out my leftover Gator colors and went to town. The end result is my favorite version of all:

I love the stripes, I love the purl ridges, I love the little contrast color “flowers”. I just love it. I want to make a hundred of them.

And the beautiful part of this is that you can use any colors you like. Any fandom will do – sports, sci-fi, college, or just your two favorite colors. Honestly I am totally itching to make one for myself in red and turquoise. I’m at that point where I think just about everything should be red or turquoise or some combination thereof.

So just in time for March Madness, and with a sale price of $4.50 while the madness goes on, I present the Fangirl Hat:

Needles: Size 7 needles (4.5 mm) – 16″ circulars and dpns

Yarn: Cascade 220 – 70 (80, 90) yards of EACH color

Gauge: 18 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in stockinette in the round

Sizes: Small (18.5″), Medium (20″), and Large (22.5″) – all circumferences are unstretched

The Fangirl Hat is available to purchase for $4.50 USD  

Something old
Something new
Something borrowed
Something blue
And a sixpence in her shoe

Ok, so she’s not wearing any shoes. But she does have a Sixpence Shawlette wrapped around her shoulders. This project was so much fun. The lovely bride was knitting up some Kataras for her bridesmaids and I told her I would be honored to design a wedding shawlette for her in exchange for some pictures.

We actually even had a “client” meeting. Ok, we met at Panera. And had lunch. And I showed her stitch dictionary elements I thought she might like. It was totally a professional meeting. Um, ok. It was lunch with a friend and we talked about knitting. Wait, that covers most of my lunches. Are all my meals with friends tax deductible?

The shawlette is worked from side to side with a stockinette body. The top edging is simple and the bottom more ornate – per her request. It’s worked to be a bit shallow so it doesn’t obscure the back of her dress too much.

And it’s available now on Ravelry.

Needles: Size 6 needles (4 mm)

Yarn: The Sanguine Gryphon’s Little Traveler

Gauge: 20 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in blocked stockinette

Notes: Worked from side to side – offered in written & charted format.

Sixpence Shawlette – $6.00 USD