Difronte: a slouchy, colorway beret

It's been a while here at Ping Knits, hasn't it? I have been busy knitting, and today I can bring you my
Difronte sloucht hat. It has a bit of colorway around the brim. I have used the mosaic colorwork technique for this, which is the simpler way to add some color to your knitting. I love how easy it is, and how the speck of color shows in the finished hat.

You could use a stronger contrast for a stronger effect, or keep it subtle. It is all about you!

I used half a skein or Blue Elephant Yarns, Elephant Sock for the body, and a little bit of contrast color of the same yarn for the contrast. I hope you enjoy it and you knit a lot of hats to keep your head warm.

You can get it here

Besos y Abrazos, xoxo

I showed you a preview on Facebook. But now, dear XOXO, I so wish to finish you and see you modelled. I'm working on this these days.

Querandi Sweater Pattern

Hi knitters,

I've designed a new pattern, the Querandi sweater. I'm sure I've blogged about this before, but I haven't had the chance to wax poetic about it.

 

It is light. The Malabrigo Sock yarn is so nice and thin, it makes a lightweight sweater that can be worn for every season.

I desigend it with us plus ladies in mind, but soon discovered it looked good on many body types.

What else can I tell you about it? It has a scoop back that covers the bootie

 

 A round neckline to show a little skin (not too much though)

And the snug, close fitting shoulders that I love when coupled with set in sleeves

 And, just for laughs, I had to include this pictures of a shoot that didn't come to be, but was incredible fun to shoot. My friend Joji was taking the pictures, and you can see her my other friend Eli, helping me display the Querandi as good as possible. I feel like a true model, LOL

 I hope you like my pattern and decide to knit it. You can buy from here :http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/querandi

A late night preview - where I talk a little nonsense

Oh, it seems it's been forever that I've had this project off the needles and have been unable to show it to you all. But, tonite I can show you a preview. This one is ready for testing, so if you want to give it a go, drop me a line.

Anyway, lousy phone pic that it is, it's all I can show you for now, since my camera is, sadly, on the ICU. I'll have news next week. Will it live? Will I have to put it down? Oh, I miss my camera! Get well baby!

In case you are worried that I talk about my camera like this... well, you should know I love it dearly. Yes, you people in the back, yes you guys, the ones with the white shirt with extremely, inordinately long sleeves, sorry, what now?  What, you want to fit me in the shirt? well, I don't kno....

Buttons!

How about some vintage buttons for my new blue thingie?

What am I working on

While this other baby is cooking (aka, being tested, edited, photographed and what have you), I wanted to share with you what I'm working on these days: a light weight cardi for next fall (or before. Or later).

I'm using Woolie Silk yarn by Fleece Artist. The color is Polar Sea and, well, I'm in love.

Cold Jewel, a sweater for plus sizes

Dear knitters and friends, my Cold Jewel pattern, a sweater for plus sizes, is finally up and ready for purchasing. It has been designed with love and hope, edited and sucessfully tested by many knitters, so I'm confident that you will have a good time knitting it and, to boot, wearing it.

 

Me, I love my Cold Jewel.

 

 

You can download it from my pattern store below:

Felted Beret, Deutsche Uebersetzung

Thank you to my lovely Ravelry friend Annagret (that's her Ravelry ID) I now have a German translation of my Turning Points Slouchy Beret.


AND,

Instructions (very clever, detailed instructions) to make a felted hat using my pattern as base, and what do you know, yes, in Engish and German too!

So, what are you doing here friend? Go knit yourself a hat! And maybe felt it too!

I feel famous today

As I play along on The Fiber Factor. Are you aware of it? It's a knitting competition and I find it so fun. I love it.

Anyway, we watchers can participate by submitting our designs, and I've submitted my Turning Points Slouchy Beret.

As you know if you have read my entry in Tinking Turtle, this hat mimics a bit of my personal story for, well, reasons. Which is exactly the inspiration behind the first challenge in The Fiber Factor.

It is posted on their site today, you can see my entries and the entries of the other watchers here.

Have fun!

