I am so excited about my newest pattern, the Ballerina Shawl knit up in 455 yards of Knitted Wit’s Featherweight yarn! The incredible photography was made possible by Patrick Hough with sincere thanks to Theresa Knudson, Principal Dancer, Holly Gold, Event Producer, and Lois Ellyn, Artistic Director, Nouveau Chamber Ballet, Fullerton, CA.

The Ballerina pattern will be available for sale first during my talk at K2tog in Albany, Ca on Wednesday evening and throughout the weekend during the Stitches West Marketplace. Digital copies will go on sale next week.

I’ll be out of the office starting today through next Tuesday. If you have a pattern question please visit my group on ravelry or my facebook page. I’ll be tweeting about the event all weekend, you may follow me on twitter here.

Ballerina Shawl Details

Needles
Size US 8/5 mm Knitting Needles, or size needed to get gauge.

Yarn Two 50 gram balls of Knitted Wit’s Featherweight Yarn [70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon]. 250 yards/229 meters. Total yardage: 455 yards/417 meters.

Gauge
16 stitches and 28 rows over 4 inches in Stockinette Stitch.

Finished Pattern Measurements
59 inches wide by 28.5 inches long after blocking.

I love working with these two dyers so much that I’ll let the knitting pattern photography speak for itself. If you’d like to purchase a Fickle Knitter Pattern or a kit including these beautiful yarns please stop by Booth #1001.

Knitting Patterns using Zen Yarn Garden Yarn

Golden Leaf Shawl

Fleurdelise

Fluid Velocity

Limestone Shawl

Monica One Skein Shawl

Knitting Patterns using Teresa Ruch Yarn

Gnomes Scarf

Orange Marmalade Wrap

Flyleaf Shawl

Bird of Juno

Photosynthesis Wristlet

Easy Bamboo Lace Scarf

Let me tell you about Mira. I met her in my booth at Vogue Knitting Live LA. She came in wearing a gorgeous green shawl and introduced herself as a local fiber artist. Mira is the dyer and genius behind Baah Yarns. Her yarns are as vibrant as her personality, the colors are fresh and so beautifully saturated that you can’t just have one skein. Mira’s eye for color comes from her experience as a painter and it shines through in each and every skein that comes out of her dye pots. I’d known Mira for all of 5 seconds when she told me the name of her green yarn and I knew we would be fast friends. She dyed and named a color way ‘Tequila Lime’ and as someone who enjoys sipping tequila that was all I needed to know.

Baah Yarns will be available exclusively in my booth at the Stitches West Marketplace this weekend. I have a limited number of skeins for sale and when they’re gone, they’re gone! Mira does her magic on a very squishable 100% merino fingering weight blend that will go fantastically with Fickle Knitter Design patterns. If you’re looking for ideas on pairing yarn with patterns I especially love her yarn knit up using the designs from my first book.

I’m hard at work coming up with new patterns and this is my first effort in Mira’s yarn. The design has just come back from my tech editor and will be available for sale shortly after I return from Stitches West. It knits up very quickly in one skein of Baah Yarns. You won’t be sorry you picked this one.

I’ll be posting more info soon, but stay tuned for information on a trunk show and talk I’ll be giving in conjunction with Mira next month in San Diego!

If you can’t make it to the Show, here is a list of where you can buy Baah Yarns.

Fickle Knitter Booth now with more Bacon! I’ll be selling Holiday Yarn’s Bacon exclusively in Booth #1001 at the Stitches West Marketplace from February 23-26th. I have limited quantities so when they sell out, that’s it! Holiday Yarns has sent me a special shipment of Bacon yarn for the Show that is 100% vegan and 0 Calories.

Holiday Yarns is impeccably dyed. Jennifer’s yarns are subtly variegated that can really only be fully appreciated in person. The colors range from airy and ethereal like Artemis to deep and saturated like Andromeda’s Big Sister. Holiday Yarns don’t pool in my experience and the fiber bases are exquisitely smooshy and are fun to knit.

Having cocktails with Jennifer is an exercise I would recommend to those in the fiber industry. Jennifer is hardworking, dedicated, and talented which is obvious after spending more than about a minute in her presence. She loves fiber, dyeing and producing a high quality product.

I’m so lucky to be collaborating with Holiday Yarns for Stitches West and absolutely the ONLY place in the marketplace for Holiday Yarns is in my booth, #1001 on the front row beside Bijou Basin and across from Village Spinning and Weaving.

PS Jennifer’s Klingon is much more refined than mine.

Sneak Peak of Holiday Yarn Exclusives at Stitches West

Sock Yarn!

More Yarn!

Bacon Yarn!

