Holiday Sale!

Rocketboy #1 has just informed me that these few days in the early 20's of December are "the slowest, most torturous of the entire year." In truth, we are a family of mixed traditions and have actually been celebrating for a couple of weeks already, so he has nothing to complain about! but even so, this image from my favorite of all classic holiday tv specials reminds me of the two Rocketboys waiting and groaning about how long it will be til there are presents to open. Are you feeling that way too? Is there a packeage of yarn, or a new needle set under your Christmas tree that is driving you crazy in anticipation? To spread some holiday cheer, there is a sale currently going on in the Rocketboy Knits Ravelry store - all patterns in the store are 25% off through the 31st. Some of them are even fast enough that you might manage to finish before Christmas... or you can gift a pattern to a knitting friend through Ravelry, or treat yourself to a new pattern to go with that new yarn! Here's the link: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/jennifer-chase-rappaport Whatever and whenever you celebrate, I wish you a joyful season!

Pattern Preview

We're still in test knitting, but I can't resist putting up a preview for my next pattern! I'm still pondering the name of this pattern, but I can say that there is both a cowl version - shown here in Madeline Tosh Vintage in Tart - and a scarf version. The structure of both is just like my Huntress Shawl. In fact, it is the original pattern which I submitted to Knitscene that evolved into a wolf under moonlit branches. (That one still makes me laugh...who knew? Oh right, the editor did!) This pattern should be ready by the end of November, and I will offer a pre-order discount in the week before the release - stay tuned!

It must be fall!

I am feeling very inspired by this amazing combination of colors! All are Hazel Knits Artisan Sock In Plum Glace, Portobello, and Lichen. Portobello may be my new favorite "neutral" color, but Lichen is definitely my favorite accent color. It seems to have its own light source, and makes colors nearby sing... Somehow, it seems like a perfect Fall palette on this October day.

Krista Cowl, or Secret Project #2 Reveal

Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2012 is out! Among the many great patterns to knit gifts for everyone you know is my new pattern, the Krista Cowl. This cowl is an engaging knit that can easily be accomplished while heading over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house, or while on a long layover at your "favorite" airport. Details here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/krista-cowl

Rose Hill Mitts, ready for Prime Time

At last, the Rose Hill Mitts are done! One last photo to celebrate - this is the large size, un-cuffed version, modeled by my DH. I have to thank my wonderful test-knitters for helping me bring this pattern to creation - I could not have done it without them.

Hungry Like A...(or Secret Project #1 Reveal)

At long last, I can reveal what I was doing with that gorgeous String Theory Caper Aran in Secret Project #1! Here she is, the Huntress. In the Knitscene Blog post where Lisa Shroyer, editor of Knitscene, named me one of the 8 Designers to Watch in 2012, I was described as "not being afraid of odd challenges from quirky editors." "Huntress" was the source of that cryptic comment. I was working on a different way to shape a scarf, trying to get a little more neck coverage in the front, but nice long sides without too much bulk around the neck. And, of course, to avoid the insanely long final BO row that some of just hate at the end of a lot of shawlettes. The first piece with that structure was submitted to Knitscene with a very different stitch pattern. (No spoilers - this pattern will be out soon!) At the end of the decision process, Lisa e-mailed and asked if I would consider changing the stitch pattern to show an animal, so that it could fit a theme for a different issue. Somehow, she had looked at the geometric pattern I had used, and seen a wolf peering out from there! Altering my perspective, I too saw the wolf, and changed the pattern completely. Then it seemed clear that the wolf should emerge at the edge of a forest under the light of a full moon, and I never looked back... Normally, representational or pictorial knitting is not what I'm drawn to do, either with intarsia or lace, but this was just too good a challenge to pass up. Sometimes, it's good to step out of the comfort zone.

In which I blog to keep from whining about the weather...

Spring, it seems, is never going to happen in Seattle this year. We had Thunder Snow the night before last, even...but I did say I was blogging to KEEP from whining, so that's the end of that.

