The Colour of Mist, a fairly simple lace pattern

As promised in my last post, a free pattern for this luscious lace scarf.  If you find any discrepancies or inaccuracies in the pattern, please do let me know.

It is written, not charted, and lends itself to different weights of yarn and needle sizes.  The trickiest part of the pattern is the “knit three together” — don’t knit too tightly, or you’ll never manage that part.

Download the PDF here.

The colour of mist, and soft as a cloud

Hot off the needles is this lace scarf that is just the most amazingly indulgent angora luxury.  I’ll write up the pattern in a day or two and post it here as a freebie (I’ll link to it in Ravelry, too).  Meanwhile, the scarf itself is for sale on Etsy.

The lace pattern is a fairly easy knit, but makes a lovely design, twining down the length of the scarf in two winding vines.  The ends are softly scalloped, adding another mark of uniqueness to this scarf.

One For the Guys

This sock has fairly subdued patterning and I think a lot of men would be ok with it.  My own man prefers his socks plain and dim, er, dark.  This pattern is a more interesting knit than endless stockinette.

It’s free, and you can download the PDF here.

Please let me know if there are any problems with the pattern, or if you like it, or hate it, or whatever!  I get thousands of visitors to my blog every month, but only a couple of comments ever, and we bloggers do like our comments, you know. 

"Maneki Neko", one of several ACEOs I'll be offering over the next few days to aid the Japanese relief effort

Please take a look at my other blog –I’m putting some small artworks up for sale to benefit the Red Cross’s Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund, and offering free shipping for those items and any others ordered at the same time.  When something so monumentally awful happens, it’s easy to feel helpless.  I’d like to think that in some small way, I am helping.

I snapped a picture of these little flowers growing outside my mother's apartment building yesterday

Yesterday was such a lovely warm, sunny afternoon.  I went to visit my mom, and couldn’t resist trying to capture an image of these crocuses and snowdrops in the bright sunshine.  Blown highlights, but I like the picture anyway.

Spring is definitely almost here, and after a dull Lower Mainland winter, I’m ready for it!

Seven Sisters: Maia, a lace sock that knits up quickly

Maia was the oldest of the seven sisters known as the Pleiades (these days you can see the sisters in the night sky above and right of Orion the Hunter, if you’re in the northern hemisphere).  Maia was the most beautiful of the sisters and lived quietly in a cave in the Arcadian mountains.

These socks fairly flew off the needles — working up the pattern was a lot of fun, and they were quick to knit.

Requirements are approximately 400 yds/ 360 m of sock-weight yarn (the sock in the photo is made of bulk yarn I hand-painted myself; pretty much any regular sock yarn will do), and four US2/2.5 mm double-pointed needles (or size required to get gauge).  The size is adjustable by working the foot to the length you desire.

The downloadable PDF costs $4.00 USD.  Funds are payable through Paypal.

"Spring Showers"

As promised, a new sock pattern: “Spring Showers”.  I think these socks are perfect for this time of year — warm enough to be cozy, but a little lacy so you can show them off as the weather becomes more Spring-like (and it *is* going to become more Spring-like, right?).

This pattern uses about 400 yds/365 metres of sock-weight yarn and is worked on double-pointed needles from the cuff down.  The lace is two simple patterns (the body of the sock is a two row repeat, with every other row plain knit).   You can adjust the size simply by knitting to fit the length of your foot.

The downloadable PDF costs $4.00 USD.  Funds are payable through Paypal.

Now, I must get my knitting act together (i.e., take some pictures, write up some patterns), and de-languish here!

Frank’s been after me to get painting (I haven’t really done anything since we sold the house back in November).  It’s surprisingly hard to just sit down and paint when I’ve been away from it for so long.  However, I did manage to find the right headspace and break the dam with this picture of a bit of the Louisiana prairie.  On my painting table right now I’ve got a half-finished knife painting of a spot in Norway which I may or may not get done in time to send in to The Virtual Paintout — short deadline at this point!  In any case, it feels good to get messing about with paint again….

"Louisiana Prairie", 9 x 12" acrylic on board

Under the pier at Myrtle Beach

Now that my life is getting more settled again, it’s time to get back to blogging.  Since I last wrote, we moved out of the house and have finally hit the road in our new home.  Frank and I have a travelblog set up at artfulvagabonds where we’ll put most of the travel stuff.  I’ll be back here with painting and knitting and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Just a quick note about where in the world I am:  near Dillon, South Carolina.  We were hoping to be out of the snowbelt by now, but it actually snowed here this morning (although it didn’t stay on the ground at all).  After the warm sunshine we had at Myrtle Beach on Sunday, the cold winds and snow have been less appreciated.  Maybe these hospitable South Carolinians are just trying to make us feel at home….