new kids collection

out today!!!!

Swans Island published their new kids collection today and me myself and I
had the pleasure to be part of this collection ;)

 Maritime Pullover

Sailor Pullover

hope you enjoy these cuties♥
...will definitely think about adult versions of both designs....still in love with them

way behind....as always

think you all know my lack of professionalism.....always way behind....
nevertheless...here we go
I did a few testknits and released two lovely patterns the last weeks

first the testknits...

I did a testknit for Sylvie (poloetcie at ravelry)...a wonderful...fantastic.... super colourful...gorgeous...and huge shawl!

mine is a tidy bit smaller than the pattern called for....

I followed the pattern until I had 345 sts (in section 4), then skipped the following rows and continued with instructions written for 377 sts (therefore only 20 repeats per half instead of 22 repeats)...no other mods

I used a lot of leftovers and single skeins....for the main colour (the grey) I used lithuanian wool I purchased ages ago ...rustic, but extremely lovey ;))

the next test was for Heleen, one of my all-time-favorite-speedy-testknitters

she designed a top that matches my Dexter cardigan 

I did mine a bit different:

due to this strange yarn I used (Moina by LANG YARNS), that was stretchy like hell and did what it wants to do...my gauge was off

I started with instructions for size XS until I reached the underarms, then I increased some stitches in the first round after Broken Seed Stitch to achieve a casual fit around the bust. On the way down to the bottom ribbing I added 4 increase rounds (no waistshaping for me....hahaha). that's it...and here it is (I love it)

 

...makes me feel like I need a matching grey Dexter in the near future...

now to the business (hahaha)

I published Edie and Reagan  (...you all know this....hahaha, but I never mentioned it here on the blog...)

I am still in love with both of them...maybe you'd like to knit one of your own and join our 'Take your pick KAL' ?

for all of you longing for news about Max (he was in hospital - myocarditis - some weeks ago)...he's doing better every day (yay!!!!), his last blood levels and ECG were fine!

altough I never, ever want to be in this situation again, it helped me to focus on the important things in life...there's nothing more important than our lovelies

isa m.

 

 

 

...another testknit...YAY

had the pleasure to do a testknit for lovely Justyna
...sometimes I am a lucky girl, right?

just loooove how mine turned out...love the colour (used two yarns held together), love the drape (think it's all about the linen...), love the whole jumper!!!

there is a little story behind my threads ....

when Justyna offered me to test her new sweater I only could say: YES!

she sent me the pattern and I (like I usually do when testing) printed the pattern to be able to write my notes into the pattern (not that there was much to write down...her testversions are ususally perfectly written...not like mine....hahaha)

I found a lovely yarn combo (Isager Bomulin and Blackhill Pacalina) and started immediately

...I was right through the Stockinette part of the yoke, and had done the first 2 rounds of the lace pattern, when we left for the birthday party of my sisters boyfriend

...it was a lovely, sunny day with lots of laughter, good food and some relaxing time to knit....I got about 15 cm of the body done...just to realize (I only had 2 pages of the pattern with me at the party...because I was sure that I know how to work the lace pattern)

that I omitted round 3 and round 6 of the lace pattern all the time....

can you believe this????????????????

sh...happens, right?

after some minutes (I needed them to cool down) I ripped back ...and here we are:

a beautiful cool jumper that will be worn to death, promise!!!

photos are taken before blocking, but you can see the gorgeous drape, can you?

pattern. Threads by Justyna Lorkowska 

yarn. Isager Bomulin and Garnudsalgdk Blackhill Pacalina held together

hope you have good days

isa m.

 

 

the Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 3

...today's my day of the Blog Tour...so...here we go!

The Boardwalk Collection has been designed to showcase Islington DK, Kettle Yarn Co.'s thicker weight yarn in the same fibre content as the popular Islington fingering - 55% British Bluefaced Leicester/ 45% silk. A digital issuu ‘look-book’ was created for the heirloom collection with each pattern available digitally from the designers direct by on Ravelry.

...and me and myself were lucky enough to be part of this journey... :)

Arcade – a sumptuous A-line top by Isabell Kraemer 

Bagatelle – a long, sensuous lace cowl by Rachel Brown

Pavilion – an opulently glamorous rectangular wrap by Renée Callahan

Promenade - a exquisite lace cardigan by Maria Magnusson

Jetty – a gently flowing, crescent shawl by Linda Lencovic

Seaward – an elegant lace and cabled hat by Rachel Coopey

When Linda offered me to work with her beautiful yarn I had some difficulties to choose from her wonderful range of bases. But then she told me about Islington DK and I knew I had to try this one....:)

Islington DK is a luxurious blend of 55% British Bluefaced Leicester and 45% silk that is robust (that's what I most love about it....quirky, I know ;)) and versatile while maintaining buttery softness. Each 100g skein measures 212m/232yds.