Holiday Yarn and Fickle Knitter Pattern Kits for sale at Stitches West
Limestone
Artemis
Flyleaf
Jade

More Fickle Knitter Design patterns using Holiday Yarns

Romulan Cloaking Cloak

Aretmis Shawl

The Dana Shawl

I’ll continue to post about the yarn kits available in my booth as we get closer and closer to the Stitches West Marketplace. I’m really delighted to be working with these talented dyers to bring you these special kits. If you aren’t able to make it to the show or don’t catch the yarn you want before it sells out please visit the websites of the dyers and snag a skein or two for yourself! Tell them I sent you.

From a logical standpoint if there weren’t any yarn, there wouldn’t be any knitting patterns. And if there weren’t any yarns, there wouldn’t be any yarn shops. And without yarn and shops there wouldn’t be any Fickle Knitter Design. In the past I’ve professed my love for small, women-owned businesses that are hard at work right here in the Americas but there’s always time for more appreciation.

All of our knitting related small businesses create a larger ecosystem that exists for knitters. If you imagine a pyramid on the bottom is yarn, then yarn shops, and at the top is Fickle Knitter patterns. So when you buy yarn from dyers and patterns and yarn from shops you’re helping keep me in business and creating a healthy environment for knitters to thrive and grow, and have more yarns and more patterns and more shops which will beget more knitters! With that in mind please visit the following booths at Stitches West, because without these businesses I wouldn’t be here typing at you on the internets today.

To my Dyers, Shop owners, other small businesses, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing me with yarn, a place to sell my patterns, and people to buy my patterns. Having so much yarn in my studio that my Mother In Law exclaims “My God this looks like a yarn shop!” is just an extra bonus.

Leaf Relief Cowl from my Book in Aran Corrie
Alpenglow Yarn Booth #931
Carrie is the engineer turned small business extraordinaire behind Alpenglow yarns. She sources everything she can from the US, dyes using natural dyes and has the softest damn merino fiber I’ve ever felt in my life. Her yarns even have a shear date on them. I never knew you could find a naturally dyed chartreuse yarn until I met Carrie. She even grows some dye material in her back yard.

Ballerina Shawl pattern, debuting at K2tog in Albany, California on Feb 22nd.
Knitted Wit and Sincere Sheep Booths #1041 and #1042
Two small women-owned yarn dyeing businesses with an emphasis on locally sourced fiber and amazing colors respectively, both located in the North West. I like Lorajean and Brooke so much that I’m collaborating with them on their Among Friends club. There’s number of spots available and you can check it out here and here.

Flyleaf Shawl in 100% Fingering Weight Tencel
Teresa Ruch Designs Booth #746
Teresa Ruch Designs is a small business focused on lovely hand dyed weaving yarns that knit up beautifully. Teresa is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and inspires me regularly with her phenomenally saturated yarns. A good one to start with is her 100% tencel. She is also a cat whisperer who lives on the edge by cohabitating with cats AND yarn.

Lemon Market Bag in Elation
Foxy Knits Booths #418, 420
Merilyn is the brains, brawn and small business owning Koigu Lover behind Foxy Knits, located online (but fortunately for me) in Orange County, California. She regularly stops by my studio to pick up her orders and brings me lovely things like Helen Hamann Yarn, locally grown Kumquats and Meyer Lemons. I send her home with knitting patterns, guavas and my home made jam.

Fluid Velocity Shawl in Serenity Lace II
Zen Yarn Garden Booths #1235, 1237
Roxanne is another woman small business owner, from Ontario, Canada. She uses extremely high quality fibers and her colors are simply divine and inspired. Bonus points for joining in when I use bad language and being very funny overall. She also likes Girl Scout cookies and will probably give you a Zen Yarn Garden button if you ask nicely and bring cookies. Please ask her if you can pay her in Canadian Tire money and tell her I sent you.

Claudia’s wearing my Reindeer Hat Pattern (This hat is a sneak peek as to what’s in Book 2)
Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Booth #714a
Claudia’s small woman-owned business is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a mere 30 minutes from where I grew up and spent my formative years. At TNNA when I took her some samples in her yarn for her booth she insisted on wearing them for 3 days straight. Claudia is the best and if you haven’t knit with her fingering weight yarn then I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you. (Only kidding. Sort of. I mean really now).

Perennial Top Down Silk Beret from Book 1
Blue Moon Fiber Arts Booths #522, 621
I’m pretty sure everyone knows of Tina’s amazing yarns (I want to marry that yarn twist, and I think you know what I mean) and she supports an ecosystem all of her own with her very popular Rockin’ Sock Club. I’m a long tail fan. I’m in my second year as a club member and hoping for a second retreat in Washington state this year. Tina is yet another small business owner, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. She’s also half of Knot Hysteria LLC which produces Sock Summit and knitting retreats in Port Ludlow. If you participate in her retreat she will let you dye yarn while listening to great music and that’s the truth.

