Happy Crafting to all!!!!!!

 

Happy Crafting to you all!!!

I cannot believe it; we are almost halfway through January. I am not sure what are your New Year resolutions, but one of mine is actually to be more involved and present in the knitting world. Trying to release more of the knitting patterns that have been sitting on my finished pile for weeks and months and also host another toy mystery KAL. The toy mystery KAL started with the first clue released on January 1st and the second clue on Saturday, January 10th. There is the third clue coming up this Saturday, January 17th and the final pattern for Lola will be released on January 25th. Check it out, you still have time to join the mystery KAL or wait and make your Lola at the end of January. Link to the pattern is below:

My designer page

I have also updated my favorite wrap pattern: Aiofe Wrap with a version for Bulky weight yarn. Now the pattern offers two yarn weights: DK and Bulky. 

I hope to add more patterns during this year. Or you can check out my previously published patterns, there are plenty to choose from. Stay tuned and keep on crafting!

Thank you for visiting. 

The Joy of Creating....

 

After a long time of not really knitting, I have been picking up the knitting needles more frequently and actually working on some knitting projects. First, it was my contracted work that needed to be finished and then it's the knitted toys for this year classroom. But over the past weekend, when I was stuck home being sick and not able to do much, I picked up the strange glow in the dark yarn by Lions Brand and decided to knit something utterly joyful. Few years back, when I created the knitting pattern for a dog's cowl, human infinity scarf and a hat for I Like Knitting Magazine, I wanted to make a cowl for my dog. He already owns a pillow with his name, so why not to create a cowl with his name.

There was a snowstorm over the weekend, and being sick as well, I had plenty of time to knit for fun. First, I needed to calculate the number of stitches I had to cast on, so I could knit his name, and the paw prints as well. Once I have figured that out, I started. It took me about six hours of knitting, but here is the finished cowl. My dog is fine with wearing the cowl on his daily walks.  It even glows in the dark, once you use a flashlight and charge the glow in the dark yarn. 

I have a one more skein of the glow in the dark yarn, and I will create something else with it. Stay tuned for the next adventure, visit my website Stanascrittersetc website or follow me on Instagram Stanascrittersetc. 

Thank you for visiting.

Knitted Frogs in a Sweater Project

 

I have been busy with a really fun project over the last few months. Here is a full class photo of 21 frogs in sweaters with a larger frog as a teacher. Last year when I started to work full time in the education field, I was thinking about knitting a little toy for every child in the classroom. Somehow things didn't work out as by the end of the school year I had five frogs finished. So, last year the children each got a new book and a bookmark with their picture holding their favorite book. I thought of trying to knit the toys for each child this year, and I made a frog here and there, using up scrap yarn from previous projects. Somewhere around the beginning of January I realized that I only needed to knit 3 frogs each month for the next five months in order to have a whole classroom. I challenged myself and in early January I started to really work on this fun knitting project. I have finished ahead of schedule and the frogs are ready to be given away at the end of this school year.  I am not sure if I will do another knitting project like this next year, perhaps completely different toys or maybe something else. 

At the moment I have returned to my sketches for the next toy mystery Knit-a -long. Stay tuned for the next fun toy mystery KAL. These knitted frogs were actually our last year toy mystery KAL. 

The pattern is Fran and you can find it in all places that my knitting patterns are available.

Thank you for visiting.

One stitch at time....

     At the end of April, I had everything ready for the next toy mystery KAL. I only needed few more pictures of work in progress to show what the toy looks after each clue during the mystery KAL. Then something unexpected happened in our lives and I am still trying to figure out the next step. Life goes on and I will be back with the toy mystery KAL in second half of the summer, but I need few more weeks of time to allow me to process my grief. 

Be kind to each other. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, yet full of moments of joy. 

Thank you for visiting.

All the best....

 

to you all, who continue to read my blog throughout all those years, or who stopped by to check out my free knitting patterns. I hope that your year of 2022 has been a good one and you are going to have pleasant and safe last days of this year. 

As another year is coming to an end, I look back to what I have accomplished as a knitwear designer. When I started this blog in March 2011, I didn't know what to expect and where my knitting journey will take me. It has been eleven years since I published my first knitting pattern. Although it didn't turn to be my full-time profession, I still continue to create and publish knitting patterns. As I mentioned in my newsletter, I am creating at a slower pace than before. Life is full of surprises. 

