WHOOO WHOO WHO... Wants to Color?

I had so much fun making that Yoonsi cowl coloring page last month, I decided to whip up an autumnal coloring project. 

These little owls can be used as gift tags, hung off door handles or strung up in a festive garland. Or you can just leave them as a whole sheet and color them on your lunch break like my coworkers have been all week.

You can download the page here. I recommend printing them on card stock, especially if you are planning on cutting them out.
(Please do not re-upload the coloring page to another site.)

If the owl looks familiar, it is! It is based off the owl in the center of the Hocus Pocus cowl, trick or treat bag, and mittens. 

If you have fun coloring them and want to share, please feel free to tag me on Instagram! My username is Wonderfallz. I would love to see what color combos you come up with!

Yoonsi Cowl

Many years ago I saw a picture of one of my favorite actors on a casual dress red carpet. I liked the color combo he was wearing and the pattern on his shirt. They were not my usual style which inspired me to try and branch out a bit and try something new. The first incarnation of this pattern was an infinity cowl that did not work in the slightest. I started a cowl version at the same time but it found it's way to the bottom of my WIP bins and stayed there for a while. This year, in an attempt to slim down the WIP's bins (and piles and bags and boxes) I pulled the cowl back out and gave it another go. What was supposed to be a casual mindless project turned into 4 cowls; I enjoyed the process and like the end product so much I made 4 of them. So I am very happy to share my latest cowl pattern with you now.

The Yoonsi pattern is a funnel shaped cowl, knit in the round, with alternating bands of garter stitch and simple colorwork. It is a fast and easy pattern and because it gets smaller as you go, it feels like it flies off the needles.

Yoonsi is made using either fingering or sport weight yarns on a 24" US Size 4/3.5mm circular needle. The pattern includes 3 different motif patterns and the yardage varies slightly between them. See the Ravelry listing for more info.

Chart A

Chart B

Chart C

*I've worn this one a lot before photographing and you can tell. I couldn't help myself and threw it on the second it was done and wore it for a month straight. It needs to be reblocked. 

Chart C was inspired by a Chinese web drama I was watching called Go Princess Go. the colors were just so stinking pretty I had to make something in that vein. This one is my favorite to wear. I really like to be seen from space when I get dressed.

Finally since Chart C's cowl was so very, very bright I thought I would try something a little more subtle. Light blue and brown are one of my favorite combos and I had both a beautiful cone of tan alpaca my dad brought me from Chile, and several skeins of light blue lace weight alpaca, so I made a fourth cowl. I used the Chilean alpaca for both the motif color and garter bands.

As a little bonus, for no other reason than I wanted to give it a try, I made a coordinating coloring page!

Temporary Coloring Page Link

I will leave it up here free for the first week and after that it will be available with the pattern. I've decided to leave it up for everyone. Please do not upload this coloring page to another website. 

If you make a Yoonsi cowl or just have fun with the coloring page and want to share with me, please tag me on Instagram, username: Wonderfallz

Ningyo

My affection for mermaids and need to depict them in knit form has continued in my latest cowl pattern, Ningyo!

Ningyo's motif can be transformed to look like any number of scaled creatures depending on the color choice. This pattern is excellent for troublesome multi-colored yarns as scales tend to have an iridescent quality to them.

From mermaids

(Socks That Rock Mediumweight - in an unnamed purple from Rhinebeck, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport - Wonderland Heather, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport - Mink Heather)

to goldfish

(Touch of Twist Peruvian Alpaca - green, Brooks Farm Tenino DK - coral, LB Collection Baby Alpaca - tan)

 even dragons

(Brooks Farm Yarns Mas Acero - purple/brown/grey, Ella Rae Classic Solids - gray)

Ningyo is another funnel shaped cowl.  If you are slender like my model, it will cover your shoulders, or if you are like me it will fan out around your collar.

The pattern is written for sport weight yarn but includes instructions for customization. The dragon example was made using these tips for a worsted weight yarn. A lovely test knitter used the instructions to make a fingering weight version.

For more information see the pattern page on Ravelry.

Here is a bonus ridiculous pic. I blame the City Bakery hot chocolate.

Rhinebeck 2015 Part 1

Last weekend was the 3rd weekend of October which can only mean one thing... RHINEBECK!

