Recently I have been receiving back garments from my test knitters practically every day!

I have been getting many of my patterns knit up for a second and third trunk show.

This way the yarn shops don't have to wait so long to display the garments.

I wish that I could do all of the knitting myself, but it's a huge job.

It's been nice receiving help with the task.

I have to admit that its kind of fun giving someone a pile of yarn

and receiving a nice neat finished garment in the mail soon thereafter.

It's like instant knitting. And its great.

And have I mentioned that it's also been a great way for me to use up some of my stash yarn?

Here is another Shawl Collared Cowl knit by my friend CeRae.

This cowl is knit out of Rowan Cocoon yarn.

This yarn's mohair content gives the fabric a slightly fuzzy texture.

The rustic wood buttons that she chose really set off the cowl nicely.

I really like the way this looks.

Another yarn that would give a similar look would be Lamb's Pride Bulky.

But I'll let you knit that. Mohair doesn't like me much. :)

Because one just wasn't enough.

I'm afraid this blog post is terribly overdue.

I completed and gifted this second Frukttradgard hat to my friend weeks ago now!

I learned with this project that there is something to be said for knitting the same pattern twice. It went much more quickly and smoothly the second time. It was a wonderfully relaxing knit.

And the great news is.. I even saw my friend wearing it the other night.

When I actually see my gifted knits in use, (Which doesn't happen often) it is so exciting! When I find someone appreciative of my hand knits, I want to do nothing but knit them things for the rest of my life.

Seeing my knits being loved and worn brings me great satisfaction as a knitter.

I knitted this one out of Road to China light in the aquamarine colorway. Pretty isn't it?

My latest pattern is now available!

Get ready for Autumn with the Shawl Collared Cowl! A simple idea with an added twist.

I think that shawl collars are so flattering and they keep your neck very warm. Since a cowl's sole purpose is to keep your neck warm, I think its a wonderful pairing. It's both practical and attractive.

Also, I love buttons. And since this cowl only takes 3, its a perfect way for you to

show off some special buttons that you have been saving.

As you can see from the below photos, this piece can be worn a few different ways.

I think it looks wonderful under a jacket.

Or here is an example of the collar worn flipped out rather than folded down.

This cowl is knit with bulky yarn and only takes a few evenings to finish.

I think it would make a great quick-to-knit gift!

Will Autumn come already so that I can wear mine?

Here is some pattern information for those of you interested in making a

Shawl Collared Cowl of your very own:

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Length: approx 26.5 inches from end to end after blocking

Width: measures approx 10 inches at deepest point of center including unfolded collar.

MATERIALS

Misti Alpaca Chunky [100% Baby Alpaca; 108 yd/99m per 100g skein]; color: 683; 2 skeins or approx 175 yds of a chunky weight alpaca or alpaca blend.

1# US #8/5mm needle

1# US #9/5.5mm needle

Safety pin stitch marker

Tapestry needle

3 medium to large buttons and matching sewing thread

GAUGE

20 sts/32 rows = 4" in garter stitch on size 9 needles or size needed for accurate gauge.

This pattern calls for the use of short rows, which seems to be a technique that I am using more and more in my patterns. I just love them. Once you get the hang of them, they are very easy. The pattern contains detailed instructions for how to execute this technique.

One great thing is that the short rows all fall in the garter stitch section of the collar. So there is no need to pick up and knit your wraps later. That saves a lot of time.

This pattern was knit out of Misti Alpaca Chunky which if you haven't used before, is wonderful wonderful stuff! Its super soft and cushy and WARM. This color that is pictured is called Cimarron. I didn't plan this, but doesn't this color perfectly match the models eyes and hair? Wow, didn't that coordinate well!

Misti Alpaca also comes in a variety of lovely handpainted colors as well.

I think that the color Pride Rock (found here) is especially gorgeous for autumn!

I think that the cowl would look equally beautiful in a multicolored yarn because the stitches are simple so it wouldn't be too overwhelming.

Thank you again to Julie Crawford from www.knittedbliss.com for doing such an awesome job on modeling this cowl for me!

Here is a picture of the pattern layout. As you can see, I am ready for Fall! :)

This pattern is now available in French. Click here for the French translation.

Here's a little glimpse at a new pattern I have coming out shortly.

Its a quick to knit small item that is soft, squishy and very warm!

This is going to be a great item to knit and wear for autumn.

I cant wait until it gets cold enough out to wear mine!

