Weather, Double-Knitting, and Sherwood Forest

After a nasty blast of winter last week, I've finally unthawed. Did not have a "bombogenesis" on my weather bingo card for early November! Admittedly I had no clue what one was until our local weather fella mentioned it; it's when rapid intensification of a storm caused by a sudden and significant drop in atmospheric pressure : the development or intensification of a bomb cyclone. A cyclone is a low pressure system and a bombogenesis occurs when a storm intensifies, rapidly losing 24 millibars of pressure in 24 hours. (Thank you, Merriam-Webster's dictionary! Brief aside, their Instagram account is hilarious. Check them out if word play is your jam)

So yeah, low barometric pressure (hello, weather headache), super high winds, and the first snow of 2025. Jakey, Silsie and I just kind of cuddled up, and spent a couple days in massive blanket nest to be perfectly honest. Floofy boy hates wind and required Auntie and Sisfur to protect him. 

This has meant a burst of knitting speed to get my latest ear-warmer off the needles, and onto my rapidly icy-feeling ears. I'm down to the second i-cord tie as of this morning. So yay for a nearly finished project! This was taken last night as I approached the end of the ear-warmer's shaping:

That'll make 2 done, and 3 left to knit of the collection. Oh, and one needs its charts combined so that it can be knit. I'm aiming to have the ebook of all 5 patterns out in Fall 2026, ideally late September or early October.  This one is Rise & Grind, referring to the common "jig step" of the light jig and several céilí (kay-lee) dances. I showed off Sevens to you a bit ago. Left to come are Threes, Birdies, and Twists. 

As is often the case, I've been in deep thoughts about which design to get on my needles after the ear-warmers are all knit. I have a spreadsheet where all my ideas live, and the column for "idea/chart/swatch" is often where I look for the next thing. I've had a chart done for a 3 color double-knit scarf/cowl set for quite awhile (chart is dated 2021), and I purchased yarn to knit the sample cowl last year. But I have to be honest with myself and you: I'm not feeling another d-k scarf right now. The ear-warmers have me wanting to continue playing with shaping double-knitting rather than just creating plain old rectangles. 

Fiber friends, I've gone and created the chart for a hood to go atop a short cloak/cape in the last week. A double-knit hood involving not just decreases but also short-rows. 

Ok, I'd be super remiss if I didn't acknowledge where the whole hood inspiration came from. Are you familiar with the designs of Nim Teasdale🔗 (link goes to her Love Crafts profile)? Probably best known for lace shawls of phenomenal artistry, this summer and fall saw a set of 5 hooded short ponchos/long cowls emerge. Inspired by medieval fashions and the tales of Robin Hood these are a glorious set of colorwork enhanced whimsical yet practical items to keep the wind off your ears and neck, while confounding the Sheriff of Nottingham. I want to knit them all! 

And armed with my supposed-to-be-a-scarf chart, that's where this hood of mine obviously got its start. I'm not sure if this is going to go anywhere, but I'm probably going to at least swatch the shaping portion at some point. 

And yes, this is reminding me that I have Countess Cathleen glaring at me from the top of my dresser awaiting her pattern to be written/tech edited/released to beta knitters/published. She's definitely not forgotten, but my mind is having a bit of a time figuring out how to write the pattern in multiple sizes. I've knit enough of them, it shouldn't be that difficult but... Yeah. I do have charts and stitch counts, so that's helpful at least.

Oh look, more rain coming the next few days, with another wind warning. Thankfully my tea reserves are very robust, and I have many woolly layers to burrow into while drinking my weight in tasty hot teas, and knitting.

Oh! And don't forget: the Fasten Off Yarn Along is fast approaching! Cast-on is 9pm Eastern Standard on November 21st. Designer signups concluded last night but I haven't seen the final count yet. I do know several new-to-FOYAL designers have been joining and saying hello on the Discord server🔗 (link to the server), which is awesome! I love discovering new-to-me designers. And of course a lot of old friends are back, both designers and makers, which really makes it such an amazing event.

I did notice one returning designer in particular that gives me an excellent and timely personal project. I got a lovely mitten pattern during last year's FOYAL, Voss by Anniken Allis🔗 (link to pattern page in designer's Payhip shop), and I think that's going to be my first  cast-on for FOYAL 2025. I think the pattern will pair nicely with some Briggs & Little Sport I have onhand, and I can keep my hands warm this winter. I also have the patterns for Vaffel Votter and Vinter Votter by her but I'm less sure on my colors of B&L Heritage for contrast purposes. They're all lovely patterns. Do check out her Payhip shop; she also has a number of really beautiful lace patterns. 

Ok, that's my rambling musings for this evening! Hope you're keeping warm, or cool depending on your location, and have an engaging project or two (or more ;) on your needles or hooks

Yours in yarn, and kitty snuggles

Síle

Do You Know What Season Has Started?

