Hello!

And welcome to the Stitches & Steps blog :)

I noticed that there've been a lot of new fiber friends checking in here lately, and I thought a little intro post might be timely.

So first off, I'm Síle (pronounced she-la), and the Stitches & Steps blog is where I share all my latest news and chatter on my pattern designs (Knit Dance Repeat Designs aka where the site gets its name), personal crafting projects (heavy on knitting but occasional cross-stitch and crochet forays happen), Irish dance news and inspiration, and the occasional blip about my physical health.

Across the top, you'll also find tabs to: an index of my photo tutorial posts and helpful hints, a gallery with internal links to all of my pattern pages, and a glossary of Irish dance terms that have appeared in my pattern intro paragraphs plus a few from blogposts. (Aside: I'm always happy to add to the glossary, so if there's a term or word you're curious about, drop me a comment in the form in the sidebar, and I'll get it added to the glossary as soon as I can)

Along the sidebar I have links to other places to buy my patterns (Payhip and LoveCrafts), and links to other inspirational fiber folks that you might also enjoy. I try to include clearly marked links to any patterns and/or designers I discuss in my personal projects, and tag them in the post. If I've forgotten a link, don't hesitate to let me know! :) It's always my intention to have links but my brain fog sometimes distracts me before I can hit publish on a post.

So that's a wide net overview of the site :)

Why Knit Dance Repeat? To be honest, I fell into it! I was designing a few little things here and there, and writing them up since 2009. Anchors & Ropes was published on my then-blog I think in December of 2009. Could've been November. Anyway! I wanted to design more. I enjoyed it and it was a great creative outlet from my series of retail and customer service jobs; I've been assistant manager of a dollar store, worked at Walmart as both floor staff and a cashier, worked the drive through of a coffee place, etc...

Then I got hurt, and I was home, in a lot of pain, with only books and my yarn hoard to keep me occupied. Thankfully I had my Roomie for company and awesome support, but even the absolute bestest friends can't fill a void in your own head left by suddenly not having a purpose. 

To say I went through some things in the summer of 2015 is an understatement.

But what did happen was I literally dreamed a pattern coming together. I sat bolt up in bed at like 3:30 in the morning, scribbled down the idea, and went back to sleep. When I woke up later that day I looked at the back of that envelope, and discovered what I'd done.

I had used the math of the music of a reel to outline a cowl. Who does that?! Apparently me lol The thing is, it was solid. The idea was completely knitable. I think I cast-on that afternoon.

But that also got my mind firing. If I could use the time signature of a reel (4/4 for those not familiar traditional Irish music) to come up with a cowl pattern, could I use a similar process to design something for a light jig?

I'll spare you the whole journey, but the answer was yes for the light jig, single jig, slip jig, treble reel, treble jig, and hornpipe.

And that blending/melding/mixing of knitting and Irish dance/music brought to mind what I used to do. I knit, I danced, and then I repeated it over the course of my week. Heck, I often knit while at dance! In the down room before class, and even backstage during rehearsals for performances. A few times backstage during performances to help with nerves if I'm being completely honest lol. Even when my feet weren't dancing, my fingers often were! 

The blending of the two worlds also helped me keep my place in dance when we (my dr and I) weren't sure exactly where this was going to lead. Irish dance was a huge component of my life. Many of my absolute dearest friends came into my life because we met at the studio. The music always spoke to me from the time I was a little girl. The steps always felt like they were meant to be mine...

Ok, not trebles; those never felt exactly right lol I'm a slip jig not a treble reel! Thank you for that line, Bernie!! :)

Where was I??

Oh right! Irish dance and trad music were, and are, a big part of who I am. And at a time that was scary and uncertain, I needed that comfort and stability, even if I could hardly put one foot in front of the other to walk from my room to the bathroom. Especially because of it, really.

And my little niche has allowed me to play with knitting and Irish dance in ways I never imagined. And I continue to play with both in ever expanding ways. I have so many ideas!! 

One thing you'll notice is there's not a firm schedule for when new patterns come out here at KDRD. Where I do everything (with the exceptions of photography and tech editing; shout out to Krista and Heather for providing me with the best of both disciplines!), and from only my smartphone to boot, everything hinges on my pain levels, fog levels, and general "can I knit/write/edit/sit up today?". I do my best to be timely. I don't always succeed but I do try.

One other thing about me: I live on the island of Newfoundland off of Canada's most eastern coast, adrift in the north Atlantic Ocean. This place informs a lot of what I do knitting wise indirectly. And like any good solid Rock, it's given me a pretty steady base to work from. I'd be very remiss if I didn't mention my adopted home. And nothing set in stone but I have an idea or two that'll give my dear island some attention of its own amongst all the dancing and tunes.

