hedda knits

Chrysanthemums in Knitty!

2011-01-15T21:15:00.000-05:00

The Winter 2011 Knitty went up today, and lo and behold, there amongst the beautiful socks and sweaters and hats and other patterns-- my Chrysanthemums!

I designed these mittens to echo the flower patterns seen frequently these days in home decor and fashion, with a cuff that suggests the lacy, pleated sleeves of Victorian blouses. Charting the blossom petals to get everything just right was definitely the most difficult aspect, but I think the end result captured the look I had first imagined. I wanted a more delicate, less geometric design than many of my other patterns-- something that would look forward to spring even in the midst of a harsh Canadian winter. The Louet Gems was a nice fingering weight to work with, adding the rusticity of a traditional mitten yarn but with a very smooth ply.

The mittens did not get off to an auspicious start, however. When I was knitting the first test pair for Knitty's Deep Fall submission deadline, I managed to commit a classic mitten-newcomer mistake. After all the mittens I've made, you would think I would be smart enough to avoid it. But no. No. You see, it was the night before the submission deadline, and I was racing desperately to finish the mittens and block them in preparation for photos the next day. I put the left hand on, and then the right... except... something's wrong...

Oh. Dear. God. I knit two left hands. With no time to spare, I had two left hand mittens. TWO. LEFT. HANDS.

Some creative photography, tears, and a few bottles of anxiety pills later, and I submitted the pattern to Knitty for consideration. While it didn't fit their look for Deep Fall, they sent me the lovely Louet Gems yarn (in cream and pewter) to knit a new pair for the Winter 2011 issue. This time I knit a left hand AND right hand. I think I rechecked that chart about 43 times. The rest is Knitty history!

You can access the pattern for free at Knitty.com by clicking here. If you have any questions about the pattern, please feel free to contact me at Ravelry or via email at hedda (dot) knits (at) gmail (dot) com.

Special thanks to my good friend Melissa Flynn, who assisted with photography!

Purple Lotus Fever

2011-01-15T08:54:00.014-05:00

I spent this week dying home sick with a bad cold or virus. It wasn't very pleasant, but I've come to terms with the fact that this was indeed my own fault. You see, on Sunday night I was thinking about the previous winter when I was ill for weeks with H1N1 (also known as swine flu, hamthrax, etc). I thought to my naïve little self, Wow! I haven't been sick much this winter! I must be doing something right!

Yeah, well that "something right" was not tempting fate. So much for that. Happily, I am on the mend and will refrain from commenting on how I haven't sprained my ankle this year either.

Monday saw the arrival of some beautiful yarn from Zen Yarn Garden, an Ontario dyer specializing in handpainted colourways and gorgeous yarns. I received some of the scrumptious Serenity 20 (a sock yarn composed of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere and 10% nylon) in "Black Lilac" from my mother for Christmas, and had to order more! I now own a yummy hank in "Melonberry", as well as Serenity Sock (same content as the Serenity 20, but with 10% cashmere) in "Bare".

Now, I thought Malabrigo yielded luxurious mittens. Serenity blows Malabrigo out of the water. The cashmere and soft superwash creates an incredibly smooth, soft fabric with excellent stitch definition and no pilling. And the colours? YUM. I think I may be in love (sorry, over-the-knee boots, the previous object of my affections!).

See for yourself:

Zen Yarn Garden - Serenity 20 and Serenity Sock

Mendelssohn and Malabrigo

2011-01-08T22:32:00.010-05:00

After a relatively snow-free Christmas and New Year's, the National Capital Region is finally covered in a thick blanket of snow! It's the perfect atmosphere to go skating on the beautiful Rideau Canal, which opened for skating just this weekend. I can't wait to lace up and hit the world's largest skating rink!

This week, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend "Hymn of Praise" at the National Arts Centre, a concert of works from Schumann, Bach, and Mendelssohn (from whose Symphony No. 2 the concert takes its name). The NAC Orchestra was joined by the very talented Simone Dinnerstein on piano, soloists Donna Brown, Amber Wagner, and Thomas Cooley, and a number of choirs who stole the show during the second half of the evening.

Conducted by Carlo Rizzi, Schumann's Overture to Genoveva (Op. 81) was energetic and sweeping, if a little too similar to a typical movie soundtrack. Schumann's failings are hardly the fault of the orchestra, however, as we saw from the remaining two performances of the night.

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein illuminated Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with her melodic interpretation of the Baroque master. Echoed by her gauzy, flowing gown, Dinnerstein's performance was almost Impressionistic in its fluidity, reminding us of the swelling piano lines of Debussy. It was a bit of a departure from the measured contrapuntal lines that I'm used to hearing from Bach, but the difference created an interesting sense of the unknown within the familiar.

