Accessories – Page 6 – Ann Budd Knits

Aime Shawl

June 26, 2012 / Accessories, Patterns / 3 Comments

Remember back in April when I posted a photo of a shawl I was blocking?

Well, check out the Quince & Company website — the pattern was posted for sale today ($6). Named Aime, after one of the authors of the Estonian lace book the main pattern came from, this shawl takes 5 skeins of Finch (shown in frost #103) and is knitted on size 7 needles for a blocked gauge of 4 stitches/inch. The main pattern repeats over 8 stitches and 16 rows. There is a 5-stitch nupp (rhymes with “soup”) in the center of each motif, which makes a lovely low-relief bobble with an interesting texture.

I had a lot of fun knitting this shawl; I hope you will as well!

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In My Spare Time

April 9, 2012 / Accessories, Patterns / 14 Comments

I prefer to work on a single project at a time, but lately I’ve had several things in the works simultaneously. In between knitting my way through Sock Knitting Master Class (I’m on the twelfth of seventeen pairs), I’ve managed to dabble in some other things. Here’s a sneak preview of a yet-to-be-named shawl I just finished out of Finch (fingering weight wool) for Quince and Company. Look for the pattern on their website this summer!

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Handspun Hat

January 14, 2012 / Accessories, Spinning / 5 Comments

I really should stop feeling so clever every time I knit something out of my handspun, but I just can’t help it. If I had known how wonderful handspun is to knit with, I would have taken up spinning years ago. Now I feel I have to make up for lost time.
I just finished a hat for my oldest out of “barn blend” fleece I got from Stargazer Ranch Alpacas last June. I was afraid that pure alpaca wouldn’t hold its shape so I carried a strand of Marianne Isager fingering weight wool (Wool 1) along with my handspun. Worked in a modified k2, p2 rib, the hat is lusciously thick and, no doubt, warm.
My son only takes it off to sleep. Talk about gratification!

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That Scarf I’m Wearing

January 10, 2012 / Accessories, Patterns / 2 Comments

Every now and then I get a query about the scarf I’m wearing in my “about me” photo.

Though I’d love to claim it as my own design, it’s Lisa Daehlin’s Lacy Kerchief Scarf from the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. The scarf is pictured on page 49; the instructions begin on page 53. This is a very good example of how a different yarn can give a whole new look to a project.

You might notice that my scarf is decidedly different than the one pictured in the magazine. Instead of using sportweight mercerized cotton at 5 sts/inch, I made my version with fingering-weight cashmere at 8 sts/inch. I didn’t save any notes on this project, but I believe I used size 3 or 4 (3.25 or 3.5 mm) needles. I followed the instructions exactly as written and worked the number of pattern repeats specified.

The original scarf measured 82 1/2″ long and 12 1/2″ wide at the widest point; mine measures about 80″ long and 8″ wide at the widest point. It has probably stretched through the years because I remember that it was both shorter and narrower than the original, which was my intention.

If I were to knit it again, I’d make the tails shorter by working the leaf chart just one (not six) times at each end of the triangular garter-stitch section.

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Just for Fun

January 6, 2012 / Accessories, Spinning / 2 Comments

One of my son’s has asked for a hat (he lost the one I knitted two years ago, but that’s another story). They don’t often ask for something knitted so I’m going to jump on it.

This will be the perfect opportunity to use the yarn I spun from the alpaca “barn blend” fleece I bought last summer. I bet handspun alpaca is really, really great to knit with!

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This and That

May 26, 2011 / Accessories, Books / 4 Comments

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones at the Budd household, which is why you haven’t heard from me in a while. Last weekend my oldest, Alex, graduated from high school and today is the last day of school for my twins (they are no longer Sophomores in high school).

But what has really had me busy is my NEXT BOOK (and Sock Knitting Master Class isn’t even in the shops yet). I’m not at liberty at present to disclose information about the next book other than it will be published by Interweave next summer (that would be 2012). I’ve been knitting and writing like mad and will turn in the manuscript next week.

To take a break from all that designing and writing, I treated myself to the joy of following someone else’s pattern. I knitted the oh-so-lovely Ishbel Shawl out of Madeline Tosh Pashmina (75% merino, 15% silk, 10% cashmere) for a dear friend’s birthday. The pattern is both simple and beautiful. I have a few skeins of luxury yarn in my stash that I am certain are also destined for this pattern.

Here’s the shawl on my blocking wires. Although it’s not pretty, I like to block on a striped towel so that there are straight lines to follow.

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Another Quince Project

May 5, 2011 / Accessories, Patterns / 2 Comments

Yesterday my Cat Cay Cowl pattern was published on the Quince and Company website. I designed this cowl while anticipating our spring break vacation to Cat Cay in the Bahamas. Consequently, the stitch patterns include beach references: cables (ropes), embossed diamonds (flags), and small pebbly patterns (ripples on the water), all worked in a beautiful ocean blue shade of Tern (75% merino, 25% silk).

This cowl is knitted in the round but Murphy’s Law ensured that the “seam” was front and center for the photograph. Oh well.

I used the decorative Channel Island cast-on to give a pretty edge to the cowl, but the instructions you’ll download from Quince and Company were simplified to specify the more common long-tail cast-on. Those of you with eagle eyes will certainly notice the difference. Fortunately, there are several very good demonstrations of the Channel Island cast-on on YouTube. I encourage you to try it.

So that the bind-off edge would match the cast-on, I used the Channel Island bind-off, a technique explained and illustrated in Vintage Modern Knits by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn (Interweave, 2011). Believe me, instructions for this bind-off alone are worth the cover price of the book!

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Another Project for Quince

March 16, 2011 / Accessories, Patterns / 4 Comments

The fingerless mitts I designed for Quince & Company are now available through their website at www.quinceandco.com. These Masse Mitts use two skeins of Lark knitted at 6 stitches/inch in a relatively simple pattern of 2/2 cables and 3/1 ribs. To keep the wrists warm, I made the cuffs long enough to tuck under jacket sleeves.
Boy, those folks at Quince sure know how to take a nice photo!

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New Hat Pattern

March 11, 2011 / Accessories, Patterns / 1 Comment

Check out the Quince & Company website. They just loaded my new hat pattern; it’s called Boon’s Hat and it’s knitted out of one skein of Osprey. I’d add a photo here but I didn’t have the foresight to take one before I sent it off to Quince. I sent them a pair of cabled fingerless mitts last week (two skeins of Lark) but forgot to take a photo of those as well. I am about to finish a ruffled baby sweater out of Tern. I wonder if I’ll forget to take a photo of it, too.

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