Coming Attractions

Whew! Been a bit

The beta/test knit for the Four Hand Reel is wrapping up soon, and it's gone wonderfully well 😊 The knitters chose such different colors to my own bag, and they all look phenomenal. I'll be sharing some of their photos in my Instagram stories leading up to the pattern release.

When will that be?

I'm happy to announce the Four Hand Reel pattern will be released before the end of October 😊 I'm firming up the date ; guess who needs photos ;)

While the generous knitters have been busy with their "totes of many colors", I've been hard at work on the Countess Cathleen design. 

I had the entire thing off the needles (onto a holding thread; no way am I risking 612 stitches to possible ladders!) last week, and captured this photo of it. Thanks to a furry "helper" it's not nicely spread out with the front edges touching, like when I stood up to get the photo... (Way to go, Jade 🙄)

(The fronts actually overlap as the cloak is more than a circle's worth of hand knit fabric)

Right now it's 9 rows shorter than this. I realized after trying it on that I'd started the knotwork motifs too soon 🤦🏼‍♀️ The joys of designing on the needles! 

So this beauty is taking all of my design attention right now. But it shouldn't be too much longer, and I'll have it finished. Then it's finalizing the pattern (and doub... tri... quadruple checking all my math lol), and sending it off to my awesome techeditor. I think this might possibly be in beta/test knitting in the spring, with a fall release date. We'll see! I have a couple other designs nearly done that could sneak in ahead of this one. 

And after that? Don't worry I have some fun designs in the plotting/planning stages. A real mixed bag of everything too! Double-knitting, lace, and (of course) more cables; I even have double-knitting *with* cables in the works 😉 

Hope this finds you enjoying your fall or spring projects, depending where you call home. What's on your needles as we approach the end of 2023?

Yours in yarn and movable deadlines,

Síle

A Quick Rundown

Hello! How are you doing?

I hope your late summer/early fall (or late winter/early spring depending where you call home) projects are progressing nicely. A few of the test/beta knitters have finished their Four Hand Reel totes now, which is exciting! They look very cool. 

I've been plugging away at the sea of moss stitch that my Countess Cathleen was feeling like and I see land in sight! I'm finally at the row where the knotwork motifs start :) So excited to see how it looks all together!

Hurricane Franklin will be buzzing by my island home over the next couple of days bringing us lots of rain. Thankfully it's staying well away from land, although one of the maps shown earlier today by our local meteorologist showed it approaching Iceland later in the week. Mother Nature is certainly showing her strength with everything going on this year! 

What about you? Anything interesting on your needles? Are you making a list of fall cast-ons? I noticed several podcasts/vlogs on Youtube have episodes on their must knits for fall. It can be interesting to see what other knitters are leaning towards. I want Countess Cathleen and at least one of my personal projects off the needles soon so that I can cast-on something new. I need to get the lining done for my Four Hand Reel too. And then I need to not knit anymore bags that need linings for a while! lol I'm so not a seamstress. 

That's all I've got this evening. 

Yours in yarn and rapidly increasing humidity,

Síle

Thoughts and Ruminations on a Cloudy Friday

Things are pretty quiet around Knit Dance Repeat Designs right now. The test/beta knit for the Four Hand Reel is humming along nicely. One of the brilliant knitters has finished her tote, and a couple of the others are nearly there. It's so cool to see my design come to life in someone else's color and fiber choices! 

I've been working on Countess Cathleen fairly monogamously this month. Unfortunately I'm in the midst of a moss stitch sea when it doesn't seem like the work is growing despite checking off completed rows on the chart. I know all of a sudden it'll magically appear to have grown, but this part is a bit like sleeve island right now. Not the worst thing in world but I'm trying to make sure I don't overshoot the point that the knotwork motifs make their entrance. I'm *really* looking forward to seeing them in situe.