So welcome! I hope you'll come back often and see what I'm up to. Comments and questions are always welcome either on a post/page or to the form in the sidebar. 

Ok, so no design news to share this week. I'm still a bit behind in my head from my overnight to Town midmonth to be honest. You wouldn't think an overnight would disrupt so much but here I am. 

In personal projects, I got the first sleeve of Roomie's cardi done. I'm knitting her a Folklore Cardigan by Amy Gundersen🔗 (link to the pattern's page on the MadelineTosh website) in classic cream and black. It's such a great classic cabled cardigan in DK weight; I'm using Patons Astra purchased from a local shop. 

And here's a pic of the sleeve:

I have 1 and a half diamonds done on the second one so it's moving again. I admittedly got a bit bogged down by it for a while because I've been working on it since October. But things are zipping along again, so yay!

The other piece I've put any time into is Nicole from Common Thread Fiber's Keep It Secret Keep It Safe Shawl mystery knit along aka mkal. I finished Clue 1! Clue 4 dropped today lol. Working behind as always lol. I'm using Briggs & Little Heritage which is a wonderfully woolly worsted/aran weight yarn. Canadian too, from our oldest woollen mill in the country. They're Atlantic Canadian neighbors too, being based in New Brunswick :) As I pointed out last post, this pattern is only available on Ravelry for the duration of the original knit along due to the need for sending weekly clue updates, and Common Thread's off-Rav location is on Ko-fi. I'll safe link as soon as I can!

So that's what's keeping my personal needles busy, and I've been doing a wee bit of pattern writing and charting for new designs but nothing I can share just now. Maybe next time I'll have something definitive for you.

I've written a novel this time! Whew! I hope you've had a favorite drink and/or snack to get you through today's post lol

What are you working on, fiber friends? A last minute warm hat or pair of mittens to help stave off the polar vortex that's gripped much of North America? Or are you thinking spring and summer, and have a lovely tee or tank on your needles or hook? I'd love to hear from you :)

As always, I remain

Yours in yarn and really long intros because it's either four words or a novel with me lol,

Síle

Falling into Fall, Anyone?

Where'd August get to? And most of September for that matter? Ok, who threw the clock to make time fly?? 

All joking aside, Autumn has returned to the Northern Hemisphere this weekend. And thankfully cooler nights and days are back too. I don't know about you but it's a step in my sleeping better. I'm still not sleeping great, mind you, but that's down to having nerves and a spine that are actively trying to cause me as much pain as they possibly can. I don't think they're onto my knowing what they're doing though so I'm just biding my time ;)

I still need to do the photos for my full double-knitting tutorial. I got sidetracked, which is unfortunately a byproduct of both interrupted sleep patterns, and chronic pain, by a few things. Like actually presenting my double-knitting workshop to a private group in August which was super fun and I've had some lovely feedback from some of the participants. So yay!

I told you last post that the sample for The Butterfly would be going on my needles soon, and it has! Here's a little progress photo to tease you:

I'm further along than this; ever so many more beads have been added lol. I'm so glad I chose the Windwept Fibres Best Kind sock as the yarn. It's an absolute dream to knit with, and the lace is coming out soooo pretty. 

I'm currently doing a workshop with designer Julie Robinson called the Sweater Design Challenge. It's been really interesting, and we're into the sizing/grading portion now, which is super excellent information. I've got two knit garments that I'm really excited to get through the whole process eventually. Admittedly, one I don't have the yarn for yet so my swatching and number play has been a wee bit theoretical so far. But that one's also the easier one in terms of shaping, so the numbers shouldn't be too bad once I have a real gauge and set of measurements to play with. To come in 2025? Maybe?? Most likely not considering my current timeline for things.

Oh! Speaking of timelines! Guess what's returning for its fifth year ;) It happens in the late fall and early winter, involves a lot of knitters and crocheters, and independent designers of patterns for those crafts. And I talk about it. A lot! Any guesses?

The Fasten Off Yarn Along for 2024 is being organized as I type, fiber friends! You can find the website, with our current calendar, links to previous years' designer and pattern databases, and links to sign up for our newsletters, right here: https://www.fastenoffyal.com 

Ok, my friends it's 4:22am here in Newfoundland on a Sunday morning, and while I won't be sleeping anytime soon, I need to step away from the screen and rest my eyes a bit. Don't worry, I have knitting in hand lol

What are your crafting plans for the next month or so? Canadians crafters, are you thinking of Thanksgiving/harvest? Or are you jumping right to knitting pumpkins and/or crocheting black cats for Halloween? I'd love to hear what you're working on and/or planning. I have a Treble Reel Toque🔗 (link stays within this site) for a friend's birthday on my personal needles, along with a Jeri cardigan🔗 (designed by Kat Riddell; link goes to her Payhip shop). There are more WIPs than those lol They're my active ones that aren't design samples.

