Who is in the mood for drawing and painting?
Who wants to play with yarn and colour?
Imagine a fun and yarny colouring book experience: But with absolute freedom of abstraction.

If, like me, you are a bit bored of the usual motifs used in Fair Isle knitting, Norwegian colour-work or traditional embroidery throughout the world and want something you created by yourself, you can get inspiration from any shape or form around you - try to see the lines and surfaces in an abstract design.
There are so many different ways that colours can interact with each other that go beyond what we already see in knitting..
​..but I digress...
​let me start at the beginning:

​Now, by looking at the early 20th century perfume bottle, I had my answer:
​I allowed myself to get influenced by the delicate scrollwork pattern from the label design and played with it to create an interesting motif that also provided a gradient of colour, deliberately set up to go from light to dark. I'd like to think that you can still see a bit the influences of Art Deco and Japonesque elements that were the rage when the perfume was launched!

This pattern tries to explore stranded knitting by tackling the subject with a different approach:
Mitsouko wants to explore something a bit more experimental, large-scale and conceptual.
The idea is mostly influenced from abstract large scale paintings in general, while only the specific interpretation is drawn from the famous scrollwork pattern. 

You can knit this Mitsouko pattern as is and I have prepared charts that match three standard sizes to create these colour interactions with your yarn and colours of choice.
But if you’d like to go a bit further and be a bit experimental and unleash the abstract designer or graphic artist inside, I have also provided empty charts in three sizes for you to play with, without having to bother to do all the math or think about construction.

​This could be a design or drawing of your very own. You can customise this hat while getting an excuse to doodle… and get to unleash your (inner?) kid!

So how would this work? Well you can choose something you want to make as a pattern. Like me, you can allow yourself to be inspired by any form you find intriguing. You could blow up and digitise a photograph that has interesting colour interactions. You could take up crayons and have some fun. You can blow up a segment of a design you like or even a lace design and transform it into colour-work. You can also give the provided charts to your friend, child or loved one and have them come up with a colour design for a unique custom knit they have put their own creativity into.
And then you can knit their custom-motif up for the perfect gift... a project that came out of your very own creative collaboration.
You can use this as a fun experimental place to try out something new. Take a walk on the design side, or the fashion side and come up with a fresh take on your knit-work for a truly one-off hat nobody else has – this way, you are the master of your project.

...If on the other hand you prefer taking the safe route and also don't like the spirals of the original Mitsouko? Then, well... then Mitsouko's Lover is for you...  

Mitsouko's Lover is the cheeky name of the "minimal and simple" striped version which is probably more unisex and easy to wear than Mitsouko, although this all depends on personal style anyway. For this version I tried the Ovelha Negra Victoria yarn for the first time and it really is an absolute joy to work with!

The longer ribbing and slightly larger body of the actual shape of all versions can be worn slouchy or tucked in for a more elegant beanie effect. You get a dense and warm hat, that is still light and easy to wear and to take with you, since it is knitted in fingering weight yarn.

Find the pattern on this site or go to ravelry.
(Until midnight of 23 of January 2018 (CEST), you automatically get a 20% discount)​
Also stay tuned to find out about some news out of Italy.... a surprise collaboration with Unfilodi knit house that will interest all Italian speaking friends and many more...

Since the whole hat pattern is so adjustable and open to personalisation, it is the perfect project to have a fun and interactive KAL together with other colour-drawing-exploring knitters - or to get some help in deciding on how to combine one's own ideas of design, motif and colour - or to just show off different versions from clean-cut minimalism to totally out there, baroque styling!
Check out the ColourOutsideTheLines knit-along (or KAL in knitter's terminology) to find out more...

Click on the Banner above to open up the KAL page and participate in this fun game!

HOSE WITHOUT HEELS
"Socks and stockings are often knitted straight and without heels, the foot finding its own heel by adjustment. This stocking can be very uncomfortable at the instep unless knitted correctly, and then it is as comfortable as any other, the best fit being derived in Spiral Ribbing.
A stocking knitted in this manner is adjusted on the foot by twisting it round until the ribbing appears straight. The heel then takes its position with comfort, and the instep is smooth and smart. Bed-socks made in this manner remain in position all night."

So Mary proposes a scientific, traditional method for an automatic-adjustment-sock, constructed like a Helix that adapts to the shape of the ankle, foot and heel and that does not budge at all, if put on correctly...

Almost 80 years later our funnily shaped Spiral Sock pattern differs with a contemporary toe-up construction from it's grandpa version and features a fun, striped contrast toe as also a mirrored stitch pattern. It also provides you with all the needed calculation for 6 different sizes. 

