Krumeluuri

Inspiration strikes often, a stroke of genius is more rare. Some times you get lucky and get both at the same time.

What: Krumeluuri / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.25 mm

From: Vuonue Wilhelmi + Louhittaren Luola Väinämöinen, 77+45 g

So this is what happened: I was hosting my Tea Time on Instagram and I always ask my followers what knits they are wearing. Sanni said she was wearing knee-high brioche socks made from Finnsheep wool and they sounded delicious! I wanted a pair for myself.

Except that it wasn't that simple. You see, the socks she had made had brioche only on the legs, and just basic brioche with no tricks. If you've been following me for a while you'll know that I always have add a trick or two.

So I had the idea that I would work two-color brioche lace on the legs. I could use the same brioche pattern as on my Vieno dress. It's so easy to make brioche look extra stunning with simple increases and decreases.

But then, I thought what if I were to continue the brioche lace on the instep as regular, non-brioche one-color lace. But why stop there? Couldn't I just continue the brioche lace with just one color? And then, I had a master stroke idea of how I could actually continue the two-color brioche lace on the instep while working one-color stockinette stitch on the sole. I couldn't cast on fast enough. I had to find out if my idea could work in practice.

And so Krumeluuri socks came to be. They're worked cuff-down. The socks start off with a tall twisted rib. Then you get to enjoy two-color brioche lace all the way to the ankle. There are also a couple calf decreases to shape the socks. 

Once you reach the heel, that's when the trickery starts. I wouldn't say these are difficult to make but I do recommend you know your brioche before casting on so you can easily follow where you're at. The feet are worked with knitting magic that allows for two-color brioche lace on the sole and one-color stockinette stitch on the sole with no floats to carry at the WS. You will need to slip stitches back and forth - although, if you switch to dpns at this point instead of magic loop you can get rid of slipping altogether. 

I was super happy to find out my grand idea worked. Once I got to the toe, I realized the brioche on the instep stretched much further than the stockinette stitch sole but even that was easily fixed: the toe decreases are worked with short rows so that only the sole grows longer. 

My brain loved designing and knitting these socks so much that I've already cast on for a second pair. And what would be better than a little exercise for both the brain and the hands while ending up with a most beautiful pair of knee-highs? 

You can find the pattern on my webshop, Ravelry and PayHip. Use the code TRICKERY to get 15% discount through December 6th.

Limelight

Usually, designing starts with an inspiration - usually. But sometimes, a friend needs your help and you might have to design something very specific. That happened to me last autumn when I got a message from Laine team telling me their upcoming shawl book was in need of one more very specific type of a shawl and they would need the sample for the photoshoot in just couple of weeks. Luckily, I was able to help them out.

What: Limelight / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 3.75 mm

From: Black Elephant Merino Singles Fingering + Triskelion Branwen 4-ply, 91 + 70 g

What they were after was a crescent shaped shawl in SW merino in bright happy colours. I had no trouble finding a perfect yarn combo in my stash and once I paired them up it was as if they were meant for this particular shawl.

I named the shawl Limelight after the bright green colour of the silk merino that I paired up with a creamy speckle dyed merino. The crescent shaped shawl is a fun combination of garter stitch, delicate lace and stripes. The stripes are worked with short rows and are all a different length. You'll need two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one skein each colour.

The pattern is part of Laine publishing's book 52 Weeks of Shawls and now you can also get it as an individual download on Ravelry, my web shop, PayHip and Lovecrafts. Use the code LIME to get 15% discount until October 9th.

Heinä

Feels very appropriate to kick off July with a new cowl pattern named after the month. I Finnish, July is called Hay Month and heinä means hay in Finnish.

What: Heinä / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 3.0 mm

From: nurja linen mix, 100 g

One of the best things about working as a knitwear designer is when I get to do collaborations with others. Early this year, two Finnish podcasters from Villapesuohjelma asked me and my friends from nurja yarn shop to take part in their year-long knitting challenge for July. We agreed that a new yarn base and a design for said yarn would be in order and got to work. And that's how this July-inspired cowl begun.

I'm known for the fact that I love to work with warm wool no matter the weather but every once in a while I fall in love with summery yarns as well - which is what happened with nurja's new linen mix yarn base. It's a mix of alpaca, linen and silk, and these light-weight fibers make for a lovely shine and drape - perfect for a summer cowl. My friends from nurja offered me two kits to play with and I surprised both myself and them by forgoing my usual uncolors and choosing this bright neon peach for my sample cowl!

Heinä is a cowl with fun funnel shape. It's wider at the bottom and narrows as it gets to the top. It's a lovely combination of simple stripes and three lace patterns, changing the color for each.

I used up exactly 50 grams of each color so I could easily use the leftovers for another one. Wouldn't it be fun to reverse the colors for a second cowl?