Yours in yarn and a crisp night/morning,

Síle

 

Cruel Summer

I don't know where you are in the world but I think a lot of us are experiencing uncomfortable temperatures and/or conditions this year. The town I live in, on the island of rain drizzle and fog (aka RDF) has had to implement some low grade water retention measures. Never thought that would happen here.

Those measures might be lifted soon. Or not. We had rain yesterday and this morning; unfortunately both times it turned into sauna conditions very soon afterwards. To quote Jakey, or rather quote what I interpret Jakey's grumpy face to be him saying, "I no like, Auntie!"

Speaking of the fluffy furry nephew, he's been miserable from the heat and humidity, and really letting me know about it. Between him passing along his discomfort all night, my getting a bright idea at 3am, and the continuing indoor/outdoor sauna conditions, I'm functioning on caffeine, and ice water today.

Oh, and a spritz bottle of water! Roomie picked up each of us one at the local dollar store a few weeks ago, and between those and the giant 2.3L/78ounce water jugs with handles she got on the same trip, we're trying to keep cool and hydrated.

Needless to say, I haven't been knitting a whole lot this past bit. Thanks to last night's bright idea, I've got another new design in the "once I have the right yarn I can cast-on a sample" stage though! I have to confess I'm on quite a shawl kick this last while.

Speaking of my shawl designs, a new one will be going on my needles this fall. When I was in Town last month, I got to pop into The Artisan's Loft downtown on Water Street, and I met Pam from Windswept Fibers & Designs🔗 (link to the WSFD website). She dyes some of the loveliest colorways, and she just happened to have several hanks of the one I've been eyeing online, and on her Best Kind Sock base (75% superwash Bluefaced Leicester / 25% nylon; 100g / 3.88 oz = 388m / 425yds). I don't think I need to ask if you want to see it:

Isn't it gorgeous?! This is the Sea Glass colorway, and I'll be using it to bring my shawl design, The Butterfly, to life. I'm really looking forward to casting this one on!!

That's all for today, fiber friends. My photo tutorial for double-knitting should be up soon. I need to finish up the photos; kind of important in a photo tutorial ;) Expect that to be live here fairly soon.

Yours in yarn, and humidity,

Síle

That Was Unforseen

February was a heck of a month.

Remember how I popped in to show you I'd started the knotworks on my Countess Cathleen cloak?

Yeah, I jumped the starting whistle a wee bit. Turns out, I didn't have enough wool to finish the knotworks where I'd positioned them. And the cloak wasn't where I'd hoped it would be lengthwise either, so...

I frogged back to the row before I started the knotworks (again), started knitting again, adding to the background. And very quietly ordered 4 more hanks of wool.

(Aside: I ordered the wool at 3:45am on a Thursday. Around 8 hours later I had an email saying my order was at the post office, and it was ready for pickup at my local post office on Monday. I can't tell you how absolutely blown away by the service from Cast On! Cast Off! in Triton🔗 (link to their website; they have 5 exclusive colorways of Briggs & Little Heritage!) Of course, it helps they and I are on the same island. But seriously I wasn't even expecting my order to be into the mail that quickly!)

With the new hanks in hand, and a lovely (insert eyeroll here) snow storm happening outside, I charted out the knotworks, and the bottom borders (with transitions for all 3 sizes!).  Happy dance! 

I'm only 3 rows from the (please let this be the final) knotwork starts :) Granted, the rows are over 600 stitches in length so it's taking a bit to get them done. But once the knotworks are started my progress will pick up.

I'm an odd creature in that easy knitting, like say stockinette in the round, takes me foreeeeeevvvveeerrr. But stick a complex cable or lace pattern in the midst of it and I'll have it done lickety split! If you're at all familiar with online knitting magazine, Knitty🔗 (link to the wonderful webzine), and their delightful rating system, I have a tanktop from one of the previous iterations of their shop that says "piquant" on it for a reason. My former knit night pals can laughingly tell you about the time we held a knit-a-long for the Pinwheel sweater (was on the now defunct Elann.com), and everyone finished, except me because I got bored of all the stockinette in the round and started other projects instead of finishing it *insert cry-laughing emoji here*. I digress.

