Saturday, February 27, 2010
Free Pattern: Auto Pilot Cowl!
With the help of my awesome pattern testers, the pattern for the Auto Pilot Cowl is now available! If you're on Ravelry, it's available as a free download. For those not on Ravely, here's the pattern:
Auto Pilot Cowl
By Kala Hotakainen
The Auto Pilot Cowl takes advantage of my favorite crochet stitch, the half double crochet. Once you get going on this easy cowl, it’s nothing but smooth auto pilot crocheting, making it perfect to work on while you watch a movie or hang out with friends! This cowl is also quick to crochet, making it perfect for last minute gift giving. Not that any of you would wait until the last minute, right? :)
Materials:
Yarn: 1 skein of Berroco Comfort (50 % nylon/ 50 % acrylic/120 yards/ 193 meters) in Agean Sea (color # 9753)
Hook: Size I (5.5mm)
Gauge: 3 stitches to the inch worked in hdc.
Abbreviations used: ch – chain, sts - stitches, hdc – half double crochet, hdc-tbl – half double crochet through the back loop, fo – fasten off
Size: Average woman
Instructions:
Loosely ch 60 stitches. It's very important to chain loosely, if you chain tightly the cowl may be a challenge to get over your head.
Row 1: Starting in the 2nd ch from hook, work a row of hdc - 59 sts.
Row 2: Ch 2, turn, and work another row of hdc.
Row 3: Ch 2, turn, and work one row of hdc-tbl. This is the right side of your cowl.
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the cowl measures about 6 inches tall or until desired height is reached.
FO, leaving a long tail for seaming.
Using the yarn tail from the end of the cowl, join the short ends of the cowl with a whipstitch.
Weave in all ends and block if desired. I didn’t block my cowl, but you may wish to block yours.
©Kala Hotakainen of vegancraftastic.blogspot.com. This pattern is for personal use only, this pattern or items from this pattern may not be sold, thanks!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Ravelympics FO: Auto Pilot Cowl
I actually finished this cowl before the sweater but it somehow escaped being blogged about! This was for the Designer Original Dance event, I designed this super easy crocheted cowl and it's being tested as we speak so look out soon for the release announcement. It's going to be a free pattern and I promise it really is super simple, even for the crochet impaired :) I used a skein of Berroco Comfort that I had leftover from my Tree Jacket, I really love this yarn for crochet, I think I'd only knit with it before this. So is everyone wrapping up their Olympic knitting or are you frantically trying to finish before the games are over ?
-Kala
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
FO: Purple Pirate Liesl!
I finished my main Ravelympics project last night:
It's Liesl! I really like how it came out, I can't wait for spring so I can wear it out with my spring dresses (note to self: get more spring dresses). For now, I can wear it over a long sleeved tee or turtleneck and it looks pretty snazzy (yup, snazzy!)
The pattern was great, very easy to follow with a lovely layout, I totally recommend it. I did the 38" bust size and after some really aggressive blocking it fits nicely. I actually blocked it twice, the first time vertically and then horizontally and that seems to work with this yarn. The yarn in question is Knit Picks Comfy Bulky and it was great to work with, very soft and easy of the hands. The colorway is Blackberry and from the website, it looks like they're discontinuing it, too bad because it's a great dark purple! I'm also in love with the buttons I used:
For locals, these great buttons are from either Treadle or Borealis, they sell them at both places but I don't remember where I bought them, it was a while ago.
The only real change I made to the pattern was in the sleeves. I didn't want either long sleeves or lacey cap sleeves so I just did 5 rounds of stockinette after picking up the armpit stitches. I bound off with the k2tog bindoff and that made for a finished but stretchy edge. Anyway, yay for finishing!
