New pattern - ORLA sweater

It's pattern release day!

ORLA sweater is now available on Ravelry! 

 

 

ORLA is a top-down yoke sweater. Get inspired by the deliciously textured yoke and oh-so-cozy garter stitch.  Get captivated by elongated stitches, cables without the need for a cable needle and bobbles that are worked on the right side only. 

This design is worked seamlessly in the round and uses DK weight yarn for extra comfort.
The pattern offers 7 sizes, ranging from 85-145cm/34-58inches bust, including 10-15cm/ 4-6 inches of positive ease for a feel good fit.

My inspiration for this design is the seasonal change from summer to fall. The ornaments remind me of trees that have lost some of their leaves but are still standing strong with their crowns. The arrow-like textures are inspired by the wind that’s blowing away the leaves, and you can see them whirling around in the air.
But at the same time there is harmony and quiet, represented by the arrows showing in the same direction and earths peace in the striped section in the middle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sizes:
XS, S, M (L, 1X, 2X, 3X)
Finished bust circumference
85, 95, 105(115, 125, 135, 145)cm /
34, 38, 42(46, 50, 54, 58)inches
Orla is intended to be worn with positive ease. Choose a size that is 10-15cm / 4-6 inches larger than your actual bust circumference.

Sample is size S, worn with 10cm / 4 inches of positive ease.

Yarn:
Approx. 1100, 1200, 1350(1500, 1600, 1750, 1850)m / 1203, 1313, 1477(1641, 1750, 1915, 2024)yards of DK weight yarn.

Sample is worked in Sarah by Permin (light fingering weight 50% merino, 50% shetland wool) held double (=DK weight), 883605 medium gray.

Gauge:
21 sts / 34 rows = 10cm / 4 inches in garter stitch in the round on 3,5mm/US 4 needles, blocked.

Instructions:
The pattern includes written directions as well as both charted and fully written instructions for the yoke section.
For the perfect finish video quick guide links are included for the italian tubular cast on and tubular bind off method.

 

Since sweater patterns always take a lot of time and effort,  I'm naturally very attached to those designs of mine. So am I to Orla sweater. I'm so in love with the texture and how it's enveloped by the garter stitch. It fills my heart with pride and joy.

I hope you love the design as much as I do and will give the pattern a warm welcome! <3

To celebrate the release, there's a 20% discount if you use code ORLA before check out on Ravelry. Enjoy! :)

Love,
Stefanie

New Pattern - HAVTORN shawl

 My new pattern HAVTORN shawl is released! You can find the pattern now on Ravelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Havtorn is an elongated triangular shaped shawl that begins with a garter tab cast on and grows by six stitches every two rows. The shawl is built in two sections, each using either of the two colors used as its main color.
The pattern is carefully designed for you to always work comfortably with one strand at a time. Once the body is complete, a delicious textured border is added. The spaced petit picot bind off gives the shawl its finishing touch.

 

 

I had so much fun designing this shawl. I played a lot with different textures and stitch combinations as I just couldn't decide at first which ones to use. This involved what felt like endless swatching. But I have gained a lot of insight and found new stitch combos that I will be able to also use for upcoming designs as well. And that made a lot of fun! The design process for Havtorn was very inspiring. 

I had the idea for this design for quite some time although it also took its time to come to life. To create a vision in real life sometimes takes some experimenting and going back and forth, as I also did while sample knitting. And so, the pattern is now released a little later as I was hoping for. But I think it was definately worth the wait! I am so in love with this design! All that beautiful texture and the different elements that work together and complement each other are just amazing.

My favorite part is the textured border in combination with the petit picot bind off. It makes this shawl so elegant and feminine. 

I can't wait to see some more colorful versions of yours since my sample uses neutral colors. That too was an experiment of sorts. I usually work with colorful yarns. During testing I already had the pleasure of a lovely interpretation in red and beige which I find so beautiful. 

So don't miss out on the 20% release celebration discout and use code HAVTORN on Ravelry!

A little more details...

Yarn:
You'll need approx. 300m/ 329yds of color A and 450m/ 493yds of color B of DK weight yarn.

The sample is worked in Drops Soft Tweed (50% Wool, 25% Alpaca, 25% Rayon; 130 meters / 50 grams), colorways 3 sand (color A) and 8 pepparkorn/dark grey (color B).

