Tag Archives: Knitting

The feather-like stitch pattern of this Aran Lace stole prompted the name of Atlas Peak. Hawks fly high over this appellation in Napa Valley!

The Atlas Peak appellation is best known for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignan, but other varietals include Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Malbec, Marsanne, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Zinfandel.

Atlas Peak is worked in two pieces and grafted in the center.

Size
One size (can be easily altered)

Finished Measurements as shown
Length: 89” / 226 cm
Width: 15” / 38 cm

Yarn
Sunday Knits Angelic 5 ply, 75% extra-fine Australian merino / 25% ultra soft French angora (137 yds / 125 m per 50g), 8 skeins, shown in Moth.

Needles
US6 / 4 mm or size to obtain gauge
US5 / 3.75mm or one size smaller than needles used to obtain gauge

Gauge
23 sts and 27 rows = 4” / 10 cm in Aran Lace pattern (blocked)

Notions
yarn needle, cable needle, waste yarn

Skills
cabling, simple lace, increases, decreases, decrease cables, Kitchener stitch in pattern
Both charts and line by line instructions included

Ready for another foray into cables and lace and color? The Escondido Falls Shawl is a wedge-shaped shawl worked from the bottom up, with a lush lace and densely cabled edging.

You can work it in either two colors as shown above, in one color as shown at the end of the post, or (not shown) in one color for the body and cable section, and a second color for the lace.

I got to meet Gerty, Anzula’s new 100% Targhee yarn, this summer at TNNA. I decided to do a two-colored cable shawl to explore how Gerty would play with the cables, lace, and colorwork. I chose Clay, a greenish neutral, as the CC, and Teddy, a warm rich brown.

After lots of swatching, and playing with different options (fair isle in the center of the cable, different widths to the linen stitch edging, etc), I ended up with the pattern as is. My sample knitter Cambria finished the sample for me.

With the deadline looming, I thought it’s be great to do a single colored version as well, for those of you who just want to play with TWO techniques (cables and lace) at a time.   A quick email to my sample knitter Annette verified she could do the sample, and a quick email to Anzula ensured there were three skeins of the same dyelot available. I think it looks gorgeous in the blue as well!

The Targhee is extremely bouncy. You can block the heck out of it and it springs back.  I initially blocked the two-colored cable shawl to 90¼” / 229 cm along the lace edge to really open up the lace; it now measures 77¼” / 196.5cm, two weeks or so later (the lace edge looks great still!). Note that the gauge for the textured section is a bit tighter, which gives the shawl of  bit of a curled shape.

This shawl gets a California place name! I love exploring California parks, and especially waterfall hikes. There are some really neat waterfalls in the Los Angeles area, especially if we’ve had a wet winter.

One of the best is Escondido Falls in Malibu. We brought our dog Rigel with us when we did this hike back in 2009. It was quite the adventure for both us and him! You can read about the hike here.

Shawl details:

One size, easily altered

Finished Measurements
Length along lace edge: 77¼” / 196.5cm
Width at top: 27” / 68.5 cm

Yarn
Anzula Gerty, 100% American Targhee (390 yds / 357 m per 4.02 oz / 114g), 2 skeins Teddy (MC), 1 skein Clay (CC) (or) 3 skeins Blueberry
1040 yds / 951 m total, approx 730 yds / 668 m MC and 310 yds / 283 m CC

Needles
US4 / 3.5mm circular needles or size to obtain gauge

Gauge
25 sts and 32 rows = 4” / 10 cm in Dot Knit textured pattern, blocked
Cable Section Width: 2” / 5 cm, blocked
Lace Edging Width at widest point: 4” / 10 cm, blocked
Lace Edging Height: 4” / 10 cm, blocked

Notions
cable needle, yarn needle

Skills
For two-colored version: stranded knitting, following colorwork charts
All versions: Cabling, lace
Line by line directions given for single color only

Winery Knits is my love letter to California wine country. Are you ready to explore it with me?

Aran Lace and stranded cable techniques are highlighted. The stoles and the mitts are Aran Lace and stranded versions of similar patterns. The Dry Creek sweater has  beautiful Aran Lace panel.

You can purchase the patterns separately ($6-$8 each), or bundled together as an e-book ($20).  If you choose to purchase the ebook, any previously purchased patterns will be included against the price total.  Here’s the link for the e-book:

I’ll be releasing patterns every week or two; you’ll receive updates as I add patterns to the e-book.

There are five patterns:

• Dry Creek Sweater, an Aran Lace top-down raglan women’s sweater
• Atlas Peak Stole, an Aran Lace stole
• Spring Mountain Stole, a cabled and stranded stole
• Willow Creek Mitts, unisex cabled and stranded mitts
• Chalk Hill Mitts, Aran Lace mitts

The Coronado Cowl was just released this week (tip: newsletter subscribers get a discount this week only!).