Get your needles ready! :)

A few days ago I stayed in all day with a cold. Who gets sick in the middle of summer anyways? Although I was miserable, it allowed me the opportunity to finish up two of my knitting projects. And that means that I now have some new photos to share!

First up...

The knitted monsters! They are done! Aren't they cute?

My daughter is pretty happy with me for finally sewing these up for her.

I really enjoyed this pattern. These monsters are so hilariously cute and

I love that there is both a Mama and baby. So sweet.

The pattern is called "Daphne and Delilah" and can be found HERE.

My daughter has declared these as "her new best knitted toy." Cant beat that.

I just love making toys. Especially ones with attitude.

Check out these beautiful sampler bundles of fiber from Funky Carolina!

Aren't these colors gorgeous?

Enter to win one of the bundles by leaving a comment, with contact information, under this blogpost.

Two winners will be announced August 15, 2010, so be sure to check back then to see if you have won!

Remember, only one comment per person please!

To find out more about the Funky Carolina company,

please listen to my latest podcast, Episode 40, for a review.

Drawing now closed!
The winner is StaceyKnitsIt! Congratulations!

Oops! Sorry everyone! I forgot to announce a second winner! There are after all 2 prizes! I just forgot before, Im sorry!

The second winner is Crafty Scorp. Congratulations to both of the winners!

Episode 40

Shownotes:

Funky Carolina

Monsters in Progress

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport

Frukttradgard Pattern

Road to China Light

Blue Faced Leicester

Funky Carolina Etsy Shop

Funky Carolina Website Store

Funky Carolina Fiber Clubs

Carrie's Blog

Kate on Ravelry

Kate's Blog

The Dixie Lace Sweater

The Winner of Episode 39's

Fiber Company drawing giveaway

is

Chantal B

! Congratulations!

For the current promotion:

*Attention*

The Funky Carolina promotion has been changed as of 8/5/10.

To minimize confusion,

both

US and international customers will receive 10% off their order through the month of August.

To receive your discount, just enter special code "NNK" in the comments section when you place your order. The discounted amount will then be refunded back to you.

Also be sure to listen to the podcast to find out about the "exclusive" Funky Carolina shopping opportunity!

These offers are exclusive to the Never Not Knitting listeners and blog readers! Have fun!

Click HERE

to download Episode 40 MP3 file.

If you guessed that I was making the Daphne and Delilah monster pattern

from this blog post, you are correct my friend!

I am now done with all of the knitting. All that is left is the sewing up.. sigh...

Would you like to sample The Fibre Company's products?

Enter to win these beautiful skeins of The Fibre Company's Road to China Light and Savannah (provided by Kelbourne Woolens and The Backwards Loop) along with the beautiful Frukttradgard hat pattern by leaving a comment under this blog post.

The Frukttradgard pattern is just lovely. I'm working on my second right now,

but click HERE to see pictures of the one I've completed.

Winner will be announced here on August 1, so be sure to check back and see if you've won!

As a reminder, please include contact information in your comment so that I may notify you if you are the winner.

Also remember only one comment per person please. Thanks!

This drawing is now closed! Congratulations to Chantal B. the winner! :)

My friend Leslie has one of the cutest granddaughters ever and the other day Leslie's daughter kindly let me borrow her for a photo shoot. I recently had a bunch of my spring/summer patterns knit up in a 6 month size for my second trunk show.

I'm so happy to have such an adorable model to show them off!

Meet Adelaide..

Isn't she sweet? As you can tell she started the photo shoot pretty happy. I think she liked wearing Chloe and the sweater looked adorable on her! This sample was knit up out of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn in

one skein each of the Watermelon, Popsicle and Rootbeer colorways.

This has been a very popular pattern this summer!

Next up.. Haltermelon!

I think that this little halter top looks especially adorable in the smaller sizes!

Adelaide at first seemed very happy to put this outfit on. It was nice and comfortably cool on a very warm day.

But as you can tell, she quickly became a bit concerned...

Perhaps she doesn't care for watermelons after all?

Hmm... doesnt look like it.. When we put the Watermelon sweater on her, we had a little "Watermelon Overload" incident on our hands.

"Watermelons all over me! Ahhh!"

Once the Watermelon situation was dealt with, Adelaide was very happy to model the

Spring Garden Tee for me. I found this beautiful soft blue (Rowan Calmer color #463) to be a wonderful color for her.

On my blog I recently shared pictures of this tee on an older girl, but its fun to see how it looks on a baby as well.