One thing about knitting in a bit of an auto mode, it leaves my mind free to wander, and wonder about new ideas. And that's resulted in two new design ideas in the past week! I'm still fleshing out my notes, but both designs will definitely involve beads. One might need to have the beads prestrung to get the effect I'm envisioning, while the other will work better using the crochet hook method of placing each bead separately. I confess: I like the individually placed methods better. I feel the bead being on two legs of a stitch is more secure than prestringing. Going by how many popular designs are knit using prestrung beads, my fear is probably quite a bit unfounded. 

I may as well spill the tea, and tell you these will be two shawls, although one will have the option to be a scarf or a stole-type wrap. These are also quite bit down on the list currently though so things could change by the time they get to my needles, and then out to you! With 20 some designs in various states of planning, ie. samples not on the needles yet, *any* of them could be very different once they go through my process. 

Speaking of the design process, I watched a really neat episode of "The Thread - A Knitting Podcast" on Youtube last week. Nicole went through her process, and the sort of 5 main questions she answers when she's plotting and planning a design. Like my designs, hers have a distinct niche inspiration so I found it super interesting how she goes about things, and how it compares and contrasts with my own process. If you haven't checked out "The Thread", give it a watch. You might enjoy it too. I find Nicole very fun and personable. You can also find her on Instagram as @thecommonthread; her stories are often very funny, and her enthusiasm is catching.

I think that's about it from here. There's rain in the forecast for the next few days so that will be an excellent excuse to craft away the weekend. Sistwerp and I are re-watching Supernatural from the beginning (again lol; we're nearing the end of season 1 now) which is so good for me from a getting rows done standpoint. Having something to watch on the tv keeps me from picking up my phone, and scrolling away several hours when I could've/should've made progress on a project. I've been unengaged with actually posting anything the last year or so. I've really struggled with it, and I have no idea why. I still take photos, I just don't post them anywhere. Might text them to Mum or someone else but... yeah. But I'll get engaged in scrolling, especially Insta, and oh, look! It's 4 hours later, and I really need to get supper going! lol

The mind is a nebulous, and mysterious thing isn't it?

I think I'll work some granny squares for my Aria Blanket (pattern by Lucy @Attic24) while I continue to ponder this, that, and everything else in between. This is one of my personal projects, and I'm only 17 squares away from finishing it! Ok, 17 squares plus the wide border. Anyway, it's getting closer to finished. Yay! That'll be one less personal project on the go, and one step closer to a more manageable work projects/personal project: ratio. I digress!! Lol So much for closing this post, right? rotflmao

Ok, this time I'm really closing this post. 

I hope your yarn projects are happily coming along. Are you close to finishing any large ones? Are you clearing your needles and hooks of warm weather projects in anticipation of the coming cooler temps? I'd love to hear what you've got on the go, and what comes next in your yarn adventures.

Thanks for reading along, fiber friends!

Yours in yarn and too many ruminations ;)

Síle 

Summertime & the Knitting Countines (Slowly)

I'm happy to report that the Hornpipe Bag pattern🔗 (link remains within this site) was well received last week. And testing for the Four Hand Reel is going great. One tester is nearly finished! Depending on the photo situation, I forsee a fall release of the tote bag pattern.

I'm happy to say our temps are down slightly which is allowing me to knit again for at least short times. Roomie has gone to Town to attend tonight's George Street Festival concert, so I'm here with my yarn and her cats. One of the items on my list to tackle today is cutting/sewing/attaching the lining for my Four Hand Reel. I found the cutest fabric a while ago:

Isn't that fun? Especially since I use my tote as a large project bag.