The second half of the evening featured the three gifted soloists along with four choirs-- the Ottawa Choral Society, Cantata Singers of Ottawa, Ewashko Singers, and the Ottawa Festival Chorus-- in Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2, "Lobgesang." And wow, was it worth missing the World Junior Hockey Championship game for this (sorry to my friends who suffered through that loss in bars across Ottawa and the rest of Canada)!

The program notes tell me that Mendelssohn composed this piece to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Gutenberg press, but really the piece transcends any idea of occasion or context. Anthemic choral movements combined with soaring tenor and soprano solos create what I can only call a sublime musical experience. I'm not sure why I can't find any Mendelssohn in my music collection, but I will certainly be adding some soon.

Many thanks to the NAC for a wonderful night!

Mmmalabrigo - Ochre

To round out the aesthetic indulgence for the week, this morning I headed to Knit Knackers, my lovely local yarn store on Bank Street. Although Emily keeps threatening to cut me off from the Mmmalabrigo, I found a skein in Ochre which is neither too mustardy nor too neon. Naturally I had no choice but to add it to my stash. Perfect for a new pair of mittens-- perhaps with grey as a contrast?

Enjoy your winter days!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T23:43:00.013-05:00

I love the beginning of a new year. It feels just like the start of a new grade back in elementary school-- filled with fresh pencils, blank pages, and limitless possibilities. The materials are rather different now, but the new year is still one of possibility. I love to wonder what will happen in the next twelve months, and to think about what has changed since January 1, 2010. Last year, I had only published two small patterns, and had not yet imagined I could not only develop more, but could earn some income through the designs. A year ago, I had not yet joined Twitter, and now I have so many new, wonderful friends whom I would never have met without those 140 characters.

I like to imagine the new friends I will make, people whose names I don't yet know and who have never yet heard mine. I like to wonder what wonderful new opportunities will develop. I like to believe that the coming year will be one of health, creativity, and energy, and resolve to do what I can to make it happen.

After all, who knows what the next year will bring?

Gratitude

2010-10-10T19:45:00.004-04:00

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada, during which we stuff ourselves until we resemble the turkeys we just ate-- although in our case a chicken was deemed sufficient for two small-stomached people. We had Brussels sprouts (a Thanksgiving staple in our house), mashed potatoes, stuffing, brown sugar and cinnamon glazed carrots, the chicken, and a delicious gravy. Apple crisp tomorrow should round out the weekend (and our figures).

It seems appropriate this weekend to stop and think about everything for which we are grateful: this year we are both relatively healthy (no small feat, with my multiple health problems), and ends, while tight, are meeting. I have plenty of friends, plenty of warm clothes for the coming months, and plenty of yarn. Ottawa is no longer a faceless city of grey walls, but is filling with people and opportunities I want to get to know better. I have a wonderful family, a job, hobbies like knitting and violin which are taking off, and an interesting if busy volunteer position. I'm thankful for all of this.

This year, I'm especially thankful for all the wonderful knitters on Ravelry and across the Internet who have downloaded my patterns, knit the designs I worried over, and wrote kind words of encouragement to this new designer. I can't possibly thank all of you enough for your support. An especially big thank you goes to the members of the Hedda Knits group on Ravelry, whose conversation and posts keep me going.

I want to thank a few blogs that have linked to or posted about my patterns:
http://stitchonezoomin.blogspot.com/

http://hisaes.blogspot.com/2009/11/lilac-mittens.html

http://shinbashies.blog71.fc2.com/blog-entry-134.html

http://stringandstuff.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/charity-knitting/

http://zandrajade.blogspot.com/

http://saskatoonstitcher.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/fos-and-other-interesting-sundries/

http://durhamknits.blogspot.com/2010/02/recent-projects.html

http://knit-purlpdx.blogspot.com/

http://stringthings.blogspot.com/

http://craftycaffeine69.blogspot.com/2010/10/mittens.html

http://mavenknits.com/

And of course, I could never thank enough Ms. Pearl-McPhee, better known as the illustrious Yarn Harlot, for her blog posts about my Joie du Printemps mittens:

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2010_09.html

I am so thankful for all of you. You have made this a wonderful experiment, and I am so very pleased to continue designing mitten patterns for you all.

The Lotos-Eaters

2010-08-31T09:33:00.006-04:00

It took longer than I expected, but I finally finished another mitten design. "Lotus Mittens" is my tenth Ravelry pattern! Since it's (nearly) September, and ten is a nice number, I'm offering the Lotus Mittens for free. You can download the pattern here with a Ravelry account.

I had some fun with this pattern, modelling it after the traditional Norwegian style of mittens with which I first fell in love. Instead of a Selbu rose, however, I came up with this stylized lotus blossom. Come to think of it-- knit it in red, and it becomes a poinsettia! But that's neither here nor there.