It really is a versatile pattern!

Thank you again to Adelaide and her Mom and Grandma for making this photo shoot possible.

And don't worry Adelaide.. Ill keep that Watermelon sweater far far away.. It will never bother you again.

Thank you also to my fabulous sample knitters CeRae and Yaena.

The garments turned out beautifully!

If your local yarn shop is on my trunk show schedule, you'll get to see these beautiful samples in person.

Have your yarn shop owner contact me to be added to the list! nevernotknitting@gmail.com

Recently I made this lovely hat for a knitting friend diagnosed with cancer.

I'm very happy with how it turned out and I hope that she likes it too.

This is the Frukktradgard hat pattern. Yes. I said Frukktradgard. :)

Isn't it beautiful? All of those lacy leaves. I love it!

I knitted this out of the yarn called for in the pattern, only one skein of Road to China Light from The Fibre Company. What lovely yarn this is. I highly recommend it!

Check out my latest podcast episode for a review.

You will find the Frukktradgard pattern available here.

The yarn is available here through the The Backwards Loop.

I'm getting ready to start a second Frukktradgard for another friend

of mine out of the Aquamarine colorway of Road to China.

I'll be sharing pictures of that one soon!

Episode 39

Shownotes:

The Backwards Loop

Paper Dolls Sweater

Sabbatical

My Snicket Socks

Daphne and Delilah the Momma and Baby Monster

F

ruktträdgård

Hat

Melissa LaBarre

The Fibre Company

Road to China Light

Kelbourne Woolens

Kelbourne Woolens Patterns

My Selbu Modern Hat

My Tea Leaves Cardigan

New England Knits

Brenda On Ravelry

Brenda's Blog

The Crayon Pocket Cardigan

The Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group

Follow me on Twitter!

The Winner of Episode 38's Becoming Art drawing giveaway is

JoannaCos

! Congratulations!

Receive 10% off at

The Backwards Loop

until August 1,2010! Just enter special code "julypodcast" in the comments section when you place your order.

This offer is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting listeners and blog readers! Have fun!

Click

HERE

to download Episode 39 MP3 file.

(All iTunes downloading issues should be fixed! Let me know if you have any further problems with downloading Episode 39. Thank you!)

Hi Everyone! Unfortunately the Never Not Knitting podcast is experiencing some technical difficulties. I lost my finished podcast file and have to start over. :(

It will be out tomorrow! Sorry!

Can anyone guess which knitting pattern I just started for my daughter?

(Hint: Its ferocious.)

:)

Recently I've been going through a medical situation that has proved very taxing physically as well as emotionally. I am feeling much better now though. Thank you everyone for all of your kind notes and well wishes.

During this time I have found great comfort in my knitting. It has been such a nice distraction to focus on and relax with. I've picked up my Snicket socks again and am working on sock #2. I've also started a beautiful new lacy leaf project in an unbelievable yarn that I will be reviewing in the next podcast episode.

I'm sure you've noticed that both my current projects are green. Indulging in my favorite color makes me very happy. :)

Hello podcast listeners: I just wanted to let you know that Episode 39 will be postponed to

July 15, 2010.

I've been dealing with some difficult medical situations lately, and I am using this time to recover.

Thanks for all of your support!

Recently I had the privilege of working with this gorgeous handspun skein provided by Lisa of Becoming Art. It was love at first sight. I find this color combination amazing! The colorway for this one is

"Green Goodness" just like the skein pictured in the previous blog post.

Of course this skein is spun up differently, but all of the same beautiful colors are there.

I had to make something simple and special with this yarn, so I decided to work up some mitts for this upcoming winter. The pattern is called "Toasty" and can be found for free here.

These mitts were so insanely easy to make! They went so fast and were so fun to make in this beautiful yarn.

I found it to be a wonderfully mindless, comforting knit.

I really enjoyed watching the colors change as I went. It's addicting working with yarn like this.. you always want to see what colors are coming up next.

I really love the way these turned out and I am now officially addicted to handspun yarn. This project even motivates me to drag out my spinning wheel and see if I can produce amazing yarn like this on my own.

After that entire project, I even have this cute little ball left over. I'm thinking that my daughter's doll might just need a handspun sweater. :)

Click here to see all of the beautiful yarns and fibers that Becoming Art has to offer.

Aren't these skeins amazing?

(Becoming Art Agave light fingering weight in the "Green Goodness" colorway.

Merino, nylon, cashmere blend.)

