Free Thank You Patterns

Week 48 = Give Thanks

Day 5 = November 30, 2014

 

     Friday I shared some cool Thank You dishcloths. Today I wanted to share patterns with some form of Thank You in the title. All are free, so please enjoy.

    

Thank You Hat - Simple Rib by Purl Soho

 

 

Thank You Mitts by Ansley Bucholtz

 

 

THANKS by Regina Satta

 

Thank you Pep by Julie Blauw

 

 

Thankful Thursday Scarf by Vickie Howell

 

 

 

Thanks Free Knitting,

 

Victoria

Thank you Friends

Week 48 = Give Thanks

Day 4 = November 29, 2014

     Making friends is a given when you start taking your knitting with you. Some friends are for 5 minutes in the waiting room at the dentist. While others are great friends that you share your family and life with. Still yet there is the staff at your LYS who remember what yarn you bought and ask about the projects.

     It is amazing what these people can bring out in to your life. For me I have several friends that encouraged me to design and put myself out there as a knitter. There are other friends that are so close that I have had them over my house repeatedly.


Friendly Knitting,

 

Victoria

Fabulous Friday - Thank you Dishclothes

Week 48 = Give Thanks

Day 3 = November 28, 2014

     Rather than pick one pattern this week, I have several. They are all dishcloths with some form of Thank You on them.

Thank You Rose Dishcloth

by Lisa Millan

 

Thanks Cloth

by Enid Danforth

 

Thank You

by Sue Schaefer

 

Thank You Dishcloth

by Lisa Millan

 

Give Thanks

by Kathleen Brundige

Knitting Dishcloths,

 

Victoria

Happy Family

Week 48 = Give Thanks

Day 2 = November 27, 2014

          Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that your day was filled with family, friends and food. We (my husband and I) hosted our first Thanksgiving and it was a smashing success. There was the 5 of us plus my husband's mother and step-father.

     These lovelies are who I am thankful for today.

Knitting with Family,

Victoria

Give Thanks

Week 48 = Give Thanks

Day 1 = November 26, 2014

     I want to give THANKS this week.

     I will start with thanking y'all for keeping up with me and my blog. I also want to thank my Editor Extraordinaire (a.k.a MOM) for keeping me going.

     There will be more thanks as the weeks goes on. So right now go and enjoy your families.    

Knitting Thanks,

Victoria

LYDIA Yarn - Test Knit

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 7 = November 25, 2014

     I am currently test knitting a cute, super textured, cabled hat pattern called Dagney Hat for LYDIA Yarn.

Picture from LYDIA Yarn website.

     Here is the progress on the one that I am making... the color is Caribbean Queen.

     I will also be test knitting the beautiful scarf pattern Angela's Dream.

Picture from LYDIA Yarn website.

     LYDIA Yarn currently has 5 digital patterns available on their website. They also have a Sock Club available. There are some amazing Holiday Yarns. Check them out quickly because some are already sold out. I love the packaging for their Dagney Hat Kit which is great. The variety of colors and weights available are amazing. Check out their Sock Yarn, Lace, Fingering, Sport, DK, Worsted, Aran and Bulky yarns.


Knitting LYDIA,

Victoria

My Monday - Easy Saturday - Week 8

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 6 = November 24, 2014

  It's Finished!!!!!

     That is all I have to say. I will get better pictures next week when my mother gets in town.

Knitting Finished,

Victoria

Company Knitter

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 5 = November 24, 2014

 

 



     Once designers go through their test knitting process, if they sell the pattern to a company, there might be another test knitting cycle. Some of the reasons would be the same, but there are also other reasons, like these...

• To see which of the company's different lines of yarn will work for the pattern
• To have knit samples for craft shows
• To have knit samples for photographs
• To have a pattern knit in a variety of colors

     Depending on the company, when test knitting there can be different benefits for a test knitter, such as...

• Free yarn to knit the pattern
• Free copy of the pattern
• Ability to keep the knit item once photographs are taken
• Ability to see new colors before they become available to the public
• Ability to keep leftover yarn
• Ability to see unpublished patterns
• Ability to choose your color yarn

      I am test knitting a pattern right now for a yarn company. I look forward to sharing my progress with you on Tuesday.
 

 

Knitting for Companies,

Victoria

Designers and Test Knitting

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 4 = November 22, 2014

 

     Test knitting a pattern for a designer can provide that designer with a lot of information, such as...

• If the complete directions are clear
• If the numbers add up for stitch counts or repeats
• If the chart and written directions match
• If the chart is for the right experience level
• If the correct and complete supplies are listed
• If the flow of the pattern works
• If the directions for a specific technique are understandable

     There are several ways to verify that the directions for a specific technique are understandable. For example... if I was writing a pattern using the Brioche technique, I would look for 3-4 people to test knit, all with different qualities.

1. I would want someone experienced so that they could focus on the directions to make sure the numbers add up
2. I would want someone inexperienced but interested to see how well the technique is understood from just the pattern
3. I would want someone experienced in charts because I believe all patterns should contain directions in written and chart form
4. I would want someone experienced so that they could focus on the complete directions

     Designing is like figuring out the puzzle backwards. First, you put the pieces together then you glue on the picture to see if it turned out the way you thought it would. It takes a creative, patient and stubborn mind to try something repeatedly without knowing in what direction you are going.

