On Sale Now - Plowline Raglan Pattern!

The Plowline Pattern is up!  You can download it from the Garment House Shop, Ravelry or directly from here.  I am also trying out seamless checking through my shop now, eliminating having to go through Paypal.  I'm pretty excited about it, but make sure to let me know if you experience any problems.  

Almost there!

I'm so, so close to releasing the Plowline Raglan Sweater pattern!  After consulting my company's computer guy (ha, shockingly underpaid husband), I finally got my PDFs looking the way I want them to.  Apple does a terrible job resizing their documents making the graphs hardly legible, but I think that's ironed out now.  I might go back and do the same for all my other patterns and provide an update for those of you who have already bought them.

A little bit about the Plowline.  I plan to release it sometime early next week, and for now it will be released in one size, Garment House Medium (size 6-8).  I will update the pattern to include all sizes in a while, after I've had a chance to get some feedback about the pattern as it is now.  I'll be offering this one-size pattern at a discounted rate until then.

You have all been so kind about the Garment House knitting patterns so far, thank you!  It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, even before I asked if anyone would be interested in the Downton Sweater I hoped to release last year.  If this Plowline release goes well, that's the next sweater pattern on the list!

Thank you! And let's talk hot water bottles.

I meant to post on this earlier, but couldn't find an extra minute anywhere!  Thank you for participating in the Garment House Giveaway!  I got a hold of all the winners last week and the most amazing thing happened - almost every single one of them personally wrote back and thanked me!  It was such a kind gesture, and a fun way for me to participate in the excitement about their upcoming knitting project!  I get the same way before I cast on, and hope these patterns ignite the desire to knit a handful of great projects this fall and winter.  I can't wait to see how all these patterns knit up for you!

I myself have had to finish a bunch of Hot Water Bottle Covers and Teapot Cozies as gifts for various people over the last couple weeks, and as satisfying as these quick gifts can be, i'm really looking forward to starting a winter-long project for myself.  It will probably be a sweater, and preferably some one else's pattern!  Eventually, i'll knit another version of my Plowline Raglan, but for now, i'm happy with the one i've got.  And now that the giveaway is over, I can focus on sharing that pattern with all of you!

Now for the thrilling part of my post that I know you've all been on the edge of your seats to discuss - hot water bottles.  I've had some questions about which hot water bottles I buy.  This is an excellent thing to ask, since I'm still on a hunt for a favorite.  Out of the four I own, I was given one that I feel is quality worth buying again, but I haven't been able to track down where to get them.  Some i've purchased have been too thin, and I like them a little sturdier, a lot have had an awful plastic smell that only gets worse when hot water is poured into them, and a couple have a warning printed right on them not to use with boiled water! I don't know about you, but I like that bottle as hot as I can get it and want it to retain that heat all night if possible!  I've been reading Amazon reviews trying to find a bottle that is worth buying in bulk so that I can just have a stack on hand to avoid those crazy last minute treks to every pharmacy within a 50 mile radius whenever I need a get well or house warming gift.  Fashy has some good looking bottles that come in such great colors, but a lot of the reviews say they are children's size (What?!  They sell children's size bottles?!  Mini things!  I want them!).  Sänger has some great colors too and the quality looks good, but there are no reviews to be able to tell.  I recently bought two super cheap Mabis bottles locally, but I wasn't terribly impressed with their quality.  They weren't the ribbed ones Amazon sells, so maybe those are a bit better.  I'm holding out hope for these Graham Field bottles since you can in fact buy them in bulk!  I'll keep searching and pass on any info I find, and if you get a chance, I'd love it if anyone left their recommendations!

busy, busy, busy!

this week has been a little nuts, but i haven't forgotten about the giveaway!  i haven't had any extra time to let everyone know, but i've extended the promo (obviously), and plan on choosing some winners either today if i can find the time, or monday.  in the meantime, go ahead and comment if you haven't already.

also, i'm wrapping things up on this plowline raglan sweater pattern!  the pattern itself is done as much as i'm going to fiddle with it for now, but it will be nice to have the giveaway over before i move onto something new.  thank you for all the kind words about the pictures and the sweater so far.  getting photos at 23 weeks pregnant without looking like i just ate thanksgiving dinner was a challenge!    

more patterns available

i finished another knitting pattern over the weekend!  it's a standard size teapot cozy, and I've just added it to the shop!  it's available for purchase in two different ways, alone or combined with the small teapot cozy pattern.

these teapot covers are a lot of fun to make, and they knit up so quickly.  i thoroughly enjoyed having a small project to work on this weekend, even though you'd figure i'd be tired of all this test knitting.  a couple weekends back, i took the time to organize all my yarns and i'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of using up whatever odds and ends are left over from other projects.  i'm even stretching myself a little to modify patterns slightly so that I avoid buying MORE YARN!  although i'm in no way going to set this challenge for myself, i could easily get away with not buying another skein for at least a year!

i've decided to keep the giveaway commenting open for just a little longer too, so make sure to click the post below if you want to add your name to the group.  and thank you to the people who just keep buying away!  the encouragement is helping me to keep pushing ahead!

ravelry store pattern giveaway!

I've decided to open a Garment House Ravelry Store for my pattern downloads, too!  The same two patterns are available for download now.  If you're a knitter and don't have Ravelry account, it's worth signing up.  Especially if you're interested in getting one of my patterns for free!  That's right, it's time for a party.  As a way of saying thank you for the support, I'm giving away one pattern (of your choice) to ten random commenters on this post.  TEN!  If you're shy, or don't know what to comment, let me give you some ideas. Tell me what age you started knitting, who taught you to knit, or what knit item you saw that inspired you to learn.  I'll give it a couple days (the promo codes expires next Friday), then I'll randomly generate some numbers and go through the comment list and try to contact you with a promo code for one free download.  Please leave some way for me to reach you, have a blogger profile with a link to an email, or check back here and i'll leave a response to your comment if you're a winner.  If there's no way to get a hold of you, i'll keep moving down the list.

