New design tuesday - new pattern

The Big Love hoodie is now out in the world

and if you use the code "lovable" (without the quotation marks) you can buy it for 1/3 off the usual price, so that $5.00 NZ or around $4.02 US dollars. Make sure you enter the coupon code when the screen asks you to choose your payment option.

A link to the pattern will then arrive automagically in your email inbox.

4 sizes from 3 months to 2 years, oversized hoodie.

Sizes 3, 6, 12 mths, 2 years ~ 40.5 (43, 48, 50) cm

Garment chest measures: 47 (51, 54, 58) cm

How could you resist that smile??

New design tuesday - Baby basics contest!

My Baby Basics e-book is now available from Ravelry and my website, I love being able to provide such an easy set for new and experienced knitters alike. Complex designs are well and good (very well and good!) but there are times when you find a design which contains all of the elements you require, with no tricks.

I made garments like these when Holly was a baby, because I was unexperienced but knew what I wanted, something that was easy on, kept baby's body warm and didn't have sleeves. I had completely forgotten about them until I saw a photo of her as a 6 week old wearing one...and snap, bang the collection threw itself together.

However the problem with a collection "throwing itself together" is that sometimes you make mistakes, and I made a big one (this is why we have tech editors and test knitters - all of whom are worth their weight in merino) I used the wrong number as the stitch gauge when writing up the patterns...I have a feeling it is because I used another pattern as a template (now I have a dedicated template with NO numbers on it!) however the problem was discovered and remedied quickly and the sizes are spot on now.

I love the look of the buttons facing forward to secure the garment, but you can use i-cord ties or ribbons if you wish. I also like the idea of working them up in lightweight cotton or bamboo yarns as beach cover ups for when it gets a bit breezy.

The price of the e-book is $15.00 NZ, which currently equates to around $11.30 US
The set covers sizes 0 - 4 yrs

I have 3 copies to give away, please leave a comment saying WHY you would like to win, with your Ravelry name (if you have one) if you aren't on Ravelry make sure you leave a name - anonymous isn't going to win!

Winners will be drawn at random this friday.

New design Tuesday - round up

Today I'm just going to catch you up on where the current designs stand...there hasn't been much knitting this week, my Uncle passed away on Thursday after a brave battle.

My parents, sister and I came to NZ in 1972, my Uncle arrived in 1986 and my grandparents about 12 years later, my sister now lives back in England, my grandparents are quite elderly and my Uncle never married or had children so everything has fallen to Mum to organize, and as always she is doing a stellar job.

Today I emailed Blaise with a link to a macaron recipe I knew she would like, and said that we have to make them soon, she replied "as soon as the crazy has calmed" and my reply "haven't you learnt yet Blaise? The crazy never ends, you just have to learn to ride the waves"

My way of riding those waves is to knit:

- Grellow...actually we are almost friends again, the sleeves are on and I'll be finished this evening

- Nikau revisited...very happy with these, need to write the pattern, found 2 beautiful babes for the photos

- plum blossom...still waiting for me to correct the spelling and punctuation...

- and a newie...Torrent...simple, bright, useful...more info soon!

Have a great week, we will be saying goodbye to my Uncle The best way we know how...with words and memories, hanging out as a family, making to most of each other.

New design tuesday - old design tuesday!

Hopefully this incarnation will be the last for the Grellow (working title) I completely ripped the Koigu one!

This is how I work, I refine and change elements that aren't working, I get ideas along the way and suddenly the reason I came up with the pattern in the first place (3 colour slip st) has disappeared from the design altogether!

I'm knitting this version with Wollemeise, initially I thought the yarn maybe too firm for babywear, however it knits up beautifully and gives real bounce to the stitch patterns, and even though I have only been knitting Grellows for weeks, I have been frantically sketching whilst doing so, and now have an entire e-books worth of 4ply (fingering) weight designs ready to take their place in the line up...hopefully the process will not be as torturous as this has been.

Who knows what will be here next tuesday...maybe I will have finished...maybe I will decide to add a hood...c'est la vie!

New design Tuesday - the one where I distract you with a jellyfish

Here is the jellyfish of the title...it is really an adult sized Aviatrix ( I used the largest size worsted pattern instructions, but used a bulky weight yarn) with built in scarf, here it is blocking. The combo actually looks really good on, I should get a photo when Blaise comes to pick it up on Thursday. I started it on friday and finished it yesterday, it was good mindless knitting for the stolen moments I was able to grab.

