What's hot on Ravelry? Issue # 5

It's hot hot hot and it has just been listed on Ravelry! Every week I show you the finest recently added patterns on Ravelry! Don't worry if you've missed it! Click on the image and queue it! Please note that all the images are not mine. They belong to the designer. You may need a Ravelry account (free!) to view the pattern profile.

Hi guys! This week on What's hot on Ravelry, I'm trying to improve it a bit by adding some section, my FAV of the week! And you, what is your fav? Enjoy!

My favorite this week:

CARDIGANS

HEADWEAR

PULLOVERS

SHAWLS, SCARVES, COWLS

KIDS

I really hope you enjoyed this issue as much as I did! If you have any suggestions about a way to present the pics, comments about the new category feature, let me know!

So many things!

And so little time! I've been craving to blog since I came back from vacation. I had so many post ideas, and I feel like I have so much to say, and so little time! I mean, we totally should have 48 hours in a day. 24h to do the everyday tasks, and 24h extra to knit, blog and have fun. Life's too short.

That's why I've been deserting Twitter so much lately. I'm sorry guys if you don't hear from me via Twitter, but I can't stand to stay in front of the computer, while I could knit my fingers off!! I realized it and turned it off. And in the futur, it's going to be very sporadic...

But! There is a happy counterpart: I'm going to blog more! No more 140 words limit! And more pictures! Yay! Hopefully you'll stay with me and continue to read me...:-S

Ok! Enough blablabla, and into the main subject. On Sunday, we took the car we rented for the vacation and went to my parents house. We stayed there for lunch AND dinner, which was delicious and totally fun! In the afternoon, my mother and I knitted on the swing chair (??? I've reach a limit of my english vocabulary!), into the sunset. My mom, knitting some dishcloths in this gorgeous 100% cotton. Lately I've been a lot into blues and yellows, but old pinks/lilas-mauves are calling my name...

With the little help of the boulier, to help count the rows...

And me, making some progress on my Echo Flower Shawl. I'm a little after the first half, and I love it. And I'm knitting it with some GORGEOUS Malabrigo Sock, in the Ochre colorway. I love the golden/yellow-green feel and subtle changes of tone from this kettle dyed yarn.

Yes, the "N"s on the chart are nupps ...

Speaking of Malabrigo... check out what my friend kindly received on my behalf in the mail during my vacation...

Malabrigo Lace! I bought it from Flocks of Yarn. They were having a HUGE sale! I was within the lucky few who manage to buy some yarn...

Speaking of vacation... check out what we encountered on our path...

2 skeins of fingering weight 100% Alpaca yarn from a local Alpaca farm!!! Itwas totally unpredicted, but the lovely Alpaga Charlevoix farm was on our path to Tadoussac. We were driving, me on the passenger seat, I turned my head and... what? Alpaca? For real? Quick stop stop stop!! Turn! U-turn! I don't care! AlPaGa!!!... hihi So these skeins are meant to become a youngish/stylish neckerchief...

My, this post is, I think, the longest I have ever written. I told you guys, now that I'm not really on Twitter, I have so many things to say!!

Stay tuned, next post, What's hot on Ravelry (tm) issue # 5 !

FO: Polska Mittens ... and back from vacation!

Raveled here!

[UPDATE: SpillyJane in person asked for my pic of the mittens. You can see it on the Ravelry pattern page! woot woot!]

Yesterday around midnight, me and my boyfriend came back home, after a wonderful week of camping. The comeback to the reality of the big city is hard! Heatwave, cars, noise, pollution... it's harder everytime!

One good thing thought about coming back home is my blog. I missed it way more than expected! I had only one thing in mind when I woke up this morning: to show you, dear reader, my new finished project, the Polska Mittens by SpillyJane!

I mostly knitted these in the car, while knitting sometimes 3 colors stranded mitts on dpns on a windy beach isn't a really good idea. But, the first one was already knitted and the cast on on the second one was already done before we left, and we did at least 20h of car riding, so everthing went nicely.

I have to give a 2 (no 3!) thumbs up to SpillyJane for the clearlyness of the pattern. I think it is the most clearly written pattern I have ever knit. Good job Spilly, keep up the good work. The chart and the written instructions were crystal clear!

And I learned a new technique : the long tail cast on. Super easy, super effective. I will definitively use it again for beanies, berets, socks and cuffs!