Gauge:
18 sts / 27 rows = 10cm / 4 inches in stockinette pattern on 3,5mm/US 4 needles
Gauge is not critical. But it will influence size of shawl and amount of yarn needed.

Finished size:
Finished size is about 180cm/ 72 inches wingspan and 70cm / 28 inches deep.

Instructions:
The pattern includes charts and fully written instructions for all sections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Havtorn fascinate you with its engaging textures and patterns throughout and start your vacation knit now! :) 

 

I hope you love my new design just as much as I do and I hope to see your project on Ravelry (feel free to share you FO in my group!) or on social media. Make sure to use #HavtornShawl and tag me on instagram @thedrizzleofhoney!

Love,
Stefanie

Happy new year!

I wish you all and your families a very happy and healthy new year 2023!

Hopefully you had a good 2022 and had some time off during Christmas and were able to relax a little bit.

I'm looking back at a year filled with a lot of work which resulted in many beautiful new designs and also much time with my family and kids which I am so grateful for.
Being able to see them grow, hear them laugh and feel their love is the most valuable thing to me. Which makes me even more thankful for you all that make it possible for me to support our family with my designs and doing what I love. Thank you to every single one of you that bought a pattern from me this year! Thank you for following me on my knitting journey.

I am starting off the new year with a surprise for you:

NEW YEAR, NEW DESIGN!

Aella hat & cowl

It fills me with so much joy to announce my first new pattern in 2023 - AELLA!

 Aella is a set including a matching hat and cowl pattern. So yes, you're reading right: it's actually two patterns in one!
For this wonderful design twisted stitch twists travel alongside beautiful 4 stitch cables to then fall in love with the surrounding soft seed stitch texture.

Who doesn't love matching accessories? It just makes you feel beautiful and adds that little extra style to your outfit.
The inspiration behind Aella is a quiet winter forest during falling snow. The cables and twisted stitch waved lines remind me of trees and their protective branches. I love the harmony together with the soft seed stitch texture around them that hint at the peaceful and silent feeling of falling snow.

The pattern comes in three sizes:
Child (Adult S/M, Adult L)
Hat: To fit 50(56, 60)cm / 20(22, 24) inches head circumference.
Cowl: Finished circumference 49(59, 60)cm / 16(20, 24) inches.
Finished height 25(30, 39)cm / 10(12, 12) inches.
 
The pattern is designed for you to use your favorite soft and cozy aran weight yarn and then let go and dream about having this lovely duo caress your soul.

Aella is now available in my Ravelry Store  and to celebrate the release with me and you'll also receive 20% discount until January 8 2023! Use code AELLA and enjoy!

It would make me very happy if you use #AellaHat and #AellaCowl when posting your awesome knits on social media, so I and everyone else can find and share your wonderful project!

I hope you love my new design as much as I do and will give Aella a warm welcome into my collection of patterns.

I hope to have you by my side next year as well.
Happy new (knitting) year!!

Love,
Stefanie

News April 2022

Hi everyone!

A lot is going on around here. So much so that I had to skip last month's news update.

Much behind the scenes work. As you may imagine knitting samples and pulishing patterns is just a small part of all the work that goes into a design until it is ready to be published. 

But of course those are the most exciting parts of the process and the ones that are most interesting to post about. Whereas the not so interesting and "share-worthy" times include sitting in a bubble and designing, doing the math, writing up pattern drafts to knit a sample from and then refine and perfect until a pattern for testing is created, of course the test itself which usually takes several weeks and finally the last finalizing steps to get the pattern ready for publishing as well as creating all the materials and content that need to go with it. All those steps involve a lot of care, attention and love.

Besides that there's always a lot of behind the scenes that takes place in termes of running a business, especially since most of us are a one-woman-show.

But let's get back to what's new!

 

New pattern - Alora skirt

There is a new pattern available in my Ravelry Store - Alora!

 

 

If you are like me and like to wear your knitted pieces all year round, then this is one to consider for you: 

Alora is a very feminine knee length skirt that uses negative ease to create its flattering shape and accentuate your beauty. It’s intended to be worn high at the waist and uses a pretty and simple knit and purl pattern for super relaxing knitting and a stretchy fabric that allows for a very comfortable fit.
You can use any DK weight yarn you have in your stash and you will get the perfect not-too-hot-yet-not-too-cold skirt for in between seasons. Alora is available in seven sizes.

