Designs by KN blog

We returned from our 2,000 mile road trip on Christmas Day.  I’m still disoriented after 8 days away from home, but the open-road journey was a refreshing (although exhausting) change in routine.  We had never traveled so far by car on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lessons learned:

1. You may find yourselves the lone occupants of an entire hotel on Christmas Eve. We were the only ones staying in one of the new hotels in Richfield, Utah but they provided a generous free hot breakfast the next morning just for the two of us anyway!

2. If you’re traveling I-70 through Utah and Colorado on Christmas Day, the road is empty of traffic. If the weather cooperates, you can enjoy smooth sailing and scenic vistas the whole way.

3. If you’re traveling I-70 through Utah and Colorado on Christmas Day, there are very few eating establishments open.  Our Christmas dinner was at Carl’s Jr. in Idaho Springs!

Although I intended to spend many road travel hours knitting socks, at the last minute before we left I grabbed a bag of stash cotton scraps.  When I wasn’t driving, I merrily selected this and that from the bag to create a hodgepodge of color combinations for eleven crocheted My Fave Dishcloths:

Our road travels took us through spectacular scenery and the changing landscapes of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. We spent 3 days in San Diego, then drove north along the coast, ending at our intended destination two days before Christmas: a family wedding in Anaheim, CA. We hit the road early on Christmas Eve, driving all day, and repeated the scenario on Christmas Day.  The weather cooperated, there were no car-trouble issues, and we arrived home injury-free! (see this post for a description of how some of our other road trips have ended.)

If you’d like to see photos from the journey, links to Flickr sets are below for your armchair travel enjoyment:

The Open Road: 2,000 mile road trip

San Diego Holiday Boat Parade

San Diego Zoo

Cabrillo National Monument/Pt. Loma

Sea World San Diego

Dana Point, California

Menus & Food: road trip to CA

Upon our return, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise: a contributor copy of “60 More Quick Knits in Cascade 220 Sport” with my #16 Basketweave Pocket Scarf inside …

One last FO completed the journey.  A few weeks ago I knit a Ton o’ Fun Toboggan Hat for DH to wear on his next cross-country ski trip.

He liked it so much he asked me to make one for his coworker. I knit it up quickly the day after Christmas, because they intended to wear their hats on their first lunch visit to the new Colorado Steak ‘n Shake the next day.

Alas, they didn’t wear them while enjoying their burgers and shakes but will definitely use them when the next blast of cold, snow, and good ski conditions arrives.

Step by step I will reorient to the daily routine (that is, until our next road trip to Steamboat Springs, CO in January!) For now I am grateful for the time to pause and reflect on the events of 2011 and look forward to whatever 2012 has in store for Designs by KN.

Happy New Year!

A line of projects were finished this week … albeit a much shorter line than the one at Colorado’s new Steak ‘n Shake!  My mom requested I take her there to see what all the fuss was about, and I gladly complied.  It became Steak ‘n Shake experience #2 for me (prior to my visit on Nov. 17 and her visit today, neither of us had been to a Steak ‘n Shake since the late ’50s.) With our lunch happily devoured right down to the finish line …

Chocolate shake, white chocolate shake

Steakburger, fries, Coke, chocolate shake

… what follows is the line of knit/crochet projects that became FOs this week (described in various notes and posts on Facebook and Ravelry):

1. 2011 donations to local homeless shelter

A compilation of DBKN items donated to the Denver Rescue Mission for Christmas 2011: twenty hats (including Ton o’ Fun Toboggan Hat, Better Late Than Never Beanie, Banded Shell Hat), five scarves (including Spumoni Ice Scarf & Wacky Fun Tube Scarf), two baby blankets (including Rippling Waves Baby Blanket), two ear sweaters, one pair child’s socks …