 

I hope to create another toy mystery Knit-a-long for the beginning of the next year, and also some new wearable items as well. In the meantime, you can still browse my previously published 320 knitting patterns and I hope that it will inspire you to keep on knitting, one stitch at time. 

All the best for the New Year!

Thank you for visiting and reading.

Life as a work in progress.....

 

These two images are my favorites, they remind me that life is filled mostly with little things that make our day-to-day lives worth living. We may not see them or appreciate them at the moment, but when we look back at them, they give us a warm feeling of accomplishment, happiness and joy. 

Sometimes our lives get tangled up and we have to go through periods of difficulties. At times like these it's good to look back and appreciate those little moments that brought us joy. I just went on a trip through the memory line by looking through the older blog posts, especially those that have the tag #life 

Looking through them made me appreciate everything that I have accomplished so far and especially for being still able to experience those small moments and live. When I wrote this blog post named Reflections it was about a year after I had my second episode of DVT and first PE. Since then, things go up and down, there are periods of calm and my leg is fine, and then something triggers it, and my leg acts up and I am left in a whirlwind of pain and inability to function as a healthy person. It is rather strange feeling of being totally without control and waiting things out, by following the doctors' orders and hope for the best. This is where knitting comes in hand, as it allows me to concentrate on something different, something that I enjoy and brings me and those who appreciate my knitting creations joy. 

 And so in the world of knitting joy I am happy to announce that I had several knitting patterns published in the past few weeks or months. Below are links to these knitting patterns on Ravelry, they are also available on Knitpicks website, and some will be a part of the new upcoming book: 60 Quick Knit Gifts for Babies, published by Sixth&Spring Books.

Rabbit toy

Striped Baby Blanket

Pencil Jar Cozy

Luvbot 

Making the Gradient Blanket

photo by I Like Knitting

Also, after six months exclusivity period my Helena Cable Cardigan, originally published in February issue of I Like Knitting Magazine and on their website is now available as Ravelry download and will be at some point available on Lovecraft and Payhip.

Last time I was home sick and recovering I created a free pattern code for the readers of my blog. It was overwhelming. This time I offer a free knitting pattern to all new subscribers to my newsletter: Stana's Critters Etc and they do receive exclusive coupons in every newsletter I sent out. 

If you don't want to comit to subscribe to the newsletter but would like to have some discount, I offer you a 20% off from any of my self-published knitting patterns, just use the coupon code blog from now until August 31st, 2022 EST midnight. 

Thank you for reading.

New Patterns and more

 

In my blog post from September 2020 (read here) I talked about how my love for knitting and creating started. You can see a photo of my first finished sweater, and in some way my first design of a sweater, even though it was created only to fit me, and I never dreamed of becoming a knitwear designer at that time. 

photo by I Like Knitting

This is my 304th knitting pattern, Helena Cable Cardigan published in February issue of I Like Knitting magazine. The pattern is free for the subscribers. 

link here to the I Like Knitting website

Helena Cable Cardigan on Ravelry

Update on Helena Cable Cardigan

photo by I Like Knitting

For the pictured sample I have use the Cascade Yarns Aereo Tweed in Marine colorwork. It's a snuggly mix of Merino and Baby Alpaca yarn that was a pleasure to work with. 

Two of my previously published patterns are now available as Ravelry downloads and will be shortly also on Lovecraft website and in my Payhip store.  See pictures bellow of the Cuddly Cat Pillow a whimsical pillow and Brie's Cowl an introductory brioche technique in the rounds.

photo by Interweave Knits

photo by Knitpicks

Also, during the last year, I had few more patterns published by I Like Knitting: 

First in August 2021 Issue two patterns for pillows:

Zion Canyon Pillows on Ravelry

Zion Grotto Pillows on Ravelry

photo by I Like Knitting

In September 2021 Issue it was a Raven Plaid Poncho.

 Raven Plaid Poncho on Ravelry.

photo by I Like Knitting

Once the rights to these patterns are reverted back to me, I will add them as PDF files to Ravelry, also to Lovecraft, and Payhip.

