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It is my pleasure to introduce Kara Gott Warner, designer of igottknits.

Girl From Ipanema Pullover

Kara began her design career in the early 1990’s in New York’s Garment Center. Her specialty, designing cut and sew accessories, product costing and technical illustration.

Kara first learned how to knit as a child, but not until 1995 did she rediscover knitting as her passion. She found it to be a great “escape” from the hectic lifestyle of working in the fast paced city.

Kara discovered knitwear design as an exciting new way to create and express her ideas. In 1997, she started designing knitted and crocheted accessories, selling on the craft and artisan show circuit, then branching off to knitting patterns and kits.

Kara’s designs have been published in popular knitting magazines such as: Family Circle Easy Knitting and Interweave Knits.  Kara is also an illustrator serving fellow designers, book publishers and authors. Clients include: Prism Yarn,  Hollan Publishing, F&W Publications, Lark Books and Potter Craft. Currently, Kara is  teaming up with DRG Publications as editor of two upcoming knitting books to be released in January and May 2009. 

Kara is a graduate at Parsons School of Design in New York City, and holds a BFA in Illustration. She lives and designs in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

Garden Party

Kara especially enjoys designing knitwear for children.  Her sweet dresses are accessorized with kerchiefs & headbands and her whimsical hats will delight while keeping your little one warm. 

Jughead

But she also knows what will please big girls too, Girl From Ipanema is a sexy fitted pullover and La Boheme and Lots Of Love are both fashionable totes. 

Lots Of Love Tote

All igottknits’ patterns are sold as PDF downloads that will be emailed to you after purchase and zero shipping charges. 

On Saturday, June 21st my DH & I enjoyed a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.  Isabella (1840-1924) was a wealthy woman who used an inheritance from her father to collect ancient Roman, Medieval European, Renaissance Italian, Asian, Islamic and 19th century French and American art and this build this museum on the Fens to house it.  The pieces are crammed into the rooms on three floors, and I mean crammed in a nice way, its a hodgepodge of placement, one of the stipulations of her trust is the art has to remain the way Isabella arranged it. 

Her crowning piece is this one, Titan’s Europa which depicts the god Zeus abducting the European princess Europa and fleeing with her to the isle of Crete. 

Though we thought the best part was the museum was built around an Italian style, manicured courtyard you can view from all 3 floors.  The museum reminded me of the Frick in New York, except she designed the building to be a museum and had living quarters on the top floor.   

On Sunday my DH, Toffee and I took the 7 mile ferry ride from Woods Hole to the tiny island Martha’s Vineyard. 

We landed in Vineyard Haven and rented one of those Smart Cars to explore this 100 square mile island.  The car was awesome, ours was a convertible and it looked small and funny from the outside but inside it was very roomy and comfortable.  We got a lot of great stares and it was extremely easy to park.  We did the entire island, driving over 60 miles, on only 1.2 gallons of gas.

This is also where we had a great lunch right on Main Street and I was surprised that the food was so good, usually at these sorts of touristy places the food is awful no matter how much you pay, we liked it so much we had dinner there too.  I can’t remember the name, but I recommend the crab cakes.  

Our first stop, Gay Head Cliffs at the western most tip in Aquinnah by the historic Gay Head Lighthouse. 

 
You can barely see the lighthouse, but the cliffs were pretty cool!

I’m not sure where the name Gay Head is from, perhaps something to do with the Wampanoag Indian tribe that is from there.  If someone out there in Blog Land knows the origin please tell us!     

Next we drove along the coast to Edgartown, which is located in the southeastern corner of the island and home to the famous Chappaquiddick Bridge.  Seems like you can’t get away from the Kennedys no matter where you go in this state!  Anyway we liked Edgartown, browsed in a little shop that sold trinkets from Pakistan and ate some delicious ice-cream.