Yes, last weekend was the happiest of the year. I only went on Sunday this time around and was a little unprepared for how cold it was. Most years are too hot for me to even show off any knits, so I didn't prepare much this year and spent most of the time with stiff frozen fingers. Whoops. The snow was pretty though. Yeah, snow! I thought it was just a cottonwood tree at first. 

I have not been home when there is good sunlight since getting back from Rhinebeck so I only have pictures of a few things but I thought I would break them up into 2 posts.  

First, this is a silly "artsy" pic of the cowl I wore from my subway platform in Brooklyn, because clichés happen (please never let hipster insta barbie learn to knit).  Pattern coming soon-ish.  If you are interested in test knitting message me through Ravelry for more info.

This is my new, and first, yarn bowl. It's from Primrose Pottery/Sins and Needles 89. She paints the best fandom yarn bowls. She has one with Winifred from Hocus Pocus that I covet but I could not pass on a Buffy bowl.

This is my favorite Rhinebeck yarn purchase this year so it got a pic from the car on the ride back.  I will hunt down and put the info in the next post.  The guy who dyes is does not have a website yet but everyone was bugging him about it and he said it was in the works. This is not the first time I have seen pretty sparkly yarn at Rhinebeck but this one was by far the prettiest. The ladies paying for their yarn in front of my were teasing me that I had heart eyes staring at it. If feels glorious and looks ethereal.  I am so in love.

Hatdings!

I have a new hat pattern to share today!

Hatdings is super quick, snug fitting beanie that comes with 22 different motif charts. It can be knit in a day or weekend by an experienced knitter, or a week for an inexperienced one.  

Little mirrors added to the sequin chart pattern.

It's perfect for this time of year when the weather starts to get cold and you want a quick hat or if you realize your holiday gift list is longer than you thought and you really should have started knitting in the middle of summer to have everything ready in time, but you didn't and now you are starting to panic.

In these colors I thought it looked like a crown.

The Hatdings Beanie is knit with 2 colors of worsted weight yarn on US Size 6/4mm circular needle. It comes in 2 sizes. The small size is good for people who can wear most commercially sold hats. The large size is good for people who try on hats, only to have them perch on top. I have stopped bothering to try on hats at craft fairs; they never pull down around my giant noggin (24").

It's like an urban tree farm.

The charts range from taller, lacy motifs, to short scallops, to fall acorns, and winter trees.  Depending on the motif and colors used, the hat can be customized to suit just about anyone.

More details can be found on the Ravelry pattern page.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Screaming Floral: A Hat Pattern

Would you look at those angry little flowers?!  

I love them.  

The Screaming Floral Hat pattern is a quick and easy, worsted weight, beanie/toque.  The floral pattern makes if fun to knit in the summer so you can get a head start on your fall accessories or gifts.

 

If you are thinking the style of the Screaming Floral Hat is similar in style to the Pop Blossoms pattern, you would be correct.  I worked up the charts at the same time, but when I knit the Screaming Floral Hat the first time around, I make the mistake of (not once, but twice!) using yarn that was far too close in hue and value to photograph well.  

See what I mean?  And that is with the exposure boosted.  Luckily the purple is ridiculously pretty in real life.

In an effort to complete patterns in process, I revisited the charts and whipped up some much higher contrast hats.  If knit in similar yarns, the Screaming Floral hat would be an excellent companion accessory to the Pop Blossom cowl or mittens.  Different pattern, same world.

Coming Off the Back Burner

Remember the Baktiari hat?

I started a Baktiari cowl too, but at about the halfway point it got back-burnered.  You know how it is when you have to do some yardage math and purchase more yarn (the black Cascade 220), the momentum slows and other projects are picked up.  After unearthing it from the WIP bin last week, I have decided to use the longer summer days to finish it.  The colors of that Sanguine Gryphon silk Codex* yarn are just too pretty to sit unknit in a ziplock bag.  They are Rhinebeck purchases and deserve better. 

I took it to see Blockbusters at the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival.  Three hours claiming a decent spot before the movie meant ample time to make significant progress.  You can tell how pumped people were to watch that movie next to the NY Public Library, where the opening scenes were filmed, by how far back and to the side my decent seat was.

See Bill Murray on the screen?

I am hoping to have a Baktiari cowl pattern out by the end of the summer.  In the meantime, here is a sneak peak at what's coming next.

*Sanguine Gryphon is no longer, but one of the spin off(?) companies, Verdant Gryphon, still carries it.  Such pretty stuff and lovely to knit with.