The collection highlights six shimmering, juicy new shades: Marigold, Padparadscha, Peony, Purple Reign, Verdigris, and Neckinger.

look at these gorgeous colours....makes me wonder why I decided to go with a grey (...not that Old Smoke isn't a stunning colourway as well) 

When I wound the first skein I knew that I had to create a sweater that showcases the elegance of the yarn, and still is casual enough to wear it with jeans

...here it is....Arcade

a jumper that can be dressed up or worn casual with jeans (...or maybe a striped shirt underneath.....hahaha). Worked seamlessly from the top down, Arcade is an easy knit that can be adjusted to your own liking (you know that you can try your garments on from time to time to check the overall fit and length of the yoke, when you work from the top down, don't you?). Just for the fun of it I added diagonal eyelet stripes to both front and back and they turned out soooo lovely...that a tester (Lydia - gypsythedog) added them to her sleeves as well (gorgeous addition....love the creativity of my 'gang')...go check out their stunning testknits here

Want to get your hands on Islington DK this summer??? You can buy the yarn online at kettleyarnco.co.uk or see Kettle Yarn Co. at Fibre East 25-26 July and the Yarn in the City Pop-Up Marketplace in London on 5 September.

tomorrow the Blog Tour stops at Curious Handmade

see ya' there ♥

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 1

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 2 

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 4

 

Kaarina and Ingrid....after a long journey

it's been a while that I made these 2 beauties....
don't ask me what happend during the last months...
but finally the pattern for Ingrid 

and for Kaarina
were released today!!!!

 

maybe we can do a KAL (no fear! not immediatley....., I know...holiday season, hot weather,.....) in the group? I thought about a general sweater KAL in fall (starting beg of september or so)...what do you think? 

hope you all have fun out there

xxx

isa m.

 

Dexter left the house

....it's 'only' 4 weeks that I last wrote here...yay!!!
maybe I can keep going on this way...1 post a month should be doable.... ;)

 

the pattern is published and I am happy to hear (and see...hahaha)  that some of you already started their very own Dexter 

it is a versatile, cute cardigan that can be worn with jeans, or your favorite summer dress

 for the red sample I worked with easyknits.co.uk Arcadia a lovely alpaca base that comes in some really, really beautiful colours 

there are so many other things going on at the same time right now (seams that this is usual behaviour for my life for quiet a while now)

running 5 testknits at a time (2 public - go and have a look through the test threads in the group ...and 3 secret ones)...I should quit my dayjob....

today another long kept secret was published

 

Arcade  was a perfect collaboration between kettleyarnco.co.uk and me...

Linda does such a glorious dyejob... (I am only a knitter...not a dyer...and I am impressed by those lovely colours one can do)

it's not usual that all is going smooth within such collaborations, but this one was pure pleasure for me...I just had to create a new sweater...everything else ( and I bet there was a lot of work behind) was done by Linda...

go and check out her beautiful yarns here...

you won't regret it , I swear ;)

some more designs with her lovely Islington Dk base will show the next days, stay tuned and check out The Boardwalk Collection

love ya' all

Isabell

 

 

it's been a while.....but you all know me ....I am still knitting (hahaha)

I won't try to talk about all the crazy things that happened since my last blog post....this post would be HUUUUUUUGE, and as always time is a rare thingy at the moment

I am doing testknits at the moment...YAY!...testknitting was so rare for me the last months, and I seriously missed it
so.... the first testknit after a long time was this beautiful cardigan (finished this a while ago, but it's worth to be mentioned...!)

 

pattern. Naima by Ankestrick (aka Fallmasche)

yarn. finkhof-merinowolle-dünn a rustic, 'sheepy', low processed wool made in germany

loooved working with it (I used this yarn before for my wanderling and for my own version of phillipa) 

a few days ago I finished a sweater testknit for Justyna....think I have to wait until I am allowed to show it...just a few words about it...it's gorgeous, it's lacy, it's casual, it's blue (hahaha...only mine is blue), and it's soooooo utterly cool - just love it

I used 2 yarns held together and I swear I will use these yarns together again

they gave me such a cool and drapey fabric! 

ok....I used 1 strand Isager Bomulin, held together with Blackhill Pacalina (a thin linen/alpaca blend ...just gorgeous)

oh...just another thing before I have to leave for work.....Dexter will be ready for release very, very soon...so... all of you waiting for Dexter, make sure you keep an eye out for a bloody red (cute) cardigan♥

or for a light pink one???????

