Once More Around the Sun

Goodness! It's been a minute or two, hasn't it?

A quick run down of what's been going on around here:

• I had a birthday in mid-February. Adding the digits together I'm once again 11 or 2 if you go all the way to a single digit. Either way I should be feeling much more youthful than I am currently lol 
• I finished the Folklore Cardigan (pattern by Amy Gundersen🔗; link to the MadeleineTosh website pattern page) for Roomie and I think it turned out pretty well 

So that's really the two major things. The weather is trying to decide if it's winter, or spring, or maybe sprinter. That's been fun to navigate. Like not leaving the house for 8 days at a go kind of navigate. Ah well, better safe than in traction.

Speaking of, I should be in a body cast. Or wrapped in bubble wrap. I seem to have sprained or at least reeeeaaallly strained my back. Yesterday. Fiber friends, I would be lying if I said I'm not badly hurting right now. Movement is very gingerly when it happens. Of course this brings out the crack medical team of Drs Jakey and Silver. Dr Jakey is an expert in patient care, while Dr Silver has done very indepth research of healing vibrations. This photo shows Dr Jakey checking to be sure I was resting properly this afternoon:

Dr Jakey takes a very paws on approach with his patients. Needless to say, I'm strictly under my doctor's orders ;)

Onto KDRD news:

I designed and knit the sample for something quick! And there will be more of them!

So a few years ago I knit what you'll find on the interwebs called various things like skating bonnet or cap, headband, earwarmer, etc. And it's something I use frequently in the colder months because it allows me to keep my ubiquitous ponytail, and still cover my ears. The one I knit originally has ties on it, and here's a photo:

It used bulky yarn and equally thick needles, which I confess aren't my favorites. That end of the yarn and needle spectrum tends to make my hands ache. Thankfully it was quick to do. And it's been a wonderful addition to my winter gear.

A few weeks ago we had a bunch of days with wind warnings, and I started thinking it would be nice to have another earwarmer. And with my love double-knitting I thought I could make something thicker than usual without having to resort to thick yarns and needles. 

And me being me, after I charted one idea I had a couple others pop into my head, and eventually I had 4 just awaiting needles and yarn. So this is the first one:

I used DK weight yarn I had onhand and a 3.25mm needle. It used about 140 yards/128 metres in two colors; a little more of the blue than the gray because I did both ties in blue.

Ok, so this one (which is called Sevens) is basic 2 color double-knitting with the addition of paired make 1 increases on one end and paired decreases on the other. That's the trickiest part of this one if you're already familiar with double-knitting.

As I said I have 3 more of these planned. One that adds a third color into the fun, one that has different designs on each side, and one with simple cables and a bit of texture.

I plan to release all 4 together as an ebook September-esque. That's what I'm aiming for anyway. Sometime before the Fasten Off Yarn-a-Long comes back around anyway ;) 

And in other design news, I started the swatch for my 4 color double-knit wrap. I need a ballpark number of yards so I can budget and acquire the yarn needed for it. There's also a "sister" design that's a 3 color 2 pattern wrap of similar size. They're both big. Like completely envelope an adult big. I'm so looking forward to these getting on the go!

That's the current goings on at KDRD :)

Shall we check in with my personal projects? Indeed we shall!

I'm back working on my Jeri (designed by Kat Riddell🔗; link to pattern page in her Payhip shop) again, and it's growing. I'm about 6 inches/15cm from where I split out the sleeves (topdown, non-raglan construction). For my size I need to reach 14 inches/35.5cm according to the pattern, which might be a touch short but thankfully I can try it on at that point and see. I think I'll need another inch but I'll see then. Here's a look at how my Jeri is coming along; keep in mind it's being worked topdown:

In other crafts, I've got a new cross stitch design charted out that I hope to be sharing with you as I make progress. I took the poem Pangur Bán, or more correctly the 1912 translation by R. Flower, and created quite a piece. I'm going to need to stitch it on 28 count Aida, or it's going to cover the wall. Well, maybe 18 count; definitely not 14 lol  

That's all I have current in my personal crafting. I have a stack of WIPs but I think I'll save a run down of those for another day. Be warned: there are a lot lol. I'm talking double digits. It's a lot.