My 305th published knitting pattern is a whimsical instant gratification project named Monogram Gift Heart.

At the moment the pattern is available as Ravelry download, and will be added to Lovecraft, Payhip and Knitpicks website. The pattern is written for variety of yarn weights, from fingering all the way to bulky, and has charts for all the letters of the alphabet, a paw print and a written-out direction on how to knit the hearts. It is a perfect project for those long gloomy and cold days as it will brighten up your day as you work on the monogram heart, and it will definitively bring a smile to anyone who will receive this little gift heart. You can play with different letters, creating words and messages.

Happy Knitting.

Thank you for visiting.

A year of knitting...

 

This is a picture of a ball of scrap yarn from my last year of knitting. I started this ball last January. I am not sure what I will do with this scrap yarn. Previously I have made a cowl, an infinity scarf, and a pillowcase. The links to the patterns are provided above and below you can see the finished projects. They all used the tiny pieces of yarn that usually gets discarded as too small for anything. I collect them and tie them together with a knot and when there is enough to do something I pick a project and start knitting. I am not sure yet what I will do with the ball of scrap from my year of knitting. I have yet to decided it. In a way these scraptastic projects are also a little knitting diary, as when I look at them, I can remember what projects I was working on, one stitch at time. 

There are so many of my patterns that I have not mentioned here on my blog, that were published over the past year, including the latest knitting pattern for the Helena Cable Cardigan in February issue of I Like Knitting. I hope to catch up on that over the next month or so. 

Stay safe, healthy and enjoy the work in progress one stitch at time.

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!!

 

 I hope that everyone who have visited and will stop by to visit my small corner of the Internet will have a magical Holidays and an even better Happy New Year!

    I have been extremely busy over the past two months with few special requests knitting projects. I cannot share the pictures yet as these knitting projects are waiting for the right time to be opened by their recipients. I will write a blog post all about those toys after the Holidays. 

    There are also some exciting new patterns in the works that will be published during the next year, starting with the first pattern coming out in January 2022. 

I also plan to work on some independent work and maybe even have another toy mystery knit-a-long early next year.

Stay safe, healthy and enjoy your Holidays. 

Thank you for visiting.

September is here...

 

...and there is a Knit-a-long for the Farmer's Market hosted in my group on Ravelry or anywhere you happen to be knitting. It's just for fun, a toy to give to someone, and also perfect project to use up all those remnants of yarn from your stash. 

In this blog post you can find the links to the pattern where you can purchase it:

Farmer's Market

In the picture bellow you see a behind the scenes when I was working on the Voyager Sweater few years back.

See the blog post about the sweater here: Voyager Sweater 

Over the past few months I have been busy with work that has yet to be published by a variety of third parties, or has been published and I have not had time to post about these projects, yet. At the moment I am busy with two other projects that will be published at some point in the future and I don't have as much time as I wish to work on my independent work in the meantime. 

Sometime this month I hope to send out my first newsletter, for which you can subscribe on my website: 

https://stanascrittersetc.com/

In the meantime, thank you for visiting and reading my blog. 

Farmer's Market

 

Farmer’s Market is a knitted version of our shopping bag filled with fruits and vegetables bought at a local farmer’s market. The fruits and vegetables are nicely stored in the knitted shopping bag. 

You can buy the knitting pattern in my Payhip store: Farmer's Market 

or in my Ravelry store: Farmer's Market

or by clicking on this button:  

In the picture bellow you can see all of the fruits, vegetables that are in the bag.

The pictured sample uses Knitpicks's Brava Mini Pack in Jewel colorway. In the picture bellow you can see that there are still plenty of leftover yarn from that Mini Pack. 

All of the items in the bag use small amount of yarn and are ideal for using up scrap yarn.

Here is the list of the fruits and vegetables in the bag:

Finished Measurements:
Shopping bag 9.5” wide x 10.5” high; handles 27” long
Fruits and Vegetables:
Apple 3” diameter
Beet 5” long
Blackberry 1.5” long
Blueberry 1.25” diameter
Carrot 7.5” long, including the leaves
Cherry 1.25” diameter
Cucumber 5.5” long
Eggplant 8” long
Grapes 5.5” long
Pear 5.5” long, 3” diameter at widest point
Plum 2” diameter
Pumpkin 3.25” diameter
Raspberry 1.5” long
Strawberry 1.25” diameter
Swiss Chard 5.75” long
Tomato 2.75” diameter

Thank you for reading and visiting.

