Category Archives: Knitting Patterns

March 9, 2014 · 12:12 pm

Update

Busy doing lots of knitting, carding and spinning this week, and here are the results!#

Here’s some new sets of batts that have just been put up in my Etsy shop.

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They’re a blend of black Finnish wool (it’s a lot like bfl) and merino. I’ve also got some secret batts on the go for a knitting project that should be done in a week or two.

There’s lots on the needles too. I’ve got a lacy version of my Mosely Cardigan on the go which should be finished pretty soon. I hope to have the pattern out for testing in April and released sometime in the Summer. Here’s a sneak peek! It’s in Madelintosh Merino Light which is just a joy to knit. The colour is a lot more vivid in real life, a beautiful deep pine colour. Can’t wait until it’s done!

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The neckline’s at the bottom of the picture and the two holes are armholes. Here’s a closeup of the stitch pattern:

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I’ve also got a fairisle yoked jumper on the needles. We’ve been watching the Killing and I was feeling inspired! The yarn is BC Garn dk. I’ve never used BC Garn before but they have a lovely range of colours for fairisle. It’s just the right weight for me too. A pretty light dk so you can get lots of detail into the colourwork, but not so lightweight that it would take years to knit a sweater.

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And finally finished spinning my birthday fibre! Think I’m going to use it for stripes in  a sweater, or maybe a giant smooshy scarf!

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This week I’ve also started a test knit for my latest sweater pattern, Buchanan Street Sweater for my knitting pattern line, Littletheorem Knits. If you would like to volunteer to be a tester, please head over to the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers group! Here’s some pictures of it…

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February 2, 2014 · 6:44 pm

Chunky Fairisle Cushion

Published a new knitting pattern on my Littletheorem website today.

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The imaginatively named “Chunky Fairisle Cushion” pattern is available for free on the Littletheorem Knits website and on Ravelry.

I cheated a little to avoid a jog in the round, so this is perhaps a pattern that fairisle purists should avoid. Rather than steeking, I didn’t knot new colours to old as I knitted, but knotted them all up pretty firmly at the end to cinch it all together. I also (and this was very naughty) didn’t weave in the fifty odd loose ends, but just trimmed the knots and left them inside the cushion. Please feel free to back away from this pattern in horror, but I think it all looks ok, and for time-poor knitters it’ll certainly do the job!

Here’s some more pictures!

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January 26, 2014 · 6:07 pm

Cashmere Sweater

Finished off a sweater this weekend. It’s a pretty simple design but I’m very fond of it. It’s a longer length and nipped in a bit at the waist so it’s very flattering. There’s a textured almost lacy panel at the shoulders to add a bit of interest. The yarn is undyed cashmere from Devon Fine Fibres, and is probably the softest yarn I’ve ever worked with, like wearing a a soft, fuzzy cloud. Anyway, here’s some photos:

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Now I just need to write up the pattern!

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November 10, 2013 · 4:15 pm

Christmas Knitting

It’s all systems go round here now in terms of Christmas knitting! Have a list of 8 things I want to knit as gifts and have managed to finish one (yes one) so far. Oh well.

Here’s some progress pics so far! Starting with the project that’s actually done, this Felted Lace Wrap will be going to one of my oldest and dearest friends:

felted lace wrap by littletheorem

And here’s a few feet of scarf:

double moss stitch scarf

Edges are a bit scrappy because a lot of the knitting was done overnight on a bus to Alton Towers on a school trip! Going to crochet round it. Everything will be fine.

Not much else to show in terms of gift knitting, but I do have a couple of pictures from my latest obsession: Fair Isle knitting. Here’s a cushion cover I started that is currently on hold. I’m knitting my mum a Fair Isle cowl though. More pictures of that to come soon!

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Only downside is the loose ends!

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aaaarrgghhh!