Our last stop was Oak Bluffs where the fabled Victorian Gingerbread Cottages are located.  These are the original summer cottages built by the people who gathered for the Camp Meeting Association at Oak Bluffs’ Tabernacle in the late 1800s.  They now sell for anywhere from a cool mill to $400,000, or you can rent one.  Perhaps if my name was Carly Simon I would buy!

This was our favorite with the Wizard of Oz motif.

Lily Go I made this dress for her darling daughter Laurie, thus the Laurie Dress.  It’s an easy knit project with some crochet finishes.  To make it special, Lily added slightly ruffled sleeves and skirt hem plus two pockets so your sweet little one can carry her favorite sweets. It’s a perfect dress for a play date.

Pattern includes a tutorial to make the crocheted picot bind off, to attach the pocket, and to make button loops using a tapestry needle.  The pattern also includes instruction for knitting the dress in a sport or DK weight yarn.

Sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years
Finished measurement: Chest: 58, 63.5, 68.5, 72 and 76 cm or 22.8, 25, 27, 28.5, 30 inches

Needle: 4 US (3.50mm) 80 cm long circular needle for Sport weight and 5 US (3.75mm) 80 cm long circular needle for DK.
Crochet Hook (optional): 2 mm for sport and 3 mm for DK weight
Yarn: Sport or DK Weight
Yarn requirement: Sport Weight: 2 years: 725 meter, 4 years: 770 meter, 6 years: 850 meter, 8 years: 910 meter, 10 years: 975 meter. DK Weight: 2 years: 500 meter, 4 years: 540 meter, 6 years: 600 meter, 8 years: 640 meter, 10 years: 680 meter.
Notion: Tapestry needle, buttons (2 pcs), marker, scrap yarn, ribbon.
Gauge: Sport: 25 sts and 30 rows = 4” (10 cm) in Stockinette Stitch (St st) using 4 US (3.5mm) needle or adjust the needle size to get gauge and DK: 20 sts and 28 rows = 4” (10 cm) in Stockinette Stitch (St st) using 5 US (3.75mm) needle or adjust the needle size to get gauge.
Difficulty: Easy

PDF will be emailed to you after purchase, no shipping charges.

My days here in Boston may be numbered, so I better get at least one blog in about our adventures.  My DH finally took the big test he had been studying for morning, noon and night and we’ve been able to get out and about and enjoy ourselves.  I’ll start with my most recent and work back…

You may have heard the Boston Celtics won some sort of award…The city shut down today and turned into a sea of green as the team paraded through the streets from the Boston Garden down through Copley and beyond in the legendary Duck Boats, more on these boats later!  No flipped taxis though, these people don’t really know how to party, go Bulls!

FYI This maroon boat is Beantown Betty, the oldest one in the fleet and the one we got to ride.

Yesterday we drove the 4 hours and spent the day in New York City.  Well I spent the day in the city, my DH had work to do while there.  But I was more than okay with this, I love New York, if I knew how to make a heart on the keyboard I would.  Upon our arrival we enjoyed pizza at a local Italian restaurant on the east side and I immediately set out for my favorite store, ABC.  They were having quite a few sales except on what I wanted.  But one of the clerks told me about John Derian’s store, he has not one but two shops a couple of doors down from one another on 2nd St near 2nd Ave in the Village.  So I hiked the 17 some blocks and was in heaven, I love his decoupage plates and of course his shop had the biggest selection I’ve ever seen. 

After these events it was time to meet hubby, have a quick bite to eat and a slow drive home.  Due to traffic it took us over 2 hours to go less than 50 miles.  But being a Texan at heart I made up for lost time once traffic picked up. 

Now lets go back even farther in time to Sunday June 15th, it was rainy, so we took in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  What an awesome museum, even DH enjoyed it which is rare for him to even want to go in a museum unless its science related, he’s much more of a current events guy.  I’d put it right up there with the Chicago Art Institute for the variety and quality of their collection.  And I have to say that I’m also impressed with Boston’s Mass Transit.  The train station was right across the street from the museum it couldn’t have been any easier, except for the rain.  Any way we got to see the El Greco Velazquez exhibit, which had a lot of religious work, not really my taste, but amazing when you consider its all hundreds of years old.  What really strikes me about these ancient paintings are the landscapes or backgrounds, no built up metropolises or billboards crowding the landscapes, just trees, farms, wilderness and such, refreshing.

