Polarized

We've always been into buying local in our home. There's a wonderful farmer's market up the street, my LYS carries a lot of local fibers and my first knitting book was about yarns that are American from sheep to skein - 100% local to our country.

The Fiberists is a local Virginian yarn company run by Spencer and Reggie. They approach the creation of their hand dyed yarn with a research based process and their inspiration comes from the work of influential naturalists and scientists and their discoveries of colors, forms and structures. Each color has both a scientific name and a more color-specific name. I love their yarn, their science theme, their colors and the guys themselves are great.

I've done a few designs for them in the past (Ulee's Hat, Kinderhook, Booker and Rimrock) and I'm pleased to introduce my latest, the Polarized Hat.

Using 1 hank each of diamond and graphite in their Curie Heavy Worsted, the yardage is generous enough to be able to get 2 hats out of it if you reverse the MC and CC. This hat combines a lot of my favorite knitting elements for a hat - highly contrasting Fair Isle color work, Latvian braids, corrugated ribbing, a tassel and a classic slouchy silhouette. This unisex design looks great on anyone and everyone!

It's hard to believe that winter is right around the corner (I've started my holiday gift knitting, have you?)… This hat is a quick knit that will keep the wearer warm and happy until spring and beyond.

Download the Polarized Hat pattern here.

3 Skeins or Less - Fresh Knitted Accessories

Having a new book come out is like finally let out a huge secret to the world. It's no secret I've been working on it, but only a handful of people at Interweave have seen the completed book, been there with me each step of the way offering advice and doing their part to make this the best book it can be. Now my little book is all grown up, in print and ready to be released into the wilds of the knitting world...

World, meet 3 Skeins or Less - Fresh Knitted Accessories. Book, meet the knitting world!

What I like most about this book is the concept - everything in it is made of 1, 2 or 3 skeins or yarn. Simple, yes, but fantastic because it applies to ALL knitters. We all have 1, 2 or even 3 skeins of yarn lying around that we're not quite sure what to do with. We're perfectly okay with buying that 1 fabulous skein of super-duper luxury yarn, yet we have no idea what to do with it.

This books runs the gamut of cleverness and creativity and all the talented designers stepped up to the plate with a fantastic design with limited yardage. We've got shrugs, socks, shawls, hats, mittens, fingerless wristers, scarves, cowls and even a cropped top! This books means you can go running to your yarn stash, pull out those lonely skeins and finally give them a home!

Packed with 25 projects with designers including Romi Hill (check out her Tanis Shawl!), Cirilia Rose, Carrie Sullivan, Thea Colman, Heather Zoppetti, Susan Anderson, Kirsten Kapur, Susanna IC, Ann Weaver and Marjan Hammink (to name a few), I want to knit everything in this book. I am proud to have these designers be part of this book and how they brought their ingenuity and talent to the table. They all rose to the challenge of designing with only 1, 2 or 3 hanks and the result is a wonderful collection you'll be knitting for years to come. You can see all 25 of the project on Ravelry here and the book is available for preorder (and on sale!) at Interweave here.

I and honored to see my Momentum Mittens on the cover! Knit in 1 hank of String Theory Colorworks Momentum Self Striping, this sock yarn wouldn't immediately strike someone as the perfect mitten yarn, but it absolutely is! I've always loved red and pink together, throw in some self-striping yarn, some cables and voila… A unique pair of mittens that won't break the bank.

I hope you enjoy my latest book with Interweave, 3 Skeins or Less - Fresh Knitted Accessories. It was one of the most fun books I've worked on and I am pleased as punch with the result!

Go round up those single skeins and get knitting!

Everyday Lace Scavenger Hunt and Interview!

I love a good lace book, but I especially love when it's unexpected lace. Yes, lace shawls are fantastic and so much fun to knit, but I like seeing lace in hats, shrugs, sweaters and socks (to name a few) - something other than a shawl.