Speaking of large projects, I've been knitting up samples of the various knotwork motifs I've charted in order to help me choose the right one for Countess Cathleen (the cabled and hooded cloak design). So far I haven't found the right one, but I'm really hopeful for KW#7 :) KW#5 was cool but waaaay too big. I might have a place in the lineup where it can shine though. Possibly. I digress! Here are some of the rejected knotworks:

I was able  to watch Romi Hill's Youtube live last night. What a wealth of blocking lace knowledge! If you're looking for lace tips and tricks, her Youtube channel is a gold mine. Anyway, she mentioned that there other ways to block lace besides those she covered, one being a shawl frame. These were/are commonly used in the Shetland islands to block out their beautiful lace shawls. I believe there's also a type of shawl frame from Estonia/the Baltic countries; I confess I was only skimming the google-foo results. Knit Picks has a tutorial🔗 on how to build one that can be easily taken down for storage. Dangerous knowledge for me lol. Still I think building one is most likely, although with the price of lumber it might not be, the cheaper option. I'll add it to my list of things I should build with the portable dance floor so I don't have to treble on concrete in the basement ;)

Why did I bring up lace and shawl frames? Well, the Planxty Hap needs a good blocking before I can get pictures of it, and then get it into techediting and test/beta knitting. I really want to get that out for everyone to see. It's a fairly soothing lace project, and I'm a bit proud of it.

And there will be (at least) another lace shawl coming sometime down the road too. I have the charts finalized, I "just" need to get the yarn and knit the sample. I have to laugh because I have so many designs at this particular stage right now. I'm looking at my list of ideas/charts that are fully realized and can count 6. At least it keeps me out of trouble lol

In my personal projects, I'm actively working on a cabled pullover (Twist Again by Robynn Weldon🔗), a not overly lace cardigan (Colorica Cardigan by Romi Hill🔗), and a fun and colorful shawl  (Who Ya Gonna Shawl by Mary Annarella/Lyrical Knits🔗). All of these links go to either the designer's own website or their Payhip shop; none send you to R@v.

That's today's little round up. I hope you've been staying relatively cool in the summer heat. Have you  been fiber crafting? Perhaps you're using a cotton or linen blend yarn to knit a tanktop or crochet a beach/pool cover-up? Let me what you have on the go :)

That's it for me today! Stay cool!

Yours in yarn, and summer heat,

Síle

Photo Shoot Day!

That's right! 

Photos for the Hornpipe Bag are on the schedule today :)

And that means I'll be taking some time over the next few days to choose which photos will be in the pattern, and which additional ones will be on the various pattern pages. And of course making sure everything is just so before I put it out for everyone.

Release day for the Hornpipe Bag will be Tuesday, the 18th!

That's not all that's on my designer's to-do list this weekend! The test/beta knit for the Four Hand Reel starts on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to what colors the knitters will be using. That's my favorite part of any test/beta knit: seeing my design re-interpreted in someone else's color and yarn choices.

And of course I have actual knitting on my list. I'm knitting up the various knotwork motif charts I've created for the bottom section of the Countess Cathleen cloak. I thought that a cabled knotwork would look really nice centered near the bottom of each of the shaping panels. So, I've been creating charts, and knitting them, to try and find the right one. I've made some interesting observations but my hunt for the right knotwork continues. 

I have a couple of double-knitting designs in the works. I'm looking at yarns right now, and hope to get them on the needles toward the end of the summer or early fall. Which will hopefully be when I have another pattern in test/beta knitting. This will be something for the lace and/or shawl knitters amongst you. I've dubbed it the Planxty Hap. I think you'll like it if lace with a twist is your type of pattern.

Time for me to get outside and join my photographer so she can make some photo magic!

Yours in yarn and model mode ;)

Síle

Testing News and Social Media

I'm happy to report I opened applications for spots to test/beta knit my Four Hand Reel tote bag pattern this week!