 

 hope you all have good days

love
isa m.

 

News and older tales....

just realized that i didn't keep the promise to post right after our "meeting" at Frankfurt airport....shame on me (but i think you know me already quite well and this is no surprise)

we had some incredible hours together....when i saw Jo sitting at the table in this italian coffee shop at the airport it was like a reunion of good old friends...not faint-hearted at all, we saw each other and the minute later we were in each others arms ;)
there was a lot of giggling and laughing, loads of yarn and coffee and way too less time (but we will meet again...sooner than we both hoped for ;))

 

seams that the upcoming season will be filled with neutrals and blue (hahaha...)

in the meantime (while Jo was travelling around the world....Helsinki, St.Petersburg...)I did some knitting (haha...how extraordinary ;)

 

seashore was released 2 weeks ago, after a wonderful test-KAL

with some outstanding ladies who never get tired to help me with testing my patterns

you can see all the incredible "seashores" they made during the test here in the test thread

finished a quick in-between-testknit for Justyna (Lete)

to practice my still not-good-at-all stranding skills....

because i signed in for 2 colorwork designs for Swans Island...

 

pattern. zig-zag-wings by justyna-lorkowska 

yarn. lang-yarns touring 

col.natural/beige and dark blue

aaaaand my first (yes there will be a second one...) pattern for Yarn Stories is live!

I did the sample in early august and need to confess that i didn't like the colour they picked for my design, but......it looks so freaking cool on this beautiful model!!!!

 photo: yarnstories

photo: yarnstories

this is such a lovely batwing-sleeve jumper.....need to knit one for me too!!!!! maybe in orange? or yellow? or toffee?

they carry some beautiful colours! go and check them out here 

for today i need to leave...need to do up a parcel (sample of the first colorwork design for Swans Island)

 

looks pretty good, right? 

take care out there

love,

isa m. 

Gretchen

our dearly beloved "Bittersweet" was released this week!!!!!
finally!!!!!!!!! 

 

get your copy of the pattern here 

 

a simple but flattering top down raglan sweater with some cute eyelet increases down to the rounded hem... you might want to check out the glorious FOs of my dear testknitters here in the test thread

 

this one was the very first sweater i did in cooperation with Swans Island. I was overwhelmed by these wonderful colorways and impressed by the softness of their yarns (feels like knitting butter!) when i got some samples of their yarns early this year and it happened that the ideas came off my mind in no time

(2 kids sweaters will be published soon and currently we work on a colorwork collection....)

want to see a little sneak peek?????

 

this new yarn (all american fingering - Swans Island Yarns) feels like a little teddy bear and covers beautifully my lacking stranding skills (hahaha)

stay tuned, I will need some testers for this one aaand for another soon ;)

but now to some exciting news...i fear that they are not as exciting for you as they are for me...cannot think of other things the last days and today my heart goes out to....Joji

I will meet my dear Jo tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after years and years knowing each other, we finally have the chance to meet in person, for me that means to get out of bed tomorrow very, very early in the moring...to take the train (I rarely take trains, so this is an excitement itself...hope i do not get lost...) to Frankfurt and spend the morning with Jo until she has to leave for Helsinki, isn't that cool?

Cathrin of WalkCollection (cwc on ravelry) and Melanie (mairlynd on ravelry) will join us too - bet we'll have a wonderful day together

i swear, i will come back soon to tell you more about a dream that will come true ;)

love,

isa m.

 

 

SEASMOKE...and a giveaway

...some of you might remember this

 

we did the test for this amazingly cute open-front cardigan within the hottest days of summer and today i finally have some exciting news for you:

Seasmoke will be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is released ;)
pattern page: audrey-cardigan

to celebrate the release of the first design i did for and with swans island yarns the company is generously offering a sweater quantity of their yarn for a seasmoke-release-giveaway

everyone who buys the pattern will be entered and the winner will be picked after 7 days

so be prepared for tomorrow ladies ;)

love,

isa m.