Moving on!

As I'm sure many of you are aware, there's some... how to put this?... concerning talk coming from the leader of the country below mine. (For those who're new here, welcome. I live in the beautiful province of Newfoundland & Labrador, specifically on the island of Newfoundland, here on Canada's most eastern coast. And I'm Canadian by birth and inclination) And that talk is causing a lot of unease, and frankly distrust, of that individual, leading to all kinds of trade and other issues between two, up until this point, closely allied countries. A lot of us up here, myself included, have family and friends down there, and of course the reverse is true. There's been, up until now, a sense of cooperation and camaraderie between the two nations. 

I'm not here to be political, fiber friends, but life itself is political. I live in Canada's youngest province; Newfoundland & Labrador joined Canada in 1949 as the 10th province. Yet there are rumblings that the entirety of Canada, all 10 provinces and 3 territories should, and ludicrously should be happy at the suggestion, become the 51st state of the United States of America.

As we say here on The Rock: no b'y. 

There's a lot going on. Canadians are focusing on buying non-USA goods. Some are cancelling vacations to Florida and other destinations States-side in favor of visiting another province here or going further a field to Mexico, the Caribbean or Europe.

I've really thought about what this all means for my very small business (one woman with chronic pain and insomnia), and beyond. As it stands, I'm continuing to support designers who I know via the internet. As for yarn, I already work with a predominantly Canadian group of yarns just from a financial accessibility standpoint. My current habits seem to already be in line with my conscious. 

As part of my own contributions to small Canadian businesses, I'm going to start highlighting one or two each post. I had been toying with this idea since late last year but now it seems particularly important. Most of these will be designers and yarn dyers; links will be to their own sites or social media accounts. Without further ado, I bring you the first of my Spotlights.

SPOTLIGHT

Beaded Beauties Bracelets And More 

Located in Clarenville, Newfoundland & Labrador, this one woman business run by Krista does just what it says. Fully personalized and customizable, she creates bracelet collections for holidays and bands lyrics, as well as necklaces, keychains, and occasionally earrings. I'm currently sporting a set of 4 players from my favorite hockey team (And with the game being over 10 minutes in: Go Habs Go!) made by her.

You can get an idea of Krista's lovely work in the marked highlight on her Instagram account🔗  (Full disclosure: Krista is better known to readers of this blog as "Roomie".)

Knitjbeale Designs

A transplant to St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador from Canada's West Coast, Jennifer Beale designs breathtaking sweaters and shawls often using stranded colorwork along with lace and/or cables. Truly a feast for knitters wanting something beyond the usual. I have several of her patterns on my must-make list including this recently released gem of an open-front cardigan, Fort Amhurst:

I wasn't kidding when I said breathtaking, was I? You can find this beauty, and many more, on her website: www.knitjbealedesigns.com🔗

Whew! That was a marathon post but I'm done roughly 20 minutes into the hockey game. Enough time to grab links to the various websites, and alt-captions for the photos during intermission! Lol :)

Thanks for sticking with me today, fiber friends! What's on your needles and hooks today? Did you know the most recent issue of Knitty🔗 came out yesterday? Just in time for a new project maybe ;)

Yours in yarn, pain, caffeine, and late night hockey watching (my guys are in Seattle tonight),

Síle

How is it Monday?

More to the point: how is it February?? 2025 is just rolling along even as the world becomes more of a dumpster fire.

Gather with your communities, fiber friends. Whether online or in-person, support each other, hold each other up with love and kindness. And when you've got the energy, however you're able to, be the change you want to see in this world.