You can find the pattern on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts. Also, nurja is offering kits with both the yarn and the pattern. And if you're fluent in Finnish, check out the new episode of Villapesuohjelma for mine and nurja's interview and all the details of their July challenge.

Mystery awaits

For the past three years, August has been the time for my mystery shawl knit-a-long and this year is no different. This year's shawl is called Kajo which in Finnish means the first rays of sun peeking in the horizon. ⁠

Kajo is a playful shawl but I can’t really tell you more at this point as it is a mystery. The pattern comes with helpful guides on how much yarn you should have left after certain points and schematics to show the direction each section is worked in.

The clues will be released as follows:

1st clue, August 6th
2nd clue, August 7th
3rd clue, August 8th
4th clue, August 9th
5th clue, August 11th
6th clue, August 13th
7th clue, August 15th
8th clue, August 18th
9th clue, August 21st
10th clue, August 25th
11th clue, August 29th
12th clue, September 3rd

Now, if the MKAL kicks off in August then why am I talking about it already in May? A big part of the fun of a shawl MKAL for me is to set up a collaboration with a talented dyer to offer you beautiful yarn kits dyed especially for the shawl. The kits have been popular and we usually run out of a certain kit quickly but it's always so difficult to try and guess which one is going the be your favorite each time. So this year, we're doing things a bit differently: we are going to set up pre-orders so we will be able to offer more of the popular kits. There will still be an upper limit to how many kits can be dyed but this will help us to adjust things a bit and offer more of the most popular kits. 

The pre-orders for the Kajo MKAL yarn kits will go live in my web shop on Thursday May 13th at 8 pm Helsinki time (GMT+3). And before that, on Thursday at 4 pm Helsinki time, I'll do an IG live with this year's dyer where we will chat about the dyeing process and show you the yarn kits. I'm so excited for it all! I hope you'll join us for the live.

Anyone ordering a kit will receive the MKAL pattern for free. The kits will be shipped in early July and the first clue for the shawl will be released on August 6th. A little tip for everyone living outside of Finland: the shipping costs to most countries are the same up to 3 kg so if you haven't ordered Strands of Joy or 52 Weeks of Shawls yet, this would be a great time to do so. We've also finally got the shipping costs a bit lower when shipping abroad.

Of course, you can join the MKAL with stash yarn as well. This year, you will need three skeins of fingering weight yarn. Colors 1 and 2 should be a fade from light to dark and color 3 a pop color with good contrast to the first two. As many people are unable to use Ravelry, this year the MKAL pattern is also available on PayHip. I was very happy to find a way to send out update message to customers over there too so you should be receiving an email about each clue as they're updated no matter where you buy the pattern from.

You can find Kajo on Ravelry and PayHip.

Sandy Shores

I love it that we have a proper winter here in Finland. And what would be more appropriate for that a warm and cosy beanie?

What: Sandy Shores / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.75 mm and 4.0 mm
From: Nature's Luxury Town & Country Cashmere, 75 g

I haven't designed a hat for a while but when I fell in love with these gorgeous Nature's Luxury cashmere fade kits I knew right away that I wanted to make a new beanie. I used the Sandy fade kit for my sample - hence the name for the hat.

Sandy Shores is a sweet hat that starts off with a neat tubular cast-on. It takes a couple setup rows but gives the neatest, round cast-on edge. The pattern comes with a photo tutorial for tubular cast-on so fear not.

The hat is adorned with intricate cables and fun bobbles. And of course, a pompom! My favorite thing is that the pompom is attached with a button so you can easily remove it if you need to wash the hat or aren't feeling pompom-y some day.

In my weekly Tea Time over on Instagram, there have been lots of questions on how to make such a perfect looking pompom. There's a simple trick for that. First, I use a pompom maker. It's easier to get a full pompom with that than using a cardboard cutout. But the perfect fluffiness is achieved with a cool trick: once the pompom is finished, hold it over a tea kettle because the hot steam will make the plies of the yarn open up, giving it the perfect fluff. 

I designed the beanie in collaboration for Nature's Luxury's stunning cashmere yarn and you can find kits over on their web shop. They're offering the pattern with the kit. You can also get Sandy Shores as an individual download on Ravelry, LoveCrafts and PayHip. Use the code SANDY to get 15% discount until the end of this week.

Sleight of Hand

So it's not one but two new patterns this week! It's time for the third and final design of my mini sock collection.

What: Sleight of Hand / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.25 mm
From: Wool Me Once Fibers Gold Glitter Sock, 47 g

In the summer, I got the urge to knit socks. The sock fever wouldn't go away with just one pair so I ended up designing a mini collection - all ankle socks with sweet picot trims.

The collection was inspired talented Finnish indie dyers (and my need for ankle socks). I also named all the designs after the colorways I knit them with.

The third and final design in the collection is Sleight of Hand, named after this stunning golden colorway Ochrus Pochrus. I fell head over heels in love with this golden glimmering Gold Glitter Sock by Wool Me Once Fibers. It's got my favorite high twist merino base with gold stellina for a bit of sparkle.

