Mary Jane Mucklestone

Hand Knitting Blog & Knitting Patterns

fair isle

A Gift for You!

by 20 Comments

On Christmas Eve, the wonderful Kate Davies offered a free gift to her loyal readers. A Muff! I was flattered to find in my honor! A Mucklemuff!  Imagine! She used pattern motif #172 from my book 200 Fair Isle Motifs. She used the book just as it should be used, as a jumping off point for her own ideas….she took the allover arrangement and lengthened it…but after you read this run over an read what she has to say, the patten is free for a couple more days.

I imagined that I’d get my little gift to you my dear readers on New Year’s Day, but all I could manage was the knitting and the pictures…the rest took me a bit but we’re all good to go now! I also used pattern motif #172 but I flipped it a little to make a mirror image. I chose fingerless mitts because my hands are always cold in Seattle, but full mittens are just too hot. Fingerless mitts are just the ticket. I knit the crazy bright ones first, I was inspired by the mounds of Tulips for sale at the Pike Place Market.   A burst of spring in the dead of winter!

Understanding that I don’t always feel like being that cheerful or conspicuous, I dug through my stash and came up with the Red-Violet ones, Rødlilla  in Norwegian. I’ve been in a Norwegian mood, spending the winter in Seattle, taking nips of Linie Aquavitt to keep the damp at bay. So I used Dale of Norway Heilo and Falk both.

I’ve been spending time with my little sister which has been lots and lots of fun. She is a vibrant glowing good natured being,  and always willing to be a model on the spur of the moment! You’d never know her hands were covered with paint 20 minutes before we took the pictures. She chose the colors for the third pair, diving into my stash and choosing natural and a pale chartreuse. Both yarns are Classic Elite; Princess and Inca Alpaca. They compliment each other, the alpaca giving the green a slighty seaweedy look.

I’m especially happy how all the mitts look great with the camel hair coat I found for my mom. They each lend a totally different feel to it.

So download the pattern here and attack that stash of yours!

Free until January 16th,  2012!

Squam!!!

by 11 Comments

Yippee Skipee! I’m teaching at the fabled Squam this year. Holy Canoli I can hardly wait. I’ve always loved summer camp and Squam Arts Workshops is the dreamiest of grown-up summer camps, held on the shores of pristine Squam Lake in New Hamshire. I am looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new, sharing my skills and learning new ones. There is an amazing line up of teachers,

It will be a bright sunny spot to look forward to, through these remaining months of winter.

I’ve developed a couple of classes just for Squam, Fair Isle Baby Hat and Checkerboard Wristlet; each one inspired by one of my recent travels to the color knitting meccas of Shetland and Peru.

Hope you can join us!

More on my classes Here

Swatching Towers

by 13 Comments

My current knitting is fun, but endless. Fun because I love to swatch. Endless because I have to make 200 of them and they are getting progressivly larger. Which makes them more interesting, but also more time consuming, each requiring a little more attention. I bring them everywhere with me. Tote them around in a plastic bin which though a ugly, holds everything nicely, and can get squashed without breaking.  At home I move from window to window, to capture the best of the day’s natural light.

Above you see me in the living room. Surrounded by books, and pondering buttons. I’m able to read during the most boring parts of the knitting, and glance at inspiring pictures during the other parts. I find the dinner hour approaches startlingly fast, so I’ve got my funny old fashioned French Cooking in 10 Minutes, from 1930, sensible and hilarious at the same time.

“The first thing you must do when you get home, before you take off your coat, is to go to the kitchen and light the stove. It will have to be a gas stove, because otherwise you’ll never be able to cook in ten minutes.

Next fill a pot large enough to hold a quart of water. Put it on the fire, cover it and bring it to a boil. What’s the water for? I don’t know, but it’s bound to be good for something.”


Sock Joy

by 6 Comments

sox_dyptich

This has been the month for surprises in the mail. Yesterday I got my copy of The Joy of Sox by Linda Kopp, published by the friendly folks at Lark Books. What fun this book is, not to mention handy, with its spiral lie-flat format.

You’ll find my fair isle Boyfriend Socks in the collection of 30 patterns by 28 designers. I’ve got to admit I truly love my old fashioned socks, with traditional fair isle border patterns worked in a colorway that fills me with happiness – for the rib, toe and heel, a dark heathery green with glints of blue, which I countered in the center rounds, with a lovely pale, winter-sky blue. The colorway really reflects the colors of deep winter in Maine, dark pines, amber grasses, leafless branches and pale skies.

One might think given it’s title, the book would be too cute, however you’ll find cheerful instructive how-tos, sweet funny stories and useful essays like Laura Bryant’s bit on predicting patterns in hand-dyed yarns. Plus gorgeous photography by Lynne Hart, no easy task, keeping photographs of socks interesting, pretty and lively through 175 pages.

Is the Joy of Sox inspiring? Holy Mackerel! Who wants to do their own pressing secret projects when there are 29 sock patterns just begging to be knit? I may have to succumb and just knit off a quick pair of Quickie Socks by Susan Pierce Lawrence, worsted weight,  a simple broken rib pattern with an elegant, comfortable look.

Cinqefoil •Twist Collective Fall 2009

by 11 Comments

TwistCinq

The new Fall Twist Collective is up! I’m so pleased with the issue, and especially happy with they way my hats were photographed, so pretty!

I based the flower motif on a favorite wildflower Cinquefoil which grows in our field. The plant was used in traditional folk medicine to cure fever and was included in many medieval love potions and potions to scare off witches. I love its small sunny blossoms, and have them in a tiny jar by my sink this week, to cheer me while I do dishes. I hope the hat will remind knitters of sunny summer days throughout the year!