Speaking of snow, that dump we got in February melted down fairly quickly. And then we received another 54cm (roughly 21 inches) this past Thursday through Saturday morning. Guess who tried to shovel out the household for the second time in around 3 weeks. And guess who is hurting a lot, and unable to sleep despite the taking of medications meant to calm muscles and pain signals. Someone writing a blogpost much earlier than she normally does, perchance? See, I figured you'd put the clues together ;)

My recent internet rabbithole has been looking for sources of large quantities of 6/0 beads for Cherish the Ladies, and a few other designs that aren't quite far enough along to put on my cast-on list just yet. Admittedly, I don't have yarn for any of them. Kind of slows things down a bit lol. And yes, other designers probably have yarn before they start a design. Seems logical, right? While I routinely employ logic in all kinds of situations, designing isn't always one of them. We've established I do things my own way, even when it makes no logical sense, right? Oh good. I was afraid no one noticed ;)

The furry members of the household have figured out I'm awake, so I must give them attention. You'd think no one ever pets Jakey and Silver by how they get on...

That reminds me! You need to see the photo of Jakey from Saturday night. I had the cloak out to knit some after the hockey game, and... well see for yourself:

The furry nephew wasn't pleased that I asked him to get off my cloak. And with that expression on his floofy little face, I decided to work on something else completely. He's a benevolent little tyrant of two things: 100% wool (in hanks, balls or already knit up), and my lap if one of his sisters gets up with me. Sil has learned to sit on the arm of the couch next to me to avoid him pushing her off my lap. He's quite the character, our Jakey.

Well, fiber friends, I think I've been at this long enough *yawn*. Maybe I can get a bit of sleep in, on this rainy Tuesday morning. I hope your projects are all coming along nicely. Pop a comment below to let me know what your current project(s) is/are.

Yours in yarn, and an ever stiffening back,

Síle

PSA: February Starts Tomorrow

Just in case anyone else is having the thought that today is February 1st. 

I've made announcements in two groups that February activities have started that I had to reword as "nothing to see here" *facepalm* Anyone else jumping the gun on the second month of 2024?

While I have you here, I'll show you the latest progress photo of the cabled knotwork motif on the Countess Cathleen design:

I love how it's coming along. Not that I'm biased or anything  ;) 

That's all for now, fiber friends. What's on your needles and/or hooks this #WIPWednesday?

Yours in yarn and (apparently) time travel,

Síle

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

Shifting, Ever So Slowly, Towards Fall

We've reached August, fiber friends! 

It's sunny and 20°C here, which is absolutely perfect weather; warm enough for shorts but nowhere near the 'think of breathing and sweat' temps of a month ago. 

And that means knitting is happening on a much better schedule. Or what passes for a schedule here! 

The test/beta knit for the Four Hand Reel is coming along beautifully. Each tester has chosen such fantastic colors and a variety of fibers. They're all fantastic!

I've got the Countess Cathleen (cloak) back on active status after (finally) choosing the knotwork motif for the last/bottom section of the body. No more swatching for this one. I'm just following the charts now. It feels so good when a sample gets to this stage. Here's a photo I took not long before I paused to create/swatch knotworks:

I'm really happy with how it's going :) And I'm hoping to finish knitting it by the end of the month. I have an even bigger idea to get on the needles next! lol 

My mind has been stuck on cozy warmth ideas so once Countess Cathleen's sample is done, I have a large cabled wrap that I just got the charts done for, or a double-knit blanket (in 3 sizes, with cables!) that I can cast-on for my large sample project. One thing I've learned from my current double-knit swatch is I want a different yarn for the sample. Which is another large project! See what I mean about cozy warmth ideas?

I'm afraid I'm more than a bit off track right now with my personal project to work project ratio. So I've made a deal with myself to finish at least 2 of my personal projects before I start any new ones. We'll see how that goes!

I think I dove into too many larger things all at once and it's just bogged my head down. I have nothing small on the needles right now; in my personal projects there are: a cabled sweater (for me), a sweater with lace sections (for me), a large color and textured shawl/wrap, a cabled shawl, and the crocheted blanket (I work on this once a month as part of the challenge a group I belong to does). Plus two gifts for smaller individuals but with fairly decent stitch counts. I quite clearly was suffering from startitis late last year into this year. I may have to employ the old "grab a project bag in the morning and see how much you can get done on only that project for a day" method until I get everything sorted back out. 

What strategies do you use when your WIPs get a bit too out of hand? Any tips or tricks? Be sure to put them in the comments :)

I need to be signing off; supper hasn't yet gotten to the point where it makes itself... And I'd be more than a little creeped out if it did

Yours in yarn and a large WIP pile,

Síle

Swatching Experiments: a behind the scenes look at a future idea

Now that I'm pretty much back to my usual knitting pace (with breaks; I don't want another 6+ week hiatus!), I've been doing some swatching for some ideas I'm sort of toying with, and I thought you might like to see what goes on at this stage if my process.

