The Joys of Knitting

I learned to knit when I was eight years old, so that I could make little jackets for  my troll dolls.  When I lived in England, before I trained as an architect, I ran a textiles workshop, where we did all our own dying, weaving and knitting. I belong to two knitting groups and of course I’m a member of wwww.ravelry.com.  I’ve been knitting for 52 years… which explains why my sleeves are so long!  (Sorry, knitter’s joke.)

I am always happy to share patterns, appreciate other knitted projects, and teach beginning knitters.  Just call me on 805.4440.5573, or email [email protected].

UPDATE 8-September-2021:
The latest hand-knitting project is this Non-Binary Asymmetric Shawl for my niece:

Lots and lots of projects in the last year, especially since I brought in four circular knitting machines!

UPDATE 6-March-2020:  After a LOT of shawls knitted and distributed over midwinter, my focus changed to shawl collar pullovers:

And here is the pattern, which can also be found on my blog for 6-March-2020:  Shawl Collar Pullover.

UPDATE 31-October-2019:  My latest pattern is called Barbara’s Asymmetric Shawl, and it’s pretty easy once you get going.  Here is the pattern: Barbara’s Asymmetric Shawl.

And here are a couple of samples:

UPDATE 26-August-2019:  Revised pattern for Twisted Squares with yarn amounts.  If you are an expectant mother or grandmother that wants a hand-knitted baby blanket, I am taking orders!  Twisted Squares Baby Blanket Pattern, revised

UPDATE 22-August-2019:  Ginna’s Triangle — useful in Boise — and the latest (commissioned) Twisted Squares Baby Blanket:

UPDATE 8-August-2019:  Taking a break from ten Twisted Squares blankies… and here is the pattern:  Connie’s Scarf.

UPDATE 8-July-2019:  Check out my blog post on the Twisted Squares Baby Blanket(s):  Here is the .pdf of the pattern:  https://drkyre.com/twisted-squares-baby-blanket-pattern/

UPDATE 3-March-2019:  I have just finished this entrelac rainbow afghan.  I used the knitting machine;  the technique is fairly intricate, picking up each square in turn from the diamond below, but reasonably straightforward once you’ve done a dozen squares or so.  The tricky part was finding the right colors of approximately the same weight to create a smooth spectrum, set off by charcoal grey.  Most of the yarns are from the Loops and Threads Impeccable range, plus fill-in colors I picked up here and there.  The black border is hand-crocheted (so that the edges don’t curl).

Winter 2018:  This year I experimented with knitting a pullover from the top down — no seams!  I also made a dozen  pairs of crossover slippers for Midwinter gifts;  they are simple to make, cozy to wear, and highly portable for knitting on airplanes.

Winter 2017:  Below is the afghan I made for my father in Boulder.  The outer burgundy+black border was entirely hand-knitted in garter stitch, and then sewn to the blanket.  Lots of work, and I’m happy with how it turned out!

Just made this scarf/shawl for a dear friend’s birthday .  Click here to download the pattern:  Wingspan Shawl.

Other recent projects include a shawl based on a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl).  It’s mostly machine-knitted, although the teal textured stripes were knitted by hand.  To make the shawl lie flat, I crocheted a single-stitch border in silver (on each end) and white in each side of them middle portions.

Below is a baby blanket for a little girl born on 10. April, 2018.  The main yarn is made from soy fibers, and the contrast yarn is a sock-weight acrylic thread in a mixture of orange, purple and lime green.  Of course it’s washable!  To create the lettering, I printed up the correct knitting graph first, then selected a font in Word, and overprinted it on the graph paper.

On the left is a pair of socks made for a friend, and on the right is a similar pair I made to work with my numerous pairs of grey leggings:

Here are some other recent projects:  the top one is a pair of socks for a friend I saw at Christmas in (frigid) Illinois;  this pair is made from Loops and Threads lace-weight Wool-like, doubled up.  On the right is an entrelac coverlet that was completed on 5. February, 2018.  The afghan is made from Loops and Threads Barcelona (the dark squares) and L+T Madrid (the teal shading to fuchsia squares), both in worsted weight.

The socks below completed in December, 2017.  This pair reminds me of my favorite pomegranate and sour cherry truffles! Darkest red is Galileo merino+bamboo, other red is Stroll Glimmer wool, and the offwhite is 50/50 cashmere+silk, all from Knitpicks.com.

And here are more 2017 Midwinter gifts, ready to be sent out:

The summer project for 2017 was a Seashell Shawl that I am keeping for myself;  on the left is the original version made from Shawl in a Ball (two balls of rainbow), whilst the one on the right uses a marvelous yarn by KnitPicks called Diadem.  It’s 50% alpaca, 50% silk, fingering weight, in Pearl with a Platinum edge.  Download the pattern here:  SeaShell Shawl.

Below is the pattern for a beautifully simple feather-and-fan afghan in Mighty Stitch worsted weight from www.knitpicks.com.  I seem to remember selected the orange from the Brava worsted range (also from Knitpicks), because they didn’t have a suitable orange in Mighty Stitch.  The gauge is not that important, so long as your yarns are the same weight. I think this took me a week to complete the main piece, and then another few days to pick up the stitches round the edge and knit a moss stitch border.  Download the pattern here:  Rainbow Afghan 2

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