On Saturday June 14th we boarded the subway and went out to the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.  Again, the subway made reducing our carbon footprints seamless, it exited us right to a bus that took us to the front of the library.  The library sits on the Boston Harbor with Kennedy’s sailboat viewed through the Pavilion, I think he would have liked this.  We did the tour backward, we ate first and went through the door by the Pavilion, I should have realized they would want you to exit through the cafeteria and gift shop, but it was well done none the less.  It began with his campaign leading to his assassination, I got to watch a sweating Nixon during the televised debates.  It highlighted the major points of his short presidency and how he touched so many people’s lives publicly and privately.  Near the end they had a very young looking Clinton talking about meeting Kennedy as a teen, great photo!  It was my first ever visit to a presidential museum and I highly recommend it.

Our way home though was not so smooth.  We had a very long delay at our 4th stop and learned that there was a fire at one of the red line stops!  Undaunted we jumped off the subway and hopped in a cab which rushed us to our favorite movie theater so we could see The Happening, my recommendation: avoid this movie, it was not happening at all!

Now lets go way back to Sunday June 8th.  It was my DH first real day of freedom since he took his test on the 7th.  Everyday from where we live we watch the Duck Boats, that reside at the Science Museum, parade up and down the street and if we’re lucky the driver has the group quack at us while we’re walking our little dog.  So we boarded one early Sunday morning in the intense heat and saw the sites.  What’s cool about these aquatic boats is they’re amphibious so we took to the Charles River like a duck to water, sorry I couldn’t resist!  

Here’s of what we saw….

The Garden

Boston Public Library-the day I tried to visit it was closed! 

The “Salt & Pepper Bridge”

The Swan Paddle Boats Boston Commons/Public Gardens

This pic was taken a bit later but we saw it on the tour, its part of the Berlin Wall and this is our Toffee. 

But what about the knitting you ask?  I’m sad to report I’ve not knit a stitch since I’ve been here.  But I have visited two awesome shops down on Newbury Street, DH works near Copley so I meet him down on Newbury often.  Next time you’re in Boston visit Newbury Yarns and Needlepoint and Knitting Too.

And I leave you with this shot. 

Do you recognize this building?  We see it everyday from the park where we walk our dog.  At first we thought it was affiliated with one of the many colleges or universities we’re surround by or perhaps a professional building.  Or due to the beautiful public park in front with benches and tree lined walks maybe a condo building.  We got our first clue to its real purpose a week or so ago while crossing a busy street and some one leaned out his car window with his wrists together asking if I knew where to go to post bail, “I don’t know I’m not from here,” my standard line.  It was on the Duck Tour we learned what really occurs in this modern looking building, its the Suffolk County Jail!    

If you’re an avid lace knitter or you’ve always wanted to try it you’ll enjoy the work of my next Independent Knitwear, Susan of Knitting As Fast AS I Can.  

Meet Susan: Susan is an ocean-loving Bostonian, transplanted to the landlocked state of Utah. She has a well-documented weakness for sock yarn and chronicles her obsession with knitting and her relentless efforts to spin up her fiber stash on her blog: knittingasfastasican.com.  In addition to her self-published patterns, her designs can be found in publications by Vogue Knitting, Lion Brand, Knotions, Knitty, and Knit Picks.

Susan’s lovely, lacey Elysian Fingerless Gloves were inspired by a single skein of decadent angora yarn! They are worked in the round from the fingers down to the cuffs with a roomy afterthought thumb. Instructions are given for both a long and a short cuff. The wrist is shaped by changing the size of the needle. The simple, mirrored lace pattern is presented in both a chart and written instructions.

