Another cheeky sneak peek. This one for another free pattern for another easy infinity scarf, a new take on Opul. Worked in one of my recent aquisitions from Americo Original. A lovely, neutral, very soft, dehaired baby llama sport weight. Used less than 2 skeins. The colour reminds of really good vanilla ice cream.

Just a few more days until Christmas holidays! 

Waiting for a break in the weather so I can get some modelled shots of Boiseau. While we wait, here's a glimpse of something else I'm working on. A very simple infinity scarf (cowl) in gorgeous Sweatermaker Yarns Maggie. And this will be a free pattern to join favourites like Canaletto Cowl and Oaklet Shawl.

It uses a very simple stitch that gives you something like the airiness of brioche, but much easier to work. The fun challenge is figuring out a graft to line up the stitches, more on that later...

 I'll tell you what's in my notebook: Tiny Pants. Yup, another pair. Free pattern coming soon.

The Fitzgerald Scarf has been really popular, and it's a great pattern for the ambitious beginner. It has an easily memorized pattern with a small repeat. But the crossed slipped stitches can be a bit tricky; it's hard to visualize them when you read the pattern, and if you have tight tension, you might need to use a cable needle to hold them instead of dropping them to the front of your work.

For anyone wanting to try the Fitzgerald Scarf, I've uploaded a new version with charts. 

Happy knitting!

The minions have been busy over the last few months, working on some changes for Tricksy Knitter. A new logo, a new look for the site, and new products. It's all coming very soon. In the meantime, I'm going through my older patterns and giving them a facelift and a thorough edit, starting with the oldest pattern, the free Toddler Raglan Hoodie and the most popular adult pattern, the Fifth Street Jacket. (If you have already purchased Fifth Street, you should have received an email notification for Ravelry).

2011 was like an intense crash-course on pattern writing, and I've learned a lot. I looked through the project comments for the Toddler Hoodie, corrected some areas, and made the instructions more consistent. 

I was delighted to be asked to guest-blog over at favecraftsblog today. This blog for favecrafts is full of crafting tidbits; not just knitting, but jewellery, crochet, baking, paper crafts, sewing and more. I was browsing this morning, and have already downloaded a free Gingerbread House Design ebook. (Because Christmas is coming whether we like it or not. And the kids always want to make gingerbread houses. And if I don't use a template, my houses look like blobby fallout shelters.) 

For my guest post, I presented a new free knitting pattern for 2 quick little lace bookmarks. Knitting this time of year is all about "what can I make in an evening" and these little bookmarks are great for that. Make 2 or 3 in front of a movie and you've got a lovely gift. The Bookmark Trio pattern has been really popular, I think partly because it's a small project, but also because it's a great way to try out lace knitting without committing to a huge project. 

You can get the new free bookmark pattern at the favecrafts blog.

The yarn for this scarf reminds me of rainbow sprinkles melting on vanilla ice cream. A perfect little late summer pattern, for those days when you want something easy to cast on. The checker pattern reminds me of gingham seersucker. Download the free Gingham Scarf pattern here.

It's really really flattering to see one of your knitting patterns materialize as a finished object. This lovely rendition of the Canaletto Cowl is from Ravelry member Koanizee. She's named it Explosive Citrus. Love it! And you can follow more of her lovely photographs and beautifully knitted objects on her blog. Mademoiselle C est vraiment une tricoteuse compulsive!

Were you trying to print the Leafy Washcloth pattern? I noticed that some people were having technical trouble with the Leafy Washcloth pdf, so I resaved the file and uploaded it

I was just writing a little article on Easy Knitting Patterns, and then I saw this one in Berroco's e-newsletter, KnitBits.  The Baobab pouch for an e-reader (like a Kindle ), done with sock weight yarn in seed stitch. The pattern calls for 1 ball of Berroco Sox Metallic, but I'm sure the pouch won't use the whole ball, so this pattern is a great stashbuster. I checked the Ravelry page for Baobab, and it looks like the pattern takes about 180 yards.

A great beginner pattern, the skills you'll need: cast on, bind off, knit, purl, sewing on buttons, and sewing a side seam. The pattern also includes instructions to modify the size of the pouch for other e-readers. This would make a great gift.