-Kala
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Ravelympics FO: Korknisse
I finished another little project for the Ravelympics (got Team Vegan!):
I've been wanting to make these cute little cork gnomes for quite a while but the Ravelympics finally pushed me to do it. The pattern is super easy, although I had to rework it quite a bit for sock yarn. I used some leftover Panda Cotton and Panda Soy for these little guys, they're going to make really cute holiday decorations :)
-Kala
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Ravelympics Update
Liesl is coming along nicely, I'm pretty far down the body, the problem is deciding how long I want it to be. I used a long enough circular needle that I don't have to put the sweater on scrap yarn to try it on and that's been great, I'll do that again for sure. So I wouldn't get project fatigue, I decided to also do some small projects for the Ravelympics, so far I have one cowl done:
It's yet another Slippity Do Da Cowl, this time time I used 2 skeins of Bamboozle, one in Roses and one in Burgundy. Actually, it used much less than one ball of each.
I'm setting an informal goal to finish the body of Liesl tonight, I hope I can make it! How are you all doing on your Olympic knitting?
-Kala
Friday, February 19, 2010
Contest!!!
Ok, since I have a new knitting pattern out, The Slippity Do Da Cowl, (here' the Etsy link for those not on Ravely) you know I have to have a contest! So if you'd like to win a pdf of my pattern, leave a comment on this post letting me know what colors you would knit your cowl in! For extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter, or anywhere else, just let me know in your comments.
Also: please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win, more than just being signed into blogger. Ravelry names are great or your email written as youATwhereverDOTcom :)
Contest will end on Monday, Feb. 22nd, winner will be chosen by random number generator.
Good luck everyone!
-Kala
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Slippity Do Da Cowl!
Thanks to many awesome-tastic test knitters, the pattern for my Slipppity Do Da Cowl is now available! (for those not on Ravelry, it's also available in my Etsy shop) This was such a fun thing to design, it's made using a very easy slip stitch colorwork pattern. If you've never done that kind of colorwork you really need to try it, it looks really impressive but you're only working with one color at a time! And of course I couldn't resist giving it a silly name, you know I couldn't, tee hee! Here are some pics I took of my husband modeling for me:
The pattern is sized for both average sized women and larger women and men. I knit the larger size for my husband and the medium for me. The cowls work up super quick too, many of my testers finished theirs in just a couple of hours, making this is a great pattern for last minute gift giving ;) Each cowl uses much less than one skein of each color too, so it's great for using up partial balls.
-Kala
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Baby Bonanza
Last night at the usual knit night I go to, there was a baby shower! So of course there was lots of food, lots of presents, and lots of fun. I made my standard chocolate cupcakes and they went over very well :) And one awesome lady even made some vegan muffins - super yummy - thanks Aubree!
Since I wasn't sure I'd have time to knit much for my friend's baby, I decided to do some sewing and embroidering. I picked up some organic cotton onesies and some super cute patterns from Urban Threads and Sublime Stitching and came up with these:
I also sewed some sock monkey pjs from Amy Butler's Little Stitches:
The pjs were, well, let's just say challenging :) I'm not really a garment sewer so I'm easily confused by garment patterns, especially when there aren't many diagrams or pictures. But it was well worth it, I think they came out super cute!
-Kala
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ravelympics and a favor!
For those not in the know, the Ravelympics is a knitting/crochet/spinning challenge that happens during the time of the Olympics. Basically, you choose a project or several projects that would be a challenge to finish in that time period, cast on during the opening ceremonies, and finish before the Olympics end. I'm knitting Liesl, a super cute sweater by Ysolda in some Knit Picks Comfy Bulky in dark purple (it's darker in real life, the picture lies!). Also, I'm at least 3 or 4 inches further along since I took this pic, the combo of huge needles (US 10.5) and bulky yarn is making for speedy knitting! Anyone else taking the Olympic challenge?
And now a favor. My adorable friend Kelaine is entered into a wedding contest where you vote for the best proposal story and I'd love if you could read it and send her some more votes :) Her story is at the bottom of the post, #6, Kelaine and Paul, it's a really cute story so be sure to read it! Thanks so much!