I'm going to leave that as it is, for now. I'm still collecting my thoughts, and ordering my words on what's going on with our once-respectable southern neighbour. I will say this though, in true Newfoundland fashion, "Thank god we're surrounded by water!" while still holding as many of you as I can in my heart. 

So beyond the collapse of civility between nations, I managed some pattern work this week. Charts are nearly complete for four, yes, 4!, new designs, and basic pattern writing has begun on them. I plan for these to be a literal ebook: 4 patterns of similar items in one pdf... well 2 really because there will be a "standard" one with both charted and written instructions, and a second presented with low vision accessibility in mind (24pt sans serif font, emphasis shown with bold type instead of italics, minimal abbreviations to be clear with screen reader technology, etc). These four designs cover a number of double-knitting techniques, which I thought was a fun idea. These are quick to knit accessories too so just right to learn/try a little something while still being useful.

On the personal project front, I have 3 diamonds of length knit on Sleeve 2 of Roomie's cardigan now. And I put some rows into the birthday surprise gift too; O! I finally finished the chart for that. Whew! That was a bit of a marathon truth be told. When I reveal it that will make much more sense. I didn't get a start on Clue 2 of Common Thread's Keep It Secret Keep It Safe mkal unfortunately. My hands seemed drawn to DK weight yarns this week ;) I'm using Paton's Astra for both the cardigan and the birthday surprise (It's Roomie, they need to be able to safely go in the washer and dryer), again purchased locally. Top of the hill and around the corner in fact. Very handy.

What's on your needles and hooks, fiber friends? Any FOs (finished objects) from January? 

Yours in yarn and varying degrees of fogged brain,

Síle

Well

I was going to announce winners in my anniversary word games yesterday. But with no entries, I don't have an announcement to make!

I hope the games were enjoyed even without entering. 

Wow, over halfway through January already!

I spent an overnight trip in Town this past week (went in Thursday morning, home again Friday afternoon) for a doctor's appointment. Unfortunately it was the worst weather day of the entire winter so far, especially when paired with taking the Metrobus around. Brr.

I did manage to get to Michael's and pick up some beads for Roomie that she asked if I could get there for. And I got a few colors of embroidery floss since I'd like to explore cross-stitching again. Cross-stitch and plastic canvas needlepoint are where my crafting journey began when I was 6, so a little return to roots exploration happening. I have a sampler I need to finish that I started in 2020 (self designed), and would like to stitch some smaller bits just to change up my creativity a bit.

Sadly I was in too much pain, and didn't feel up to fighting the wind, to make it to Chapters. I did wander the Coles in the Av for a bit but oddly no books found their way home with me. Any I saw that were interesting were ones I either already have or read via the Libby app/NLPL and don't need to own. 

Oh, and I indulged in something I never order out here simply because of my history with the business. I went to the Timmies in the Av and had a large white hot chocolate with 2 cream and an Earl Grey tea bag. Yum. Haven't had that in ages. It's similar to a London Fog but thicker/creamier, which appeals to me. I need to try the microwave jar method of frothing milk and see if I can make a semi-decent London Fog at home. Lots of anti-inflammatory properties in Earl Grey that would be beneficial to me if I got in the habit of one a day. It's sodium I need to cut out not anything else ;)

The anniversary celebration is over so what's next for Knit Dance Repeat Designs, you may be asking. Good question! I'm really hoping to have a pattern release announcement soon. Hand sewing and back spasms aren't really conducive to one another so I'm afraid I can't be more specific than that. I don't like not being able to give hard deadlines but these are the cards I hold, fiber friends.

I'm trying to finish up Roomie's cardigan before I start the swatches for my next two large samples. These are a pair of double-knit wraps; sister designs, really. One is 3 color double-knitting, the other is 4 colors. I need to swatch for usage so I can estimate the yardage I need to acquire to knit the samples. So much math! So much yarn!

