The Harvest of Zen Swap: The End

Here are the packages from the last part of the latest swap from the yoga swap group.

Again I sent knitsandbricks a package and received one from Heatherdox.

Heres what I sent knitsandbricks:

Project bag (aka Paperchase cosmetics bag), Toe socks, the fall issue of Interweave Knits, Burnished Leaves Cowl, Berroco Alpaca yarn, bent tip needles, yarn cutter, notecards with the design from my August calendar, and stitch markers.

Here's a close up of the stitch markers. They were made out of these really pretty agate beads that I got at M&J Trimmings

Since this was the 'Harvest' swap I thought that the Burnished Leaves Cowl was appropriate. Details on the cowl to come.

This is the second package I got from heatherdox:

Lulemon bag, aluminum water bottle, issue of Knit Scene, green tea, Brooks Farms Solo Silk Yarn, and homemade pumpkin bread. The pumpkin bread was really delicious and made from organic ingredients.

And I loved the yarn so much I used it right away to make a Shetland Triangle for myself.

December Holly

Ok here is the revised December calendar.

Created with Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Uhh, it turned out pretty different. I have been trying to alternate between illustrated flowers and more graphic representations, so this month would have been an illustrated version. I just couldn't get the holly to look right. So I abandoned it and went for the graphic version. It is a pattern of white holly leaf shapes that criss-cross forming round red shapes aka holly berries.

Click here to download the half page size .
Or click here to download the quarter page size .

The previous version is still available.

December ?

This months calendar didn't turn out as planned. Here it is:

Created with Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Kind of snowflakey, but I want to add the flower/plant for the month to it. I just wasn't happy with how the first round of holly was turning out. I won't have time to fix it until this weekend and I didn't want to completely ignore it. So consider this a temporary solution until I have time to revamp it. Thanks!

Click here to download the half page size .
Or click here to download the quarter page size .

Check back Sunday for the new and improved version.

Harvest Shetland Triangle

Happy Thanksgiving!
I thought I'd share my new Shetland Triangle, because it is such a lovely fall color.

The Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark
The Yarn: 1 skein of Brooks Farms Solo Silk in Sierra
Needle size: 6

Started: 11/6
Finished: 11/14

I had to make another Shetland Triangle since I could keep the first one. The pattern is so easy and quick. And it looks great. I did 10 repeats of body chart and was left with less than a fistful of yarn.

I really like the solo silk. It is shiny and soft. It was a gift from my swap partner (more info to come). The color is a wonderful orange with hints of pink. Perfect Thanksgiving day wear. Thanks Heatherdox!

Rani Satchel

The Pattern: Rani by Katherine Matthews
The Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Berry Blast (this is my kool-aid dyed yarn)approx. 1/4 of a skein
Needle size: 0

Started: 9/11
Finished: 9/27

Pattern & images © 2009 Katherine Matthews of Purl Diving. Contact Katherine

When I saw this pattern on the Knitty website I fell in love with the pictures. The colors and bead work are really beautiful. I'm not really a wristband wear'in girl, but I just had to knit this pattern.

So I decided to turn this into a bag. Red makes me think of fall leaves and I had extra yarn and beads from the entomology I'm working on. So I thought this would be a perfect peice to make for my fall swap partner.

I knit the pattern exactly as directed, using a crocheted provisional cast on. Once I'd joined both edges I had one wristband.

I chose one of the openings to be the bottom. Then using 4 dpns I picked up a stitch in every other row. I think it was 56 stitches in all, 14 per dpn. Knit one row. On the next row knit 12 sts then k2tog, you should have 13sts on each dpn now. Repeat these two rows about 7 more times (16 rows in all). Break the yarn and thread through the remaining sts, pulling the opening closed. Weave in ends.

The finishing touch is a ribbon threaded through the top part of the bag. The finished size was big enough to hold a candle that was 2 3/4" in diameter.

Overall I'm pleased. If I make this pattern again I'm going to use a contrasting bead color like in the designer's pictures.