You don't have to knit sweaters only. Personally, I appreciate a nice change from time to time. So why not knit a skirt for yourself? I promise you’ll be surprised by how wonderfully warm, beautiful and comfy you’ll feel.

For more info on construction and sizing please see the pattern page.

I am very happy to finally be able to offer a new skirt pattern for you. Especially since I know how many of you loved my Amaranth skirt. And also now for Alora I've gotten positive feedback already in the test knitting stage. I'm looking forward to see many beautiful projects!
Please use #Aloraskirt and don't be shy to tag me @thedrizzleofhoney on Instagram when sharing your project so I and everyone else can find it easily to share the joy.

 

Sorley shawl

Currently I'm sample knitting on my next design: Sorley shawl.

This two colored shawl has a little different construction. No classic crescent or triangle shape. I often find myself craving a more unique shape of shawl when spring is about to arrive.
Starting point is a center diamond shape where stitches will then be picked up along the sides to work the shawls wings adding texture and pattern throughout.

Each of those wings has one of the two colors used as dominant and the other as contrast.

For the sample I'm using Manos del Uruguay Alegria in Atlantico and Butia. This is of course a fingering weight hand dyed merino yarn. This kind of yarn is always so wonderful to work with especially for shawls. And I know I'm not alone there ;)

So, I'm very excited for this design and how it will turn out. Yes, a test knit for this design will start soon. I will have to finish the sample (a little more to work on the second wing) and then put the pattern in testing shape. :) Follow me on Instagram and join my Ravelry group if you want to know first when the party starts! 

Next design - summer top

For my next design I have also started working on a summer top. Although I feel I am a little bit behind on the schedule on this one. But no worries, I will catch up! 

It will be a short sleeved, top-down, seamless, round yoke construction with a texture pattern in the yoke and stockinette body. I am already thrilled about the design. And it will be my first not free summer top. My other summer tops have been free patterns. So I hope you will love this one just as much as the other ones :)

Have a wonderful weekend and happy easter to you all!

Love,

Stefanie

News January 2022

 Happy new (knitting) year to you all!!!! 🎇

I wish you all a happy, healthy and wonderful new year!

First off all, I want to thank you for your love and support, for welcoming me back to work after having my twins. It's so exciting to be able to do what I love - designing. And this year too I will strive to enrich your lives by providing you with gorgeous knit designs, addictive knitting experiences and beautiful self-made pieces in your wardrobe.

The question everyone asks as a year's going to end: What have you accomplished this year? I think we can all give ourselves a little compassion when asking this particular question. Because it has been another difficult year for everyone. That does include me too. 

But I do have some things I am proud of myself for.
I am proud of having my pre-baby weight back after having three children. I didn't manage that after the first one, but I did now. That makes me very happy. I've been working out, so there's also more muscle which makes me feel great. I feel so much better with less weight, it gives me a new feeling of myself.
This also means I'm eating better which is also something I've been struggeling with when the twins were babies. They are 2 now, so they don't need as much all around the clock care as they did before. So there's more time for cooking :)
In an effort to focus a bit more on self care (because that's important as everyone with kids can confirm) and my own psychological health I made some adjustments. For example in an effort to watch less TV  I've read 42 books last year, nearly all of them from my local library. (spend less money on books was a thing too) And this habbit sticks with me. I love it! I have always been a book reader but I lost it a little bit during the past years and I am very happy to have it back.
And of course I am very grateful to have found a way to be able to work again with all my boys at home. It's a challenge of course to work something out that works for everyone. And that's always our number one goal when changing something. It has to work for everyone in the family. And I think we are right on track. I'm proud of that.

I hope you too have some things your are proud of yourself.

New patterns

EMBER

Three weeks ago I released Ember hat. I just loove this design!
If you're looking for a little variety from stockinette and garter stitch and are as fascinated by knitted texture as I am, then Ember hat is for you!

 

This hat is a gorgeous and cozy design that combines wonderfully rich texture with beautiful cables. The pattern features big and small cables, bobbles as well as a mini honeycomb pattern to complete the feminine design.