Regular readers won't be the least bit surprised but newcomers are probably thinking "She's getting excited for Fall this late in the game?" *raised eyebrow emoji*

And no I'm not quite that forgetful.

Hint: You may notice a new-yet-not tab above this post.

The Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long (aka FOYAL) is being organized as I write! Designer signup is open now (like literally starting today) until November the 9th. I missed posting about the volunteer signup window because, well honestly, life was lifing. I also know that there may be some ways to help out once things are underway, and the best way to hear about those when they crop is via the FOYAL Discord server.

Ok, now I know some of you are probably wondering "What the heck is FOYAL? Designers of what are signing up for this? How does this relate to this strange individual who mashes knitting and Irish dance together to make knitting patterns?"

All extremely valid questions too! Especially that third one ;)

Ok, so first things first. The Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long got its start in 2020 because Ravelry got basically broken by some bad choices in its new look, commonly known as NuRav. This resulted in a lot of people getting headaches and worse from trying to use it. And a lot of those people were independent designers of knitting and crochet patterns. You can find out more about what was going on in some of my earliest posts on this blog; NuRav is a particularly good tag to select in the sidebar, also Ravelry Accessibility

But back to where FOYAL came into being: Every late fall through December, a group on Rav hosts the Indy Gift Along or GAL which is a big craft along featuring and promoting independent designers of knit and crochet patterns, and it's a lot of fun. But it's based on Rav and when approached by designers and past participants who couldn't use Rav any longer (at that point there were no workarounds), the organizers didn't really have the time or inclination to expand the event. Which was all good because quite frankly, it wasn't them that broke things, and they were gearing up for their own event and didn't have time to put something totally new together. Knowing and setting your boundaries is important, and being honest about them is *chef's kiss*

So up stepped a rag-tag group of people who said "There's got to be a way to have a similar in scope event but not tied to really any particular site so participants and designers can join in from a number of points on the web."

And that little band proceeded to create the Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long, which is an event promoting the patterns of independent knit and crochet pattern designers with, much like the GAL, a pattern sale followed by a big craft along. There is a central website🔗, and participants can join in on one or several social media platforms. There are games and giveaways, sharing of projects, lots of great chatter, and quite a community. Especially on the FOYAL Discord server🔗.

As you can imagine a lot of the event hinges on volunteers (many of whom are also participating designers) posting across the supported social media platforms in a variety of ways. We do our best to keep things fun and safe/comfortable for everyone. Some platforms have changed in how much is done there over the years. Some of the original busiest platforms aren't any longer. Others we never thought of using before have become where we're found more often. It's ever changing, depending on where the volunteers say they're comfortable running various things. Which is why there's the central website to find all the relevant info, including the pattern/designer database. The searchable database is the core. We've even come up with games that use the search features!

And just to own up to my position in all this: yes, I'm one of the organizers. And I have been all 6 years we've put this event together. So yeah, when I write we I'm literally meaning it as "me and the gang". And I'm a participating designer as well as doing my background work. Hence the special tab above

Hmm, I think I answered all three questions in one fell swoop. Will wonders ever cease: I kept that remarkably brief! Go, me lol

Onto the finer details of 2025's event. Every FOYAL starts with a pattern sale. Using a single code, you will get 25% off (before any relevant taxes) any patterns amongst a certain collection of the participating designers' patterns.

Now just to be clear: this doesn't mean all of the patterns by every designer. There are some designers who include all of their patterns in the sale (hi), while others select particular ones. In the past, the patterns that are included in the sale have been marked by a special sale tag in the FOYAL database. I believe that will be the same protocol this year; if this info changes I'll let you know!

This year the sale starts at 9pm North American Eastern Time on November 21st, and runs through end of day on December 4th.

Meanwhile, the craft along portion of the event also starts at 9pm North American Eastern Time on November 21st and runs through December 31st. There's also our New Year's Eve Boonanza (hosted strictly on the Discord server because quite honestly over-caffeinated Síle can not possibly run allover the web while ringing in several , New Years' in all different time zones) which is a ton of fun and usually pushes well into January 1st. Admittedly it tends to end whenever I finally run out of caffeine and fizzle out lol. I think my record was in 2023 when I was awake and online for something like 28 hours. I get very amusing the longer I'm up apparently lol. The conversations always run for a few days into January but the event itself is over. 

Ok, so those are the important dates but how do you participate? Take a look at the participating designers. If you have already acquired (not necessarily bought it yourself) one of their normally paid for patterns, cast-on/chain/start making it and share your progress on one of the supported platforms (don't forget the hashtag and/or tag the FOYAL account on that platform so our volunteers can see it; you just might be featured!), and start chatting with others who are doing the same. It's that easy! 

Now, if you don't already have a pattern by one of the participating designers, that's where the database comes in. Use the search features to find a pattern, and then use the sale code to purchase it at 25% off, and you're on your way!