I was doing so well at keeping up with this blog, and then things went kerflooey for a couple of weeks. Time to get everything back on track! Secret projects are all shipped off. Remember the pile of mitts in an earlier post? (pictured above) It is called Rose Hill Mitts, and it has gone into test knitting today! Please leave a comment if you would like to be alerted when the pattern is available. And I'm starting on a project for Universal Yarns today, which promises to be interesting. So the next few weeks should be exciting and full. I think it's time for more coffee...

What's on my needles? Speed!!

A slight digression from knitting today...

For the last few years, the Rocket Boys have been participating in a pinewood derby race. Each year, they have done various amounts of work on their own cars, and much of the painting, but all of the details have been left to "the art department". That would be me, of course. I have made Domo-kun and penguins out of fimo clay, also sci-fi -esque engines and weapons, etc. Every year I think that they are having all the fun and I really should enter my own car, but then get sidetracked. This was to be the last year they do it together, and my husband was also entering a vintage car of his own, so I decided it was time. I figured it had to represent me, so a knitting theme was the obvious choice, and I pondered all the possibilities until just a day before the race when the face-palm "Doh!" moment finally happened. The block had already been shaped, sanded and painted into the closest representation I could make of a knitting needle. How to work some yarn into the design was the detail eluding me until I finally realized that I could make it look as if there were actually knitting on the needle and make the WIP look like a fin on the "car". Or maybe like this it looks more like a rocket? It works, either way, in my opinion. There certainly was no other car in the race that looked anything like her. There she is on the starting line of the first heat...not the fastest car in the race, but it was a lot of fun.

Secret Project the Sequel

Secret Project #1 has been delivered to its destination, so now my focus is on Secret Project the Sequel. Sometimes it feels like I am the only person in the knittingverse who has NOT worked with any of the yarns from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, specifically the "Socks That Rock" line. When I was asked to use one of the Blue Moon yarns for an upcoming project, I chose the Socks That Rock Heavyweight, and have REALLY enjoyed working with it. The project in question as both lace and cables, and I felt it needed a fairly dense yarn, one without too much fluff. STR Heavyweight has been perfect - the stitches pop nicely, and the semisolid colorway has just enough variegation to be intriguing but not enough to distract from the stitch patterns. I'm really looking forward to showing off the completed project in a few months...

Ah, Seattle...

After 14 years of living in Seattle, My New England born-and-bred self still is mystified by what passes for winter here. Around the middle of January, the several inches of snow that fell over the course of a few days was reported in such dire tones by the national media that I had relatives calling and e-mailing every day to check on us. In fairness, a lot of people in the region did lose power because of trees falling on power lines, so I did feel pretty lucky that the biggest consequence for us was that the Rocket Boys got an extra week of school vacation, and I couldn't get up the big hill to my studio assistant work for Hazel Knits all week. But then as the snow started to melt I discovered daffodils had started coming up in my yard while Snowmageddon was at full strength. To me, that sums up winter in Seattle. Too bad spring doesn't actually start here until June...

This is what development looks like.

Something about the sight of this pile of mittens amused me... I've seen photos on Ravelry of a knitter's entire year's production of socks, but usually those feature socks knit from many different patterns. So this stack of mittens all knit from the same pattern, in different sizes and cuff options, struck me as funny. These are all prototypes for an upcoming pattern, which should go into test knitting in the next couple of weeks. This pattern was originally developed for a class at Serial Knitters in Kirkland, WA, with the goal of teaching a variety of skills in one small project. Called "Rose Hill Mitts", they feature mock cables, and an option to knit a decorative buttoned cuff or a plainer version with no cuff, and are written in 3 sizes to suit a wide range of knitters and their friends. Stay tuned...

New Year, Secret Project

Well, the project itself is secret for now, but I do need to rave about the yarn a little... String Theory Caper Aran is one of my favorite yarns to work with, and will be featured in two RocketBoy designs in 2012. In addition to the truly lovely String Theory colorways, the yarn itself is just luscious - 80% Merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon with wonderful drape and fantastic stitch definition. You can find it here: www.stringtheoryyarn.com Most of my designs over the last couple of years have used fingering or sport/DK yarn, so it's been fun to work with something a little heavier...

More on this and other projects soon...

Happy 2012!