Ok, to be totally truthful my process rarely if ever follows the same path twice. Not how I function lol. But what does stay the same is swatching happens. 

Do I like this yarn on this size needle? What does this decrease look like? Can I work this and this on the same row and have it not look cluttered? The best way to answer these questions is to cast-on 50 or 60 stitches and start knitting whatever is going to answer the important question in front of me. Luckily I love playing with yarn. I see swatching as extra play time, which *really* makes it feel like less of a boring chore. I see you in the back shaking your head and hating on swatching. And I used to think it was pointless too. Joke was fully on me because now I cast-on a swatch at the drop of a new ball of yarn.

I digress.

So this week, besides the photos for the tutorial I mentioned on Monday (it'll be up late tomorrow or on Sunday), I had an old idea pop into my head. I had started, back in... I really want to say 2008? 2009? Possibly earlier. (Canadian retail yarn trivia: what was the craft store that was in at least one mall in most larger cities in the late 90s - early 2000s? For anyone in Regina, it was in the Southland Mall across from Safeway; where M&M Meats was in 2012. You know the spot.) Ok, I had gotten some cool teal/blue/purple variegated mohair yarn at that store probably 6 months or so before they closed out, and I was designing with it to make a triangular shawl starting at the point and working up. Between the cross country move in 2012, and a bunch of other events, that on the needles proto shawl (and any notes I had taken) no longer exists. 

And of course at around 2:30-3:00 in the morning the other day it popped up big and bold in my head. Clear as day. And that prompted me to wonder if I could at least recall how I was shaping it. Which led to a swatch. And me being a much more experienced knitter now means I have a few more tricks in my shaping knits repertoire than I did back then. 

I started by trying to just chart my idea out, and I got a good 30 rows into it with everything looking good. Look at that, I said to myself. That's looking how I remember it. Cool. 

There are times when something on paper, or a digital chart program, looks really good. The proof is when it works in a swatch. 

Well, fiber friends, it started off well. The first about 12 rows or so were great. And then I noticed it sort of looked like it was developing a bubble. I persevered, and kept knitting (because that always goes well, right? Yeeeeeaaah) until I couldn't deny what was in front of me:

You see it, don't you? It's almost forming a mitered square back in on itself. That is very much not the look I was going for. Now, of course one has to consider if something like this will block out. Which isn't an answer I can give because I just grabbed any old yarn close to hand and a circular needle that looked about right to go with the yarn (my needle gauge is still MIA). Of course the yarn closest to hand on my end table was a leftover ball of acrylic of indeterminate age and brand.

And after getting the above photo, I promptly frogged the little swatch with a mind of its own. 

What have I learned? Stacking right side rows of 1-into-3 increases upon right side rows of 1-into-3 increases causes rows of garter stitch to bow out and almost turn square. 

I've adjusted the chart and sometime in the next week or so I'll see what happens with that one. Should be interesting to see.

Yours in yarn and lingering ideas,

Síle

Accepting Testers!

What a happy day! My Hornpipe Bag pattern is ready for preview knitters!

What is preview knitting? Usually called test knitting, preview knitting is when a designer has had their pattern techedited but would like there to be more than their own sample project associated with a pattern they want to release. It's also a chance to see if your instructions are really as clear as you and your techeditor think they are. As always, the Hornpipe Bag pattern was techedited by the wonderful Heather Folkner of Crafty Ferret Techediting.

As I've mentioned before, I'm running this on the Yarnpond site, which is a new experience for me! I've heard good things about Yarnpond so I'm hopeful this will be a good match for me and my patterns. You can find the test for the Hornpipe Bag by following this link: Yarnpond Hornpipe Bag test

If you have double-knitting experience, enjoy testknitting, and/or want to knit the bag pictured here, be sure to apply!

At some point this spring/summer the weather is going to cooperate so that I can get proper photos of my Hornpipe Bag by my brilliant photographer, Krista of KristaDani Photography. Until then I've got the above photo and another one. I snapped both using my phone in bad indoor lighting. 

In other Knit Dance Repeat Designs news, I've received the first couple prizes for my upcoming mystery knitalong (mkal)! I will share photos when the mkal is officially announced and on sale. Until then I'll just say these are suitable items for knitters and crocheters, and one is very pretty. Like I want to get at least one for myself kind of pretty. Aren't I a dickens dropping hints like this? ;)

And that's everything on this Thursday morning! Mid-June already! Where does time get to?

Yours in yarn, and sample knits,

Síle