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October 20, 2013 · 7:25 pm

October Week

We’ve been off on holiday this week, but the weather’s been manky so don’t have many pictures to show you…. Spent the first couple of days applying for jobs, seems like there’s no time to get things like that done during term time. We had one pretty nice day on Tuesday so went and climbed Ben Vane. It’s one of those hills that looks quite small from below but actually has about ten false summits so you end up pretty grumpy by the time you do get to the top! It was a nice scramble though and we even got a bit of sunshine.

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Went up to Inveraray on Friday. We’d been up in February for our anniversary and climbed Ben Cruachan in the snow. Ben Cruachan has a hydroelectric power plant inside it (!!) and we went on the guided tour of it this time round. Very strange being right inside a mountain! Also had a look round that Castle in Inveraray, lovely grounds too but sadly it was tipping it down.

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Very Disney Castle-ish and pretty inside too. We stayed at the Brambles B&B which was really lovely, really good breakfast in the morning too! Then we climbed Beinn a’Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich the next day. Would have been a lovely walk if it hadn’t been for the rain, wind and fog! Not many pictures sadly given the weather conditions but we did catch a glimpse of two curious sheep right near the summit of Beinn Eunaich:

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And I released a new knitting pattern this week!

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Felted Lace Wrap is a quick, easy lace knit that works up fast in worsted weight yarn. The wrap is lightly felted to soften it up and give it a fuzzy, worn-in look. You can find it on Ravelry, Etsy and Craftsy.

Felted Lace Wrap pattern by Littletheorem

Yarn: Croft Wools Aran weight Gotland yarn, one 250g skein. Available by mail order from http://www.croftwools.co.uk/wool.html

Gauge: 14 sts = 4” with 6.5mm / US 10.5 needles before blocking.

Needles: One 40” 6.5mm / US 10.5 circular needle.

Extras: Two stitch markers

Dimensions: 16” x 60”

Felted Lace Wrap pattern by Littletheorem

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October 14, 2013 · 4:45 pm

New Patterns

What a week! It was the last week of term here so been busy with school  award ceremonies, plays and day-to-day mayhem, as well as getting two job applications in. For months, it seems like there’ve been no teaching jobs advertised anywhere that we could move to with D’s job (and his job’s quite incredibly flexible about where he could live!) and then three come up at once. So with a bit of luck we could be moving to Perth, Stirling or back home to Fife. Fingers crossed!

Haven’t managed to get any spinning done in what seems like weeks now, but I do have a bit of knitting to show you. I’ve just released Asphodel Shawl on Ravelry.

Asphodel Shawl Pattern by Littletheorem. lace shawl, geometric design.

I really love this shawl, it’s a pretty geometric design that goes from big diamonds to small diamonds with a pretty lace border. And it’s giant! You can totally wrap yourself up in it. I love it for reading in bed to keep my shoulders warm.

Asphodel Shawl lace knitting pattern by Littletheorem. Geometric lace design.

It’s also available on Craftsy and Etsy, in case you’re interested!

Here’s another FO to show you. This is knitted up from the Gotland yarn I bought from Croft Wools up on Applecross in the summer.

Lace scarf handknitted from Gotland yarn.

I’m hopefully going to get the pattern written up this week…. It’s lightly felted which really softened up the yarn and gives it a really pretty finish. Haven’t thought of a name for it yet either, thinking of pattern names is so hard!

er FO to show you. This is knitted up from the Gotland yarn I bought from Croft Wools up on Applecross in the summer.

Lace scarf handknitted from Gotland yarn.

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September 8, 2013 · 3:35 pm

Islay Hat

Added a new free hat pattern to my Littletheorem site today. Islay Hat is a simple, unisex hat available in two sizes. The stitch pattern is Twisted Moss Stitch, it’s become a firm favourite with me!

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The pattern’s available for free on my Littletheorem website and you can download it from Ravelry too.