Applications are open on Yarnpond until next Friday (the 14th), and testers chosen will receive their copies on July 15th. The (completely flexible) deadline is set as September 23rd; 10 weeks for striped garter stitch log cabin blocks turned into a very roomy tote bag. I use mine as a knitting project bag for larger projects; it's housing the yarn and a started baby blanket currently. You can find all the details of the test here: https://www.yarnpond.com/pattern_tests/3590

I've been trying to get my Instagram mojo working again. I used to post all the time, several times a day. But since Covid came into our lives, I've noticed I have a lot of trouble with social media. I don't know what it is, but while I'll scroll for hours, I have a really difficult time posting my own posts. Captions are hard to write (normally my strong suit). It's like my chronic pain and medication induced brain fog has swallowed my words. Thankfully not in my pattern writing, but having a presence on social media as an indy designer of knitting patterns is sooooooo important these days. I'm feeling a bit lost and adrift on the interwebs these days. I don't think Elephant Mess mucking about with Twitter is helping me either. Twitter was the second social media I ever joined, maybe a month or two after I joined Ravelry, so it's kind of my home. Sadly its days seem very numbered. If you have any tips or tricks that help you maintain your presence on social media, especially photos on Instagram (please not Reels though. The only reels I like involve ghillies or hardshoes ;) ) comment below, please and thank you!

Off to the glamor and grandeur that is washing dishes! I know you're secretly envying me ;)

Yours in yarn and testknitting applications,

Síle

Hello, June!

Little did I know when I wrote my last post that I had over 3 weeks more to my frozen-up arm. As you can imagine, that's put me waaay more behind on my various projects. Slowly I'm getting caught up while also working with a new strategy of breaks while working to keep my arm from going out again. 

What's going on here at KDRD? I'm currently editing my final tutorial for the Hornpipe Bag and, weather cooperating, photos should be done later in the week. I'm thinking the tutorial should be up on the weekend, with the pattern release next week. We'll see if it gets there!

The Four Hand Reel will be in test/beta knitting around July 5th. This is my log cabin square totebag. I'll be lining my proto soon; I had mislaid the fabric for a bit. The test/beta knit will be run on Yarnpond, which I found excellent to use when I tested the Hornpipe Bag last year. I'm thinking 10 weeks for the test period based on the yardage (5 colors/shades; about 200 yards each of 4 of them and 65-70 yds of the 5th one)

I'm continuing to play with my knotwork motif idea for the Countess Cathleen cloak. And I have a couple double-knitting ideas that I'm playing with too. And at least one other cable rich design. It's been very cold and blah here so I've been bringing more color into my work.

In my personal crafting, I'm well into the first sleeve of my Twist Again sweater. Finally I have the rhythm of the pattern down and the knitting is easy again. (Twist Again by Robynn Weldon on Payhip)

Does that happen to you? Find a pattern a bit of a struggle until you find the proper rhythm and then it just glides along. 

I've decided to change tracks on my bright colors sweater. Instead of crocheting a number of blocks (that truth be told were not lining up right), I've decided to make another Harvest cardigan using the 9 colors (8 bright ones with black) and knitting in alternating bands of the Fibonacci sequence, using ridges instead of rows. If you're not familiar with the Harvest cardigan, the front and neck edgings are knit at the same time as the rest of the top-down sweater, and the edgings are done in garter stitch. Hence using ridges. My plan is to knit 1 ridge in black, 1 ridge in Color 1, 2 ridges of black, 3 ridges of Color 2, 5 ridges of black, 8 ridges of Color 3, etc, keeping the colors in order and cycling through them as needed. That's the plan currently anyway. It could change again! lol (Harvest cardigan by Tin Can Knits on TinCanKnits.com)

 

I'm planning to get a new proto of my Single Jig Mitties on the needles soon. This is both a KDRD project (I want to update the photos when I get the pdf updated) and a personal project (I need something on my poor frozen hands. While the rest of North America is sweltering, we're experiencing Juneuary here on the island. It's 8°C and raining currently (46.4°F). We're living up to our Iceberg Alley nickname this year). I like when things work out that way. Single Jig Mitties on this site

And that's all I have that's fit to print this gloomy Monday! I look forward to getting the final Hornpipe Bag tutorial up this week.

I hope your crafting is going well. What are your plans for summer knitting? A light top perhaps? Or a lacy shawl? Maybe you prefer smaller things like mittens and hats so you're ready when the weather turns back to the cooler side of things. I'd love to hear about your plans :)

Your in yarn and wet weather,

Síle

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘

Hello!

