Top 10 favorite knitting things :-))

I would like to introduce a new feature to my blog called "Top 10 favorite knitting things".
There are many lovely knitting related things that I come across and I would love to regularly share about my finds with fellow knitters and readers of my blog.
Lets begin ;-))) "Sunny with a Chance of Knitting" very first 

"Top 10 favorite knitting things":

1. Juno Fibre Arts Belle FIngering/4ply yarn, 70 % Alpaca, 30% Wool in colorway 'Sun".
I bought this yarn because of the bright yellow color. Now, that I have knitted with it I love it for its wonderful and soft texture with a little bit of lovely fuzziness to it. 
2. Crystal Palace CPY Bamboo Circulars Needles. 
I have nickel sensitivity (allergy) and cannot use Nickel plated needles. Bamboo needles are the way to go for me. There are perfect for knitting shawls and kidsilk projects.
3. DyeFor Wool and Dye ForYarn.
I just absolutely love all the yarn I have tried from this brand.  Truly a wonderful experience knitting with these gorgeous yarns. The quality of yarn and the colorways are superb.
4. IngoDesign Shawl Pins.
I am a big fan of these beautiful pins and have quite a few in my collection.  A must for a shawl lover ;-)) 
5. Verena Winter 2011.
Love this issue of Verena. It has lovely color work that I hope to try one day.  I especially like Model 27.
6. Fun Knitting Coffee Mugs from CafePress.
Super cute cups. Great gift idea for a fellow knitter. 
7. Hand Lotion "Clean Line" / "ЧИСТАЯ ЛИНИЯ".
I love hand lotions and use them often. I like my hand to be smooth and soft while I knit and all other times too ;-)) This lotion is very light and smells good enough to eat.
8. Interweave "Knitting Daily Galleries".
This is great feature that they have for "Interweave Knits". In these galleries pictures are posted of  the sample garments from the magazine worn by different people. You can see how  particular knit fits different body types. 
9. Knitting Yarn Swift  and Knitting Yarn Ball Winder from Knit Picks.
I blogged about this earlier. A must have if you are knitting a lot of lace projects and need to rewind a lot of lace yarn.
10. "Filtering Daylight" shawl by Suvi Simola. 
Love this shawl design. It is fresh and original and I plan to knit it as soon as time permits.  

I wish everyone a great week ahead :-))

Happy knitting,

Diana

Etude in Purple

I have moved to a new house last weekend and for the past two weeks and I am sure many weeks ahead there was and will be not that much free time for me to knit. I have managed to knit a little bit in between packing and unpacking, but progress is very slow. I am working on my second "Etude in stripes" cardigan. I love my original grey and yellow cardi and have been wearing it a lot since I knitted it, so I decided to make another one in different colors. I have chosen some beautiful 2ply  DyeForYarn Fine lace / Merino cashwool  in purple shades and it works lovely for this project. I am knitting yarn held double. The new project is called "Etude in Purple". The free pattern for "Etude in stripes" is available on my blog.

На прошлых выходных мы переехали в новый дом и последние две недели были заняты упаковкой коробок и переездом, а будущие недели будут заняты распаковкой :-)). Переезд не оставил мне много свободного времени на вязание, блоги и Равелри. Удалось совсем немного повязать мой второй кардиган "Этюд в полосочку". Свой первый кардиган я очень часто ношу и мне захотелось связать ещё один такой. Для этого проекта я выбрала меринос ласе от DyeForYarn фиолетовых оттенков. Вяжу в две ниточки.  Этот проект можно посмотреть на Равелри. Я его назвала "Этюд в фиолетовом".  Инструкции этой модели доступны бесплатно на моём блоге.

I have not had a chance to visit Ravelry or to read any blogs lately.. Living out of the boxes right now :-)) and got the internet connected just yesterday. It has been very busy, but as things settle down I will be knitting more and posting more. Untill then I wish everyone great days ahead and leave you with these flowers that are now growing in front of my house. I have never had a garden before, so I do not even know the name of these flowers. If anyone knows, please let me know :-))

Этот цветок теперь растёт перед моим домом. Я правда не знаю как он называется и буду рада если кто подскажет ;-))
Желаю всем хороших дней впереди и лёгких петелек :-))

Happy knitting,

Diana

New Shawl Design: "Once Upon A Leaf".

I have been thinking about this shawl for a little while, before starting knitting it. Once I started I could not put the shawl down :)) The lace pattern is so addictive and most of all I loved how the lace pattern was coming out. I have played around with some familiar patterns for this shawl to achieve winding leaves and twigs effect.  I choose Filatura Di Crosa Centolavaggi for this shawl and knitted with yarn held double. The yarn is wonderfully soft and warm and after blocking drapes beautifully. I love the green color of this yarn.

I got a little carried away and shawl came out bigger then I planned, but I do love big shawls :-)) I think it will be great to wear for special occasions or just by the ocean over a summer dress :-))

I have called this shawl "Once Upon A Leaf". My project can be found on Ravelry.

The pattern will be available after test knitting is completed  late April early May :))

Happy knitting,

Diana

"Silhouette" Shawl Pattern is now available :-)

My sister asked me for an airy summer shawl and "Silhouette" is the shawl that  I have designed for her.  She did not see her shawl in person yet, but loved it via the pictures and cannot wait to wear it :))
"Silhouette" shawl has been test knitted and pattern is now available on Ravelry and my blog.
Thank you so much to all readers of my blog and my Ravelry friends for your support and kind comments about this project :-))
Original post about this pattern can be found here.

