Another month, another pattern release, and this one is a cowl. I haven't designed a cowl worked flat for quite a while, and this one was inspired by the handspun yarn used to make the pattern sample. I wanted something that wouldn't compete with the colours. I had dyed the fibre myself before spinning it into DK weight yarn. It was my first time working with BFL fibre and it's so soft I wanted something I could wear against my skin. It needed a simple but effective stitch pattern that would work well with the subtle colour changes and this stitch pattern fit the bill perfectly.

The cowl begins with a provisional cast-on and is worked flat for the required length before the cast-on is unpicked and the two ends grafted together. (You could also work a three-needle cast-off if you like but that would form a seam.)
Don't worry, I don't wear the cowl like that in the street!
You can find Porthole Windows in my Ravelry store.

New pattern launched this week on Ravelry! Find it here!www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leave-me-alone

My latest shawlette pattern just went live on Ravelry and will be up on LoveKnitting.com within the next day or so (the delay is at their end!). Little Green Frog is meant for a lace knitter with some experience as there is patterning on both wrong side as well as right side rows.

Naming patterns is always the trickiest bit for me, and the name of this one came from the fact that the yarn was repurposed from another scarf design which never made it to publication. The original scarf I made from it was a triangular one, predominantly mesh with a floral motif along one side, and it was very pretty but totally unwearable due to the dimensions of the triangle. It languished on a shelf for nearly three years before I decided that the yarn was too lovely to leave in a scarf I would never wear, so I unravelled it. Or "frogged" it, from the sound of saying 'rip it, rip it, rip it'!
One day I might rework that mesh and floral scarf with better dimensions, as the concept is still one I like. It just wasn't the right shape.

About a week ago, Ravelry launched a new theme. It was a total overhaul of its appearance on-screen and there has clearly been a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff gone on to make it work. Unfortunately, since it launched, it has been causing problems for some users.
For me, it just seems overly bright, and the graphics are not to my personal taste. Neither of those are big issues for me. However, the brightness, the colour contrast, and some moving images have caused a massive headache - literally, people have had migraines triggered. And worse, a few people have had seizures triggered. 
As a temporary fix, it is possible to toggle back and forth between "old" Ravelry and "new" Ravelry but users need to be able to log in to switch and some people can't even safely do that.
For the majority who can successfully continue to use Ravelry in whichever format they prefer, my patterns are available there.
For those who cannot, you can also find my patterns at LoveKnitting.com (which is also accessed at LoveCrafts.com). Unfortunately they do not support e-books, and some of my newer patterns still need to be uploaded so please bear with me.
​You can find my patterns here!!
Hopefully, Ravelry will sort its issues very soon so that everyone can enjoy the site safely, but meanwhile, if you can't access my patterns there, there is an alternative available for you.

I just launched my latest pattern, Tidy Vines, on Ravelry (and soon to be on LoveKnitting.com as well). The evolution of this one was surprisingly easy. I had seen the lace stitch pattern in a stitch dictionary and thought it would be a perfect edging for something but didn't know what. Then I saw the skein of fingering weight Polwarth yarn on an Etsy shop (scruffydogeco, although their yarn listings are few at the moment) and my brain put the two together and put the image of the scarf in my mind's eye. It was then a pretty easy task to just knit what my imagination saw!
The lace pattern is pretty easy to memorise, which makes this great for on-the-go knitting, and it works up really fast if you need a quick gift from a single skein of yarn.

It's been a while, but my first pattern of 2020 has just gone live on Ravelry. Spend Time With A Friend was designed for my own handspun yarn but it works just as well with commercial yarn, although I would use something either solid, semi-solid, or with wide stripes as the lace stitch pattern would be lost in a multi-coloured yarn. That lace stitch is original, inspired by the word "Friend" which is where the pattern name comes from. You can find the pattern clicking through the link above or through the photo.

November is here, it must be time for the GiftALong again! Back for its seventh year, the Ravelry Indie Design GiftALong is a series of make-alongs, chatter, and prizes, to get you ready for the holidays. I'm taking part as a designer for the sixth time. The Giftalong starts tomorrow (November 26th) but the fun has started already so if you want to join in, you can find the Ravelry group here!

The use of this stitch pattern for socks was somewhat serendipitous. The lace pattern is another of my original ones, designed using the letters of the word Power, but it was designed the other way up. It was only once I had knitted up a swatch that I realised that, if I turned it upside down, the motifs came together to form little heart shapes. They look so cute on socks.

The design uses the Strong heel again. It's a short row heel which I find a really good fit and it isn't difficult or fiddly to work. I've used it on other socks and really like it. 

Time marches on apace. I can't believe it's April already, where is this year going?!
Anyway, after a slow start to the year, I've just (literally, just clicked the "activate" button on Ravelry) launched the third pattern in my Affirmation collection. Believe and Focus joins her sisters, Achievement (top) and Strong (middle) as the third in my collection of patterns based on positive words. 

The Believe and Focus shawlette is a variation on a triangular shawl, with a wide central spine that helps it to stay on the shoulders. The two lace patterns are both original, and included in the pattern in both charted and written form so you can choose your preference.

Believe and Focus is my favourite of the three, but I still think the best is to come. I do like a lace shawl and there's a great one included in this collection.
There's also a pair of socks. I haven't designed socks for a while but the pattern on these seemed to cry out to be socks, and they suit the red yarn I used so well. I've just opened a test knit in my Ravelry group for them and the pattern should be available next month.

Well, the 2018 Gift-along is in full swing over on Ravelry. It's the sixth annual event, and my fifth time as a participating designer (and crafter too, I can't resist!).

I'm currently working on Filoplume by Bex Hopkins, and I'm about a third of the way through this scarf. So far so good!

I also just launched my last pattern for 2018. Inspired by the basalt columns of the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, Causeway Road is a unisex hat pattern sized from Toddler right up to Large Adult, but the stretchy ribbed fabric is pretty forgiving size-wise if you're not sure what size to make it as a gift.

This one will be going to my father-in-law, if my husband or son don't claim it first! I've also made myself one in multicoloured handspun yarn but since that's predominantly pink I think it's safe from the male members of the household!