New Pattern: Sweetdrop Cowl

On this gorgeous New England day—so bright and full of color—I'm excited to announce a new pattern that's just perfect for these crisp fall days. The Sweetdrop Cowl is now available in my Ravelry, Etsy, and Craftsy pattern stores, as well as at LoveKnitting.

Pattern: Sweetdrop Cowl by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Luna Grey Fiber Arts Zeta

You can make this cowl in one of three sizes—I made the smallest circumference, 24 inches; the other options are 32 and 48 inches. For each, you'll need 200 (275, 400) yards of DK weight yarn. For the sample, I used Zeta, a DK weight, hand-dyed wool/silk blend from Luna Grey Fiber Arts. The colorway is called Harbor, just one of many subtle, beautiful colors available from Luna Grey, where the pattern + yarn are available as a kit. I absolutely loved knitting up the cowl in Zeta. It is fabulously soft and the color—reminiscent of a shimmering lake—kept me entranced.

Sweetdrop is worked in the round on a circular needle—no seaming or grafting required. Featuring a pretty, easy-to-work textured stitch, it knits up quickly. Depending on the color you choose, it could easily be a unisex design—great for holiday gifts!

This is the fifth and final pattern in my All You Need Is One collection, featuring designs that require just one skein of yarn (the others are On the Other Hand, Conklaree, Hulst, and Hop Brook). I had fun putting this collection together throughout 2015 and trying out some new-to-me yarns like Luna Grey Zeta. I hope you've enjoyed it, too!

Credits and thanks go to:

• Jenny for editing the pattern (superb work, as always!)
• Jackie at Luna Grey Fiber Arts for offering the pattern as a kit. I hope you'll go take a look at her colorways and give Zeta a try. (Check out all the other kits, too!)

Thank you very much for reading.

New Pattern: Hop Brook

Introducing Hop Brook, a scarf/shawlette named after a lovely brook in my hometown. With its relaxing garter stitch and not-too-complicated lace, Hop Brook is the perfect end-of-summer knitting project. It's now available in my Ravelry, Craftsy, and Etsy shops, and at Loveknitting as well.

Pattern: Hop Brook, by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Elsa Wool Cormo woolen-spun fingering in light grey

Hop Brook's elegant, tapered crescent shape results from gradually spaced increases and decreases in the garter stitch portion of the scarf. Like my Streusel scarf, it is worked from one end to the other, with no grafting or short rows. The pattern includes instructions for making it longer or shorter, and the stitch patterns are provided both in charts and in row-by-row written form.

This was my first time knitting with Elsa Wool Cormo and it certainly won't be my last. This beautiful undyed yarn comes from purebred Cormo sheep in Colorado and Montana. It is a good, honest yarn that's a pleasure to have on the needles. Its softness makes it ideal for anything worn against the skin.

Hop Brook is the fourth pattern in my 2015 All You Need Is One collection of designs that require just one skein of yarn. When you purchase the collection (available only on Ravelry), the PDF is automatically updated in your Ravelry library each time a new pattern is released. One more pattern will be added to the collection this fall; at $16 for five patterns, it's a great deal!

In conjunction with the second annual Neckwear KAL, I'm offering a discount on Hop Brook through September 10, only on Ravelry. Enter the coupon code NECKWEARKAL at checkout to get 25% off.

I hope you'll join us for the KAL! Last year's was lots of fun, so we're doing it again. The Blue Peninsula Neckwear KAL starts Thursday, September 10 and ends Thursday, October 15. Whether you're knitting something special for yourself or gearing up for holiday gift giving, it's going to be a fun, low-pressure KAL with some nice prizes (including a skein of Elsa Wool Cormo!).

The scarf takes its name from a brook in Amherst, Massachusetts. On a very hot Sunday earlier this month, I took a break from creating the pattern's charts to go for a walk on the local bike trail. When I passed a little sign for Hop Brook, I stopped and realized I'd never gone down that particular path before. So I did, and within five minutes came upon this beautiful view:

And just like that, I had found the name for my scarf! Goes to show, it's good to take breaks when you've been working a lot (especially on Sundays!) and to head down unfamiliar paths once in a while.

