I received a lovely surprise in the mail today: The latest issue of Interweave Knits magazine, Summer 2021, is now available. Not only is the rainy afternoon sorted, but I am also thrilled to tell you that I contributed to this issues: these are my Peregrinate Socks.

The socks are knitted top down with a folded ribbed cuff which transisitons into meandering columns of fisherman's rib. The brioche stitch makes the socks extra thick and cosy, so they are a perfect companion no matter whether you take them on a camping trip to wear during cooler summer nights or whether you make yourself comfortable snuggling up on the sofa on a rainy day.

The pattern, written for three sizes for foot circumferences of approximately 16 - 20 cm (6-8"), is included in the summer issue of Interweave Knits magazine, which is available for purchase from the Interweave website, here.

There's still a huge pile of patterns on my desk, which were previously published in some magazine,  I'd like to rewrite and republish -  but it's going slow. So I'm happy that every once in a while I have a success message for you. As of today the Black Forest Hat and Cowl Set is available from my Ravelry store, here.

Hat and cowl are worked in illusion knitting (also known as shadow knitting), a technique which changes the look of the knit depending on the viewer’s perspective. The effect of the diagonal stripes which appear when looking at the fabric from the right angle, is created by the clever placement of knit and purl stitches. Illusion knitting is worked with one colour at a time and there is a minimum of two contrasting colours required. The samples were worked with one main colour (black) and three background colours in different shades of grey.

Honestly, there's nothing good to be said about this year's spring: cold, rain, even snow, more cold... sigh. I am so done with this awful weather. It's bad enough we can't go anywhere thanks to the darn virus, so it shouldn't be too much to ask for some sunshine mid of April...

Well, at least I won't suffer from cold feet - because look what got finish yesterday:

My Crazy Dots socks. Absolutely love how they turned out - so there is at least one thing, that makes me smile -  and I cast on another pair in different colours right away. I think I'll have to turn the design into a pattern eventually... :)

Winter's back in Germany and for almost a week we had to deal with temperatures around freezing point, lots of snow and rain showers and really nasty weather. So it's good I knitted like the wind, isn't it? Because look, my scarf version of my 'Do you speak Knit?' pattern is ready.

I pefer to wear scarves to cowls, so this was an absolutely selfish project in my favourite colours. And just because I added a tiny pompom fringe as the finishing touch. And I love, love, love how it turned out - but I guess you can tell that from my face. :)

I included all information about the abbreviations and words I used, the yarn colours and also some extra charts in an extra files, which you receive with the cowl pattern.

Do you speak knit is available for download, here: Do you speak Knit?

So, last week I showed you a picture of my Cube Mitts from the latest Knit Picks collection  - but you know what? There's more! I have a second pattern in the same collection called Block Stacking Cowl.

The cowl is worked in intarsia technique and thanks to the clever placement of the blocks, it always looks different, depending on which side is worn to the front and the angle of view. The cowl can be worked in a set color scheme or using as many different colors as there are blocks.

The pattern is available as individual download or as part of the Vertex: Colorblock Projects collection from the Knit Picks website, here.

I told you the other day about my new cowl pattern and yes, I love to knit and design cowls. But truth be told, I don't like to wear them. A scarf is much more up my alley and I'm happy it's so easy to adapt the pattern - which I still think is just fab - to a scarf. So here's the start, of course in my favourite colours. :)

And just in case you wonder what I have been up to the last few days... happily knitting away.

The  newest Knit Picks collection 'Vertex - Colorblock Projects' was published today and woo-hoo, I can finally show you one of my patterns included in the collection: Cube Mitts.

The mitts begin in the round with a one-color cuff in ribbing. The hand is then worked in intarsia, using two colors for each segment. The mitts are worked with a thumb gusset for a good fit, so there are individual instructions for the placement of the thumb gusset for left and right mitt.

As shown the pattern requires four different colours, but it's up to the knitter to work them in just two colours or in as many colours as there are blocks. Each block reuqires ony a couple of yards of yarn, so these mitts are a great project to use up leftover yarns from other projects.

The pattern is available as part of the Colorblock collection or as standalone pattern from the Knit Picks website, here: Cube Mitts.

With all the excitement about my latest pattern idea - Do you speak Knit? - and all the knitting involved, I lost a bit momentum with the mystery shawl I started at the beginning of the month. But to avoid that yet another WIP makes itself at home in my knitting basket, I picked it up last weekend and finished in one go. Of course, I ended up playing 'yarn chicken', even though I weighed my yarn and knew I should be fine. So knit like the wind it was, to make sure I'm done before I run out of yarn, lol. Less than 3 grams to spare, phew. 

The pattern, called Cois Farraige by Carol Feller, is quite interesting with half of the shawl knit sideways and then the other half bottom to top. The colours are reversed for the second half and the two halves are joined while knitting. It was easy enough for me for relaxed TV knitting, yet intersting enough to keep me going. And I absolutely love how good the Malabrigo Yarn Sock in Eggplant and Azules look together. Quite happy with this project - and now back to my next Do you speak Knit project. :)