2. Big Little Knit Bag

Used this as a teaching project in 2007 and discovered the knitted piece tucked away, unfinished since then. All it needed was seaming, a button and a strap.  The fabric variation between garter stitch and stockinette stitch is because I was demonstrating both techniques in class.  Since this one was made in Wool-Ease Chunky on size 10 needles, I’m calling it the Big Little Knit Bag (even though it finished out at approx. 5” x 5”)! Pattern for Little Knit Bag here

3. 6 inch Squares Scarf

Found a stash of 6” knitted squares left over from a community blanket project. Stitched them together into a scarf, edged with 1 round single crochet, then 1 round reverse single crochet. Pattern for knit (or crochet) 6″ blanket squares here

One other item reached the finish line:  Ten years ago the diamond in my engagement ring went missing. A year later, while vacuuming, I noticed a shiny speck in the carpet. It was the diamond!  But ring and diamond were set aside in an envelope to be reunited “some day.” I was totally surprised when DD presented me with this gift yesterday (37th wedding anniversary for DH and me.)  At long last, the ring has been re-finished and restored to its original state. My fingers feel “normal” again!

Best wishes to all for the holidays and a good start to the new year.  Thank you, again, for your continued interest in Designs by KN patterns.  Stitch on!

In a previous post (5:00 a.m. windup) I mentioned a “most unusual baby set.” Yesterday the set was gifted to the family whose color preferences tend away from standard baby pink.  I did warn the family that the gift would likely be the only one in the world!  When the new mother opened the box, there were squeals of delight and humorous laughter all around. Coincidentally, the following statement appeared in the LA Times two days ago:

“Pantone announced today that a shade of orange dubbed “tangerine tango” is set to take top honors as the 2012 color of the year …”

I guess this is one newborn who will be at the height of fashion when she is decked out in her new ensemble!  To create the set, I used every yellow and orange yarn I could find in stash and combined them for a Rippling Waves Baby Blanket, a Lacy Baby Hat, and a baby-sized Better Late Than Never Beanie:

Now you can see why it was named the “most unusual baby set!”

Another stash bustin’ project just completed is also on the unusual side.  Partial skeins of four colors (white, gold, red, black) of Lion Brand Yarns “Homespun” in stash were knit up into an alternative version of the Easy-Knit Shawl:

I enjoy figuring out ways to “recycle” what’s available into usable finished projects. In this case, a bit of creative striping helped to blend the color blocks from one to the next.

We have a road trip coming up soon so I’ll be packing more oddments from stash for the hours of travel knitting and crocheting ahead. Here’s a sample of one of my fave travel-knitting projects: socks …

C.O.O.S. (Choice of Options Socks) –  this pair ended up being named “C.O.O.S. On the Road!”

With a mish-mash of colors and fibers in the DBKN stash accumulated from years of knitting, crocheting and designing, who knows what unusual projects will result this time around!

* FO = Finished Object

There were several FOs accomplished this week. Here are four of them:

1. Baby Blan Turned Cowl

Awhile back, I designed this Bunny-Ear Blankie.

Earlier this week, I sat down to crochet a bit and grabbed a skein of “something suitable” from stash. It was one skein of TLC Amore in a rich blue color. This was the result (from the Ravelry page for this project):

“What started as a baby blanket turned into a perfect cowl! Only had 1 skein of TLC Amore but merrily set out anyway, planning to make another Bunny-Ear Blankie using up scraps of different colors in stash. Followed pattern as written but realized about 8” through that the piece was wider than anticipated. Then I ran out of the one skein of TLC Amore. Looked at the piece, folded it in half with right sides together, slip stitched a seam. Observed that the character of the yarn filled in the spaces of the open shell stitch pattern, thus creating a luxe-looking fabric. Voila — a beautiful, soft, drapey cowl!”

2.  Chunk-a-Block Hats and Burly Twirly Hat (see previous post Chunk)

3.  Ripple-Band Hat in a Santa hat version

Again, here are notes from the Ravelry page for this hat:

“Was working from memory while creating this hat so wasn’t paying close attention to my own instructions!  Worked first few rounds above ripple band on 56 sts, then reduced to 54. Also added one plain round between each decrease round which made the hat taller and pointier. So it’s somewhere between a small & large size!”