The other thing about these swatches is they'll be perfect for getting the photos for my beginning double-knitting tutorial that I've been putting together. This tutorial will include all kinds of tips and tricks to help knitters on their double-knitting journey. The things I learned the hard way lol. Much of it is my preferences though; I've tried to be clear on that, and include links to other methods that may suit you better too. I'm nearly done writing it, then photos need adding before I hit publish. I'll let you know before it comes out. I'm aiming for late spring, May-ish, for it to be ready, but that's a moving target for now.

Alright! That's my catch up this week. What's on your needles and/or hooks, fiber friends? Anything new? In my personal projects alongside Roomie's cardigan, I'm working on clue 1 of the Common Thread's Keep It Secret Keep It Safe (KISKIS) mkal. Clue 3 came out yesterday lol :) While the mkal is going on, it's only available on R@v due to sending out updates; Ko-fi isn't set up with functionality for them but Nicole has mentioned releasing the finished pattern in her Ko-fi shop when it's complete. You might be interested if you like large worsted weight shawls full of yummy textures inspired by Middle Earth and Tolkien. Common Thread's Ko-fi shop, and all of their existing patterns, can be found here: Common Thread Ko-fi Shop🔗

This time I really am done! lol

Yours in yarn and semiorganized chaos,

Síle

Mid-Year... Wait! What??

Sad but true. 2024 is more than half gone. You'd think someone were throwing clocks, time is flying by so fast lol 😂 

When last I popped in and wrote, I was restarting my sample of Cherish the Ladies. It was going quite well too. Until the circular needle's cable snapped that is.

I confess: I cried over this one. Fortunately, I was able to act quickly and I didn't lose any stitches. Or beads. 

But I'm afraid this little mishap has impacted my work knitting a lot. I'm trying to track down a longer circular needle in the required size. The one that the cable snapped on was a 32 inch/80cm length. To prevent another snapped cable I want to locate at least one of a 40 inch length; I'd prefer longer but anything longer than 32 inches should distribute the weight better, preventing another snapped cable.

My issue isn't actually *finding* a longer needle. At least online. But shipping costs are an absolute nightmare. A circular needle isn't exactly the heaviest item, and most shipping is equal to the price of the needle itself, if not more! That's just not feasible for someone on a limited budget.

That said, I will be in Town Friday to Sunday, so maybe I'll luck into finding something suitable. If it doesn't interfere with your crafting, cross your fingers for me and/or send along some needle finding vibes, please.

Here's the photo I took not long before my circular needle gave up:

It was looking so good! Hopefully I'll be back at it soon!

With this little hitch in my plans, plus an unhealthy dose of brain fog preventing me from writing up the instructions for my Countess Cathleen cloak, I've had to focus my energies into a personal project... or 2.

I finished my second Harvest cardigan (pattern by Tin Can Knits🔗; this link goes to the pattern page on their website) last evening! For this one I used 9 colors of yarn, and my shiny math rocks. To say it's colorful feels like a large understatement! And very random considering each stripe was chosen by rolling a D10 (for the color) and a D8 (for the number of ridges on the body, and number of rounds on the sleeves). Roomie got 2 photos of me modelling the finished sweater; one of the front and one of the back:

Of course I blinked right as she snapped the first one 😆 I love how cozy it feels, and how colorful it is. It's definitely one of a kind!

So yay! A large finished project in the books for me!

I may have mentioned it before but I had decided that 2024 was going to be my Year of Going For It in regards to my knitting, both personal and designing. Bringing some of those large and/or potentially over the top projects out of my head (where, I confess, my mind likes to tell me these big ideas are "too much" or "too loud" or "no one but you will ever want this thing"), and into reality. My multicolored Harvest was a jumping off point. So is my Cherish the Ladies wrap; I had talked myself out of using the beads. But then I remembered the advice someone gave me on Discord. It can be summed up as: You'll never know if there are like-minded knitters out there if you don't show off the projects that will attract them. Which makes a lot of sense, and it's not like I'm at a loss for big ideas! My design list has 24 ideas in the planning stages, and 3 more besides Countess Cathleen and Cherish the Ladies in the sample/writing stage. (Plus a dozen or so titles without firm enough ideas to really flesh them out just yet.) Of those, 7 definitely fit my idea of over-the-top/larger than life designs. 

