Posts Tagged 'pattern'



Put a little love Out – A Free Pattern – with Karma!

Inspired by the good works of the Yarn Harlot and other knitters who have used patterns to raise funds for charity I’ve decided to try an idea of my own for knitting karma! Here’s how it works. This is a lovely cowl pattern I’ve just developed:

Put a little love out

It’s a beautiful and stylin’ one-skein project. I used less than 200 yards of worsted weight yarn (Misty Alpaca’s Tonos Worsted in this case) for this snuggly cowl.

Matching bands of moss stitch frame a soft cowl that’s knitted flat and seamed to create a vertical tube for the lacing, which you can use to cinch the piece on one side for a very stylish look.

Put a little love out

It’s suitable for folks who are just learning; you only need to be able to knit, purl and seam. For more advanced knitters it’s a fun and mindless project that you can whip off in an evening or two. The simple pattern is perfect for showing off variegated yarns or knitting in a solid colour.

Put a little love out

Enough about the cowl – how do you get the pattern? Have you ever been to a party where they throw a beach ball in the crowd and everyone has to help keep the beach ball in the air? I’m trying to create a karmic beach ball that we can all help keep in the air. So if you love the pattern and want a pdf it’s completely free – here’s how you get it:

I already know that you’re a wonderful person. I’m sure of it. Write me an email (hello@thebluebrick.ca) and tell me something nice that you did. It can be giving up your seat on the train, smiling at someone who looks like they needed it, or buying a coffee for someone who’s cold. Nothing huge, just do something wonderful and do it with love in your heart. Write and tell me about it and I’ll send you the pdf.

Put a little love out

It’s my dream to have a blog posting in a month or two where I share your beautiful stories (without names) and hopefully combine them with photos of your beautiful finished cowls for a feel-good blog post about how we put a little more love in the world through sharing this dialogue, and pattern together.

I hope very much that I will hear from lots of you beautiful people in the weeks ahead :) So go out there and be your wonderful selves :) A very special thank you to the first person to show this project some love; the beautiful Jeanette who posed for these photos :)

New pattern – Jax

Cabled boot toppers

Sexy and cute, designed to sit above the boot line and hug the back or side of your calf with ornamental cables and optional split lacing design. The boot toppers use up less than one skein of a luxurious sport weight yarn; Malabrigo’s new Arroyo and are finished by adding a bit of lace to tie up the backs. They’re worked flat on 2 needles. Use one skein for boot toppers, or 2 skeins for full length leg warmers – it’s up to you!

Cabled boot toppers

The cable is worked every right side row, resulting in something that looks deceptively complex but is easy to work. I named them after a dear friend who I shared my goth days with, and I think she would appreciate the design :)

Cabled boot toppers

If you’re a member of Ravelry you can purchase it here.

If you’re not, you can purchase it here:

Enjoy!

A Belated Christmas gift – The Lisa Shawl

The Lisa Shawl is a free crochet pattern by yours truly – a fun, quick crochet project with beads to spice it up. The shawl is named after my gorgeous and colourful friend Lisa who was the first person to love this design :)

Free beaded shawl pattern

The shawl is worked up using 2 skeins of sock weight yarn. My shawl was done in TFA Blue label Grape, and Lisa’s in Ella Rae Lace Merino, in the whimsically named colourway #117.

Free beaded shawl pattern

The beads are easy to add, visible from both sides and add a lovely weight to the finished piece.

You will need a 3.75mm hook for the main body, a 1.0mm hook for the beads, and about 50 grams of size 6.0 seed beads.

Free beaded shawl pattern

You can download the pattern here. Or check out the Ravelry page here.Enjoy!

free beaded shawl pattern

The Honey Cowl

Honey Cowl

I’ve been craving one of those long, loopy scarves – and I found the perfect solution in a free pattern by Madeline Tosh. The Honey Cowl uses up 2 skeins of DK weight yarn in a completely mindless, easy knit that works up fast!

Honey Cowl

Again, we’re taking the mirror route of photography here….

Honey Cowl

This slip stitch patten is unbelievably quick and mindless, a good TTC knit. I’m using 2 skeins of TFA Yellow Label DK weight yarn in ‘Deep Sea‘. Deep sea is my favourite these days….it’s taken over from Mallard ;) I love how this simple stitch pattern compliments the subtly varigated yarn.

Honey Cowl

The slip stitch pattern is also dense and warm. Both sides look lovely;

Honey Cowl

I could definitely have kept going – but there was a cold snap in Toronto and I wanted to wear it! I did have more than half my 2nd skein of TFA left over, so I’ll be making matching mittens.

Honey Cowl

My only pattern mods were that I went straight into the pattern without the stockinette border, and that I added a few inches to the length. The stitch pattern is easily modified to make it shorter or longer.

Honey Cowl

Did I mention that the pattern is available free on Ravelry? Pattern page here!

Sexy Boot Topper Knitting Pattern


Knitted boot toppers

I designed this cute little number as the ideal one-skein winter project. Cute and sexy, these boot toppers work up fast and use only one skein of my favourite: Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label yarn.

The cables are simple enough for a beginner cable knitter. You will need to know how to cast on extra stitches using the backwards loop method (here’s a great tutorial at knittinghelp.com if you’re unfamiliar with it).

knitted boot toppers

You can wear them up or down, on short boots or tall, they’re a cute addition to any outfit :) I’ll be making a few of these for my girlfriends as Christmas gifts.

knitted boot toppers

The tab at the top has a decorative button for a nice finishing touch that gives it a little more than ending it as a simple tube. I’ve written up the pattern for 3 adult sizes: small, medium and large.

knitted boot toppers

You can download the pattern here if you’re a Ravelry member and here if you’re not :)

Please feel free to email me at hello@thebluebrick.ca with any questions!

Thermis Knitted Cowl

At the KW Knitters Fair I met an artist who dyed her own wool. Her name is Emily and she has an Etsy shop under the name Viola Viola. I fell in love with a colourway of hers called ‘Graphite’ and purchased a skein – and I just had to share the results because this stuff is so beautiful to work with, I love it just as much as I love yarns from TFA (from whom I bought 6 beautiful skeins of the sunset colourway, and still haven’t had time to do anything with them!). I took a break from the show to knit myself a birthday present =o)

The pattern is called Thermis by KrisKnits (Ravelry project page here) and I love it! It knits up fast, is super warm, uses just under one skein of yarn and shows off Emily’s colourway beautifully.



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