The pattern comes in three sizes:
Child (Adult small, Adult large)
to fit 50(56, 60)cm / 20(22, 24) inches head circumference and can be worked to make a beanie 20(22,22)cm / 8(9, 9) inches total length or slouch 24(26,26)cm / 9.5(10.5; 10.5) inches total length.
To make an even slouchier hat, the pattern has notes on how to easily adapt.

And it's a perfect stash buster too, using only between 180-220m/197-240yards of sport or DK weight yarn.

Have a look at the pattern in my Ravelry store here!

EMBERLY

Sharing the spirit - new year, new design, three days ago I also released Emberly fingerless mitts which are matching Ember for a set of the two.

I had the thought of designing matching fingerless mitts already when I started working on Ember. And I moved through with it, very happy that I did.

Emberly fingerless mitts are very cute and a creative and intriguing knit. By themselves or together with the hat they will add a stylish and feminine touch to your outfit.

The pattern comes in three sizes:
Small (Medium, Large)
to fit 16(18, 20)cm / 6.5(7.25; 8) inches palm circumference
The pattern includes suggestions for you to personalize your mitts.

Using only between 90-120m/99-132 yards of sport or DK weight yarn it’s a perfect project to use your stash.

The set of hat and mitts is a great addictive knit based on the same rich texture.

Since this pattern is a new release, there's also the release promo still running until midnight January 9, 2022. Use code EMBERLY and get 20% off the pattern on Ravelry.
I have another offer running: If you buy Ember and Emberly together (put them both in your cart before check out) then you'll automatically receive Emberly 50% off.

Check out the pattern in my Ravelry store here!

Moving forward, planning, new ideas, new designs

During the last days of the year I've been thinking a lot about where I would like to go with my designs this year. And now I'm planning and working on new design ideas. 

So I thought, what would YOU like to knit this year???
What would you like me to design for you?
Are you planning to take on a knitting challenge for 2022? Do you want to knit a lot of sweaters or shawls or hats?
If you have wishes or suggestions for patterns you would like to knit, just let me know in the comments or on Instagram @thedrizzleofhoney !

I'm looking forward to hear from you!

Love,
Stefanie

News November 2021

 Hi everyone!

 It's time for a new update! :) 

Aruna test knit

There has been a lot going on this month. Of course, there's been A LOT of smaple knitting. Every free second I got from our wonderful little boys went into it. So I got the pattern ready and the testknit for Aruna running, which is now at full speed! 

I'm very grateful to have found some testers that take the time to test my pattern. That is truly amazing. They are the first ones to work from it and even the first ones to link their finished project and may be featured on the pattern page once it's released. That just fills me with joy!
It's always an exciting and also nervous experience for me. I appreciate all the feedback I get from tests. Testers are in the front seat to making a pattern better with everything they have on their mind about it. May it be words of appreciation, comments or suggestions for improvement. I love to work it out. Together with the testers, ask them for their opinions and impressions. To create the best pattern for you all, so you can enjoy the process of knitting just as much as your finished project.
Test knitting is a very vital part of creating a design and shaping it into a pattern.

As for the pattern, I have put some thought into changing the layout a bit too. I hope you'll like it. I thought this would be a good time to change things up a bit and hopefully make it even easier for you to work with my patterns. Because (to me) knitting always is about having fun and relaxing while doing it. So I always try to make everything easy to understand and to provide good structure in the pattern so you can quickly find what you're looking for.

How to video

There's another first time with this design and pattern: For the first time I'm providing a short video that you can go to to see how to make a specific and maybe a little challenging stitch if you're making it for the first time.
It's for one of the bobble stitches in the design, the popcorn stitch. I don't want to get into too much detail at this point. If you're following me on Instagram you've probably seen it already.
Otherwise, you can find it HERE. And don't forget to hit follow if you haven't yet! ❤️

Mousey hats 

In between there needs to be a little time for some fun-knitting here and there. This time I made two mouse hats for our twins. 

I already made a fox hat two years ago which still is very popular. The hats are all perfect for toddlers, using short rows to shape ears. This provides the poper fit for little heads and ears.
As for the mouse hats, I like how the small faces turned out. I'm very happy to have found those different buttons for the noses. All the buttons are from second hand.
To shape the mouths in a different color I used intarsia technique. The ears are worked seperately after finishing the actual hat (using duplicate stitch for blue) and were then sewn onto the hat. I recommend using markers before starting to sew so they will be straight.
I'm very happy with the hats, with all three actually. I always loved the fox one too. Now they are our three little wild ones whenever we go somewhere...

