I have a weird job

Computer History Museum, Periodic Table, Pi, NASA, Satellite

I love being an indie knitting pattern designer. But it can be a very strange job at times.

How many other jobs require you to go ransacking the house for mugs with science-y things on them? Digging out your 31-year-old Einstein T-shirt? Finding your laser-cut wooden cat with the gears? And then using them all in a photoshoot?


Also, I searched "geek hairstyles" and "nerd hairstyles" to prepare for my part of the modeling, and it turns out most of my default hairstyles fall into those categories. Oops. :)

But despite its strange aspects, being a designer can be lots of fun. Naming new patterns is a special joy. My newest pattern, released today, is a quick, worsted weight hat called "Temporal Wingnut." Since science-y inclinations know no age or gender, I graded it for 5 sizes from baby to large adult.

It's the first of 3 patterns in The Technobabble Collection. There's a special price for early purchasers of the ebook. Since there's only one pattern in it now, you can get it for the same price as the hat: $6.95. But you'll automatically get the next 2 patterns when they're added, effectively for free. The ebook price will increase to $10.00 when the cowl pattern is added and to its final price of $12.95 when the fingerless gloves are added. Buy it now and get a great deal!

I will tell you, knitting these patterns was addictive and went very quickly. In the space of a couple weeks, I made 4 adult hats, two sets of fingerless gloves, and two cowls. My pink set is made from a cashmere-merino-silk blend that's thoroughly luxurious.

Gotta go now, there are photos that need editing. The sooner they're finished, the sooner you get some new patterns!

Happy knitting,
~ Caroline 

Temporal Wingnut:
Ravelry | Patternfish

The Technobabble Collection:
Ravelry

Solar Eclipse

I know it's the "cool" thing to act like an eclipse is no big deal. But I 'm in the camp that still thinks it's awe-inspiring. To quote theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku, "In the beginning, God said, 'Let the four dimensional divergence of an anti-symmetric second rank tensor equal zero.' And there was light."

And of course our old favorite Galileo Galilei said "Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe." The laws that govern the universe are consistent and mind-boggling. As a non-math person myself, I can't quite wrap my head around how they work, but I don't have to. They always do, and that is very impressive.

We weren't in the path of totality for the August 21 eclipse, but  we did see a partial. For your enjoyment, here's a composite of the eclipse as seen from my backyard. I think the progressive cloud cover only added to the interest.

There's no knitting in this post, because the eclipse is more than enough. But rest assured that I am working on some new patterns, so you should have more yarny news in the near future.

Happy knitting and science,
Caroline

Yarn Kits!

I ♥ yarn. Do you ♥ yarn? Do you sometimes wonder if a specific yarn will work for a particular design? Then I have some exciting news for you. Ellen at Earthfaire.com offers yarn packs for many, many patterns. Some of them are incredibly gorgeous - I mean, have you seen the Scottish Thistle shawl and the Aquitaine beaded cuffs?

As of today, I'm excited to announce that her kit offerings include one of my designs: The Tree of Life in Summer! Her kit has two yarn options: Crystal Palace Mini Mochi in "Leaves & Sprouts" or Universal Yarns Poems Sock in "Sky & Earth." Aren't they pretty?

The kit doesn't include a copy of the pattern, so if you need one, you can buy it right now or head over to Ravelry or Patternfish and buy it from there.

More pattern kits will be available in the future. Keep an eye out for the rest of the Tree of Life series. If you want to be ready when they become available, you can get an e-book containing all 5 patterns: The Tree of Life Through the Seasons.

Happy knitting!
~ Caroline