Flint Knits

First, thanks for all the support during The Crushinator’s recovery! Willie pattern sales paid for all of her vet bills, and she’s nearly back to normal now. The surgery was a success and, after several weeks of keeping her virtually immobile, she’s free of the cast and back to her old self again. Hooray!

Let’s celebrate with a new pattern for sale, yes?

Ella Funt is a cardigan for babies, named in honor of Ramona Quimby’s stuffed elephant in Beverly Cleary’s beloved Ramona books.

The body and sleeves are knit separately from the bottom up, then joined in one piece for the yoke. If elephants aren’t your cup of tea, the pattern also includes blank yoke charts that can be customized with the creature or motif of your choice.

SIZES: Finished chest circumference = 19 (21.75, 24, 26.75) inches
to fit ages 3–6 (6–12, 12–18, 18–24) months

GAUGE: 25 sts and 34 rows per 4 inches in stockinette stitch

MATERIALS:

• 300 (400, 525, 625) yards of sport or heavy fingering-weight yarn in main color (MC)
• small amounts of coordinating yarn in 3 other colors (colors B, C, and D)
• US 4 (3.5mm) circular & double-pointed needles, or size to get gauge
• 6 (6, 7, 7) buttons, 3/8 inch in diameter
• 2 stitch markers
• scrap yarn

Big thanks to Minty, Ashley, Carrie, Julia, Kelly, and Sarah for test knitting and editing help!

Cost: $6 US

Thanks to all the knitters who bought the Willie pattern, to all the folks who posted and facebooked and twittered (tweeted? twatted?) about Willie, and to Shepherd Susie’s generous contest (which has been extended until Monday! go enter! win a half-share in Juniper Moon Farm’s 2011 yarn/fiber CSA! and while you’re there, check out the Lamb Cam, welcome several new lambs to the flock, and see more baby-animal cuteness than you can shake a stick at), we’ve already raised $1465.45 toward Crush’s vet care. That’s almost half the total bill. Unfriggingbelievable. As I said in the Juniper Moon Ravelry forum, we might have saved Crush’s leg without this help, but I honestly don’t know how.

And in case you doubted that generosity begets more generosity, I’m thrilled to report that all the attention paid to Willie has also bumped up sales of the wurstwärmer pattern. Today I made my second monthly donation of wurstwärmer proceeds to the Michigan Animal Rescue League: $105, for a total of $235. That buys a whole lot of food for shelter animals while they wait for new homes.

Crush is doing just fine — thanks to everyone who’s asked about her recovery and sent their good wishes. Her leg was put back together with pins and wires, but the result is delicate. The hard part comes now, when she doesn’t get to play or run or jump or tug or go for walks for the next 6-8 weeks. Needless to say, I am VERY OPEN to suggestions of activities that will wear her out in other ways.

I’m working on several different patterns during all this quiet rest time, including something extra-specially-gruesome for Halloween. (Yes, Halloween. I start planning that shit on November 1, friend.)

Before the gruesome, though, let us have more cute. Another baby sweater was at the test-knitting stage when it was bumped aside so I could work on Willie. This little number is coming soon:

ETA: Shepherd Susie of Juniper Moon Farm has started an incredibly generous contest. If you buy the Willie pattern and comment on her blog, you’ll be entered to win a 2011 share in the farm’s yarn CSA.

Remember Crush? Also known as The Crushinator? My badass puppy and the muse who inspired the wurstwärmer pattern?

Well, on Thursday night, Crush’s favorite puppy sitter took her to the store and had her chillin in a shopping cart when, like a puppy, she jumped out.

And broke her leg.

Badly.

Today, Crush had some pretty complicated surgery to stabilize a pretty complicated fracture (it went through the growth plate, which on a 9 month old puppy, is still all squishy and vulnerable). Did I say the surgery was complicated? I meant to say it was EXPENSIVE.

And so while Crusher was grogged out on morphine waiting for her moment on the operating table, I spent the weekend working like a dog to whip up a wiener-themed pattern to put a drop in the Puppy Surgery Fund bucket.

I give you … Willie!

Willie is a round-yoked cardigan for babies and kids, with a lovable wiener dog that wraps around the lower body. The body and sleeves are knit separately, then joined in one piece for the yoke. If you don’t love dogs, Willie also looks fetching in stripes and solids. Worked up quickly in chunky yarn, this cardigan makes a handy last-minute gift, and a fun introduction to intarsia knitting.