​I was immediately smitten with this cool idea and had to try it out to see for myself if it works or not (while adapting it to my favourite toe-up method and play around with colours and the stitch pattern). I loved the result so much, that I had to make my notes on my adaptions available to you guys. 
And since the smart idea was not originally mine, but an old tradition as Mary says herself, I found that it would only be fair to offer my updated version for all my fellow beginner / curious or maybe just simply “lazy” sock-knitters out there as a gift for the Holidays!

This smart sock needs to be tried out by as many needles as possible, because:
➤ It really is the perfect beginner sock, since there simply is no heel to construct at all!
➤ It can be worked as a perfect gift for a person which cannot try the sock on while it is knitted: There is no heel - so no specific foot length we need to know about, while the stitch pattern makes for a very elastic width, which means that an approximate guess on size might be enough for a perfectly fitting sock! Add to this the fact, that everybody is impressed with magical tricks ...and the scientific background will immediately elevate this sock to "cool gift" level!
➤ The toe-up version allows for us to use up nearly any amount of yarn, by just halving the weight for each sock.
➤ And then, after knitting the toe, we work the same, super easy repetition of a stitch pattern: So this is a wonderful project when mindless knitting is needed: not much can be done wrong in this sock.
➤ The only thing that might need adjustment is the width for a smaller or larger sock (although 6 sizes are already included in the pattern!) - it is very easy to work any adjustment in our toe up construction.
➤ And it is really quite hard to outgrow this sock, even for quickly growing children feet!

Finally and because of all the above features, this project is the perfect introduction to sock knitting for any beginner or even advanced knitter that is afraid of knitting a sock.

Gilda... The film Rita Hayworth was most famous for.
The 1946 Hollywood drama with this one immortal scene: Featuring a dancing and singing, alluring Gilda and one looong glove!

Now my take on Gilda has not much in common with the sleek and provocative, red-haired pin-up Rita... But it features long fingerless gloves too, and I would love to think that it would be Rita's choice for a Gilda-esque casual and chill out day in autumn or winter...
... the dancing and singing is optional, of course!

Finally the extra large stripes give the whole design a more youthful and modern take, while tiny accent stripe allow for a fun play with colour.

To further enhance the striping of this design, different material has been chosen, so as to have a slightly mat fabric for the patterned stripes and a smoother one for the Stockinette sections. Both yarns are of light fingering weight and very affordable, while offering a vast choice of colours and extremely good quality: Mabel & Ivy Supersoft and Mabel & Ivy Coast yarn.

The producer of the Mabel&Ivy label, Tangled Yarn, are offering kits for this pattern, which include all the yarn you’ll need to knit your sweater (with the option to purchase the needed amount of yarn - with or without arm-warmers - to complete the look)!
The GILDA Kits are available on the tangled-yarn site for a limited time: Until October 20th 2016.

There is a new bug in town and it's a fun little cardigan with lots of special details!

I have been working on this design since last fall and I am so happy that finally I can share it here with you. There was a lot of thought put into the whole coordination of all the different aspects, and if you like I can tell you some things about them:
We have a prominent textured bottom half that features a fairly easy stitch pattern to give an effect that is reminiscent of old brocade, which I absolutely love. 
Then there are the folds of course - two smaller ones at the front and one that draws all the attention at the back side. These are held in place without distortion by a contrast coloured slip-stitch band right above them and they are responsible for the quirky shape, since they drape at all the right places and counterbalance the fitted top section with instant ample volume.

It was the shape of the lower part of the body that made me think of colourful scaraboid wings and surprisingly I found that they looked good on human bodies, too!
Of course there were some knitters that were a little afraid that it might not look as good on their larger sized projects, but since I like to take these differences in body shapes in account for the larger sizes (as far as this is possible in standard sizing and pattern writing), I was able to reassure most of them. We discussed that a darker colour at the bottom part (or a single colour at both top and bottom sections) can result in a slimmer looking version. Further the length of the cardigan would be crucial to achieve a different style, as also the choice of the yarn quality of course, since a drapier yarn falls differently than a stiffer one.

​Shetland is a rustic and matt yarn, that will soften after washing and bloom nicely to fill any possible gaps in your knitting. This makes it quite suitable for stranded knitting, fair isle or other colour-work.
It is available in 22 beautiful colours. Most of them do have a subtle heathered quality that looks great in simple stocking stitch, too.

My fancy-lacy-fun socks were started ages ago... and I found them in a forgotten project bag last month. As it happens so often, I fell in love with the stitch pattern all over again and finished them in no time... and even worked a second pair since.
I thought that you might like them too, so I wanted to share this little sock with you.
Mind you, it's not a complete pattern with multiple sizes. It's a recipe style thing - where you get the numbers for a European size 38 foot and some pointers on how to adapt the pattern for another size.
I hope that you like it!