I did not accomplish anything like the amount of knitting I had optimistically hoped this long weekend, in fact very little knitting was done at all, however there was lots of family time, and couple time which more than made up for it. Charlotte's birthday tea was combined with Easter sunday, so most of the family gathered around at our house for a big Indian feast, I love preparing, cooking and eating Indian food, so leap at any chance to go all out!

The Grellow (working title) cardigan has grown a little, I am onto the slip moss st bodice now (this is the newborn size) I love, love, love the i-cord cast on...it is neat, tidy, clever and strong enough to prevent rolling, did I tell you I loved it already? I have tweaked almost every aspect of this cardigan, but will wait until it is almost finished to decide if it needs ties or buttons, ties are nice, but buttons are convenient for parents...we will see.
I also love how this yarn works with the stitch patter, I have found these short colour change yarns ( I have used Koigu KPPM and Shibui sock in this one) respond very will to slip st patterning, it reduces the appearance of pooling, even if it is achieved by one  pooling colour being layered on top of another pooling colour!

More distractions... I have a couple of patterns in a soon to be released book "10 secrets of The Laidback Knitters" - you can read more about the book here, or on the Facebook page and even attend book signings if you are the United States - so exciting! I can't wait to see it.

New design tuesday - Grellow update

So, I'm happy with how the Grellow (working title) turned out, I have some minor adjustments to make but overall the fit is nice (firmer in the bodice, slightly looser for the rest of the body) the 3 colour slip patterns are fun and easy to learn and the stripes give a bit of relief where more slip st may have pushed the cardigan over the edge. I was thinking that the neckband needs to come down ever so slightly, and I'll use an i-cord cast on, instead of applied i-cord

for my 2nd attempt I am trying a handpainted, multicoloured yarn instead of 3 different colours, it will still have a contrast piped edge (don't worry the green is just there as a border between the 3 swatches I have to knit) I'm thinking either an earthy brown or deep rose pink. When I come to write the pattern up I will include instructions for both versions. I have a fun hat taking shape in my head too...we'll see if I can manage to make that a reality before the next big thing takes over...

and speaking of which, you may remember this:

My Sakura sweater is about to be reincarnated into something which is simple to knit, this one looked a lot easier than it was, it had a complicated chain stripe which looked nice but threw the intarsia right off. 

Easter long weekend looms before us , so I feel positive that progress will be made on this before next Tuesday.

Update: The Baby Plum Blossom sweater pattern is with the Tech editor, then it may go through another test knitter or two to ensure the best results, the wait will be worth it!

Mister Man!

he's here! all 20 sizes of him.

I'm actually pretty proud of this pattern, the vest is simple - "v" neck, no body shaping - but the stitch pattern looks amazing with handpainted yarns, the shoulders sit nicely with no overhang, the back neck is snug and the stitch pattern is both charted and written.

Ebony is my favourite colourway from Fleece Artist, the browns and deep blue/greys remind me of rusting steel plate, the kind of thing you see on modern buildings, I like the broodiness of it.

Henry

A bright spot in an otherwise dark week has been the release of my Henry pattern (only on Ravelry at present) this great sweater knits up quickly in worsted/ aran weight yarn, has minimal shaping but uses rib and cable to give a great fit. It's nice to design something a bit more tweenage boy friendly, although it is just as nice on girls (think horseriding and hiking)

Last  week has us visitng my Grandad in hospital after a massive heart attack and now  follow up complications mean that he is back there for a while...Flash has the 'flu...and Holly and Nick live in Christchurch...they came through the initial quake on saturday morning  intact and started feeling survivor guilt very quickly as their house was fine, yet the in-laws (Nick's parents)  house has a huge crack running through it, the driveway ended up in the road and the backyard disappeared - they have no power and no water.

Yesterday morning's 5.1 aftershock was literally under Holly's street - and now Holly and Nick have no chimneys, and were sleeping in the dining room to stay safe. I feel so bad for them, they say it is the aftershocks that are doing them in - the lack of sleep and the constant state of alertness is taking it's toll.

It's the big things - the old buildings being demolished, the shattered lives of friends and relatives and the little things - the lists that need to be made for insurance - for wedding dress fabric bought and paid for but still at the shop - which may no longer exist, the cats who have started peeing in the house out  of fear.

I sent a big box of love yesterday - cookies baked by Blaise, treats, things to do and watch and enjoy, things to take their mind off the neverending aftershocks and relax for a moment, and wool...of course.

My friends in Christchurch our love and thoughts are with you.

Contest!

I have finally finished writing this pattern in 20 sizes!!! yes it will fit your new baby right through to his Big Daddy!