 As always, thanks go to my sister Jenny for her expert tech editing. Couldn't do it without her! 

Thank you very much for reading.

New Pattern: Conklaree Lace Scarf

As the red-winged blackbirds announce spring with their conklaree! song, I'm excited to announce a new pattern:

Pattern: Conklaree, by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Elemental Affects Civility Fingering

It's now available in my Ravelry, Craftsy, and Etsy shops, as well as at Loveknitting.

Conklaree is a geometric lace scarf perfect for spring and summer. You can easily dress it up or down—it works for everything from Saturday errands to an evening concert. You can wear it many different ways—looped around your neck, or with one end tossed over a shoulder, or draped like a stole.

From the moment I saw this beautiful merino/silk yarn—Elemental Affects Civility Fingering—at WEBS, I knew I had to design something with it. Elemental Affects yarns are U.S. sourced—check out their website to read the stories behind their yarns and learn how they are produced. According to the yarn label, Civility Fingering is 70 percent U.S. merino and 30 percent mulberry silk. It's got the most amazing, crisp stitch definition and—thanks to the silk—a lovely sheen and great drape.

Conklaree is the second pattern in my All You Need Is One ebook collection of five accessories requiring just one skein of yarn (my On the Other Hand mitts were the first). The ebook is just $16 for all five patterns; it's automatically updated in your Ravelry library each time a new pattern is added. Three more patterns will be added to the collection between now and fall 2015.

Conklaree would be a great project to make for the Blue Peninsula Yarn Over KAL. If you cast on soon, I'm sure you could finish it by the end of the KAL on May 17. (Or, at least have fun trying!) By the way, we've just gotten another gorgeous prize, a skein of sock yarn from End of the Row Yarns. This and other prizes will be awarded randomly to finished projects at the end of the KAL. Come join us, get to know fellow Ravelers, and maybe win something!

Many thanks to my sister Jenny Sennott for her expert tech editing. If you haven't yet seen the March/April issue of Handwoven, please check it out, to see Jenny's beautiful Moscow Nights tea towels. (Follow that link and scroll down to the collage of photos; her towels are at upper left.)

And thanks also to the Conklaree model, Janelle Rivers. I met Janelle a couple of years ago, when she took my very first embroidery class at Knack. She's still stitching (most recently, an intricate, bright orange octopus!), while also teaching English as a Second Language and making really wonderful time-lapse videos. You can see them at her YouTube channel.

Last but not least, if you're curious about the gingko leaf necklace Janelle is wearing in the photos, it's by Michael Michaud.

Thanks very much for reading. Hope you have a great weekend!

Thoughts about Swatching and Gauge

A friend of mine is knitting a pair of On the Other Hand mitts for herself. An experienced knitter, she knows the importance of gauge and took the time to knit a swatch and adjust her needle size to get gauge. Her first mitt came out great—but the second one? Too big and too long! 

Pattern: On the Other Hand, by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Skeinny Dipping Merino Single in Brown Butter

How could that happen? Well, although the same knitter knit the same size mitt with the same needles and yarn, that same knitter was on serious cold meds while knitting the second mitt, and apparently she knit at a much looser gauge! This doesn't surprise me. I know that if I am feeling relaxed and at ease while knitting, my gauge tends to loosen up, but if I'm tense and worried it can easily tighten up. 

You might be wondering—does gauge matter for a small item like a fingerless mitt? The answer is: yes! Being off just a half inch on a mitt can make it too big or too small. And I find that mitts tend to stretch out after several wearings, so I would rather they not fit loosely when I first finish them. 

Here's just a little math to demonstrate why gauge matters for a pair of mitts. For On the Other Hand, the gauge on the larger needles (used for the stockinette part of the mitt) is 27 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches/10cm. So, the stitch gauge is 6.75 stitches per inch. After the thumb gusset, the larger size mitt has 48 stitches around the palm. Those 48 stitches divided by 6.75 stitches per inch result in a palm circumference of about 7 inches (7.11, to be exact). If your gauge is looser, say 25 stitches over 4 inches (or 6.25 per inch), those same 48 stitches will result in a palm circumference of 7.68 inches. That might be bigger than you want (and it's certainly bigger than what the pattern states).