Oh, by the way, so that I don't make you watch my hat again, here`s a pic of the same hat, only that it is felted. A great idea of one of my testers, she's annagret on Ravelry (it's a ravelry link, you have to be a member to click through). Isn't it a gorgeous hat? I'm digging it.

So, what is the story behind the Turning Points?

If you are at least a little curious about the story I mentioned existed behind my Turning Points Slouchy Beret pattern, you can go check at my guest blog post at Tinking Turtle below (be warned, you will know a little more about me after that).

Sink a fork in me baby...

cause I'm done.

Dear little sweater: We had our ups and downs, you and I. Now you are done (almost, yes, I know I have to trim those flocks and give you a good bath) and I promise, I'll wear the living daylights out of you.
And then I'll go and write you up so that everyone can have a little sweater just like you.

Turning Points Slouchy Beret

 

This is my latest pattern, a slouchy beret with an interesting construction to keep you interested as you knit.

It is made using short-rows, a gathered stitch detail that forms a ring around the transition between the crown and the simple rib band.








It is started from the crown, where you knit a series of short-row wedges that make up the top.

From there, you  proceed to the rest of the hat, knitting in the round to get the gathered stitch detail and band.

It calls for half a skein of worsted weight yarn: I used half a skein of Malabrigo worsted for this sample.

I hope you knit it and have fun doing it!

A very Venezian cowl

I have a new pattern for you today.It is a very simple cowl that I designed just to show off some beautiful handspun I had. Aren't the colors very Venetian?

It is free, you can download the PDF here and you can read a bit more about it in the Patterns section at the top of this blog.

I hope you like it!

A Cold Jewel is up

I proudly present you with Cold Jewel, my first ever pattern for publication.

I have long wanted to have a sweater that would flatter my big girl features.

This is the result of such quest, a V-neck sweater particularly flattering for generously sized women. The focal point of this garment is the deep V-neck opening -which really helps elongating the body, and the lace band that frames it – which adds a touch of daintiness and femininity. 

I'm so happy with it, I hope you like it too! 

I need some more people to test the pattern. Would you like to join in?

Here are the measurements, so you can decide:

To fit:

Bust: 44 (46, 49, 52, 54, 56) in / 113 (118, 125, 132, 138, 142) cm
&
Cross back: 15.30 (16, 16, 17, 17,5, 17,5) in / 39, (40, 41, 43, 45, 45) cm


Finished Measurements:
Bust: 46 (48, 51, 53, 56, 57) in / 120 (122, 130, 137, 143, 146) cm
Armhole depth: 10 (10, 10, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5) in / 25 (25, 25, 26, 26, 27) cm
Total length: 26.5 (26.5, 26,5, 27.5, 27.5, 28.5) in / 67 (67, 67, 69, 70, 72)
Sleeve length (from cuff to underarm): 12 (12, 12, 14, 14, 14) in / 30 (30, 30, 35, 35, 35) cm

Gauge: 18.5 st x 4 “ / 10 c in stockinette stitch

Materials:

Yarn:
6 (6, 7, 8, 8, 9) skeins
* Malabrigo Rios (100 g - 210 yd), colorway Solis
Possible substitutions:
Madeline Tosh vintage (100 g – 200 yd)
Sweetgiorgia Superwash Worsted (115 g – 200 yd)
You may subsititue other wool yarns that knit to gauge I don’t recommend acrylic yarn since the lace border needs to be blocked.
   

My first design is finally here, at least as

a croquis. It's being test knitted as I write this, I'm very, very happy about it.

How do you like it? 

Here's a shot of the stitch detail:

An open, springy cardi

This is a sample of what I'm working on these days.


I'm hoping it'll turn into what I have imagined, but we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Here's a teaser, though.

The birth of a new idea

A new thing

So March is here and I'm wondering, should I let all these knits that live in my head out in the open?

Me being a big gal, I usually have a hard time finding knits that fit me properly. So I have been knitting my own thing for years. And then it struck me: why not sharing them?

So you may expect some knits -hopefull awome and amazing ones- appear in this space every so often.

I'm working on a few surprises to share with you in the next days. I'll keep you posted.