SIZES:
Chest circumference 20 (21.5, 23, 24, 26, 28) inches, to fit ages 6m (12m, 18m, 2y, 4y, 6y)

MATERIALS:

• YARN: Louet Riverstone Chunky (100% wool, 165 yds) or other chunky weight yarn 1 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3) skeins main color (MC); 1 skein contrast color (CC); 1 skein Willie color (WC)
• US 9 (5.5mm) circular & double-pointed needles, or size to get gauge
• 6 (6, 6, 6, 7, 7) buttons, 1/2 inch in diameter
• 2 stitch markers
• scrap yarn for holding stitches and embroidering dog collar
• tapestry needle

The pattern includes instructions and charts for sizes from 6 months to 6 years. If you haven’t tried intarsia knitting before (that’s the kind of colorwork where you have large chunks of color — like argyle! or a wiener dog!), this is a great first intarsia project. KnittingHelp.com has an excellent video explaining the technique.

Cost: $6 US

There are going to be a lot of warm wieners out there–after just one week of sales, the Wurstwärmer pattern has raised $140.40 for the Michigan Animal Rescue League! I made a donation to MARL yesterday, and will keep making donations at the end of every month, as long as folks keep buying the pattern.

Thanks everyone for your generosity! 

And, as an extra thank-you, please enjoy this new free scarf pattern!

This scarf offers all the élan of a feather boa, but none of the social or professional consequences of wearing one to work. Leda is as light as a feather, with the lofty warmth of alpaca. (For a Spring or Fall scarf, just substitute a less toasty fingering-weight yarn.)

Suitable for a first lace project, the stitch pattern should also hold the attention of more experienced laceknitters. The pattern includes written instructions and two charts. The lace pattern only appears in chart form–there are no written lace instructions included.

MATERIALS:
−    1 skein (450 yards) Classic Elite Alpaca Sox or other fingering-weight yarn
–    US 4 (3.5mm) circular needle, or size needed to get gauge
–    2 stitch markers
–    tapestry needle

DOWNLOAD LEDA NOW

*with many thanks to Mary-Heather for coming up with the perfect name.

Why yes, that IS German for sausage warmer!

The wiener dog body poses a number of challenges for handknitters—just ask any dachshund owner who’s watched her dog walk right out of a sweater. There’s the obvious length issue, of course–these are long, long dogs. Plus, the dachshund’s superwide chest means that most sweaters’ sleeves are too close together. Sweater necks are rarely long enough, and their sleeves are almost always too long (these two things are largely responsible for most dachshunds being able to escape their sweaters in the blink of an eye). And few dog sweaters are designed to cover that soft, hairless underbelly on a short-haired wiener.

Wurstwärmer is designed to address all of these issues. Short rows add extra material to accommodate a dachshund’s barrel chest. A long, ribbed, generously-sized turtleneck gently hugs the neck and allows for a wide range of neck and chest shapes and sizes. A long body covers the belly, and more short rows curve the sweater over the rump. Short, wide-set triangular sleeves will stay on even the wiggliest pups.

I strongly recommend taking a few measurements (listed in the pattern) and trying the sweater on as you go to make it truly custom-fit, but standard sizes are provided for gift-knitters and those whose dogs refuse to cooperate with measurings or fittings.

Wurstwärmer is knit in the round, with the exception of the short rows, which are knit back-and-forth. If you haven’t knit short rows before, don’t be intimidated. If you can knit and purl in the round, pick up stitches, increase, and decrease, you can knit this sweater.

Cost: $3 US.

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS PATTERN WILL BE DONATED TO THE MICHIGAN ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE. IF YOU DON’T HAVE A DACHSHUND TO KNIT FOR, YOU MIGHT KNIT THE PATTERN AND DONATE IT TO A LOCAL DACHSHUND RESCUE ORGANIZATION. OR VISIT THE M.A.R.L. WEB SITE TO MAKE A DONATION ON YOUR OWN.

SIZING: XS (S, M, L, XL), to fit chest circumference of 11-13 (14-16, 17-19, 20-21, 22-23) inches.

MATERIALS: 
–  YARN:
• 2 (2, 2, 2, 3) skeins Hello Yarn Fat Sock (shown in Olive), OR
• 1 (1, 1, 2, 2) skeins Miss Babs Yummy Sport (shown in Teal), OR
• approximately 200-500 yards sport weight wool
–  4mm 16″ circular needle (or size to get gauge)
–  4mm double-pointed needles (or size to get gauge)
–  3 stitch markers
–  tapestry needle
–  scrap yarn