You can find my Ravelry project page here.

Looking forward to this month - New design(s), pattern release

It is getting noticeably colder around here now and my head just keeps thinking hats, hats, hats!
So I have a few new ideas for hat designs I'm currently working on. But I'm also yearning to make a pattern for fingerless mits.
Let's see were my musings will take me...

And of course Aruna will be published this month. I am so very very looking forward to this!
It has been such a long process it feels like. But I am proud and I am so happy to have been working on my first design again. And I hope you will give this design a warm welcome and that it will earn your love.

Thank you for stopping by and reading.

I hope you enjoyed the update and will be around with me on my knit-live-journey.

All my love,

Stefanie ♥

As always, if you want to be the first to know about anything that's new and exciting, follow me on Instagram.

 

 

News October 2021

Hi, I'm back! :)

Oh wow, this is my first post after maternity leave. As you may know, our little boy became a big brother of twin boys :) We're enjoying every second of this wonderful adventure, and an adventure it is! They are so much fun (and also a lot of work). And with last year's pandemic everything went up and down a lot, so I had to stay on leave a bit longer than initially planned. But now I am back at work again, designing and creating patterns for you. ♥

So, what happened so far in the last month?!

New design: Aruna Shawl

Well, first of all I'm up to my ears in a new design, Aruna Shawl.

It's going to be a lovely crescent shawl for this fall/winter season featuring very rich texture and an eye catching border. 

Right now I'm working on the sample. This is one of my favorit parts of designing. Slowly seeing how it all comes together and the idea you have in your head becomes reality.
And oh do I looove that body texture! It's so beautiful and rich. I like to squeeze it in my hands from time to time. I tried a lot of different kinds of textures for this design until I fell in love with this one. The combination of garter ridges, slip stitches and mini bobbles I'm using for the body of the shawl is just magical.

I have been working on finalising the border chart too. So the sample knit can enter the next stage and I can make sure everything works smoothly. It is a bit of a larger repeat that's going to be worked but I am always striving to give you a great knitting experience as well as a wonderful piece to wear, so I made sure to spilt the border in different charts for you to work from. I've also decided to work with stitchmastery from now on for creating my charts. And it has been wonderful for this one. As with any new software or app, you have to get used to it at first but I found the process relatively straight forward. I'm very happy with my decision on that one.

As there are two different kinds of bobbles used in the Aruna design and I always want you to feel confident when working from my patterns, I want to support you by showing you how to work those bobbles. I myself find seeing a stitch being worked in a video often easier than the long descriptions that follow with that kind of stitch. So I am preparing videos to go with the pattern for you as well. This is a first time for me. And it's very exciting.

I am having so much fun in working on this design so far, so I really hope you all are going to like it just as much as I do!

The Drizzle of Honey Knitwear group on Ravelry

There is now The Drizzle Of Honey Knitwear group now on Ravelry! Finally I came to start that group. This has been on my wishlist for quite some time.

 

The group is for us all, you and me and everyone is very welcome to join. You can share your WIPs, FOs and thoughts on my designs, chat with others, ask questions. All the Ravelry related news, like patterns releases and test knit calls will be be there from now on too.

Since we're already talking about it, of course soon there will be a test knit for Aruna Shawl of course. I will post a test call in the group as well as on Instagram when the pattern is ready to be tested. The test will then be hosted in my group on Ravelry. I'm really looking forward to that! Test knits are always fun, I love getting your feedback before a release so the pattern can be at its best. And then there's always the reward of seeing all those fabulous FOs!

The group is very new and so far it's naturally a little bit quiet still, but it all takes time to give it a start, so I would be very happy if you hop over and join! 

Those are the news I wanted to share with you. I hope you enjoyed the update and will be around with me on knit-live-journey.

As always, if you want to be the first to know about anything that's new and exciting, follow me on Instagram.

Love,

Stefanie ♥

Christmas Knitting 2016 Shawl & Sweater

Christmas knitting happened on my knitting machine this year! :)
I made a big triangular shawl for my grandma and a black oversized sweater for myself.

Soulmate For Winter...

Choosing different colors really gives Soulmate crescent shawl from my Emotions Collection a new face. I surprised myself with this one!