A smoke ring or wimple is a tube which can be worn around the neck like a cowl or pulled up over the head and face on those really cold winter mornings. Susan has designed a very special version, the Lily Of The Valley Smoke Ring, it incorporates a scalloped edging which frames your face when it’s worn pulled up and a flared bottom border which allows the smoke ring to sit on your shoulders for additional warmth under a coat. Modeled in only two ounces of JaggerSpun Zephyr and knit entirely in the round on a 16 or 24″ circular needle.  Suitable for an adventurous beginner or intermediate knitter. Both written and charted instructions are included in the pattern. 

Both of these patterns are PDF downloads, not waiting for snail mail or shipping charges.

Jacquelyn Landry’s Blithe is an easy summer pattern that does double duty with a size range that includes infants up to girls’ size 10. This sweet sundress can be worn long or short for little darlings and becomes a Boho chic top for older girls. I-cord shoulder straps keep things breezy while cloverleaf eyelet pattern is simple enough for the newest knitter. Worked entirely in the round means no seaming and minimal finishing! Whip this little cutie up in sport weight in the space of a weekend.

NOTIONS: US #4/3.5mm DPNs or 12” circular needle,US #5/ 3.75mm 24-36” circular needle, yarn needle, 4 safety pins, stitch markers
GAUGE: 24 sts/24 rows = 4” in Stst

Blithe is sold as a PDF pattern and will be emailed to you after purchase and no shipping fees!

I’m excited to bring you the patterns of Independent Knitwear Designer, Huan-Hua Chye of Feather And Fan Designs.  Huan-Hau specializes in beautiful, intricate accessories in just one or two skeins of Malabrigo Yarns.

Meet Huan-Hua: I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area (mostly Berkeley) and moved in July 2006 to Bloomington, Indiana, where my boyfriend is in business school. I technically learned to knit in 2001, but didn’t get very far at the time–after a few months, I’d produced a few tiny inches of garter stitch acrylic, and gave it up as hopeless.  I took it up again in the spring of 2006 and have been making up for lost time since then, learning to spin in the fall of 2006, and buying my very own spinning wheel in May 2007.

I also like guinea pigs and food and books.  You can find me as orata on Ravelry and other crafty sites.  Orata is the Italian name for a type of golden-silvery fish also known as dorado, daurade, or gilthead seabream.  No particular significance to it–it’s just a nice-sounding word.

Experience Feather and Fan’s designs for yourself.  Her Prickle moebius earned its name because the main stitch pattern is an adaptation of Porcupine Stitch from Barbara Walker’s A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns and because the collective noun for a group of porcupines is a prickle!  Huan-Hua found this fact so charming that she changed the name of the design to reflect the spiraling rounds of spiky little lace porcupines, which is a little silly, considering the yarn used to knit Prickle is Malabrigo Merino Worsted.

And her Water Is Wide scarf pattern has three different flowing scarf designs all based on its namesake, the American/English folk song The Water Is Wide.  One version is knit in Malabrigo Merino Worsted and another in Malabrigo Silky Merino.

All Feather and Fan patterns are emailed to you after purchase as PDFs, zero shipping fees.

Knitting for babies gives you instant gratification.  First there’s the “cuteness” factor, the adorable designs in tiny sizes, knit in pleasing colors.  And of course since babies are so small you’re likely to finish the project faster than usual.  And if you’re doing the project to give to the mom-to-be there are always “compliments,” guests at baby showers love hand crafted gifts, especially one that has potential to become a family heirloom.  And best of all babies never complain about what you dress them in. 

When Erika Flory of Kidknits.biz asked me to review her new book, Head to Toe Knits 23 Designs to Knit for Baby I was delighted to oblige!  I’ve worked with Erika carrying her Hat and Pullover patterns & kits on my site for about a year now and was honored to write about her new venture.

This is her second book and in it this talented baby knitwear designer brings you not only a wealth of baby knitting projects, 23 to be exact, but ideas, tips and sage advice for knitting them. 

