Summer Travels Part 1 - Abriachan

Our Summer holiday plan is almost always the same - pack up the car for biking, hiking, camping (and of course knitting!) and go where the wind takes us! 

This year was no different - but it inspired a series of five knitting patterns that I'll hopefully be releasing between now and Christmas. The first is a cowl inspired by the colours of the Scottish hillsides:

This cowl is named for Abriachan - a tiny village up in the hills beside Loch Ness. It's always busy by the side of the loch, as it's such an iconic part of Scotland. But once you're up in the hills by its banks, there's a much more remote feel. Abriachan is also home to some lovely (if challenging!) mountain biking trails. I'm fairly sure they aren't well used, the forest and moor seem to be reclaiming them, which adds to the remote feel. There are lots overgrown patches and fallen trees to manoeuvre over, but the scenery is delightful. The colours of the open country are spectacular, with gorgeous patches of delicate red grass - the pictures really don't do it justice. And then there's the deep greens of the forest, really quite dark in places, with red and white mushrooms almost glowing - as well as soft heathery pinks and purples everywhere you look on the hillside. And the teals in the pattern do remind me a little of the shade of my beloved mountain bike...

The cowl pattern uses an absolutely gorgeous yarn – Malabrigo Rastita. The delicate “watercolour” variegated colourway totally reflects the natural beauty of the north of Scotland with jewel tone greens, subtle greys and heathery purples and pinks.

When designing this, I was aware that variegated yarns look lovely in the skein, but don't always look great knitted up. This cowl has slipped stitches, and gathered strands of yarn running across it to really showcase the different colours. A perfect knitting pattern for colourful, variegated yarns!

Available now on 

Ravelry 

Etsy 

Craftsy

20% discount on Ravelry with coupon code SUMMERTRAVELS1 until end of December 2017

Here's the details:

Yarn: Malabrigo Rastita
Colourway “Lotus” (100% Merino Wool, 283m (309yds) per 100g)
One 100g skein = 283m/309yds


Dimensions: 20cm/8” deep, 92cm/36” around.


Needles: 4.5mm/US 7 circular needle either 40”/100cm for magic loop or 30”/80cm or shorter circular needle if you do not wish to use magic loop.

Gauge: 20 sts x 32 rows = 4" in 2x1 twisted slip stitch rib (repeat rounds 1 & 2 of pattern) after blocking.


Extras: Tapestry needle for weaving in loose ends, stitch marker for end of round.

Mountain Everlasting Sweater

Introducing my latest pattern, Mountain Everlasting Sweater:

A classic fitted sweater with sheer and solid stripes. We alternate between airy, lightweight mohair silk lace yarn used by itself and held together with a buttery soft 4ply blend of merino and silk. This sweater is light as a feather, like wearing a fluffy cloud, but it certainly excels at keeping the chill at bay! You can replace the 4ply yarn with any yarn of this weight, but we really would recommend using a mohair silk blend for the laceweight yarn. This sweater is seamless and knitted from the top down, and the sleeves are worked from picked up stitches around the armhole and shaped with short rows. Instructions for 10 sizes are given: to fit bust 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52, 56)”.

And it's available at a 50% discount on Ravelry for the next week (until April 12th) with the coupon code "Mountain50"! As well as this, the pattern will be running as a KAL in my group, with a free pattern for everyone who finishes and posts pictures, and a prize draw for a skein of handspun yarn if you finish before the end of June. Discount code “MountainKAL” for 25% off valid until end of June.

And here's the knitty gritty:

Measurements 
To fit bust: 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52, 56)”. 
0.75-1.75 inches of ease around bust dependent on size. 
Armpit to hem: 18 (18, 18, 22, 22, 22, 22, 26, 26, 26)”. 
Around top of sleeve: 13 (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23)”. 
Sleeve length from armpit: 14.5 (14.5, 15, 15, 15.5, 15.5, 17, 17, 17.5, 17.5)”.

Yarn 
Laceweight: Shibui Silk Cloud, Colourway Graphite (60% kid mohair, 40% silk; 660 yds per 50g): 
850 (930, 970, 1250, 1310, 1375, 1450, 1850, 2000, 2175)m 
930 (1020, 1060, 1370, 1435, 1505, 1590, 2030, 2190, 2380)yds. 
And 4ply: Shibui Staccato, Colourway Graphite (65% superwash merino, 35% silk; 191yds per 50g): 
360 (390, 415, 540, 560, 580, 620, 800, 850, 920)m 
400 (430, 460, 595, 620, 640, 685, 880, 935, 1010)yds.

Needles 
One 5mm / US 8 40”/100cm circular needle.