When I look at my personal projects, I've got a couple... ok, there are several. Including one I started just the other day. 

As some of you may remember, I love double-knitting. And because I have a love of reading fantasy books, leaning towards urban fantasy (Oh! Author plug! Are you familiar with Seanan McGuire? Her October Daye series is awesome! If you're voting for the Hugos, and don't know what to pick for Best Series: vote for October Daye/Seanan McGuire!!! You won't regret it! She also writes the Incryptid series (on my tbr list, the Wayward Children series (super good!!), and a few others I'm blanking on. She is phenomenally prolific, and talented. Check her out if you haven't!), and like shiny things like math rocks, I discovered the designs of Tania Richter, aka AetherFang. In 2017, she introduced us to a Yarn Quest, a DnD style knitting experience. One of the patterns is for a blanket. A 20 square/chapter adventure involving double-knitting the charts that correspond to the dice rolls you make while reading through the tale she wrote for us. 

I'm going to have a very warm and colorful blanket to remember my character's Quest when I get it done :) I'm using the remnants from my super colorful Harvest cardi to start with. Chapter 1 is underway in red and black. You can find Tania's designs in her Payhip shop, Knit1 Roll20🔗. And as a teaser, here is the result of my first 2 dice rolls:

I'll keep you updated as I knit along the Yarn Quest. 

On a side note, I'll be teaching a basics of double-knitting workshop to an online group of friends in August. I'll be updating, and adding to, my double-knitting resources here in preparation for that. 

And that, my fiber friends, is everything I have to tell you about today! I'm looking forward to the trip to Town tomorrow, and my friend's wedding on Saturday.

Until next time, I remain

Yours in yarn,

Síle 

Spring Hasn't Quite Sprung

I said it wouldn't take me long to get Countess Cathleen done once the knotworks were underway. It's not quite done yet, but I'm over halfway through the knotworks now :) Here's the photo I put on Insta yesterday:

I love how it's coming together :) And only 25 rows to go!

Of course this means I'm going to have to turn to writing the pattern soon. Which I confess isn't always my favorite part of designing. But if I don't write it then I can't see how it looks when other knitters knit their own, and that is one of my favorite parts of designing. As with any thing, there are fun and not-so-fun aspects. So, I'll be pattern writing pretty soon, followed by tech-editing, and then test/beta knitting. I'll have more news on that as I get closer to having the pattern ready. The test will definitely be held on Yarnpond again. So if you're interested, stay tuned this spring.

Speaking of audience, I was checking the stats here recently and noticed I'm getting a lot of interest from Singapore and Hong Kong the last while. Hello, and welcome *waves* :) I'm not sure if it's my knitting or Irish Dance content that's bringing you to visit me but I'm happy to have you along for my adventures :) And hello to anyone else who's new, or not. The more the merrier, in both knitting and dancing :)

In Irish Dancing news: CLRG Worlds start in Glasgow tomorrow!! Squeeeee! I'll be following coverage via Instagram all this coming week. Best wishes to all the dancers!!

My next knitting adventure should be underway in a few weeks! I've narrowed down the bead choices for Cherish the Ladies, and will be casting on in April. With sport-weight wool, I'm going with 6/0 seed beads, and I've learned of a few Canadian sources for them that are very reasonable in both prices and shipping. I'll let you know how I get on once I've got them. I confess it's totally down to color at this point; not surprisingly at all *insert cry-laughing emoji here*. I think my love of color is fairly well documented ;)

That reminds me! I started a new personal project recently, and I'm using a lot of color for it. Some of you may remember that I knit a Harvest cardigan (pattern by Tin Can Knits; link to their site🔗) a couple of years ago. I love it, and wear it around the house quite a bit but... quite honestly, I messed up the size choice. It doesn't like to stay on and I can't close it because when your full-chest measurement is 47 inches, knitting the size with a finished measurement of 47 inches is not a good choice for a cardigan you plan to wear over light tops (usually a tank top but sometimes a tee if it's a little chillier) *facepalm* As I said, totally my goof up.