The text begins by introducing you to Erika, you learn her history and inspirations as a knitter and designer.  She gives you the much needed yarn information, all the patterns are knit in Peaches & Creme, a soft, worsted weight, cotton yarn gentle on baby’s skin with over a hundred color options, armed with this knowledge yarn substitutions just became easier.  The patterns are written to fit sizes 6, 12 and 18 months with finished chest measurements of 18 (21, 23)”.  And she imparts to you some very practical advice, “Always take a minute or two and read through the pattern before starting,” thus saving you valuable time.

The book features a collection of 23 designs for up-dated classics.  Each pattern begins with a brief introduction offering design inspiration and possible modifications.  From hats to socks Erika has a pattern for everything in between from cardigans, pullovers, a kimono, vests, blankets, a bib, sundress and scarf, every season is covered.  All of the patterns call for worsted-weight yarn so your projects work up quickly, before the baby outgrows them.  Most of the patterns are designed with the beginner/intermediate knitter in mind. 

Two of my favorites are the Feather & Fan Sundress and Kimono Sweater.  The sundress makes a great layering piece, wear it alone in hot weather or add an undershirt and leggings for the fall and you have an adorable jumper.  The wrap up style of kimonos are an easy fit for babies and this design gives a sophisticated color combination and slits on the sides. 

81 pages, soft cover, color photographs, published by LuLu.     

This is Erika’s second book, A Baker’s Dozen: 13 Knitted Baby Hats was her first.  

I have some very exciting news, a new shipment of Malabrigo Yarn has just arrived.  Beautiful solids and bright hand paints await…

Silky Merino Machu Pichu

And I’m introducing their Silky Merino line!  Wrap yourself in the luxury of Silky Merino, this shimmery yarn is crafted from 50% silk and 50% baby merino wool and hand dyed in beautiful subtle variations in color.  This DK weight yarn is just right for spring and summer pullovers, shells, tops, shawls and scarves!

Merino Worsted Citrus

New colorways of Merino Worsted and Lace Baby Merino have arrived as well.  Enjoy these gorgeous yarns.

Lace Baby Merino Saphire Green

As a fiber artist you have the best of everything.  You’re fashionista in love with the latest styles & trends, but you learn the inside secrets of creating a garment from a piece of string. 

You read glossy magazines with dazzling photography showing the latest looks, but your digests aren’t just pictorial layouts that you collect, you get the how-tos, the inside details of the garment construction so you can create it at your leisure.  Each knit & crochet magazine and pattern is an idea you store away and take out later to create, modify or simply inspire.   

Your knitting icons are very real, you read their blogs and speak to them on forums, asking them about their aspirations as designers.

And though you love the hot looks of the season you’re not a slave to them, you take your cues from fibers in all textures & shades and from beautiful patterns.  That subtle sheen of a mercerized cotton is calling to be knit into something special.  And your love of color is driven by the extraordinary handpainted yarns you collect with one of a kind hues that cannot be mass produced.  Your desire to hone your skills and learn new talents is always driving you, cables, lace, you name it, you’ll try it!

And the most important aspect is you’re able to knit or crochet what you want when you want.  Start your fingerless gloves in June and be the first one sporting a new pair when that nip in the air strikes in September.  Knitting a winter scarf in July is ideal since you’ve been wanting to learn the double knitting technique.

Indeed as a fiber artist you do have the best of everything!

In This Issue: Ravelry Projects & Stash Drawing II / The Undulating Waves Scarf Collection From Schaefer / Riverstone Vest / Meander Scarf / Ithaca / Goddess Knits / Burtonesque / Knit ‘N Style / Head to Toe Knits / Yarn Sales / Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair /

Ravelry Projects & Stash Drawing II
Introducing my second Ravelry Projects & Stash Drawing! Three lucky winners will receive a copy of Berroco’s pattern booklet BAGS 2 #257. Entries may be submitted June 1-30, 2008 on my Ravelry Group Sandrasingh.com and winners will be contacted via Ravelry and announced during the first week of July.