(Becoming Art Handspun 2-ply aran weight in "Deeper" colorway. Merino, bamboo, silk blend.)

Enter to win these amazing Becoming Art skeins by leaving a comment (with contact info) under this post. One winner will be announced July 1, 2010. So check back then to see if you've won!

I had the pleasure of reviewing Becoming Art yarns on my last podcast episode. I'm currently working with a gorgeous handspun skein at the moment that I will be sharing pictures of shortly.

Remember that you can get free shipping (international too!) at the Becoming Art Etsy shop until the end of June.

Just enter the code "NNK" in the comments section when you place your order.

Drawing now closed. Winner is JoannaCos! Congratulations!

Episode 38

Shownotes:

Becoming Art

Misti Alpaca

Peter Rabbit

Well- Dressed bunny pattern

Stitches West

Toasty Mitts

Debbie On Ravelry

Love Potion Yarn

New Spring Garden Tee for Girls

Join the NNK Ravelry Group Here!

Follow me on Twitter!

The Winner of Episode 37's Be Sweet Bamboo drawing giveaway is

knitterlydesigns

! Congratulations!

Receive free shipping (international too!) at the

Becoming Art Etsy shop

until June 30,2010! Just enter special code "NNK" in the comments section when you place your order.

This offer is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting listeners and blog readers! Have fun!

Download the Mp3 for

Episode 38

HERE

.

Recently, as you know, I came out with the Spring Garden Tee pattern in adult sizes. I was happy to provide a version for women but sad that I was leaving out a big size range with the pattern. I had it available for babies, little girls, and adults. But nothing in between. I know that girls sizes 8-14 are sizes often ignored in knitting patterns. Time and time again I hear knitters complaining about the lack of designs offered in this range.

The Spring Garden Tee is a versatile pattern that I could see worn by a girl of any age. So I am very happy to announce to you that my original Spring Garden Tee pattern for girls has been redone and is now offered in sizes all the way up to a girls size 14. Now every woman, girl, child, and baby in your family can have there own Spring Garden Tee to wear!

My friend Veronika from the Yarn on the House blog test knit the new pattern for her 8 year old daughter, Jasmine. Isn't she super adorable? I think the tee looks so cute on her! Thank you again Veronika for your help and for these gorgeous photos!

Another revision you might notice to the pattern is the sleeves. Before the length of the sleeve lace varied between sizes. Now all sizes have the same look. I think that it was OK before, but I like it better this way.

Here is the new pattern information for those of you interested in knitting one up:

SIZE
3 months [6mos, 9mos, 12mos, 2 (3, 4, 5, 6) 8, 10, 12, 14] (Pink version shown in size 2. Green version shown in size 8.)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 17 [18, 19, 20, 21 (22, 23, 24, 25) 26.5, 28, 30, 31.5] inches (0 inches of positive ease)
Length: approx 10.5 [11, 11.5, 12, 12.5 (13.5, 14.5, 15.75, 16.75) 18.75, 20.5, 21.5, 22] inches after blocking

MATERIALS
Rowan Calmer [80% Cotton. 20% Polyester Fibre; 175 yd/160m per 50g skein] color: Pink version color #482, green version color #500; 2 [2, 2, 2, 2 (3, 3, 3, 4) 4, 5, 5, 6] skeins or approx 250 [275, 300, 325, 350 (400, 450, 500, 550) 650, 750, 825, 900] yds of a dk weight cotton or cotton blend yarn.
1# 16” US #6/4mm circular needle for smaller sizes
1# 24” US #6/4mm circular needle for larger sizes
1# 16” US #5/3.75mm circular needle for neck and sleeve edging.
(You may need to use US #5/3.75mm double pointed needles for smaller sizes).
2 pieces of scrap yarn to serve as stitch holders
Tapestry needle
Stitch markers

GAUGE
24 sts/36 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch on size 6 needles

Here are the original pictures of my daughter modeling the tee over a year ago when the pattern first came out. As you can see, this tee looks great on girls of all ages. Still to this day, this has been one of my favorite knits for my daughter. It is simple and quick to make since it is all knit in one piece from the top down. It is also versatile and can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. The pattern calls for Rowan Calmer which is an excellent yarn choice for children. It's a soft springy yarn that holds up very well with washing and wearing. My daughter's tee still looks like new!

I really hope that you enjoy making this revised version for the girls in your life, big or small! :)

Now available in French. Click here for the French translation.