So I decided to knit a new one in a much more practical size. And I decided that I wanted a colorful sweater. Like all the colors. No, seriously. All the colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, dark blue/indigo, purple, pink, and black. 9 colors. And I toyed with rainbow order stripes, and maybe using the Fibonacci sequence for the number of rows, but then I got a much more... random idea.

Are you familiar with "shiny math rocks", aka role-playing game dice, aka D n' D dice? I just happen to have acquired a set of these lovely items last fall. And you may remember I knit a particularly epic scarf by the lovely designer, Aetherfang (aka Tania Richter) that involved rolling rpg dice to decide which chart in the adventure to knit. What would happen if I used my D10 for the color, and say the D8 to decide the number of ridges to knit? (If you're not familiar with the Harvest cardigan pattern, the front bands are knit in garter stitch while you knit the body in stockinette) Well, I can show you the first bit:

Fun, isn't it? I love it, And it's all been decided by dice rolls, which is very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants knitting. I'm having a lot of fun with it :) Almost as much fun as I had using a random number generator to place the beads as I knit Romi Hill's Celaeno shawl. Hmm, there's an idea...

For those of you thinking 'Wait. She's using a D10 and only has 9 colors...?'  I have the colors numbered 1-9 according to good old Roy G. Biv with pink = 8, and black = 9. If I roll D10=10 I use the next color in the sequence. Say the last stripe I knit is orange (aka color 2), and I roll D10=10 for the next stripe, that stripe is then yellow (aka color 3). If I roll the same color number back to back, I re-roll the D10; it doesn't matter if the same number of ridges comes up in a row so the D8 doesn't need re-rolling ever.

Between my very colorful Harvest cardi, and getting through the final rows of my Countess Cathleen (740 stitches per row at this point), that's all my knitting time lately. I did a bit of swatching for Cherish the Ladies this week, just to confirm the needle size I had recorded in my design notebook. All systems are a go, as soon as I have the beads in hand :)

What's on your needles this Spring, fiber friends? We're still getting flurries here on the Island, so we'll see if Spring actually reaches us before June this year lol! I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of wear out of both my cloak and my cardigan when they're finished! 

That's it from me for now!

Yours in yarn, and dice rolls,

Síle

Nothing Like Starting in My Usual Way

If you've been here before, you know what I mean lol.

Let's jump in!

January 6th came and went with only an Instagram post to mark it. Why is January 6th important? It's Knit Dance Repeat Design's anniversary! And this year marked 9 years. Which means something big(ger than normal) in 2025. I have no clue what exactly yet! But I'll definitely be thinking on it throughout 2024. Here's the photo that I had to crop down to make the Insta post:

Hmm, I still need to gather all of the links for my FOYAL pattern highlight post. Sooo... next time? We'll see what happens.

I have an exciting photo to share! Ta da!

And you're most likely looking at it and thinking 'Ok... it's a close up of textured knitting. Not exactly earth shattering, Síle.'

Ah! But what if I point out that little cluster by my forefinger? ;) No? Still not sure what I could possibly be excited about? 

It's the first 2 rows of a knotwork motif. On my Countess Cathleen cloak. 

That's right, the knotworks have been started! Which means The Countess is nearing completion, and is that much closer to tech editing and beta/test knitting :) *insert Kermit the Frog arm flailing gif here*

What else is happening around KDRD right now? Excellent question!