You can find the ShellSocks recipe/pattern for online viewing by clicking here 
(I am sorry that there is no option to download the PDF at this time, just the possibility to read it via the blog. Free patterns get pirated and sold quite often it seems and I wouldn't like this to happen).
​Make sure to check on the tips below before you start:

The STITCH PATTERN featured in this sock design is having yarn-overs before a purl stitch and before a knit stitch. Often you find that the yarn overs that are worked before the purl stitch end up to be much bigger in size than their sisters before the knit st and that results in an uneven lace fabric.
There are two ways to remedy that, depending on the look you like:

1. if you like small yo holes on both sides, then work the yo before the knit stitch as usual (from front to back) and the yo before the purl stitch from back to front. This will result in a twisted yo, that needs to be worked tbl in the next rnd.
2. if you like larger yo holes on both sides of the decreases (something I prefer for my socks, to make the lace design pop out more), then work both yo’s normally (from front to back), only give some extra slack to the ones before the knit stitch. You can achieve this by pulling the already worked yo a little bit forward with your index finger, while working the knit stitch.

Choose the best option depending on your own knitting style (if you are a tight or loose knitter) - or try both out to see what suits you best.

As you probably know already, I always like to design simple stitch patterns that are easy to memorise and where one can quickly find back into the repeat, even after having left the project quite urgently in the middle of the row, repeat or stitch pattern.

In this pattern I use my favourite HEEL CONSTRUCTION that I like best in terms of fit and which is fairly quick to do: A gusseted short row heel, worked with german short rows.

The Shell stitch pattern has double decreases that tend to pull upwards and that can warp the stocking stitch stripes at the heel. This is why we end on the patterned row, just before working the heel. That way, when resuming working all around in pattern at the leg again, we continue with knit rows over the heel section in the next rnds, to avoid distortion on the striped heel.
This tip can be handy in all sock patterns with similar lace pattern repeats: You might want to make sure that the knit rnds of a stitch pattern (one that has stocking stitch rows in between decrease/yarn over rows) will be positioned right above the heel section.

Finally if you need more tips on AUGMENTING SIZE for this recipe, you can check out the notes on the second pair I knitted for my mum in size 39 here on my ravelry project notes here.

It's been a year now that my cardigan pattern MarlOn was released in the wonderful amirisu winter 2015 issue! The gorgeous Japanese knitting magazine gave me back the rights to the pattern just recently and so it was able to join it's sisters here on my blog. 
It is still available through ravelry of course - I just changed the layout of the English PDF pattern to the "rililie-approved-version" you all know (with yoke charts and so on).
The Japanese translation remains in the original amirisu layout though, since I wouldn't dare to touch it. Yes, my Japanese is non-existant... and sadly will remain so for quite some time!

The first couple, narrower stripes are quite at home on the delicate collarbone-area while they progressively get "fatter" towards  the larger neck backside, as you can see above.

And then there is all this play with using denser and spaced out, fine and larger stripes to enhance the feminine body of an otherwise classic cardigan shape. This is all achieved by following a specific marled sequence and the use of 2 strands of yarn throughout.
"MarlOn" is all about having fun in choosing one's very own, unique colouring!

(and no, I haven't cut my hair - these are all pictures from when I finished the cardigan 2 years ago... just before sending it away from home, to far away Japan!)

An immense thank you to the lovely girls at amirisu for the excellent collaboration!
Starting today, you can find the pattern PDF in English and Japanese for direct download, either here on this site, or as before on ravelry.

I am sure that you all have experienced similar indecisiveness when knitting your own garment:
Do I want a pullover or a cardigan?
Will I go for long or cropped?
Boxy fit or siren-style waist shaping?
Long or short sleeves???

I just wasn't able to choose which length I preferred, since the sleeves do change the whole look of a garment so much. I couldn't decide if I wanted to counterbalance the wider bands of the body with playful short sleeve-cuffs in the same colour - or if I wanted to enhance the texture of the shoulder stitch pattern by adding a longer sleeve. One that would end with a new take on the body stripes without really copying them...

The result is a pattern that proposes both versions - longer, ¾ sleeves or short ones - so that I am leaving you guys to answer this (oh, so very hard) question for me!
Choose what you like best (or what your climate is suggesting to you) and go for either the fun short or the sophisticated ¾ length.

The detail I love most in this design though, is the textured slip-stitch pattern on the shoulders and sleeves. It really is a very simple stitch and easy to memorize, but with such an interesting result when paired with classic (or not so classic) stripes!