 

Knitting for Designers,

Victoria

Fabulous Friday - Dotted Rays

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 3 = November 21, 2014

 

Dotted Rays

by Stephen West

    

by westknits Flickr

 

by westknits Flickr

 

by westknits Flickr

 

     You may have heard of Stephen West who designed today's pattern. He is a brilliant-creative-out of the box designer. This pattern is one of his tamer ones. I love the eyelets and the pattern they provide, hence the name Dotted Rays. Here are some projects done by other people. The variety in color and color pattern is amazing.

 

Plan B

 

© knitmaven

 

 

dotted rays

 

© traftycracy 

 

 

Dream of Finland

 

© odette-ds 

 

 

 Newspaper Ray

© MsPuggy 

 

 

Dotted Rays

 

© rosinaho 

 

 

Dotted Rays

 

© littletigercat 

 

 

Himbeerrays

 

© Hoffmann   

 

Knitting Rays,

Victoria

Ravelry and Test Knitting

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 2 = November 20, 2014

     Test knitting is a big part of the design process. To prove it I went onto Ravelry, clicked on the groups tab and typed Test Knit into the search field. Ravelry came up with 115 groups, all listed here. Some were for designers and some were for companies.

 

     Here are just a few of the 115 groups that I found:

 

Modeknit Test Knitters

Folks who would like to test knit new patters by Annie Modesitt

 

 

Hometown Test-knits

For those interested in test knitting new patterns from Hometownknits

 

 

Heather Anderson Designs

A place to knit, discuss, and test designs by Heather Anderson.

 

Test Knitters For Historic Patterns

This group is for those interested, in test knitting historic patterns. Or sharing information about vintage knitting techniques

 

 

Test Knitting with Ravelry,

Victoria

Test Knitting

Week 47 = Test Knitting

Day 1 = November 19, 2014

      This is going to be short and sweet tonight. My allergies are driving me crazy. In the last 4 hours I have rubbed my nose raw. I have had a headache for most of the day. And to top it all off, it is colder than bejesus outside.

~ ~ ~

     It is amazing how many knitters I meet who have no idea what test knitting is or what a test knitter is. When someone designs a pattern, they sometimes ask for a person to test knit the pattern. This can be to check for errors in the pattern, check that the written and chart directions match up, check that the math adds up, check that it is easily understood for the knitter's experience level, and much more.

     Yarn companies might want have people test knit a pattern in colors different from the one shown on the original pattern.  They might also want to see how a pattern would work out when using a different weight yarn than what is recommended on the pattern.      

     It is a very interesting concept. I look forward bringing you more information about this over the next week.

Test Knitting,

Victoria

Cowls with Colorwork

Week 46= Cowls

Day 7 = November 18, 2014

      Believe it or not, colorwork and cowls do not always go together. I was searching Ravelry for today's blog and saw 209 pages of listings under "cowls, knitting and has a picture." That is a lot of cowls. Then I selected one more attribute and the number of pages decreased to a mere 31... I selected colorwork.

     I have been racking my brain as to why there wouldn't be more colorwork cowls. Here are some with colorwork that caught my eye.

Foolproof by Louise Zass-Bangham

Monster Cowl by Julia Allen 

#28 Mobius Cowl by Maie Landra 

Yipes Stripes Cowl by Ann Weaver 

Mixed Wave Cowl by Sybil R 

Striped cowl by Matilde Skår 

Alize Cowl by Elena Nodel 

Sleeping Beauty Cowl by Anne Podlesak 

Sunriver Reversible Cowl by Kay Hopkins  

Knitting Cowls with Colorwork,

Victoria

My Monday - Easy Saturday Victoria - Week 7

Week 46 = Cowls

Day 6 = November 17, 2014

     LET IT BE BLOCKED!!!!!!!!!!

     Yes... you read it correctly, the sweater, as you can see, is blocked. I went on a blocking binge today. I blocked the 2 sleeves (overlapping in the pic above) and main part of the sweater and a scarf that you can see in the picture too. I was going to also block a large shawl and a lap blanket, but ran out of foam mats. So I will continue my blocking when these are done.
    
     Can I tell you how excited I am about finishing this sweater! I am kind of hoping that it is a little too small for me because then I would have another Christmas gift crossed off my list. We will see.

     I only have a few things left to do:

• Seam sides and sleeves together 
• Decide on belt configuration
• Make belt

Knitting and Blocking,

Victoria

Manly Cowls

Week 46= Cowls

Day 5 = November 16, 2014

      Knitting for that guy in you life can be easy. Sweaters, hats, scarves and socks are all easy to make manly. Cowls on the other had are a toss up.

     When I was looking on Ravelry I looked for gender specific cowls. There were over 1,000 to choose from, but... most of them had female models which completely changed my perspective on the pattern. So I decided to search for pictures the had male models and not male oriented patterns. I came up with these.

Kingston Cowl by Anne Hanson

Lisa Cowl by Aloisio santos

Bertoo's Cowl by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

Infinite Cables Cowl by Michael Dworjan

Sag Snood/ Cowl by Laura Brehaut

Papa Jon Cowl by Nancy Ricci

Henning Cowl by Megan Goodacre

Manly Knitting,

Victoria