-Kala
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A Day for Love
In other, less preachy news, I finally got a wedding ring! Shane and I have been married since June of 2008 but I hadn't found a ring I liked until just recently:
It's been sort of odd adjusting to having something on my finger, but I think I'm finally getting used to it. But I wear mine on my middle finger, the way my fingers are spaced, I don't feel it as much there so it's much for comfy :)
-Kala
Saturday, February 13, 2010
If you want to sing out, sing out.
For years and years, I've wanted to learn how to play the banjo. Why the banjo? It think it's some sort of Beck/Harold and Maude mash up deal, but really, it just seems so awesome! I still want to learn one day, but for now I'm starting with a ukulele. I picked one up at Groth Music, a really cool music store in Bloomington, Minnesota that everyone needs to visit - they have just about every musical instrument you can think of for both adults and kids, so much fun! Anyway, I have absolutely no musical training, but my thinking is always, if there's something you want to learn to do, just do it! I'll be sure to keep you posted as I progress :)
-Kala
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
In Progress
It's the Cobblestone Pullover and it's kind of slow going, mostly because I'm working on other things at the same time :) Well, not literally at the same time, although that would be awesome!
I'm still working on the pattern for a cowl that I designed, I've got a bunch of amazing test knitters helping me out and I'm really excited! I have three knit so far, I still haven't decided which will be the one in the main picture:
I'm hoping the pattern will be ready soon, two testers are already done!
And finally, I did some sewing today after a bit of a vacation. My husband had a week off from work so my poor Etsy shop has been neglected :) But look what I made today:
I'm still totally in love with this fabric and I think this zippered pouch came out really cool. I made one a few weeks ago but loved it so much I ended up keeping it.
Ok, I guess I lied about that finally part, I have one more thing to mention! Teresa over at Affectioknit has a really cool contest going on right now, be sure to check it out!
-Kala
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Awesome knitters needed!
So I've been going cowl crazy the last couple of days! I designed a slip stitch colorwork cowl for myself, but the first one ended up looking better on my husband, so unfair! I knit one today for me and have the pattern all writtten up. What I need now are testers! I've posted in the Testers Pool group on Ravelry, but I thought I'd post here too.
The cowl is a quick knit, I knit mine in a few hours and I'm not a very fast knitter. The pattern calls for 2 colors of worsted weight yarn (testers feel free to use any yarn you'd like) and US size 10 needles, it's sized for medium (average woman) and large (larger woman or man). I'd post a picture but I need my husband's help and he's off at a nerd convention. So if you're interested, you can contact me on Ravelry (Kala) or e-mail me at craftytofuATyahoo and I can send you out a pdf or word file of the pattern. I'm hoping for at least 5 testers who can knit the cowl in 2 weeks or less, take pics, and post their projects on Ravelry when the pattern is published. I can't offer yarn support or payment, but if you test for me I can gift you any of the patterns I have for sale in my Ravelry pattern store :)
thanks!
-Kala
Friday, February 05, 2010
Yarn Forward!
Those of you who know me in "real life" already know about this, but of course I have to share here too! I'm super excited to announce that my I Heart Tofu stitch markers were featured in the Jan/Feb issue of Yarn Forward Magazine! Yarn Forward is a UK based knitting magazine and I'm beyond thrilled :) Here's a pic I took of the page:
Cool, right? As with the Knitty feature, the thing that's really cool to me is that someone in the industry who loves knitting like I do likes my stuff :) Sure the exposure is great, but knowing that I'm making things that make people smile is pretty awesome too! So, if you get a chance, take a look at the Jan/Feb issue of Yarn Forward (it has a dude on the cover), turn to page 17 and take a peek.
There's one set of Tofu Stitch Markers in the shop right now, as soon as I can get to the craft shop, I'll restock on beads so I can make more (I'm totally out of "O"s)
-Kala
Thursday, February 04, 2010
FO: Blue Soybean Socks
Finished!