I love the slightly-odd lotus blossoms mixed with the beautiful Knit Picks Stroll yarn. I used Sapphire Heather (the heathered colour yielded amazing depth-- like a dark, shimmering pool) and Granny Smith. Perhaps this was an odd combination to choose, but the colours just pop when paired together.

The mittens were in part inspired by Tennyson's "The Lotos-Eaters", a weird and mysterious poem based upon an episode in The Odyssey. You can read the full poem at the University of Toronto's poetry archive.

In other news, only two days until I head out to New Brunswick! I'm looking forward to some relaxing mitten-knitting, as well as cramming as many fun activities into my days as are humanly possible. Although I grew up in Ontario, the Maritimer blood in me always craves the salt air of the Bay of Fundy. Now how to decide how much yarn to bring...

Time for a mitt-along!

2010-08-11T11:37:00.016-04:00

This week we'll be starting the first hedda knits mitt-along! I'm excited to see how this goes. I've never actively participated in a knit-along, but I love seeing how others have interpreted a pattern I'm knitting, and seeing how different yarn and colour choices affect the look of the finished object. It's eleven billion times cooler when it's a pattern over which I've spent hours agonizing and tweaking to get the perfect look, because then I get to see other people try out the colours I wish I could have used. Sometimes the colour combinations and modifications on my pattern blow my mind, and open up a whole cartload of new ideas.

Starting August 15th, we'll be knitting my "La Joie du Printemps" mittens (although anyone is welcome to participate with another hedda knits pattern-- the mittens are all constructed in the same way).

I have a soft spot for this design as it was my first for-sale pattern, originally designed for an auction held by the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Group to benefit Haiti earthquake survivors. The mittens were inspired by Art Nouveau, particularly the work of Alphonse Mucha, the intricacies of floral brocades, and the budding tulips of an Ottawa spring. The colours of the contrast yarn reminded me of lines from one of my favourite poets, Bliss Carman:

Now the lengthening twilights hold
Tints of lavender and gold,
And the marshy places ring
With the pipers of the spring.

The background colour is Knit Picks Stroll in bare, while for the contrast colour I used Diamond Yarn Foot Loose in colourway 11 ("copper"). I think Stroll is becoming one of my most favourite mitten yarns-- deliciously soft, sproingy, and with crisp definition, for an incredibly affordable price! I wish I could buy all the colours up (as well as the Palette colours... yum).

Please feel free to join our mitt-along on Ravelry. All participants will be entered into a small draw (there will be a bigger prize draw in next month's mitt-along in honour of my birthday!).

Spectacular, spectacular!

2010-08-02T22:13:00.003-04:00

I love the Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge! The lush costumes, creative music usage and (let's face it) gorgeous leading man all contribute to making this one of my favourite films. When I was in Paris, my friend and I visited the section of Montmartre with my father, and did the can-can on the front step-- much to the chagrin of visiting patrons who scuttled past our camera as fast as possible. I think our dance ended with my father dragging us off rather quickly after the club bouncers got wind of us.

One of the interesting things about Moulin Rouge! is the inclusion of the character Toulouse-Lautrec, along with allusions to his paintings. Art Nouveau, the Belle Epoque, vibrant colours and whirling figures-- I could look at paintings from that period for hours (and frequently do, when I'm supposed to be working on something else).

So. I designed a new mitten pattern based on the Moulin Rouge. It is up on Ravelry now, and I am super excited with the way it turned out, especially since it did not start in an auspicious way. The yarn I originally chose turned the Art Nouveau design to a rather tacky mariachi band. I hate frogging, but frog I did and shelled out for the beautiful Estelle Arequipa (colourway 206). While the Arequipa was thinner than the Knit Picks Stroll (colourway Buckskin), it worked beautifully and provided exactly the look I was imagining. And the alpaca-- luscious!

You can download the pattern from Ravelry here, or click here to add it directly to your cart.

Tea and Cake (or death)!

2010-03-21T17:07:00.010-04:00

My first blog post! I'm so nervous! This calls for some cake. And some tea. Or some Tea and Cake Mittens-- a new pattern I finished yesterday.

I came up with this pattern idea after a particularly rough week, when everything seemed to be going badly for me at work and I was feeling pretty run down. That evening I had a delicious hot cup of Irish Breakfast tea and realized that a good cup of tea makes everything seem a little bit better. And cake! Who doesn't like cake? Yum!

I was also inspired, naturally, by Eddie Izzard's hilarious "tea and cake or death!" routine. If you haven't seen this, you must go and watch it now. Really. It is delightfully silly.

When designing these mittens I was trying to branch out from my usual geometric designs and go for something cuter. I can't believe how hard it was to design "cute"! I love how they turned out, but clearly I need to eat more Marshmallow Peeps or something. Tapping into my inner cute should not be this difficult.

The mitten pattern is available on Ravelry here, or you can click here to buy it now through PayPal.