What about row gauge? It matters too! Again, a bit of math to demonstrate: The thumb gusset on the larger size is worked over 32 rows. At a row gauge of 10 rows per inch (32 divided by 10), the gusset will measure about 3.25 inches. But if your row gauge is loose—say 9 rows per inch—your gusset will measure 3.55 inches. That still might fit you OK, but it might be rather long. And if your row gauge is too loose throughout the entire mitt, it will be longer than anticipated.

Swatching first—and blocking your swatch as you will block the finished item—is always a good idea. But if you're the sort of knitter who wants to plunge right in when knitting small things like hats or socks or mitts (or maybe you did make a swatch, but then your gauge on the actual project got all loosey-goosey), then maybe the road to good fit and happiness is best found by simply adjusting your outlook. To me, knitting 4-5 inches of a mitt that's 48 stitches around is not much more work than knitting a gauge swatch. So I often cast on with the size needle I know from experience is likely to be best, and then I try on frequently as I go. I am always prepared to rip back/start over/change needles if things go awry.

Basically, I swatch when I feel it's a good idea—and if I don't swatch, I take the attitude that starting small projects over (or even the sleeve of a sweater) isn't much of a setback.

What's your approach to swatching? Do you or don't you? Do you mind ripping back and starting over?

New Pattern: On the Other Hand

I'm excited to share a new mitts pattern today: On the Other Hand is now available in my Ravelry, Etsy, and Craftsy pattern stores.

Pattern: On the Other Hand, by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Skeinny Dipping Merino Single in the Brown Butter colorway

With their knit-purl textures and simple lace, these mitts make the most of the tonal variations in hand-dyed fingering-weight yarns—but they’ll look great in solid and semi-solid colors, too.

As I developed this design, I experimented with different options for the arm, trying out a longer lace section as well as a shorter lace section followed by rings of purl rounds. In the end, I really couldn’t decide which option I liked best! And when I shared them with some friends, an equal number liked one or the other. So I knit one of each and included instructions for both of them in the pattern.

You may knit one of each, as shown in the sample photos, or knit two matching mitts using either option. From the thumb gusset upwards, both options are the same. The pattern provides instructions for two sizes, women's S and M/L.

On the Other Hand is the first pattern in All You Need Is One, a collection of five one-skein designs I'll be releasing every 6-8 weeks in 2015, ending in the fall. All You Need Is One is available only on Ravelry. When you purchase the ebook, it will automatically be updated in your Ravelry library each time a new pattern is added. 

What other kinds of patterns can you expect? It's still a work in progress, but I can share that the second pattern, due out later this spring, will be a lace scarf. I also hope to design a cowl for a gorgeous sportweight alpaca I found at Rhinebeck last fall. What else? Socks are quite likely, and beyond that—it's a surprise!

I knit the mitts with a fingering weight merino from Skeinny Dipping in a colorway aptly named Brown Butter. Of all the photos I took, I think the one below best captures the beauty of the color. A single-ply yarn, it has an appealing halo and is super soft.

Each design in All You Need Is One will be knit with yarns by U.S.-based indie dyers and small yarn producers. Throughout the year, I'll be doing interviews here on the blog with the folks who make the yarns. Look for the first one, with Christine of Skeinny Dipping, later this month.

Thanks and credits go to:

• My sister Betsey, who gave me the beautiful yarn for Christmas, modeled the mitts, and made the beaded crochet necklaces she's wearing in the photos
• My sister Jackie, who thought of the pattern name
• My sister Jenny, who edited the pattern
• My godfather, Uncle Hubert, for giving me the charm bracelet in some of the photos. It belonged to my godmother, Aunt Valda, and is filled with souvenirs of her travels. When I was a little girl, she gave me a charm bracelet of my own and each year at Christmas and on my birthday sent me new charms. I didn't get to see her much when I was growing up, so it means a lot to have this tangible connection to her.

Thank you very much for reading!