I actually finished these a few days ago but with the blog tour posts and whatnot I haven't had a chance to blog about them :) This is my second pair of Soybean Socks and I think I might love them even more than the first pair, the color is definitely more to my liking! This time, I used 2 skeins of Panda Cotton in the blueberries-grapes colorway. The row gauge on this yarn is totally different than with Panda Soy, at least for me, I worked one less repeat on the foot than I did with the soy ones. Yay for finished socks! It's been lots of fun seeing everyone's finished socks on the Vegan Sock KAL group on Ravelry :)
-Kala
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
And the winner is...
Thanks everyone for entering, it was a lot of fun reading everyone's comments :)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Knitcircus Blog Tour!
It's blog tour time! Jaala from Knitcircus will be our guest today and will be talking about her magazine and the importance of valuing designers, yay! Also, be sure to read to the end of the post for a chance to win the pattern collection from this issue! Ok, take it Jaala:
Thanks so much for inviting me onto your blog! Your VeganCraftastic Etsy store is so much fun and we’re glad our readers are going to get a chance to check it out.
Part of our core values at Knitcircus lie in supporting other small businesses and designers. The human connections are important to us as well as the process of selecting, editing, laying-out, photographing and making something cohesive and enjoyable for knitters to use.
Sometimes people wonder why everything available on the internet isn’t free, and while it wonderful to have free things, a lot of work goes into creating a good, well-written, test-knitted and tech-edited pattern. If you’ve ever knit a pattern and made a yarn substitution, changed stockinette to rib, lengthened the sleeves, it feels like you’re creating a pattern. But when your friend asks you, “Hey, how’d you do that; I’d like to make one, but three sizes bigger,” and you start explaining, you realize that it’s more complicated than you thought. Was the neck increase every other or every third round? How do you account for a bigger bust shape? Does the shoulder width stay the same? Did that ribbing change your gauge all that much?
Or maybe you whipped out a pair of mittens while watching Project Runway Season 6 and thought you’d jot down the pattern and you get through the cuff, but then realize that noting where the thumb increase falls in relation to the cable is a little trickier than you thought, and how do you talk about the thumb increase when it’s not on the same round as the cable? Professional designers make it look easy. Solving problems and writing a pattern that’s easily re-knittable takes more effort, time, math, charts, size grading, measurement and frogging than meet the eye. We also have each pattern worked over by our tech editors before people begin knitting it.
Knowing that, we like to compensate our designers as well as we can considering our small, independent status, and part of that lies on protecting their rights and allowing them to get as much mileage out of a pattern as they can. So we negotiate rights that allow us to publish the patterns for people to purchase as part of the pattern collection for three months, and then they can publish the pattern themselves, re-submit it elsewhere and/or include it in our online pattern store (coming soon! I’m working hard on that, I swear).
On the other (mittened) hand, what are we without our readers? So we’ve made the patterns affordable by packaging them as a collection—17 new patterns for $7.50’s a pretty good deal! And we’re able to offer all of the articles and pattern photos for free, which is fun, too.
We’ve thought abut it and come up with an out-of-the box solution which lets us offer things for free, give our designers their freedom and deliver a great pattern collection for an affordable price—and our readers get to check out links to great Etsy stores, so we can let people know about great indy yarn dyers and people making great Happy Squirrel buttons and Sugar Skull WIP bags!
I’m really glad to see that you’ve donated to the Hearts for Haiti (please put in link) store on Etsy, too. I love how creative people are finding creative ways to help.
Thanks so much, Kala
Thanks Jaala! And now, who wants to win a free pattern collection? To win the pattern collection from the new issue of Knitcircus, leave a comment here letting me know the favorite thing to love to knit. For me, it's socks! Make sure you leave some way for me to contact you if you win, either an e-mail address (written as youATwhereverDOTcom) or your Ravelry name, just being signed into blogger isn't enough, I've had to track down winners that way before and it's no fun! If you have any problems leaving a comment here, feel free to send me a message on Ravelry (I'm Kala over there) with your entry :) So enter now, the winner will be drawn tomorrow, February 3rd!!!
***contest is over, thanks everyone for entering!***
-Kala
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