To celebrate I have decided to run a contest - the prize being 1 skein of the extremely nummy Fleece Artist Somoko in the Ebony colourway which I used on both of the vests in the photo.

What do you have to do??

Come up with a name for this vest pattern - something memorable, catchy, geeky whatever - I will know it when I see it, if more than one person comes up with the same winning name there will be a draw.

Winner will be announced in 2 weeks time - by which time the tech editing will be finished and the pattern will be ready to go!

Leave your answer in the comments section with your email address or blog address, or include your Ravelry id.

Specs: fingering weight yarn, simple 4 row cable pattern, v-neck, sleeveless, designed for use with handpainted yarns - to make the most of the colour changes.

Ember

so that pattern which I designed in a frenzy 2 days before being admitted to hospital and leaving my poor test knitters unattended (they pulled together and did me proud!) is now for sale on Ravelry and my ETSY page (where you can also purchase a cottage licence if you so desire)

I tried to stay away from licences in the past, however the custom knitting contingent is large and well organised - so after a few emails I have relented.
The cottage licence style I have decided to run with is very simple - no follow ups, nothing more to pay, and a lifetime of use and looks like this:

- you have a lifetime license to use the pattern/ebook  to produce garments for sale, so long as they are handmade and not commercially produced (i.e. not made by outworkers or in a factory)

- you will never have to pay any additional charges or fees in relation to this license

- this license is for garments only – you may not sell the patterns.

- you may use my name when you sell these garments (e.g. “as designed by Justine Turner of JustJussi”) or not at your discretion, however the garments are not to be marketed as your own design

- this license also gives you the right to produce garments for sale (under these same conditions) using any of my previously published patterns (published prior to 01 May 2010) that you purchase or download – yes even the free ones!
Who knows what I will be doing in the next few years, I am not interested in chasing licensees with a multitude of rules - I sum this up as a "play nice" ethic.
 
Anyway - back to my darling Ember - very quick, not absolutely simple - but once you have knitted one and understand the construction they become addictive - I made my latest one in 4 hours! The pattern works well with the Aviatrix hat - with it's garter ridges, so leftover yarn can be put to good use. I used Cleckheaton Folklore which is a thick/thin yarn which knits up as a bulky - however it is listed on Rav as a super bulky - which I just don't agree with, I got the same gauge with Cleckheaton kaleidoscope and Malabrigo worsted which are both singles yarns and work beautifully with this design.
 
Thank you to everyone who commented and emailed me about my illness, I'm on the mend and determined not to let it happen again, sometimes we just have to slow down and listen to our bodies (ok, I have to slow down and lsiten!) I'm back at work, and oh so lucky that I work part time, I couldn't have managed otherwise. Flash and Blaise are doing most of the housework, I just pop dinner into the crockpot while I am active in the morning, so that I can just fall into my chair and knit or read when I get home in the afternoon - the daggy old crockpot is an absolute lifesaver!
 
Baby update: due on saturday  5th June - saw Maria yesterday, she looks as though if you poked her she would pop! unfortunately his head is still not engaged - so I ordered her to squat while watching tv and to take lots of long walks, here's hoping this child arrives this week as Grandad is off to China next monday!

Kits are going live!

Yes I know it has taken a while (thanks for the reminders Deb!)

but I have finally got it together with the kits.

I have combined the "garter stitch plain and simple" patterns you have seen recently with my own handdyed yarn (the yummy wool/bamboo/silk "Biba" sportweight yarn) and packaged them together with knitting needles, stitch markers, a label and basic notions.

Hat kits are $15.00 US and Garment kits start at $24.00 US

Garment kits are available in 2 size groups to keep everything simple, I have included the hat patterns free of charge, in case you have leftover yarn.

New Zealander's pay $5.00 postage, everyone else pays $12.00

The first 25 garment kit purchasers will get a handprinted calico tote to keep their project in.

Ok so - perfect Christmas gift for a new knitter, pregnant mum on bedrest or anyone wanting to knit something simple, elegant and quick for their favourite little person!

Click on the little deer for the link

Countdown - yarn colours

here are the colours I'm offering for the first round of kits

The yarn is "Biba" a blend of wool, bamboo and silk, very soft and cushy!

my research suggested that people wanted a softer than usual pink, but a brighter than usual blue and some colours not usually available for babies.

Here are my basics:

cotton pink
sky blue
just olive

mercury grey

the winter dapple you have met before

the summer dapple - bright blues, yellow and greens

a small range to start, I'd rather react to client's requests to develop further colourways.

It's all coming together, patterns are written, bags printed, supplies ordered.

and these special colourways are for starter kits - tiny projects for tiny people