My friend Heather Zoppetti just released her wonderful new lace book, Everyday Lace (Interweave, 144 pgs). Heather and I met in person while filming Knitting Daily TV and bonded over internet quizzes, Lancaster chatter and you guessed it - lace knitting. She was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for us...

Tanis Gray (TG): Were you drawn to lace knitting immediately or like many knitters, did you shy away from it at first?

Heather Zoppetti (HZ): I was immediately drawn to lace. In my learn-to-knit pattern booklet, I wanted to jump ahead and make all the lacy things instead of the traditional "beginner" patterns.

TG: what's your favorite type of lace to knit?

HZ: The more complex, the more I like it. I love how changing the order or combination of yarnovers and decreases can manipulate the fabric in various ways.

TG: What inspired the book?

HZ: Honestly, the inspiration for Everyday Lace came from a tiredness of shawls. I mean, I love knitting shawls and I love designing shawls, but I'm tired of them. I want knitters to realize that lace can be more than an edging. It can be used on all types of garments and accessories.

TG: Do you have a favorite pattern in your book?

HZ: My favorite is Narvon. It's fun to knit and it looks great on all body types.

TG: What message do you want to convey to knitters with your book?

HZ: Lace can be applied to everyday wear and doesn't need to be confined to the edge of a shawl.

TG: Any advice for someone who is about to jump into lace for the first time?

HZ: Be fearless! Many knitters are afraid of lace. My hope is that this book will inspired enough people to give it a try. I offer various information and tips that will help even the novice knitter get started knitting lace.

TG: Is lace knitting your first love or do you like another technique even more?

HZ: I'm in love with learning, so I love learning about all different techniques. However, with designing, I always seem to return to lace. If I had to choose another technique, I'd say my second love is cables...watch for more on cables from me in the future ;-)

TG: You have your own yarn line and I just used a hank of it for my Smithsonian Luce Cowl design! Can you tell us about it?

HZ: Yellowstone by Stitch Sprouts is my newest creation. It's a deliciously soft sport weight 80/20 wool/silk blend. It's perfect for everything and comes in nine colors inspired by the beauty of the American wilderness. It's available now, so ask your local yarn store to carry it!

Ok, for those of you following along for Heather's Everyday Lace scavenger hunt, here are the questions (the first one is from Heather, the second one applies to me. Read here about the Scavenger Hunt)...

1. What's the title of Chapter 3 of Everyday Lace?

2. What is the title of the book coming out in October by Tanis that Heather has a lace design in?

Rory Cardigan

It's been a week, dear readers. Saturday afternoon was my Smithsonian talk, pattern unveiling and lace class. There's something pretty spectacular about teaching in a space full of so much wisdom, talent, grace and beauty. I'll never forget it and was thrilled to be there! The event was well-attended with both familiar and new faces (and a lot of knitting going on).

I've been waiting to introduce the Rory Cardigan until after the Smithsonian event, but I'm pretty excited about this design! A top-down raglan knit in one piece with no seaming and very little finishing, this is sure to be a favorite.

I LOVE Alchemy Yarns (Gina and Austin, the owners, founders and brains behind the operation at Alchemy are amazing hand dyers and good people) and this 100% superwash hand dyed merino combined with this sweet feminine cardi are the perfect combination to usher in fall.

I'm always surprised at the lack of sizing for children's garments, so I'm pleased to offer up this cardi in sizes 12 months to 8 years. With techniques like the picot bind off, reverse stockinette, cables, i-cord, twisted stitches and some simple color changes, this little beauty can be worn all through fall, then brought back out for spring. It looks equally lovely with the wearer in both short and long sleeves, dressed up or casual. Being superwash (a must for a mom knitter!), no need to fret about it getting dirty, just throw it in the wash on cold delicate and air dry.

I had a birthday on Tuesday, August 26th - 34 years old. In honor of this birthday, the Rory Cardi will be 34% off today (Thursday) only.

Download the pattern here. Happy fall!