I know I said last week that I was planning on making a hat from my handspun gradient yarn:

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But I think it’s going to become a shawl. Here’s the (very limited!) progress so far. You can see bits of pinky red just turning up at the edge:

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Couldn’t get a better shot of the whole thing, knitting it up on old needles and they’re very twisty!

A wee treat turned up for me in the post this week too. It’s my first year as a fully qualified teacher so I’ve had a pretty big payrise. When my first month’s pay turned up, I of course had to look into purchasing a sweater quantity of cashmere. I found a website selling the only uk grown cashmere, from a gorgeous farm in Devon. And the cashmere is amazing!! Really soft and smooshy with a beautiful halo. It’s going to be a bottom-up, raglan sweater in double moss stitch if all goes to plan.

Here’s a pic of the yarn

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And a close-up of the swatch:

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Mmmmm, fuzzy…..

 

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August 25, 2013 · 6:13 pm

Etive Cowl

Remember the alpaca I was spinning a few weeks ago? It has metamorphosed into a chunky lace cowl for which I have just released the pattern. Whoop!

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Etive cowl is a soft, cosy, lofty cowl that’s really quick to knit. The lace pattern is suitable for beginner knitters and is perfect for handspun yarn. It’s available to purchase on Ravelry here, Etsy here and Craftsy here. I knitted this up as a birthday present for a friend. She used to work in a posh knitwear shop on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and would always say how soft (and unaffordable) the alpaca scarves were.

I’ve just started a new spinning project which I’m pretty excited about (although I haven’t got very far with it). I’m spinning a gradient batt into colourchanging yarn, which will hopefully become a lace hat in the near future.

So far I’ve carded the batt:

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Tore it into strips:

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And spun about 10 grams. Why only 10 grams?? We’ve been inundated with guests! My brother, my cousin, his best friend, his girlfriend and his housemate all dropped in this afternoon. He lives in Birmingham and stopped by on his way to visit his Dad in the Highlands. And last night we were dogsitting for a friend (the same friend who now owns the Etive cowl above). So we’ve been spending a lot of time playing tug of war with a squeaky toy pig.

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And generally being overwhelmed by cuteness…

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August 18, 2013 · 7:01 pm

Knit 1 Pearl 1

Just added a new free knitting pattern to Ravelry and our sister website, Littletheorem Knits.

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Knit 1 Pearl 1 is a cute little storage box knitted in superbulky cotton tape with pretty pearl detailing. It’s really quick too, definitely less the a one hour project. You can find the pattern on Rav here, and on Littletheorem Knits here.

In other news, it was my first week back teaching after the summer and my first week at a new school. Very pleased to report that everything’s going great so far. Even the commute’s pretty quick and easy! Still finding time to do lots of knitting, spinning and cooking after school (thank goodness). The picture of the alpaca handspun last week is half turned into a chunky lace scarf. And here’s a pic of Friday night’s dinner: veggie tapas for two.

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We’ve also starter to house-hunt more seriously. After 7 years of living together in rented flats (good and bad!), Dunc and I both finally have full time, permanent contracts and can get a mortgage (whoop)! We looked at a house this afternoon that was lovely. Small and quirky in a quiet, leafy street, really beautiful inside with a big garden, buuuut…. it’s sandwiched between two disused industrial units. You can’t see them, but the road down to the house would be pretty scary at night, and there’s a lane behind the house with lots of empty beer cans. Not such a good sign… Think we might keep on looking for now!

 

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August 2, 2013 · 1:26 pm

Caora Sweater Pattern

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I’ve designed a new sweater pattern knitted up with Caora batts. The irony is that Scotland is currently experiencing a bit of a heatwave (this is very, very unusual!) but it never hurts to have a chunky sweater on hand.

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It’s a quick knit in chunky yarn, and pretty plain to show off your handspun. Chunky garter stitch edgings and cute buttons seal the deal.

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Anyway, enough chat, here’s the pdf! CaoraSweater. 

Caora batts can be purchased at Caora Fibres Etsy Shop.

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