New Year , a bright new beginning...

 

What a year we have left behind. It will not be forgotten easily. I do not know what the New Year has in store for us, or what the future is going to be like. I can only hope and wish for more good days than the bad days and take each day one step at a time, and one breath at a time. This image, that I have taken two years ago, reminds me of the feelings I have about the past year and the year ahead. I do not know what is awaiting for me or anyone else ahead, and I know that sometimes it is not easy to continue for it just may seem to be too hard to go on and climb another step. But I also see the beauty that is visible only if we allow ourselves to see it. 

Take one day at a time, one step at a time, one breath at a time. 

 I wish and hope that we all will be able to see the light even in the darkness. 

Bellow is a picture of my grandmother's yarn.  It may look like a bunch of leftovers and discarded old yarn, but in the second picture you can see that even these leftovers can be turned into something new and positive. It just takes time and it is done one stitch at a time.

Take it easy, be kind, and start small. One stitch at a time will in the end create something new. 

We will have a toy mystery KAL starting soon. More details will be in my next blog post. 

Stay safe and healthy. Thank you for reading.

Knitting Pattern for Scraptastic Pillow

 Do you remember my previous Scraptastic Projects?

Pictured are Scraptastic Cowl and Scraptastic Scarf.

 I have been collecting all those tiny scraps of yarn from other projects and tight them together and create a ball of yarn. This ball of scrap yarn is so colorful and random. I have to admit the Scraptastic Scarf is my favorite scarf to wear through the winter months. 

After creating the Scraptastic Scarf and Scraptastic Cowl I was thinking about my next Scraptastic Project while I was collecting the tiny scraps of yarn. In the end I decided to make a pillow case. As always with the scrap yarn projects it takes time to get enough scrap yarn for the whole project. With this pillow case I decided to use up even small remnants of yarn skeins that has been collecting for some time. Sometimes I would find these remnants useful in knitting toys, but mostly these small remnants were too small to use for the toys. This is the beginning of Scraptastic Pillow Case. 

As time went on I would add few rounds here and there whenever I had some yarn leftover from another knitting project. As you can see from the picture bellow, the dog approved it as a pillow for one of his naps. 

Today I finished the Pillow case, added zipper to the CO edge and here you can see the wrong side of the pillow with all those knotted yarns.

Scraptastic Pillow

written by Stana D. S.

Finished Measurements: 18" (46 cm) [20" (51 cm), 22'(56 cm), 24" (61 cm), 26" (66 cm), 28" (72 cm)] Square. Pictured pillow sample is 28" (72 cm) Square.

Material: Scrap Yarn from other knitting projects, preferably in similar weight. If using thinner yarn such as fingering weight, double the yarn. This is a fantastic project for all those tiny leftovers and small pieces of yarn that otherwise might be thrown out.

Gauge: 16 sts & 26 rows = 4" (10 cm) in double moss stitch.

Recommended Needle Size: Circular Needles US 7/4.5 mm.

Notions: Yarn needle, scissors, zipper 18" (46 cm) [20" (51 cm), 22" (56 cm), 24" (61 cm), 26" (66 cm), 28" (72 cm)] long. Pillow case insert 18" (46 cm) [20" (51 cm), 22" (56 cm), 24" (61 cm), 26" (66 cm), 28" (72 cm)] large.

Abbreviations:
K = Knit
P = Purl
CO = Cast on
BO = Bind Off
St, sts = stitch, stitches

Pattern Notes:
This Scraptastic Pillow is knit in the rounds in double moss stitch pattern, using whatever scraps of yarn you have from other knitting projects. All the ends are conveniently hidden inside this pillow case. The zipper is sewn to the CO edge. The top of the pillow is BO with 3 Needle Bind Off.

Double Moss Stitch Pattern (worked in the round, over multiple of 4 sts):
Rnds 1 - 2: K2, P2.
Rnds 3 - 4: P2, K2.
Repeat Rnds 1 - 4 for the pattern.