4.  Fingerless Mitts for a “little girl”

A request came in yesterday for a pair of fingerless mitts, in Christmas green, for “a little girl”. Not knowing exactly what age of “little girl” I turned to my fave #34 Wristlets pattern from Knit.1, Winter 2007.  Here are the notes about this project:

“Reduced to “little girl” size by working on size 4 dpns instead of size 8s. Worked thumb on 14 sts as written in pattern, but knit only 7 rounds above thumb opening before finishing with upper rib of 6 rounds. Thumb: after pickup round, 2 rounds plain knit before rib of 3 rounds.”

How nice that more FOs can be accomplished in the time available between snowstorms and shoveling sessions …

Hope you find time to do some holiday knitting or crocheting this weekend.  If you need more ideas (especially if you know of a “little girl”) here’s a cutie DBKN pattern that was originally published in the November 2009 issue of Creative Knitting magazine and is now available as a downloadable purchase e-pattern:

Holiday Elf Hat

Photo copyright DRG Publishing

Enjoy!

Quick post about some new stuff …

The Arctic blast of cold and snow this week found us reaching for hats and scarves here!  Two new DBKN hat patterns have been released:

For crocheters:  Ripple-Band Hat (coordinates with Ripple-Band Accessories pattern)

For knitters:   Chunk-a-Block Hat (coordinates with Chunk-a-Block Scarf)

As to scarves, the Special Olympics USA Scarf Project December newsletter includes this piece about DBKN’s Peak-to-Peak Scarf:

“Love of Knitting Magazine features Special Olympics USA Scarf Project

If you haven’t picked up your Winter 2011 issue of Love of Knitting Magazine yet – it’s available at Barnes & Noble and other national booksellers and arts & crafts stores!

We were honored to collaborate with Kathy North of Designs by KN to create a custom pattern for Love of Knitting readers called the “Peak-to-Peak Scarf.”  In the feature story, Kathy speaks to her inspiration behind the unique pattern, and the pattern is available both in the print edition and via download online at Love of Knitting.  We hope you enjoy and find this to be a fun pattern to add to your stitching accomplishments as well!

Here is a “peek” into Kathy’s original design concept – you can view the finished project at the links above!”

And here are completed versions of the scarf:

In Red Heart Super Saver (designated colors 0387 Soft Navy and 0319 Cherry Red)

In Red Heart Soft (designated colors 4604 Navy and 9925 Really Red)

There is still time to knit and crochet scarves for this wonderful cause, so check out the 2012 Special Olympics USA Scarf Project website and Facebook page to keep up-to-date on the latest news.

Happy knitting & crocheting for the holidays … with my thanks and appreciation for your positive feedback about DBKN patterns!

There’s a car commercial airing now where the narrator says “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow …”  Well, it has and it has and it has. Three storms have come through in the past few days.  I have shoveled the same deck, sidewalk and driveway three times already. Enough of this (and it isn’t even the snowiest month of the year!)

As I worked my way through a chunk at a time (thank goodness it was fluffy white powder and not heavy, wet snow) I donned various cold-weather gear: coat, gloves, scarves, hats (at one point I was wearing 2 hats on top of each other.)  With the high reaching only 10 degrees today (and dipping to minus 2 degrees tonight) we are in the mood for chunky, bulky knits and crochets here in Colorado.  DD was wearing this one this morning:

Tasseled Earflap Hat

Despite the snowstorms and the good amount of exercise as a result of shoveling, I did manage to prepare and dispatch some new design submissions over the weekend. May they be well received.