The Undulating Waves Scarf Collection From Schaefer
Speaking of knitting icons the Yarn Harlot has been blogging about a very special scarf from the Schaefer Yarn Co, the graceful Undulating Waves.   This delicately beaded scarf will drape exquisitely around your neck.  Designed by the talented Laura Nelkin it’s knit with either one skein of Schaefer’s 100% mercerized pima cotton Susan or Heather, a 55% merino wool superwash, 30% cultivated silk & 15% nylon yarn.  The one in Heather is the one the Harlot is knitting.   

Riverstone Vest
Jane Thornley brings us her earthy Riverstone Vest.   This vest was born of rock and moss, twig and leaf, her inspiration behind this vest is organic and elemental.  Wear it belted or loose.  Knit it long or make a shorter version.  As a free-range knitting pattern, this design just begs to be tried in different ways.

Meander Scarf
The image of melting ice & snow meandering down the mountains, filling rivers and winding to the sea, was Sarah Chilson’s inspiration for the rivulets of cool hues looping across her Meander Double Knit Scarf.  She created a double knit Greek Key stitch pattern that’s rich and organic in appearance, but geometric enough to lend itself to stitches.  Double knitting is an extremely versatile technique that creates a reversible, double-thick fabric, ideal for scarves.

Ithaca
This delightful feminine tee is by Dolce Handknits’, Ithaca has side shaping and slightly puffed short sleeves.  Wear it alone or pair it up with a blouse.

Goddess Knits
Beside her two new sock designs, Blodeuwedd and Elizabeta Renee Leverington brings us a new shawl creation, the sensational Midwinter’s Eve.  This triangular shaped shawl is a fairly easy pattern and knit from the top down.

Burtonesque
Jacquelyn Landry’s fingerless gloves Burtonesque are a sexy design based on dichotomy!  What began as a necessity for Jacquelyn, how to keep her arms & hands warm in her drafty office, evolved into a handcrafted homage to a directorial genius of Tim Burton.

Knit ‘N Style
The June 2008 issue of Knit ‘N Style features 38 sensational projects for summer!  Enjoy knitting tops, tunics, tanks, shells, covers ups & lounge wear, vests, cardigans, shawls, socks and even a tote that you’ll get lots of wear out of and many compliments.  Plus learn all about the upcoming International Sock Wars III competition.      

Head to Toe Knits
This book, by Erika Flory of Kidknits features her collection of 23 designs for up-dated classics to knit for baby.  From hats to socks Erika has a pattern for everything in between, cardigans, pullovers, a kimono, vests, blankets, a bib, sundress and scarf, every season is covered.  All of the patterns call for worsted-weight yarn so your projects work up quickly, before the baby outgrows them.

Yarn Sales
Some excellent Bargains to be had for Summer, up to 40% Off!

Alpaca Yarn Company Suri Elegance	Madelinetosh Sock
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK	Cherry Tree Hill Suerpsock Merino
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid	Cherry Tree Hill Sachet Ribbon
Cherry Tree Hill Baby Sachet	Cherry Tree Hill Suri Lace Alpaca
Cherry Tree Hill Ariel	Cherry Tree Hill North Country Cotton
Cherry Tree Hill Superwash Merino Mini	Cherry Tree Hill Possum Lace
Karabella Boise	Karabella Breeze
Karabella Gossamer	Karabella Vintage Cotton
Karabella Barbados	LANG Yarns Joke
Karabella Softweed	Lorna’s Laces Grace
Lorna’s Laces Angel	Berroco Bonsai
Schaefer Marjaana	Berroco Suede Tri Color

Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair
Over Memorial Day weekend I took a drive north of Boston to Cummington, MA to attend this colorful event.  Please visit my Blog for the details.

Darcy’s Knotty Knitter

Cardiffbayhandknits