I love being sneaky and giving people pattern previews. Part of the fun of being an independent designer is that I control my own release dates, which also means I control how much information I can give you in pattern previews.

I’ve got a lot on my plate right now: 3 pairs of socks getting ready for release, 1 cowl, and multiple scarves. But I’ll get into that later. I’ll be doing a big post with some photos of upcoming stuff in the next week. For now, there are more goodies!

Club Designs

First, I’m really excited to announce that I’m going to be doing another goodie pattern for the second round of the Little Red Bicycle yarn club. The club runs from April to June and the theme this time is Greek mythology.

This theme is a lot more vague than the previous theme – the H.P. Lovecraft inspired Yarn Club of Unspeakable Horror – so who knows what you’re going to be getting. Ok, I know what you’re going to be getting, but that’s because I’m cooking up something new for you!

I had a lot of fun designing for the club last time. I worked up a pattern that was Shoggoth inspired called One Million Eye(let)s. The pattern is only available to club members at the moment, but will be made public in May.

I love One Million Eye(let)s. It’s a surprisingly versatile piece, and the brilliant purple makes it pop with my mostly monochrome wardrobe.

The pattern works up as a scarf as-written, but I’ve also included instructions for a shawl version as well. It’s a really fun pattern to knit, alternating soothing garter stitch with a plucky eyelet pattern.

Long story short (in case my already long winded excitement didn’t give it away), I’m really excited to invited back to design for the Little Red Bicycle yarn club again. The pattern will be available 3 months after the club completes its run, but you can get it early if you sign up for the club.

It’s $90 for U.S. members, with options to upgrade to Priority Mail or to pay monthly. I know there are only a few spots left, so sign up while you can! Onto Olympia!

Roxanne Mystery KAL

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the upcoming Mystery KAL, so I’ll answer them here.

Is there a Ravelry pattern page for the KAL yet? No, not yet. I’m putting it up in April a few days before the KAL begins.

How do I sign up for the KAL? You don’t have to sign up for anything. The instructions will be posted weekly here on the blog. However, if you want to know the instant instructions become available, you can sign up for the mailing list. I’ll be sending out notifications with links to the blog when I’ve posted new sets of instructions. The sign up box is (conveniently) located to the right of this paragraph. It says “Get Updates on Pattern Releases.” Pop your email in there and you’ll be notified of all things related to the KAL.

Where will the instructions be posted? The instructions will be posted weekly here on the blog. They will not be posted on the Ravelry group or sent out in the email updates. To make it easier on myself, they will be available in one place. However, both the Ravelry group and the mailing list will be updated with links to new sets of instructions.

Are you going to do a KAL again? Probably. I’ve gotten such a positive response to this one. Who knew!

Will the pattern remain free? Yes. The KAL instructions will always remain free and readily accesible on the blog in their original weekly posts. BUT, I will be releasing a paid version of the pattern available as a PDF. The PDF will include instructions for different yarn weights, not just fingering weight. The only differences between the two will be the multiple yarn weights and the format of availability. If you prefer to work from PDFs or want to use sport weight without doing math, you’ll need to purchase the paid version. If you don’t mind using the website to pull up instructions as you need them, you can knit the pattern for free until your needles tarnish.

What color yarn will I need? Any color. I encourage you to stay away from heavily variegated yarns or yarns with large differences in color. For example, navy blue with robin’s egg might be a little bit too dramatic of a difference, even though they’re both blue. Your best bet are skeins with mild variations. One of the group members did a great post on Ravelry explaining this visually. If you have any questions about your yarn choice, pop into the group and post a photo. I’m happy to help!

Do I really need 430 yards? No. The pattern uses between 410-420 yards of fingering weight yarn, depending on your gauge. I will make note in the pattern of where you can drop out some rows if your skein has only 400 yards. Anything less than 400 yards might be pushing it, but you’re welcome to try and use a skein that has 385 +/-

You can still grab a skein of Ethereal from Little Red Bicycle for the KAL. Didi is posting them in dyelots, so if you don’t see it available, send her a convo and she’ll post a listing for you.

Anymore questions about the KAL? If you have questions, post them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them here!