It's about time I popped back over here to let you all know what's on the go here at KDRD!

And what better day to write a post than today? So let me get you updated :)

Sadly, Ma Nature continues to be a bit of brat, and photos for the Hornpipe Bag haven't happened. The town where I reside "welcomed" no we didn't! 20cm (about 8 inches) of heavy, wet, sloppy, slushy snow yesterday. Talk about putting a damper on things! So gross, and heavy. Blech. I would hope that's the end of the white stuff but this being Newfoundland, I'm not going to hold my breath. Blue might be my favorite color but I don't think it's a good skin tone for me! ;)

While I wait for the dear lady to sort out the weather for us, I'm getting another tutorial or maybe two ready before the pattern comes out. My way of doing things in double-knitting are just slightly different than what others do so it just makes sense to show you how I did something, doesn't it? I think I'll have one out before next Friday. If the photobombing furry people ever quit with their interruptions ;) Ah, life with cats :)

I'm happy to report the Four Hand Reel, a tote bag pattern drawing inspiration from traditional quilt blocks and céilí (kay-lee) dancing, has been sent to my techeditor. I've tentatively penciled in test/preview knitting to start next month. This would be a minimum 10 week time frame, based on the yardage, so publishing would happen in later June-early July. As always, my timeline is pretty flexible. Definitely out this summer!

The other pattern I'm going over and tweaking before sending off to be edited is my Planxty Hap, a lace shawl with traditional Shetland elements as a base that I've added my own spins to. My aim is to have that through techediting, test/preview knitting, and publishing before winter returns; October/November-ish ideally. We'll see how that timeline comes together.

Countess Cathleen, my hooded cabled cloak design, is at a bit of an impasse at the moment. Charting, and knitting, a knotwork motif based off of the main cable panel I designed is proving a bit of a headache. I will prevail, eventually, but that particular project is in a bit of a timeout right now. I have a couple of other double-knit ideas swirling: a cowl and scarf set, a blanket in three sizes, and a 3 color shawl/wrap with different designs on each side. And there's another lace shawl in the future as well. Plus my usual cable heavy ideas, of course. I have more than a few of those knocking about! 

In my personal crafting I have a few things on the go.

I'm completely charmed by Lyrical Knits' 2023 MKAL shawl, Who Ya Gonna Shawl? (Link to the Pattern listing in Lyrical Knits' Payhip store🔗). I treated myself to this gem and some lovely yarn as a birthday present (Aside: how the heck did I turn 45 last month?!?!), and it's definitely fit the bill as a treat. The mkal, mystery knit along for those not familiar with the abbreviation, is a lot of fun. Check out Mary's previous mkals and her lovely sweater patterns in her Payhip store as well. I have a few in my 'must make' list. You can see my in progress shawl on my notebook blog (link in the sideboard). I'm using 4 colors of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply, which is really lovely, both in colors and for knitting with. Really super happy with choosing it!

I finished these lovely Talamh fingerless mitts for Roomy/Sis. These were designed by Liz Corke, and I started them during the 2022 FOYAL. I used Briggs & Little Sport in "mauve", and I think they turned out just perfect. And I have more than enough left of that ball to make something for me too. I love when that happens :) You can find the Talamh pattern here (link to Pattern listing in Liz's Payhip store🔗)

I've got a couple of gifts on the needles for special little people in my life right now. I confess, between my Who Ya Gonna Shawl? and these cute projects, that's where my personal knitting/crafting time has been going. No pics until these are delivered as they're as much a surprise for the little people as their parents ;) I love making surprises, especially cute ones!

How are your knitting projects going? Have you been using precious gems from your yarn horde? Or found a new-to-you yarn that's becoming a go-to? Are you crafting for the coming spring and summer months, or getting one more cold weather favorite finished? Plans for larger projects this year? I'd love to hear all about what you're at :)

Yours in yarn and a shamrock covered hair scarf, 

Síle

Did you think I was kidding? ;)

Autumnal Weather

Are you in the swing of sweater weather? I know I want to cast-on all the warm and woolly cozy things with the return of cooler temperatures :) It's truly a thing I think most knitters and crocheters experience, this need to keep ourselves and our loved ones warm when the mercury starts to dip.