Directions:
CO 144 (160, 176, 192, 208, 224) sts. Place the stitch marker, and begin working in the round, being careful not to twist the sts.
Work in the Double Moss Stitch Pattern using the various scraps of yarn in similar weight, connecting the scraps with a knot, and making sure the knots are all on one side.
Work in the pattern until you reach the desired length of the square pillow. 
Make sure that all of the knots are on one side of your work. 

Turn the work inside out and BO using the 3 Needle BO technique.

Finishing:

Pin the zipper to the CO edge and sew the zipper to the CO edge.

Insert the pillow.

Here is a link to my picture tutorial for attaching zippers.

Zipper Attaching Tutorial

Thank you for visiting. 

September 2020 - Knitting Patterns

 Somehow this month has been an amazing time for me as a knitwear designer. I am feeling like a real knitwear designer with work published by several third parties. See the list and pictures at the end of this blog post.

First let's start with a little bit of history.

This is my first finished knitting project that I remember. I recall that I did a lot of crochet projects prior to this sweater, but this is my first for so many things. I remember the trip to formal East Germany, a town now called Chemnitz. At that time it was named Karl-Marx-Stadt. We went to a Department Store and I picked up the yarn for this sweater and another sweater. I created the pattern, though I didn't know that it was a pattern that I created. I just draw a picture and calculated the number of stitches and rows based on a small swatch that I knitted. I also remember that I did not know how to cast on. My mom helped me by casting on the stitches. I knitted the sweater in four pieces, in three colors using an intarsia technique. At that time I did not know that you need to wrap the yarn around each other. This actually created a small holes around the V shape where the yarn was changing. These small holes were not on the sleeves. By then I learned that the yarn has to be wrapped around each other. When I was wearing the sweater people were asking me how did I created the pattern of holes perfectly placed along the color change on front and back of the sweater. My grandmother helped me to sew the finished pieces and knitted the crew neck edge around the neck opening. I loved that sweater and was wearing it a lot. I do not have it anymore. I do not know what have happened to the sweater. We might have unravel it to use the yarn again. This is how my love for knitting started. 

After years of knitting, in 2011 I tiptoed into a knitting pattern writing.

My first published knitting pattern was for the Apples in May 2011. The link to this free pattern is here:

Apples

My first knitting pattern published by a third party was for Snowballs, in January 2012. The pattern was originally published by Petite Purls, In Issue 11, Winter. It is available as a free pattern. Link here:

Snowballs

And so it continued for the past nine years. Creating, sketching, knitting samples, making notes, writing patterns, editing, sending out my ideas to submission calls and more of knitting, creating, editing, and writing. As of today I have either independently or through a third parties published 279 patterns.

The list of my Knitting Patterns on my blog or on Ravelry with pictures My Knitting Patterns.

This month eight of my knitting patterns were published.

Independent work is Meg and School of Fish

In October Issue of I Like Knitting Magazine are: 

Pawsome-Hat  to complete the Paw-some Dog Cowl and Human Scarf 

A set of Spotted Around Hat and Spotted Around Scarf

and Harvest Poncho

All the photos of these four patterns are by I Like Knitting

Brunelli Wrap was published in October Issue of Knotions Magazine.

photo by Kelli Nuss for Knotions Magazine. 

Misty Cowl was published by Knitpicks in the new textured collection titled Pathways. 

photo by Knitpicks.

Cuddly Cat Pillow is the last pattern that was published by Interweave Knits in their Gifts 2020 Issue magazine.

photo by Interweave Knits 

I hope to continue with creating more knitting patterns in the future for some time.

As for the rest of this year, I have an e-book project, that I started to work on last winter and slowly it started to take shape over the months of pandemic and staying home. This collection of small knitting projects will be released over the next three months. These small projects are all using small amount of yarn that I had home from a various previous knitting projects. They are all a fantastic, funky, fast and instant gratification giftable items for almost everyone. 

More on this project is coming up over the next three months. Just to give you a little sneak preview... if you look closely into my knitting bag in this picture, few of those critters are peaking out.

Thank you for reading and for visiting.