Chicago Yarn Crawl

Earlier this week I went yarn crawling with Erica from Kollage Yarns. With the Chicago Yarn Crawl going on, we wanted to check out some shops we hadn't been to before.

First we went to Mia Bella in Highland Park. It is the cutest shop. We think it looks Martha Stewart-ish in the best way possible. It was so bright and clean and cheery. I think I could definitely spend hours in there knitting.

While there, Erica took a picture of me with the Kollage ad in Vogue, featuring the Vokuhila Socks I designed (free pattern from Vogue website, get it here).

After that, we headed to Three Bags Full in Northbrook. Another very cute shop. The place is huge. I loved their wall of sock yarn! Finally we headed to Arlington Heights were we met Jenni and Jenny (yes, Erica was hanging out with two Jennys and a Jen!) and had a nice dinner with beer, fried mashed potato balls and talk of knitting. A fin Tuesday afternoon/evening if you ask me.

Timberland Shawl

When Chris at Fuzzy Wuzzy Yarns asked me to design a shawl for her with some Schaeffer Anne, I couldn't refuse. The yarn was screaming for something pretty. And so the Timberland Shawl was born:

 

The shawl takes just one skein of the Schaeffer Anne. You could probably do it with a larger skein of sock yarn too. 

I think it's the perfect shawl to have for the fall. It's nice and cozy with the garter stitch, but has that pretty little leaf pattern running through it. I am so excited how this one came out.

Currently, this pattern is exclusive at Fuzzy Wuzzy Yarns as part of a kit. If you want one, you can call the store at 847.253.9276 and Chris can hook you up. The pattern will be available to everyone in February of next year.

So that's what I have been knitting lately. How about you? What have you been working on?

Happy knitting!

Sock Summit - Day Four & Round Up

Ok, I am FINALLY posting about the last day of Sock Summit. Sorry for the delay.

Sunday morning, I took a class on designing with Japanese stitch dictionaries. I really enjoyed the class and had a great time knitting a little swatch using techniques found in the Japanese stitch dictionaries. I even learned to make a crocheted bobble. While I don't really see myself using that in a design anytime soon, it was super cool.

After class was over, I met Jenni and we decided to walk over to Twisted. We knew it was kind of a hike, but it was nice and we hadn't been outside of the convention center area, so off we went. It really was a nice walk. We stopped for lunch and beers, and then went to Twisted.

This shop is seriously cute.

 

I especially enjoyed the vintage knitting pattern section. I spent some serious time flipping through all those booklets!

I left there with a skein of A Verb for Keeping Warm sock yarn and some roving.

Then we walked back to the hotel and chilled on the roof for awhile. I was especially exhausted after our weekend of knitting, so we headed back to the room and knit in our PJs. A wonderful finish to a wonderful weekend.

I am so glad that Jenni and I decided to make the trip to Portland for Sock Summit. And, of course, we have already made plans to return in 2013!

Travelling West Socks

While at Sock Summit, I gave away some Knitting Like Crazy goodie bags. Inside were some stitch markers, some coupon codes, and the Travelling West sock pattern, my most recent sock creation.

 

Now Sock Summit is over, and I thought it was time to share the pattern with everyone else! I really hope you all enjoy it!

The pattern is written for a cuff down, 64 sts sock. It's an easy little lace pattern, and has both charts and written directions.

It's available on Ravelry for $5.00. You can see the pattern page here. Or, just click the buy now button below.

Hope you enjoy. Happy sock knitting!

Vokuhila Socks

I seriously can't believe I haven't blogged since Sock Summit! Bad blogger. I still have a Sock Summit wrap up to do, but something very exciting happened that I have to share first. 

So, sometime in late April/early May Erica at Kollage calls and says there is this opportunity to have a sock pattern on the Vogue Knitting website, but the deadline is literally crazy.  I thought about it for a second and agreed to do it. I had about 4-5 days to think up a pattern, write it, get it tech edited, knit the socks and convince someone to test knit the socks on the same 4 day deadline. I guess all the stars aligned or something, because I got it done. And, I can now reveal the Vokuhila socks:

 

They are a part of the Sock-Cess ad campaign in the brand new Vogue Knitting Fall 2011. Just one skein of Sock-a-licious and you are good to go.

The pattern is now available on the Vogue Knitting Website here. And, it's a free pattern, so really you have no reason to not download it. You know you want to make them!

Also, the Kollage Yarns group on Ravelry is hosting a Vokuhila Socks KAL starting on 8/22. So, if you are in the mood to knit some pretty socks, you can join us over there for some sock knitting fun. Details are in this thread on Ravelry.

And, finally, I have been getting A LOT of questions about the name of the socks. Here's the story:

Vokuhila is the German word for mullet. It’s the perfect name for these socks as they are all business down the back of the leg onto the heel flap, but it’s party time down the front of the sock.

Hope you enjoy the socks. Happy knitting!