Why is the focus on the paid patterns? Because we want to support indy pattern designers. That's it. No gimmick. 

But that doesn't mean you necessarily have to have bought a pattern either. Perhaps you were gifted a pattern; that totally counts. Maybe you were lucky and got in on a first day giveaway, and got a normally paid pattern for free. Maybe you test knit/crocheted for a designer, and got another of their patterns as compensation for your time. Maybe you won a pattern prize in a previous FOYAL, and the same designer is participating again. (Fun fact: there are a lot of designers who have participated in more than one year of FOYAL, and I believe around 40 who have participated every year!) These are all ways you may have acquired a normally-paid for pattern by a participating designer without having paid for it monetarily yourself. 

Whew! This has gotten much longer than I intended, and the sky is getting very light. Despite the torrential rain outside. Eddie (the weather fella) said we were in for rain, and he wasn't kidding!

I'll be back with more FOYAL talk as things progress. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below, or in my feedback form in the sidebar, and I'll answer you as quickly as I can. 

Yours in yarn, and way too little sleep (I started writing this at 4:30-something am; it's now 7:28am *facepalm*),

Síle

Going (Too) Big?

The phrase "Go big, or go home" has been a bit stuck in my head the last while. And my Three Hand Reel sample has reached the point of having 933 stitches in a row so it's also very fitting! 

That number of stitches in a row also has me wondering if there's such a thing as too big. I'm not an overly fast knitter; I consider myself average speed at best. So these long rows take me a good while to get done. Definitely something to keep in mind for future designs. Well, try to keep in mind anyway lol. I know myself. 

Summer has definitely come to Atlantic Canada! We've had a lot of heat and sunshine so far. So much that Roomie and I got a little pool for the backyard; inflatable sides and about 55cm/22 inches deep. Plenty of room for two lounging adults. It's been quite nice to have. That's also led me to my latest personal project: Beach Flowers🔗 by Brenda Grobler (link to designer's site). I'm using some variegated Bernat Baby I had on hand which is giving it a bit of an underwater look:

Fun, right? I'm enjoying the change up between it and the Three Hand Reel. Nothing like a bit of crochet to offset a lot of knitting.

I forgot to include my Spotlight of Canadian yarns, designers, and shops in my last post so you're getting an extended one today:

SPOTLIGHT

First up I thought I'd stay fairly local to me, and start with some truly beautiful yarn. Windswept Fibres & Design🔗 (link to their website) is located in St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Pam hand dyes some of the prettiest colors on our Rock. I'm a big fan of her Best Kind Sock; I'm knitting the sample of an upcoming lace shawl design with it currently, and it's glorious to knit with. A hank of this yarn in the 2022 Come Home colorway was part of the prize pack for my MKAL a few years ago too. All of the colorways have Newfoundland-inspired names, while the yarn lines get their names from common/popular sayings here. If you get to visit St. John's, you can buy in person at the Artisans' Loft, located on historic Water Street, which is one of the many fun shops in downtown St. John's. 

Speaking of yarn shopping in St. John's, Wool Trends🔗 (link to website) carries a wide range of yarn weights, fibers and colors along with needles, hooks, and notions. Confession: I order from them quite a bit! Deirdre and staff are fantastic whether shopping in person or online.

If you're on the lookout for Canadian wool, look no further than New Brunswick-based (Atlantic Canada represent!) Briggs & Little Woolen Mill🔗 (link to website), Canada's oldest woolen mill in operation. Fun fact: the mill is older than Canada! It's been operating, under a few different names, since 1857. While B&L's yarns can best be described as rustic, they're wonderfully warm for hats, mittens, hiking/work socks, outer cardigans and pullovers, and even shawls. These are work horse wools in a very wide range of colors. You'll find at least one line of B&L wools at most Canadian yarn shops; I can buy their Heritage line (Aran weight) at my closer lys, and I order Sport regularly from either Wool Trends (mentioned above) or Fia Fia (mentioned in my last post). I love them for their wooliness, price point, and durability, and you'll notice several of my patterns' samples have been knit with B&L wools.

Leaving Atlantic Canada for a moment, I bring you to Sweet Paprika Designs🔗 (link to their website) based in beautiful Montreal, Quebec. Hand-dyed yarns, patterns, kits, plus tools and notions, books, etc, they have it all! If you're familiar with the Fasten Off Yarn A Long, Debbie and Elizabeth Sullivan, the sister duo behind Sweet Paprika, have been participating designers for several years. Debbie's Eadgyth (ie Edith in Saxon times) shrug is very high on my must-make list *heart eyes*

Ok, fiber friends, I think that about does it for today! I hope you're beating the heat or keeping warm depending where you are in the world, and that your projects are going well. Are you working on small light things, big keep-you-warm-while-you-work things or coming up the middle? I'd love to hear about them!

Yours in yarn, and the annoyance that is a mosquito buzzing your ear every 30 seconds,

Síle