....and the last part (testknits)

ok, ok....again it took more time than I thought to get back to this little blog (shame on me....)

here is the last part of the testknits i did

 

pattern. xanti by Hanna Maciejewska

yarn. unknown fingeringing weight from cone (merino blend)

did mine with cap sleeves and an A-Shape rather than waist shaping, also omitted the contrast colors for the hems

 

 

pattern. forever-more by Justyna Lorkowska

yarn. wollerey-schura-silk held together with holst-garn-titicaca

no major mods, i only added 1 short row section to each half of the shawl due to a slightly tighter gauge.

  

pattern. cathedrale by polo sylvie

yarn. ice-yarns-pure-alpaca 

i'm still in doubt that i can wear this bright colour....

 

 

pattern. zippety by Hanna Maciejewska

yarn. midara-angora-2 in light grey + holst-garn-coast---uld-bomuld in col. marlin (which resulted in an adorable, stunningly perfect greyish blue!!!!)

some mods to make this more "me"

shorter body

shorter zipper at the side "seam" (no front zipper)

no front pattern - plain St st for mine ;)

broken rib pattern at the sides from underarm to bottom 

...

still so much work to finish (deadlines over deadlines...)

but we currently do a testknit for this one in the group

 

and i need to say, this is so much fun (no pressure, no obligations, pure designers heaven - relaxing and fun)

after all the designs i did for companies, mags, books (the most of them secret ones with release dates later this year or in the beg of the next year)....testing the ones for self-publishing makes me feel like "coming home"

love,

isa m.

 

Plucktember coming soon

i am happy to offer a 30% discount on all of my self-published patterns from today until august 30!!!
please use code plucktember2014 to get the discount!


maybe ...a hint of summer, westbourne or ravello?

go and grab your favorites ;)

happy plucktember everybody

isa m.

testknits part 2

....the  harder i try to keep the promise to post more regularly the less time i have to do so...

nevertheless,....here is the second part of the (latest) testknits i didn't show here

dessine-moi-un-mouton is a lovely light weight jumper, seamlesss, worked from the top down with raglan increases to shape the yoke.
an easy-peasy textured pattern makes it special and keeps you interested while knitting

 

love the stripes (and the texture) of this one!

but i think i need to redo the bottom and add a little length to this beauty, because i still feel uncomfortable wearing this cropped sweater

pattern. dessine-moi-un-mouton by LaMaisonRililie

yarn. holst-garn-supersoft-100-uld (you'll need 7 different colours) 

the next one is another winner designed by ankestrick (aka fallmasche on ravelry) 

light weight, colourful, extraordinary - just love it!

had a hard time choosing colors....so many possibilities...

 

you can wear this one inside out, or the other way round ...it's beautiful in every way ;) i already have a second one on my needles ;)

pattern. holsten by Ankestrick

yarn. holst-garn-supersoft-100-uld (shown in col. iced, clementine, bleached white)

the next one was a very special testknit i did for my dear Jo

a worsted version of her beloved boxy  

she published the pattern for this one on her birthday...as always i completely forgot to send her a gift for this day...and so i did a little embroidery to the back of my worsted boxy (...guess she loved it ;)

 

 

i did mine without the double garter part on the shoulders, also picked up my stitches for the sleeves and the neckband from the WS to highlight the "seams"....aaaand i did a 2-color version, just for the fun of combining colors ;)

pattern.worsted-boxy by JOJI

yarn. malabrigo-merino-worsted (shown in col. polar morn and ravelry red)

...need to go back to my knitting needles now (have to keep some tight deadlines for some new designs for fall)

hope you all have great days

love,

isa m. 

 

 

 

KC and WalkCollection

...finally the pattern for KC [Kynance Cove] is published!!!!
i had so much fun with the testing ladies (...and it's way easier
to launch a test in my ravelry group, than thought ...;)
Thank you, Ann for pushing this through ;)

please, please check out all these wonderful, fantastic, uber beautiful, amazing,.....projects 
i cannot say how much i loooove every single one of them!!!!



Cathrin from WalkCollection will have a shop update today 9 pm,
with adorable yarn kits (with pattern) for pre-order

the yarn kits are up, go and grab your yarn here in the shop

maybe you'd like to have a very first look ????

...aaaaand there will be a KAL (what???? a KAL!)in the group
starting 04/01, ending 05/31 and as this is the first KAL i host, everyone (YES! everyone) who finishes by the date will win a free
pattern (all of my patterns are eligible)

so come on ladies (and gents, of course ;)
join the fun here in the group 


have a great day

isa m.