Sleight of Hand socks are worked cuff-down. They start off with a sweet picot edge that is worked with a provisional cast on. The socks are embellished with cables and cute bobbles. The socks are worked in reverse stockinette stitch to make the cables really pop. Not to mention how luxurious the stockinette stitch on the inside feels against your skin. The heel is a simple and fun short row heel.

In fact, all three designs in the collection feature a different heel construction, making this collection an excellent opportunity to practice heels. All three patterns come in three sizes, 64, 68 and 72 sts.

You can find all three sock patterns on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts. You can buy them individially or as an e-book. If you've already bought Kvartsi and Ripple socks, Ravelry should give you a generous discount for these. 

Ripple

I've had this insatiable hunger for knitting socks since summer. No wonder once pair just wasn't enough! I decided on designing a mini collection of three sock pattern. The first pair, Kvartsi, I published in September and now it's time to release my Socktober pattern, Ripple.

What: Ripple / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.25 mm

From: Aara Tunto, 55 g

I was inspired to design a little mini collection of sock patterns and started to build it around the idea of ankle socks with cute picot trims. And all the samples are knit from beautiful handdyed yarns by talented Finnish indie dyers.

A year ago at our local knit fest, I fell in love with Aara Tunto sock yarn. It's a wonderful fingering weight, high twist BFL/nylon blend. The Blue Faced Leicester is soft wool but more durable than merino so I love to use it for socks. It's soft but not too slippery. I've named all the patterns in the collection by the colorways I used to make my sample socks and Ripple got its name from the Tunto colorway Väre, which means ripple in Finnish.

I didn't want the designs in the collection to be too much alike so I got carried away trying out different heel constructions. That makes this collection a great way to train your heel knitting skills. The first pair, Kvartsi socks, had my go-to French heel and Ripple socks feature a 'strong heel'. In a strong heel you work in the round while making gusset increases and once the leg reaches the sole, you will work short rows to make the heel turn in a similar way as in a French heel.

Ripple socks start with a picot edge and the instep is adorned with intricate lace and cables. The cables are repeated on the sides of the socks and the gusset increases slowly push them further apart. Once there's no more room on the instep for another pattern repeat before the toe, these stitches are worked in stockinette stitch. 

I'm just head over heels in love with these socks and they became a treasured pair in my sock drawer. I sure hope you like them as much. The pattern comes in three sizes, 64, 68 and 72 sts. You can find the pattern on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts.

And that's not all! I know many of you fell in love with the muted turquoise color of my sample pair and I've got good news for you: I've added yarn kits to my web shop! I chose three of my favorite colors from Aara and you can buy the yarn and get the pattern on top. The kits will be available until the end of the year or until they're sold out.

In addition to that muted, greyish turquoise colorway, Väre, I chose a moody dark purple called Kriikuna and a light, peachy pink colorway, Ilta. I don't know about you but I want to knit these socks in all three colorways!

And since I'll be releasing three sock patterns through autumn, I figured we should start a KAL. You can take part on Instagram or on Ravelry and all three patterns (Kvartsi, Ripple and the third one coming in November) are eligible for the KAL. The KAL will last until the end of the year and each finished pair will get you a ticket for the prize drawing on New Year's Day. You can take part chatting in this Ravelry thread or over on IG, using #KRSsockKAL.

Btw, if you've already bought Kvartsi socks on Ravelry, you will automatically get 25% off Ripple.

Kvartsi

Since the book project that started back in January and the MKAL which ate up my time in the summer, I've been busy all through August. I remember thinking to myself over the summer that I would gladly give up half a kingdom to get some time to just knit socks. Luckily, that day came eventually -  oh, how I enjoyed the simplicity of a pair of socks.

What: Kvartsi / Own pattern
How: Circular needle 2.25 mm
From: nurja merino sock, 46 g

Couple years ago, I made the most wonderful pair of socks. They had this amazing green shade and a beautiful pattern. But the most wonderful thing about them was the fact that they were ankle high which made them the perfect summer socks to wear with sneakers. I loved those socks. And then, I lost them! I can't even blame it on laundry elves as I lost both socks.

Then finally, I quit crying over spilled socks and realized that as a nifty knitter I could probably make myself a new pair - this time writing a pattern of my own. That's how Kvartsi socks came to be.

Kvartsi socks are worked cuff-down and they start off with a sweet picot edge. The instep has a beautiful but easily memorized lace on them. The socks have French heels and the heel flaps are both pretty and durable thanks to slipped stitches.

The pattern is written for ankle high socks but the leg can easily be worked taller.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry, PayHip ja Lovecrafts. And since I'm taking part in a Finnish virtual craft fair this weekend, you can get these socks and all my accessory patterns for 15% discount today using the code PIPOPERJANTAI.