oliver’s blanket, october glory shawl, and my annual Rhinebeck sale!

I think it’s a first for this blog: two new knitting pattern releases to share with you in the same post!

First up: Oliver’s Blanket, designed especially for my cherished new nephew.

I am over the moon with how this one turned out.  If I am allowed to play favorites with my designs (perhaps a bit like a parent being asked to name their favorite child hehehe), then this blanket is near the top.  😉

I knew that I wanted to knit a blanket for my nephew and I also knew that I wanted something classic with a twist.  We all know how much I love cables, so that feature was a given.  Since winters in the South aren’t (usually) as extreme as in the North, I thought that injecting a lace element into a cabled structure would help lighten the overall heft of the blanket and also provide that visual “twist” that I was looking for!

The side edges of the blanket feature a hint of garter stitch, which helps those edges to lay flat and provides more texture.   The top and bottom borders are deeply ribbed and flow naturally into and out of the cable pattern.  The blanket is knit in one piece from the bottom up on size US 7 and US 8 circular needles, to accommodate all of the stitches.  The cable and lace pattern is charted.

But my favorite feature of this blanket?  The yarn, hands down.  The blanket was knit using the Aran-weight Cormo and Corriedale/Merino cross bred yarn from Foxhill Farm.  The farm is in Lee, Massachusetts and produces small quantities of breed-specific yarn from its flocks.  Many years ago, I had purchased this silvery-hued yarn directly from the farm owner at the NY Sheep & Wool festival in Rhinebeck.  Not knowing at the time what it would become, it took a special place in my stash while I waited for the right project.  I think that the combination of the yarn and stitch pattern really sings in this design, thanks to the smooth, even twist and plump, springy feel of this yarn.  The finished fabric is soft, warm, and full of lofty texture.  What’s more, I’m proud as a knitting designer to be supporting an American farm producing such high quality products.

This blanket design comes in two sizes, the carriage size you see in these photos and a larger lap blanket size.  But you can always make a larger blanket by adding horizontal repeats of the cable (and saving enough yarn for your top and bottom borders).  The pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry here and/or on my website here!

Next up: the October Glory Shawl, named for our favorite maple tree (yes, we have a favorite!) and finished JUST in the nick of time for Rhinebeck!

If you’ve ever seen an October Glory maple in late Autumn (or as we call it in our more temperate Long Island climate, our “November Glory” haha), you know that its leaves turn a breathtaking scarlet.  Here’s an example from our own backyard of what I mean:

When I saw the color of this yarn, the name of the pattern fell into place pretty quickly.

This shawl is a fun and relatively simple asymmetrical triangle.  By placing a single elegant cable on one edge of the asymmetrical triangle, you can see the cable from many aspects as you wrap the shawl around you!

This cable is set against the nubbly texture of a garter rib pattern that ensures that the knitting is easy and the shawl drapes beautifully.  And, for the first time, I’ve made tassels to go with one of my designs!  I love how they add a fun and unexpected element to the finished shawl.  The shawl is knit from the base of the cable panel upwards in one piece on size US 5 circular needles.  All of the elements of this design are both written out AND charted.

The yarn showcased in this sample is flyWHEEL by Harrisville Designs.  Harrisville Designs is a family-owned company in Harrisville, New Hampshire.  This colorway, “Barn Door,” just glows from within.  I hope that you can see all of the different colored flecks which impart such depth of color and interest to this tweedy yarn.  It’s a sportweight yarn that comes in a wide range of colors.  But the best part about this yarn is how it feels after washing and blocking it.  It is SO warm and yet lightweight at the same time, which makes wearing a shawl of this size much more comfortable!  And as with the Foxhill Farm yarn that I mentioned above, it’s a privilege to be able to support and show off beautiful American-made yarns.  What’s more, this particular yarn was designed to do good, as explained on Harrisville Designs’ website:

“As you may know, our WATERshed yarn colors were inspired by the beautiful elements situated along the waterway running right through our village. flyWHEEL was created to also help support Harrisville’s hydropower project that is currently underway. A portion of the proceeds for each skein sold will go towards restoring the hydropower installation, so that we can produce clean energy from that very same waterway. The water that flows through our mill is reason Harrisville was established. We hope you will consider being a part of this effort and our history!”

The shawl pattern includes one size, and you can make a larger shawl by adding more rows (i.e., more repeats of the cable pattern and increases within the body of the shawl.  The pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry here and/or on my website here!

And last, but never least, we all know that the arrival of October means that it’s time for the NY Sheep & Wool Festival and my annual Rhinebeck pattern sale! From now until midnight EDT on Sunday 10/21/18, get 20% off ALL of my self-published patterns! Just use the coupon code rhinebeck when you check out.

Happy knitting and Happy Rhinebeck! 🙂
xoxo Danielle