It's a cloudy dreary day here today. At least the leaves are bright specks :) My current project is definitely a bright spot. Not warm and woolly but it will definitely chase away any dreariness! I'm at work on my Four Hand Reel tote bag and as you can see from this progress pic, it's not exactly subtle in the colors I've chosen:

Is it just me or does the orange seem to glow?

I'm nearly to the top of the first side, which is when I'll be able to stop joining the strip and work the strap. Which means I'm nearing 2/5 of the way through this section :) My goal is to finish the tote this month. Hopefully that goes as planned!!

I'm hoping to get to work on a few other ideas soon and finish off some others (coughHornpipe Bagcough) before the end of the year. That's my hope anyway. This year really hasn't gone as I'd planned as far as my designing/knitting of samples has gone, that is for sure!

Sadly that means at least one personal project has been waylaid. I had planned on knitting myself a sweater this year. I have the patterns and yarn for two gorgeous cable knits: Twist Again, a pullover by Robynn Weldon, and Morning Ramble, a cardigan by Geoffrey Hunnicutt (The link for Twist Again goes to the pattern page in Robynn's Payhip shop, while Morning Ramble takes you to the pattern page on Knit Picks). But alas while I did swatch for Twist Again in January, it somehow never made it onto my needles. Maybe I can get one of these beauties onto my needles this fall/winter. A gal can dream anyway!

What about you? Any project(s) you wanted to get to by this stage in the year that just didn't quite get there? Did a sticky/sweaty summer derail you too? I think I need to make a concerted effort to get big items done before say April and then only have little quick things to work on in the heat and humidity. That or hit a lotto and move into a house with properly fitting windows and air conditioning lol!! ;) 

I hope you're well, dear crafter. I hope cooler temps have reached you and you're able to settle in and work on something you love for someone you love (and yes it totally counts if you're making for yourself! Love yourself, you deserve it!). 

Yours in yarn and a cloudy day,

Síle

Summertime...

 And the knitting has been slow and not all that steady. 

Like many of you, we've been experiencing warmer than normal temperatures, (remember, I live on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean known for its stunning views of icebergs) with the addition of very wet, muggy air. I don't mind a bit of heat, part of my prairie dwelling past, but humidity does me in. 

And humidity doesn't make blocking a very easy process when nothing wants to dry. This has impacted the finishing of Hap-Hazard the worst. Lace requires a good stretch blocking to show at its best. As of right now, it's still looking quite rumpled in that unblocked lace way that makes a knitter question if they've made a horrible mistake or several.

I have managed to, slowly, start work on another new design. This will be a tote bag I'm dubbing the Four Hand Reel. I have one main side finished, and the other is about half done. Then comes the bottom/sides/strap piece, which is joined as I knit it. I chose bright colors (it requires four) which makes it a very cheerful knit. So that's coming along really nicely, and it might be possible to have the pattern out later this year. I hope.

Waiting on news of my Hornpipe Bag? It's in a minor timeout right now. I was so confident what I wrote would work but that was not the case! I'm in the midst of simplifying and reworking the drawstring eyelets. I'm still aiming to have it released this year and (finally) bring "All the Jigs and Reels" to a close. Stay tuned!

I hope the summer weather hasn't impacted your crafting too negatively this year. I'm "behind" on my personal projects as well, but there's joy in not having deadlines on those at least. I'm on the neckband of my Finola (by Aoibhe Ní; her website is here) which has been an excellent intro to Tunisian crochet for me. Here's a photo I took of it on a much sunnier day when I took it out on the back deck for some outdoor crafting: 

It should be finished in not too long! :)

That's it from me on this cloudy Saturday!

Yours in yarn and unreached deadlines,

Síle