I am totally late for this post - but I wanted to share with you the lovely amirisu winter 2015 issue that arrived early January in my mail. 
I had the incredible honour to participate with a cardigan pattern of mine, called MarlOn. 

In this lovely issue 6 you can find six other beautiful patterns, from talented designers like Hiroko Fukatsu, Bristol Ivy, Thea Colman, Amy Christoffers, Rie and Claudia Eisenkolb.
And there are great articles to read too: like a very interesting interview with Madeline Tosh's Amy Hendrix, an other one about a technique called "Weaving with Nature", a "Report" of Germany and an ongoing series explaining Japanese Patterns!

For my own cardigan I had fun playing around with the combination of two strands in sligthly different hues, to achieve something like a hand-dyed effect and to be able to gradually change the colours of the stripes, so as to enhance the different sized striping in some sections.
What interested me most while designing this piece was to try to emulate the female body shape with the use of horizontal striping and slight colour-changes.
It’s a top down seamless knit (as I like them most) and I am especially happy with how the short rows at the very top of the yoke produce larger stripes at the back while keeping them small and delicate at the front of the shoulder.

You can find the magazine here on ravelry to download digitally - or here on the amirisu shop for a “real” physical copy of the magazine (and together with this magazine version you even get a coupon for the digital one, too).
And there is a KAL just starting in the amirisu-ravelry group here! So, if you would like to have some company while knitting this pattern you can post there. I will pop in from time to time myself to answer questions and to see what everybody is knitting up.

I also have gotten quite a lot of yarn in the last month! So I would like to share some pictures of my goodies: Take a look at the beautiful hand-dyed 100% merino wool I got from Nice & Knit!!!
The small family business is producing high quality yarn for some years now and the two sisters, Kara and Katie are really passionate about everything that has to do with fibre and colour. 
Something that is immediately visible upon opening the parcel...

The yarn is incredibly soft and bouncy (just like one would expect from a perfect pure merino) and the sport weight that I have chosen, is really showing the stitches wonderfully when knitted up. Even before blocking they looked even and firm.
What I like most with this yarn is the range of hues it has: from very light and faded to extremely saturated… it’s all there in the same skein! Especially the blue colourway (Nantucket) reminds me of a loved pair of denim, that you just don’t want to take off - ever! 
The brown (Nutmeg) on the other hand is it's perfect partner, since it strengthens the blue/purple nuances and makes them even more vivid.

There is a new cardigan pattern out and about - The BeauB, an ample piece which showcases subtle and understated features with it’s textured striping where the material itself becomes the focus, a simple stitch pattern on neckband, hem and pockets and lots of small decorative finishing details.

Although he is more of a men's wear fashion icon, he still fascinates me in regards to attitude and design-philosophy (and also because of his wit, but that's a totally different subject), so that I wanted to make him "my" hero for one of my own designs.

In my cardigan, the sloped raglan shoulder was meant to give a natural looking and well fitting shape to the yoke, while a neckband with a fuller volume at the top allows for generous draping at the patterned, reversible neckline and thus following Beau's spirit of enhancing this area. The subtle stitch pattern is repeated at hem, pockets and cuffs, which feature a twisted i-cord edging that is easy to make but with more visual interest than a simple edging.

The extra long sleeves gradually become transparent and flow into a delicate repetition of the stitch pattern in their lower part. As the neckband, they can be worn folded up too, to show the reverse side of the simple knit/purl stitch pattern.
The whole cardigan is worked seamlessly from the top down in subtle striping, by knitting with two strands of yarn (held together or alone) in sequence to form the stripes, so that we get more of a discreet textured striping than a coloured one. This can of course be worked with a bigger visual impact, if the thinner yarn is knitted in a contrasting colour and not in the same as in my own project shown here.

This simple cowl has an elongated front piece to keep the décolleté warm and cozy without adding bulk to the back side of the neck. It is a perfect accessory for collarless jackets and open front cardigans: like a turtle neck that can be taken off indoors.

You can buy both the BeauB and MissBrummell here on this site, or go over to ravelry to check them out and take a look at the lovely projects of other knitters.

I hope you like them and I wish you all a wonderful and inspiring New Year!!!

...is finally published!!!

I have been working on this baby since April! But with the workshop and my stay in Berlin for the whole of May and some other things that kept popping up, this pattern really took a long time to get finally out there!

I have to admit that I am very pleased with the SpliTTop! It has so many elements that make it quite unique (at least in my book). A lot of new stuff in terms of seamless techniques, that I discovered while experimenting with yarn & needles in my living-room (all of which are shown step by step in photo-tutorials as usual) and an unusual construction that allows for a (hopefully) very fun project and beautiful finished garment!