I can't wait for fall to arrive. Yes I know, us knitting peeps are a little but crazy ;-)

Stay tuned for an upcoming issue of What's hot on Ravelry? and what I'm knitting with some gorgeous Malabrigo socks...

What's hot on Ravelry? Issue # 4 ... and Radio Silence!

It's hot hot hot and it has just been listed on Ravelry! Every week I show you the finest recently added patterns on Ravelry! Click on the image and queue it! Please note that all the images are not mine. They belong to the designer. You may need a Ravelry account (free!) to view the pattern profile.

Hi guys! Again this week, I'm very happy to share with you gorgeous new patterns, directly from Ravelry. And I shamelessly included my new patterns...

In today's post I wanted to talk about my post-Dalia-and-Cybelle knitting projects, but instead I decided to treat you with some knitting pattern goodness!

But! Before letting you enjoy my column, I want to let you know that from Thursday August 5th to Saturday August, 14th, I'm going to follow a strict radio silence. Why? Because I'm on VACATION!!! Yeeeeesss!!! Me and my boyfriend are leaving Montreal on a camping trip for the northern Coast, La côte Nord. And don't you worry, I'm bringing my knitting with me, of course!I can't wait to knit in the car, in the tent, in front of the campfire.... Two projects are in the bag! I don't know if it's going to be a very productive knitting time, but I hope to come back with some progress! Ok, enough! Enjoy and queue all you want!

Dalia

Dimensions: 18"(circumference) x 8" (tall)

Amount of yarn required: 1 skein of Rowan Felted Tweed (50g/191 yds)

Available as a Ravelry purchase or in my Etsy boutique!

Please welcome my new design to this world, Dalia. Dalia is perfect for a gift or a guilty pleasure. Luxurious tweed, sophisticated lace pattern, you might not want to give this one! Knitted with only one skein of Rowan Felted Tweed, worked in the round, Dalia is a quick knit and a perfect stash busting project!

To continue in the same way as Cybelle, Dalia is an old French Canadian name. Dalia sounds like a sweet and pretty flower, but yet the "D" adds a little bit of edge (sorry, the inner linguist in trying to come out in my knitting blog). Goes totally with the Gothic Lace pattern.

I love the way the tweed yarn a the lace pattern work together in this cowl. And Rowan Felted Tweed is such a common yet incredible yarn, why resist? I know I didn't ...

On my next blogpost, another project... not my design, but an addictive and beautiful design by SpillyJane! Stay tuned!

Cybelle

Size available : 33” (35.5”, 38”, 43”, 48”, 50.5”)

Shown in size 38" with no ease. It is intended to be worn with no ease.

Amount of yarn required: 300g (400g, 400g, 500g, 500g, 600g) of any DK weight yarn.

Available as a Ravelry purchase and in my Etsy boutique!

I am happy to show you my latest new design, Cybelle. Cybelle is a super comfortable, fitted and fluffy cardigan. Worked from the top-down with raglan shaped elbow-length sleeves, this cardigan is perfect for beginners or knitter seeking for an easy knit! To add a little challenge and convenience, pockets are worked on both fronts. Perfect to carry pocket change or a cellphone.

Here is a little story about the name of the cardigan. You see, "Cybelle" is my middle name. Yes! My name is Ariane Cybelle. I used to hate that name, but as wisdom and maturity grew with time, I started to like it. I think it has a vintage feel to it, like my first name and many other old French Canadian names. This is why I choose buttons with a vintage feel. And I think they work well with the 100% Handspun alpaca yarn too!

Speaking of the yarn... You might see that in the pictures, some straw pieces and dirt pop out of the yarn. Well, it's because the Alpaca was really, really dirty. The yarn is so soft and fluffy, but knitting with it was a pain... Which leads me to talk about yarn substitution. You could use any 100% Alpaca yarn, such as Alpakka by Sandnes Garn, Baby Alpaca DK by Plymouth Yarn, Baby Twist by Alpaca with a Twist or Drops Classic Alpaca by Garn Studio. If the fluffy alpaca effect is not so important for you, you could go with an Alpaca blend, or another DK weight!

And so far, I LOVE my cardigan. When I designed it, I was picturing myself in a classroom, frozen. I wanted something easy to wear, practical, and without too much frills and ruffles. A basic! I decided to do elbow-lenght sleeves so they wouldn’t be in the way while taking notes. And the pockets, perfect to carry some pocket change, at the break, to go buy a coffee!

And stay tuned, because really soon (like, really soon), the Dalia pattern will be release!