So I'm behind my, admittedly loose and flexible to the extreme, schedule for releasing the Four Hand Reel tote. I need to sew (what on Earth was I thinking?!) and attach the lining, and following up on some feedback from my brilliant group of testers, I decided that I would include a photo tutorial/walk through of the lining process with the pattern (separate pdf).

Dear fiber folks, I am not a sewist. Anyone with any sewing knowledge whatsoever is going to wonder what I'm doing to this poor fabric in aghast amazement. My humble apologies, sewing community.

I'm hoping to have everything done, and put together in the early spring; March-ish most likely. And the pattern will be out shortly after that.

I don't know if you're aware of this but one of my favorite things to knit is lace. The problem with lace is you need a big enough space to stretch it out and block it. Blocking somewhere, like say an island in the north Atlantic Ocean, where it's often humid/damp takes a lot of time. Which impacts the space limitations one may live with. Unfortunately that all leads to having a lovely shawl pattern all ready for tech editing, and of course beta/test knitting, that you don't have final dimensions for. And you can't photograph it because it's in that state of lace looking like a plate of noodles before it's blocked. This is where the Planxty Hap resides currently. Sooo close to getting to you all, but not quite there yet. Perhaps this summer before the humidity kicks into high gear? I hope *crosses fingers... and toes*.

I have more cables coming up though!

If you've been here 5 minutes you've probably gathered that cables are an inevitable and omnipresent thing here at KDRD ;)

I've finally settled on the final arrangement of the cable, and twisted stitch, panels for the Cherish the Ladies wrap. I reached beyond the Irish dance world by going through it for this design.

As you know, I've been hard at knit on the Countess Cathleen hooded cloak which is inspired by the song and dance from Riverdance, originally danced by the incomparable Jean Butler. The title and character Countess Cathleen comes from a poetic name for Ireland herself. This had me going on a bit of a tangent for other references in poetry and song, which lead me to the rich tapestry of Irish myths and legends. Many of which I'd read but tucked away in a corner of my mind for safe keeping.

But this got me thinking about creating something for some of the Ladies. As is often the case, I started playing with charts, both cables and lace. As I continued re-reading tales, I continued to bring ideas to my charts. I also started thinking on the ladies of my own family. During all of this deep diving, and by complete chance, I happened upon the jig tune Cherish the Ladies. If that wasn't a perfect name for whatever I was creating, I didn't know what was.

Near the end I had 6 cable and/or twisted stitch panels, and had dubbed each of them with a name from Irish legends: Caitlín, Áine, Ériu, Bríghid, the Morrígan, and Danu. In my arranging and rearranging of the panels into the final wrap, Caitlín and Danu have been set aside for future use.

The other 4 panels form Cherish the Ladies, a large wrap knit in the round by including steek stitches, which once cut and unraveled give the wrap its fringed edges. The cast on is the bottom of the wrap; the panels will be upright rather than knit from a short side. That means a very large number of cast-on stitches; 625 to be particular about it. If it helps, I have to cast-on that number at least once too!

I'll be using sport weight wool; I have a large quantity (over 2700 yards!) of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in a gorgeous aqua/teal shade (Thirst Heather is the colorway name) ready for this project. Oh, and there are some beads in the Ériu panels. You know, in case there weren't enough interesting bits to this design ;)

Cherish the Ladies will be my next sample cast on once I have the Countess off my needles :) I'm really excited to bring this one to reality. Although that cast-on is going to make a lot of us cringe. I promise: it's worth it!

Ok, fiber friends, onto my personal projects for 2024! I've split these into categories with 2 options in each. Eventually I plan on making each of these patterns but I have to prioritize somehow. I'd like to note that all of these are designs by designers that have participated in the FOYAL at least once.