Laura’s Sterling Silver WTF Stitch Markers
Knitifacts Booth #310
Laura, the small business owner behind Knitifacts is a very talented stitch marker maker, tequilawine drinker, and fiber aficionado. I’m here to tell you that I wouldn’t be knitting today if it weren’t for her WTF stitch markers. When I’m in a knitting slump I look at my WTF marker and I say “WTF” and get my ass back to knitting. She also makes really lovely bumpers and ringlets, and creates high end markers out of sterling silver and swarkovski crystals and will dye her pony tail green if the mood strikes her.

K2tog in Albany, Ca
K2tog isn’t vending at the show but if you find yourself near Berkeley on the night of February 22nd please stop by. They have hired me to give a talk about being a small business owner and a designer and if you come I promise not ask you what the hell is wrong with you (too much) and I’ll share more stories about my Mother in Law and my yarn (unless you are my mother in law in which case, Love you! Just kidding!). I’ve already purchased two pairs of shoes for my talk and the turnout is larger than they initially expected and has been moved to the venue next door. If that doesn’t stop a knitter in their tracks, I don’t know what will. Two pairs of shoes! No bad words! Talking about knitting design and no costume changes! One night only, folks.

Each shop I’ve listed here is owned by fearless women, who make what they love and it shows in their products. I hope you’ll check them out and let them know I sent you. More Stitches West yarn pron and insider info coming throughout the week, stay tuned!

The Stitches West Marketplace in Santa Clara, California runs from February 24th-26th and is open to the public from 10-6 on Friday and Saturday and from 10-4 on Sunday. Please come by Booth #1001 to visit me during business hours and say hi! I’ll have my knitting patterns, yarn and pattern kits, hand spun art yarn, and my very first book for sale all in one place.

Yarn Kittehs
In the days leading up to the show I’ll be doing a little sneak peek of what I’ll have in the booth. Much of what I’m bringing to the show is exclusive to me, meaning no one else at the show will have it. Today’s preview is the Tilli Tomas SOCK I’ll have in the booth. I got an advance look at the brand new colors at TNNA in January and snatched them up as quickly as I could because I know you will love the colors too. This is a great workhorse yarn for lace and is a dream to knit.

Wild Lettuce
It’s hard for me to pick which pattern I’ve written in Tilli Tomas is my favorite. The yarn is a great muse and the color palette inspires me every time. I think you’ll enjoy knitting with this yarn as much as I do.

Tilli Tomas SOCK is put up in 440 yard skeins and is made from Australian Merino and reinforced with a little nylon. It is ridiculously soft and the colors are vibrant. Below are a few of my designs knit up in the yarn. The patterns and yarn will be available in my booth during Stitches West but I have limited quantities so when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Nebulous One Skein Shawl

Flambe One Skein Shawl

Wave or Particle Shawl
Wave or Particle Shawl, from my first book.

Wild Lettuce One Skein Shawl

Thanks for looking and I’ll see you at the show!

At K2tog in Albany people like to knit lace.

And creat a Wall of knit Fish Hats for charity.

They like to knit pretty yarn.

And they are excited about the upcoming K2TOG Special Event, a Fickle Knitter Design Trunk Show and Talk on February 22, 2012 in Albany, California. I’ll be giving a talk about being a small business owner and a little about working in the design end of the knitting industry. You can check out my samples in person and I’ll be debuting a new design that night!

Lorajean of Knitted Wit will also be in attendance. She’ll have her yarns and speak about being a small business owner.

Want to know more?
Kimberly wrote a lovely post introducing me here.

And read more about Lorajean of Knitted Wit here.

Sting Ray Shawl

Ensemble Bonnet

Two Color Cowl

This is a sneak preview of my new Three Pattern Collection coming out this Spring. The collection features a triangle shawl with scarf like arms, a two color cowl, and a bonnet style hat for those cold days. Special thanks to Splityarn, aka Caro Sheridan for her phenomenal photography. More on this collection coming soon!

Check back tomorrow for details on the Trunk Show and Talk I’ll be giving at K2tog in Albany, Ca on February 22nd. In the meanwhile I must get back to the Stitches West booth preparations and eating chocolate chips like it’s my job.

Happy Wednesday, Everybody!

This errata applies to copies of the book purchased between September 2011 and February 2012.

The Tulipan Shawl on page 31, Chart A has a small error. The written instructions are correct.

Rows 33, 35, and 37 contain a k2tog in the last stitch, second to last stitch, and third to last stitch respectively that don’t belong.

This snippet shows the corrected version of the chart, which does not have those last k2togs for for Rows 33, 35, and 37.

The written instructions for Tulipan Chart A are correct.

Last year I designed the Easy Cable Cowl knit with two skeins of Ultrabulky is included in the latest book by Iris Schreier, One + One Scarves, Shawls, and Shrugs.

It’s funny how long it can take between the actual conception of an idea and the publication of the pattern! It’s a fun little knit and I hope you’ll enjoy it as well.

Clara Parkes wrote up a nice review of the book in this week’s Knitter’s Review. You can check it out here!