It’s worked in scrumptious Stitch Sprouts Yellowstone (which I keep wanting to call Yosemite, because that’s one of my favorite places in California!).

You can work it with the edging, or without: your choice! Check out the gorgeous projects from my testers here.

Details below!

This pattern uses vintage stitch patterns (Bee Stitch and Honeybee Lace Stitch from Barbara Walker) to create a lightweight, lacy cowl. Work it with or without the lace edgings.

One size each version
Cowl without edging
Cowl with top/bottom edging

Finished Measurements
Circumference 23” / 58 cm
Height 6 (11)” / 15 (28) cm

Yarn
Stitch Sprouts Yellowstone, 80% wool / 10% silk (285 yds / 260m per 3.55 oz / 100g), 1 skein, shown in Old Faithful. Sample as shown used 257 yds / 234 m.

Needles
US 5 / 3.75 mm needles or size to obtain gauge
Your choice of circular needles or DPNs.

Gauge
26 sts and 32 rounds = 4” / 10 cm in main body pattern

Notions
5 stitch markers to separate repeats if desired
1 unique stitch marker for beginning of round
yarn needle
waste yarn or stitch holder

Skills
Knitting in the round, special stitches (directions given), lace, picking up stitches
Both charts and line by line instructions provided.

Are you excited about the Great American Eclipse? Are you lucky enough to live in the path of totality, or will you be traveling to see it?

Dave and I booked a super cute vintage bungalow in Bend, Oregon, through Airbnb (affiliate link! we love Airbnb) more than a year ago. His parents, Rosemary and Curtis, will be RV’ing from California to Madras, Oregon (Dave made them book their campsite as soon as the campground was taking reservations for eclipse dates). We’ll be meeting them at the campground Monday afternoon, and staying with them til Tuesday afternoon some time.

Regarding eclipse knitting: I did a quick search on Ravelry. There aren’t too many eclipse-themed patterns. Frankly, the search I did showed up a ton of patterns that had absolutely nothing to do with eclipses! Some were Twilight/Bella related: mostly striped hats, and a pair of socks that were inspired by the book cover.

Tania Richter’s Dragon Eclipse Blanket features a gorgeous dragon (and moon).

Eclipse by Shellie Anderson, in Shibui, is my favorite of the eclipse-themed patterns. The use of two highly contrasting colors (and yarns) in the sample really evoke the idea of an eclipse without being obvious or gimmicky.

I’m surprised no one’s come up with an idea incorporating this sort of image (stranded cowl, anyone?).

If you broaden your search to include sun or moon themes, you can find a ton more patterns, including my Under the Sun and Beneath the Moon shawls (shown above).

Other neat sun and moon themed patterns include:

• Sun Moon and Dolphins mitts
• Stargazer Mitts
• Sun and Moon Socks
• Weeping Sun and Moon sweater
• Starry Nights kid’s sweater
• Celestial Hexipuff charts

Are you going to see the eclipse? Let me know!

If  you’re interested in learning more about the eclipse, check out these links:

• My husband Dave’s write up on the eclipse and what to do to safely observe it (whether you’re in the path of totality or not!)
• Oregon Solar Fest
• Madras Oregon Eclipse site
• Nice write up in the Washington Post
• NASA’s Eclipse page

Are you interested in teaching crafts? Pick up a copy of Marie Segares‘ Make Money Teaching Crochet Workbook Edition ($24.95, 118 pages).

The information applies to teaching crafts in general, not just crochet, though specific examples (such as some of the resources) apply to crochet.

The book is organized into 5 sections: Getting Started, The Business Side of Things, Marketing, Prepping for Class, and Resources.

In Getting Started, Marie offers practical advice, with an emphasis on guiding the reader to explore why they want to teach, what sorts of students they expect and want to teach, and so on.

The chapter on business aspects includes consideration on pricing and other policies, as well as a few notes on business organization and taxes.

The Marketing chapter looks at a plethora of options, from on line to contacting reporters.

Prepping for Class addresses both in person and on line classes.

Resources offers links to everything from small business sites to professional crochet links.

If you’re just getting started, this book is a good place to begin (and the resources section points you to sites to further explore or research topics in more depth). If you’ve been teaching for a short period of time, or intermittently, this book can help you fine tune different aspects of your business.

About Marie: Marie Segares is a crochet and knitting teacher, designer, blogger, and podcaster. She hosts the Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show, the podcast where you can find great ideas for launching, managing, and evolving your yarn-related business, and shares her patterns, tips, and projects on the Underground Crafter blog. Since she began teaching crochet part time in 2008, she has taught hundreds of beginners to crochet and helped even more improve their skills. Marie is a professional member of, and volunteer blogger for, the Crochet Guild of America, a designer/teacher member of The Knitting Guild Association, and an affiliate member of The National NeedleArts Association. Marie is a graduate of Barnard College and earned master’s degrees from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York University Stern School of Business. She lives in New York City.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All opinions are my own.