Double Knitting

For some time now I've been admiring all Lucy Neatby's new double knit designs.  I did make her  Mirror, Mirror Scarf years ago, which is a good place to start, but now she has lots more double knitted patterns. So when I came across this online free pattern from Cascade Yarns for a Scandinavian Double Knit hat, I had to try it.  In my stash there are some yarns that I raveled from thrift store sweaters.... the darker one is an especially soft wool that I've been yearning to knit up...
It took me three tries, getting out Lucy's Mirror, Mirror pattern for more thorough instructions, re-charting for my own way of thinking, and restarting a couple of times, but now it's coming along!
Already I'm imagining some of my designs made into double knit hats and scarves.

Mermaids

Starstruck Mermaid

The Sunrise Mermaid hat is getting closer to being published.  I have to knit it one more time, to have one to photograph that matches all the changes I've made to the chart along the way.  This one is coming out a lot more loose in gauge than the first one did.  Some will fit larger heads than others - it's all in the gauge!

As I'm knitting this pretty, pastel-colored hat, I enjoy remembering the first mermaid hat I designed.  That one came to me as a result of buying a cookie at Starbucks.  We've been calling it the "Caffeinated Mermaid", but today I thought of the name that I really want it to have - the Starstruck Mermaid!  That's it!!  Okay, now that one can be published, too.

Wow!  Rejoicing!  Just a little advertising, and suddenly our Facebook activity is up 302,700%!!  That just makes me tremble a bit!

We have at least ten new designs working their way toward being published.  So many ideas brewing...

Prototype of the Trees

Also, I've added another "knitting social" to my regular calendar, so now I knit with friends in Brewer on Mondays, Hancock on Fridays and in Ellsworth every 1st and 2nd Saturday.  When I look back over this first year back in Maine, it's so much fun to see how many wonderful new friends I've collected.  Yes, I'm talking warm-fuzzies!!