First up is a cardigan. I have the yarn to knit Jeri by Kat Riddell🔗 (link to the pattern page in her Payhip shop), but I'm also intrigued with Kadigan by Robynn Weldon🔗 (link to the pattern page in her Payhip shop), and know where I can get suitable yarn for it. Leaning ever so slightly in favor of Jeri right now, I confess; knowing I could cast-on immediately is hugely appealing. Here are both designs:

Next up is a shawl. And oddly neither option is lace! I'm still in love with the Tunisian crochet beauty Ard Rí by Aoibhe Ni🔗 (link to the pattern page on her website, YarnTower.com), but there is a cabled contender with King Under the Mountain by Nicole/Common Thread🔗 (link to the pattern page in her Ko-fi shop). I don't have yarn for either of these but I must have them... which makes me what to hiss "My precccccioussss!" and that leads me to Tolkien-ian thoughts putting KUtM ever so slightly in the lead. But do I want to have two mega cabled projects on the go, in the same yarn weight, at the same time?? I'm torn, fiber friends. They're both sooooo amazing *heart eyes* See:

(I included 2 pics of KUtM to show both areas of patterning)

Ok, I wouldn't be me without another pair of double duty projects! I have a double-knit cowl and scarf set, Céilí (kay-lee), ready to have its samples knit. I even have the yarn for the cowl already! Although I don't like wearing cowls so I really should get up over the hill and get the yarn for the scarf... I digress! One of these lovelies will be on my needles this year. And considering what my other year's projects are, the cowl might be the only one I actually get finished lol!

Oh, that's not entirely true! I have two projects earmarked for small family cuties that will definitely get off my needles this year. But you'll have to wait until those are done and delivered for details and pics ;)

I think that's a good outline of what I have happening/planned in my crafting life. Now, will my physical health allow all of this, that's a completely separate question! At least let's hope to not have another tendinitis flare lasting nearly 2 months with minor glitches the rest of the year; that really ate into my craft time, work and otherwise. I didn't even get gifts for the cuties done in 2023 *sad face*.

What are your crafting plans, fiber friends? Something for yourself maybe? I'd love to hear what 2024 will have you putting on your needles and hooks :)

Yours in yarn and big plans,

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 

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? ;)

Celebrating KIP

Did you get out to celebrate World Wide Knit In Public Day (WWKIP Day) yesterday? There wasn't an event near me this year, but I'm now thinking about next year. Well, depending on where I'm located anyway. Not leaving Newfoundland; possibly changing locales. And yes, I've been saying this for about 9 years now lol. I digress.

I've seen a lot of fantastic photos on Insta of various gatherings yesterday and it looks like everyone had a great time. I know I really enjoyed past events with my knit night pals (waves to Lindsay, Susie, Sara, and Michele 👋🏻) before my big move. We'll see if I keep track of time better and remember before 3 days before the next one. Next year's WWKIP Day is June 10, 2023. If you'd like more information about WWKIP Day, the official website is here: WWKIP Day🔗

Bringing things closer to home, I'm getting the photo tutorial done for my Hornpipe Bag before I release it for testing. The pattern is ready to go but I think having the tutorial ready first will be a benefit to testers as well as knitters. Stay tuned for the announcement that the test has gone live, later this week! I'll be conducting this test via Yarnpond, which is a new venue for me. I'm quite excited to give it a try! Now if only my helper wouldn't help quite so much...

Speaking of giving things a try, I'm at work on the sample for the mystery knit-along I'm planning to host later this year. And I'm putting together some prizes for it too ;) My current timeline for this is to announce the mkal and have it on sale next month, and then the Steps will be released weekly starting in late August/early September. 

I picked up my Twist Again (pattern by Robynn Weldon; pattern page in her Payhip shop 🔗 recently and have a bit more done on the body. I really love this cable panel. Hopefully I'm better at staying focused the next while and I'll have a new sweater for when colder temps reappear! (Unless of course another design idea jumps to the forefront of my brain)

Did you attend a WWKIP gathering yesterday? What's on your needles or hooks? I'd love to hear about it :)

Yours in (fur covered) yarn, and upcoming news,

Síle