Let's get this commenting party started!

**thanks for all the comments!  this giveaway is now closed.**  

another knitting pattern is ready for download!

First of all, thank you for buying the Garment House Hot Water Bottle Cover pattern!  Wow!  I'm so thrilled to have your business after such a long hiatus from the shop, and cannot wait to see everyone's hand-knit work!    

Can you tell by the patterns i'm uploading it's been cold?  Really, really cold?  As I sit in a frigid office, I find myself piling on every test knit item I have in my pack mule's worth of stuff I haul from the house to the office every day.  I even have a very hot water bottle in it's cover on my lap.  And another on my back!  It pays to be a knitter.  

Pattern download number two, Small Teapot Cozy, is ready and waiting in the shop!  I have been meaning to share this pattern for a while, and knowing full-time tea drinking weather is on it's way, now is the time!  This project is incredibly fast since it's knit with chunky yarn, which also makes it extra insulating for your teapot.  I use it with my ForLife "Stump" Teapot (which i highly recommend), but it will work with most two-cup (16-18 oz) teapots.  This pattern is perfect for beginners since it's knit flat in garter stitch, meaning you don't have to use one purl stitch to make it!  But really, what knitter doesn't like a simple and quick knitting project?

More patterns are on their way, but for now, i'm going to pile as many quilts and blankets I can find on top of me for the weekend, and catch up on some more knitting.  Thank you for your business, friends!

garment house knitting patterns

it's been quiet on here over the last couple weeks, but i've been hard at work!  my days have been full of making list after list, going through stacks of notebooks filled with my knitted designs, test knitting until my fingers are about to fall off, taking photos in hurricane-speed winds, retaking photos, editing photos, changing layouts, and trying hard to wrap up this first set of garment house knitting patterns for release! i'm getting close. some of the bumps that have come up along the way have been really challenging and tough, but i'm thankful to just keep pushing through, learning as i go.  it keeps me from freaking out about how nervous i am to actually share my patterns with everyone!  i've heard some horror stories and even had some discouraging experiences already, but i've also heard some really encouraging things too.  i hope the good outweighs the bad, and all this hard work will be worth it.

but good news!  to test this [new to me] process of downloadable patterns, i've brushed off my water bottle cover pattern, revised it, and am now offering it as a PDF for sale in my garment house shop. i've changed a couple things about the pattern for the better, but as always, make sure to let me know if you find any errors.

i don't know about you, but we're in full-blown hot water bottle season in our home!  it has been snowing all day, and thankfully i have a bunch of newly test knit covers to make sure there's one for every bed in the house.

the last of the last

it feels good to be sold out!  i forgot anything was even left in my shop.  thank you customers, you sure are the best.  how refreshing to start 2012 off with a clean slate!

garment house cardigan :: two

this was the first cardigan i ever tried to tackle on my knitting machine and i'm still amazed at how it fits because of two specific reasons.  one is that it's completely my own pattern.  two, and get ready to be surprised, my ideas for how i wanted this sweater to fit was really unstructured and it was a bit of an experiment just getting through the whole thing.  i jotted down very loose guidelines to follow as i knit, but didn't take the time to copy down my notes along the way.  that's why i made another right after (previous post), with the hopes of remembering what i did and drafting an official pattern that i could use again.  funny thing is, i like the fit of the first better!

for those of you who asked what type of knitting machine i use, i'm lucky to say that i have a couple!  everything i've posted about so far has been made on a standard gauge machine without a ribber, and that's mainly what i use.  it's a very basic model which in my opinion is the best to start with.  if you're considering getting into machine knitting, i'd highly suggest finding a local m.k. group, sitting in on some meetings and seeing a machine in action!  it's a much better way to approach machine knitting instead of making a $600 investment and having NO IDEA where to start. machine knitters are very passionate about what they do and it's infectious to be around if you are truly interested.  had it not been for a kind dealer who answered every single one of my questions, helped me figure out what type of machine i was looking for, invited me to meetings, and patiently took the time to walk me through the bumps in the road of learning, i would have never stuck with it.  it's now more exciting than it is frustrating to me, and geek alert!  the click of a knitting machine now gives me goosebumps.  i love it that much!

garment house cardigan

i was saving this design for one of my upcoming collections, but that's not happening any time soon.  i said i'd share my machine knit projects i've been working on, and this cardigan is my most recent.  it was finished back in november and i wore it all over new york on our last visit.  it's been worn quite a few times since, so please excuse the pills and wrinkles.

knitting and downton

there has been no better time to feel under the weather than these last couple cold and snowy days.  i'm tired of feeling cruddy, but have enjoyed making the most out of being stuck indoors and unable to much of anything.  and how did i luck out on getting sick while there's actually something good to watch online?  thank you, downton abbey!

and what goes better with a period drama than knitting?  after finishing a little valentine's present this last saturday, i decided to keep going on my hand knitting kick and see what i could make with four skeins of the perfect shade of grey lamb's pride wool.  i had been searching for months for a project to dedicate such a small amount of yarn to, but couldn't find one.  i considered adapting this beautiful sweater to a different gauge and smaller amount of wool, but was really itching to make something fast and easy.  i was shooting for a sweater that was more like a sweatshirt and found the solution to be a patternless, completely seamless top-down raglan.  i wasn't expecting to be so happy with the unplanned results!  incorporating the off-white cascade eco wool helped put a dent in my always too full yarn basket and made this simple sweater just a little more interesting.

five days of straight knitting and a very comfortable sweater to show for it.  and just in time for the weekend!