Happy Knitting,

Diana

Free Pattern :"Coronado Bay" Stole

I have knitted "Coronado Bay" stole back in December 2011, but since then could not find time to write up a pattern for it. Today I stayed home from work due to a little cold and decided to finish this pattern while I had a little free time on my hands :)))
"Coronado Bay" stole pattern is now available on Ravelry and my blog as a free download.
Thank you so much to all readers of my blog and my Ravelry friends for your support and kind comments about this project :-))
Original post about this pattern can be found here.

Палантин "Coronado Bay" связался ещё в Декабре прошлого года, но никак не могла найти свободного времени и написать инструкции. Сегодня немного приболела и не пошла на работу, вот и решила воспользоваться свободной минуткой и дописать инструкции :-))
Инструкции к "Coronado Bay" можно бесплатно загрузить через мой блог или Равелри.

Please drop me a line by leaving a comment on my blog or Ravelry if you are downloading this pattern and planning to knit this stole :-))

Буду рада если вы дадите мне знать что загрузили инструкции и планируете связать этот палантин оставив коментарий у меня в блоге или на Равелри :-))

Enjoy the pattern and Happy knitting,

Diana

"Layered" shawl pattern is now available :-)

"Layered" shawl pattern is now available on Ravelry and my blog.
Thank you so much to all my wonderful test knitters for helping me out with this pattern and to all readers of my blog and my Ravelry friends for your support and kind comments :-))
Original post about this pattern can be found here.

Happy knitting,

Diana

New Shawl Design: "Silhouette".

 My sister’s birthday is coming up at the end of March and she asked me if I could knit her a summer shawl. I searched for silk or linen yarn for this project and found this beautiful Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk  that I thought would be perfect for summer. My sister loved the yarn and colorway "Dandelion" had  the colors that she wanted. My sister loves modern clean lines and bold accessories.  I just had to come up with something beautiful that she will like :-))

This particular colorway has few colors in it and it is always a concern when choosing a pattern for such variegated yarn.  I though about the design for a while and remembered an idea for a shawl I had after I designed my "Lemon Drops" shawl.  The idea was to try to knit a shawl using a stitch pattern I designed for the border of "Lemon Drops". I thought this would be perfect project to try this idea on.  I wanted an airy and lacy summer shawl and I love how it all beautifully came together in this design I called "Silhouette". I choose the name "Silhouette" because the lace stitch reminds me of leaves  silhouettes.

I hope my sister will love and enjoy this shawl :-)))
The shawl is currently being test knitted and will be available on Ravelry and my blog after that. Until then, you can find this project and more details on the shawl on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting,

Diana

Free Pattern "Etude in Stripes"

"Etude in Stripes" Cardigan is now available as a free download from my Ravelry designer page  or on my blog.
This cardigan is knitted seamless top-down. It has raglan sleeves. The sleeves are knitted seamless in the yoke and knitted flat and seamed after the separation for sleeves and the body. The cardigan is knitted in stockinette stitch with a little garter stitch border on the body and sleeves.
The cardigan is knitted with 2ly lace yarn held double.
For more pictures and details on this project visit my original post or my Ravelry project page.
This pattern was not test knitted. Please use it at your own risk ;-))

Happy knitting,

Diana

One more "Platochek".

Today I would like to show you another "Platochek" shawl :-) Right after I have designed and knitted the original shawl, I wanted to knit one more to use up some of the leftover Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply yarn in this sunny yellow color. I absolutely love how this shawl come out and how the lace stitch looks in solid color and in slightly heavier yarn than the original shawl was. In addition, this yarn is exceptionally soft and pleasant to have on.

Project can be found on Ravelry.
Pattern for "Platochek" shawl is available on Ravelry and my blog.

Сегодня я хочу показать вам ещё одну шаль "Платочек" :-) Сразу после того как я связала первую шаль, мне захотелось связать ещё одну используя остатки пряжи Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply солнечного жёлтого цвета. Я очень довольна как получился мой новый Платочек. Мне нравиться как ажурный узор смотрится на однотонной и более толстой пряже. В дополнение, ниточка необыкновенно мягкая и приятная в носке :-)

Happy Knitting,

Diana

New Design: Etude in Stripes.

~Etude~ is a musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.

I love the color combination of grey and yellow and wanted a simple cardigan with yellow and gray stripes for a while.  I also wanted to practice knitting seamless top-down raglan construction. I have originally started to work on this project 5 month ago by  using single strand of each yarn. I was not completely happy with the way it was coming out…a little too thin and flimsy. However, I loved this color combo a lot and decided to give this cardi another go by knitting with 2 strands of each yarn and designing my own cardigan instead of "Amiga" pattern I originally started.

 
Project called " Etude in Stripes" and can be found on Ravelry.
Yarn:
Grey:  2/14 Alpaca Silk by Valley Yarns ( Lace / 2 ply 80% Alpaca, 20% Silk)
Yellow: Supersock Lace by Cherry Tree Hill ( Lace / 2 ply 100% Merino )

I love how this cardigan turned out and the whole process of knitting it. It took a little longer then anticipated, since I took some time to work on my “Layered” shawl design, but it was an easy and unproblematic knit. Basic top-down raglan construction. Sleeves knitted seamless to the armholes and then knitted flat and seamed. I do love seamless everything, but came to realization that it is much easier for me to knit sleeves flat after separation for the sleeves and the body.

 I loved both yarns used in this project. Knitted both of them in 2 strands. Variegate yellow yarn (Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Lace) knitted up makes some lovely stripes. I think this type of yarn is perfect for stripes and make them come alive due to all the shades of the yarn. Alpaca silk from Valley yarns is a wonderful yarn too. The finished cardigan feels very silky and soft to the skin. I really enjoyed knitting this cardigan with the lace yarn held double. I will knit this way in the future for sure, because there were very few loose end to hide (lace yarn just comes in one big skein) and also the whole project cost was just $30.00 :-))

Happy Knitting,

Diana