Today I finally got to sit a bit and watch an episode of Knitting Daily (it’s televised in our area on Mondays at 11:30.)  Earlier in the day I had come across some design notes, so while watching the program I worked with some chunky yarn from stash. I just released the Chunk-a-Block Hat whose stitch pattern coordinates with this scarf in the Designs by KN collection:

Chunk-a-Block Scarf

Chunk-a-Block Hat

By chance, photos of another super-chunk project in the DBKN pattern database were rediscovered:

Burly-Twirly Scarf & Hat Set

I hope to transform more chunky/bulky/mega yarn in stash into hats. After all, if this weather pattern continues, it’s going to be a long winter and we’ll be needing lots of them around here!

Knitters, crocheters, quilters and other crafters generously give the work of their hands to family, friends and charitable causes year-round. But during the holiday season it seems even easier to give.

At the front of our local supermarket you can pick up a pre-packed paper grocery sack of nonperishable foodstuffs which, for $10, will be donated to the local food bank.  While doing your grocery shopping you can help a hungry family simply by taking one of these bags to the checkout.  It’s easy to give.

At the workplace and around town, collection boxes are set up for those who choose to contribute to the Toys for Tots campaign. Purchase a new toy for a needy child who might not otherwise receive one and put it in the collection box. It’s easy to give.

Yesterday I assisted my mom with some shopping errands. As I approached the storefront, I heard the jingle of the Salvation Army bellringer. Spare change went into the kettle. It’s easy to give.

On the way to Mom’s I stopped at Panera Bread to pick up lunch, but called ahead to see if I could bring her anything (she is currently housebound while caring for my ill stepdad, with home health care workers, therapists and nurses coming in throughout the day to help.) “Perhaps a cup of baked potato soup,” she said, so I ordered the “you choose 2″ option with 1/2 sandwich and a cup of soup. They asked “Would you like a 99 cent pastry?”  Sure. There were some adorable, thick gingerbread men cookies right in front of me so I chose one as a treat for Mom & the home health care worker (I did end up eating one of his arms later on!)  It’s easy to give.

While visiting with the home health care helper, I learned we are both tea drinkers. I prefer Darjeeling, she prefers green tea. Mom didn’t have any in the cupboard, so when I went to a nearby store to pick up more health care essentials for them, I also picked up a box of green tea.  It’s easy to give.

Today an Arctic-cold blast of winter hit Colorado, and there was snow to shovel. Since it’s also December 1, it was time to prepare a Christmas letter to be included in cards sent to family and friends. I was short on postage stamps but didn’t want to venture out on icy roads in a snowstorm to get more.  Fortunately I discovered a stash of old postage stamps in denominations of 2 cents, 23 cents and 37 cents (those days are gone!)  But hey, two 23-cent stamps equals 46 cents, so they were a perfect substitute for one 44-cent stamp.  I walked across the snowy driveway to place them in the mailbox, then decided to shovel the 5″ of fresh snow while it was still light and powdery (never mind the ice layer underneath.)

Shortly afterwards, the postman drove around our cul-de-sac delivering mail. What a timely coincidence!  I met him at our mailbox to ask if the vintage stamps used on a few of the cards were still good.  “Yes!” was the reply. “In fact, you gave us 2 cents more!”  With that humorous reply,  it was easy to give the bundle of cards to him and be glad they are on their way.

After the driveway was shoveled, it was time to tackle the back deck. I worked as quickly as I could, but noticed my fingers starting to get very cold.  Before numbness set in, I finished and retreated inside to warm up (thankfully, the feeling in my fingers returned so I could type this blog post!)

Today’s outdoors-in-the-cold-and-snow experience reminded me of how we knitters and crocheters can help others by making hats, scarves, mittens, shawls, socks and warm woolies for those who suffer in winter.  Grab some yarn, needles and hooks, choose a pattern (see ideas below from the Designs by KN pattern database & DBKN’s Ravelry page) and start stitching.

It’s easy to give.

Crochet Hat

Knit Hat (for anyone!)

Men’s Fingerless Mitts

Ear Sweaters

C.O.O.S. (Choice of Options Socks)

Simple Crocheted Scarf for Teens and Adults

My Grandmother’s Slippers

Cozy Comfort Shawl

Rib-look Baby Hat