Gauge 
16 sts and 24 rows = 4” in stocking st with both yarns held together using 5mm/ US 8 needles.

Extras 
Waste yarn, 6 detachable stitch markers, spare 40” circular needle (size 5mm / US 8 or smaller).

What to do with art yarn...

So, those of you who follow this blog will be aware that I've been spending a lot of time spinning and dyeing lately (at the expense of coming up with new knitting patterns, sorry about that!) And now that I've spun up a large pile of beautifully coloured yarn, I need to come up with something to do with it. This is a tricky task for all those early skeins of thick-n-thin "art yarn" that I've amassed. And here's what I came up with, a one skein cowl made from my handspun merino. It's a little crazy looking, but that's kind of a given if you're working with art yarn. Also, if you like the colour but are looking for a more sensible yarn, there's a skein of bluefaced leicester yarn in my Etsy shop in the same colourway.

Needles : 10mm / US 15 needles.

Yarn: 100 -150m or so of thick and thin art yarn (check out Etsy for handspun, thick n thin goodness!)

Gauge:  15 sts = 4'' in stocking stitch on average (but with thick and thin yarn gauge varies).

Size:  21'' around and 8" across

Notation: 

k = knit

p = purl

sl = slip purlwise

wyb = with yarn held at the back of your work

wyf = with yarn held to the front of your work

CO = cast on

Directions

Garter Slip Stitch Pattern

Row 1: knit

Row 2: knit

Row 3: k1 *sl1 wyb k1* to end of row

Row 4: k1 *sl1 wyf k1* to end of row

Row 5: knit

Row 6: knit

Row 7: k2 *sl1 wyb k1* to last stitch, k1

Row 8: k2 *sl1 wyf k1* to last stitch, k1

To make the cowl, CO 29 stitches. Now work in garter slip stitch until your work measures just over 20", ending on row 8  of pattern. Knit one row, then bind off on wrong side. Turn cowl onto wrong side and sew cast on edge to bind off edge using whip stitch (art yarn looks crazy enough that you'll never notice the seam). Weave in loose ends and you're done!

Now for the shameless advertising. There's a couple of skeins in my Etsy shop that I think would be perfect for this, although they're not as crazy as some art yarns, they'd give you a more wearable cowl. There's a lovely blue skein here, and a white skein for all you dyers out there here.

More Yarn on Etsy!

I have a confession, my spinning and dyeing obsession is starting to get out of hand. So, I've started putting stuff up on my Etsy shop. Just in is a beautiful green number, some supersoft worsted weight bluefaced leicester yarn. This stuff is soft. And green. I dyed it with a mix of green and teal acid dyes and it turned out just how I wanted. Take a look!

Summer Hols & Handyed Yarn

That's me just back from my Summer Holidays, camping in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland. Climbed some hills (see above), ate good food, spun some yarn and generally had a good time. And while I was away, some hand dyed gems were drying out in the flat...

Just up in my Etsy shop, is this beautiful skein of handdyed, handspun Dorset horn yarn. 

This is a gorgeous bright, bright blue skein of Dorset Horn yarn, handspun and handdyed by me! Dorset Horn wool is pretty similar to merino, definitely "next to skin soft", and it's from a rare breed bit so you'll be doing your part to help preserve this endangered sheep. It's dyed a beautiful shade of blue using professional quality acid dyes, varying from an almost creamy sky blue through to deepest indigo. As you can perhaps see from the pictures, it's a wee bit thick and thin, a little fluffy and somewhere between a heavy worsted and chunky weight. Delicious. 

This skein weighs around 75g and is just over 100m in length. It'd knit up beautifully on 6mm/US10 needles, and is enough for a hat or pair of mittens.

Handspun Yarn on Etsy

So, my thesis is finished now and I have a few months to relax before starting a PGDE course. So obviously the natural course of action is to spend those months playing with fibre. I've been handspinning with a drop spindle for a wee while now, but for my thesis-finishing present to myself I bought an Ashford Joy spinning wheel. I love it. I am glued to it. How I managed without a wheel for so long is beyond my comprehension.

To cut a long story short, I am going to start selling some handspun yarn in my etsy shop (at least those skeins I can bear to part with). First up is a beautiful fluffy white cloud of a skein of Falkland yarn. It's pretty similar to merino, and I'm leaving it undyed so you can dye it the way you like (or leave it plain and simple). As you can perhaps see from the pictures, it's a wee bit thick and thin, a little fluffy and somewhere between worsted and chunky weight. Delicious. 

Also, to sweeten the deal, I'm going to give you guys a 10% discount on everything in the shop this week, just enter the code MMMHANDSPUN at the checkout.