Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I gave a sneak peek at one of my Craftsy.com courses a few weeks ago. Well, now I am happy to say that my online courses are available!

The first course is a three-in-one pattern called Wee Ones – Seamless Knit Toys! That’s right, the three adorable buddies you see in the photos are all completely seamless. Once you are done knitting that last stitch you are completely done with the toys except for taking an embroidery stitch or two for the eyes and mouth. There are no separate knit parts to stitch on at all as it is all one piece!

The bodies are knit exactly the same for the elephant, hippo and bunny. The heads all start out the same and then are shaped to create the different faces. Once you knit one of the Wee Ones you can easily whip up the others in a snap. They are quick and come together so simply. These critters make the perfect gifts for any shower, holiday or just about any other occasion!

The online course is available for purchase right now on Craftsy.com and right now there is a limited time deal for 50% off the purchase price. This is a steal for 10 video lessons that you have complete access to anytime and forever, a three-in-one pattern, and a bonus pattern that I’ll tell you about in a bit.

Click here to preview the Wee Ones course and for the discount information!

There is a lot of fun and exciting technique in this pint-size toy! Everything from simple increases and decreases, short row shaping, kitchener stitch, placing arms on scrap yarn and picking up later, afterthought legs, and picking up stitches right on the toy are the skills included in Wee Ones. I’ll walk you through every step of the way!

The head is worked up first, then stitches are picked up and worked down for the body. The body is really knit just like a seamless top-down yoked sweater so these skills are easily transferrable to sweater knitting as well.

The toys are about 5-inches tall and all three use Spud & Chloë Sweater. The elephant is in Beluga, the hippo is in Watermelon and the bunny is in Ice Cream. All three use less than one hank each.

The backs are just as cute as the fronts!

The bonus pattern is for a tiny top-down sweater that fits the toys perfectly. I love this little wardrobe addition. I used small bits of various Sweater colors but you could use only one color, too. I think school colors, initials or holiday colors would all make the sweaters even more personal and fun.

Here are some links for you:

Click here for the Wee Ones course preview and the limited discount price!

Click here for the Wee Ones Ravelry project page!

I am working away on one of my Fairies and will start posting photos soon! I hope you will join me next week in whipping up a few fairies in Spud & Chloë Fine for my Mini-Fairy-Along.

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I am planning on whipping up a few fairies next week out of this gorgeous gathering of Spud & Chloë Fine.  I’d love it if you’d like to join me. I will post some in progress photos to share how I am doing with my fairies along the way. I am making more of my fairies from the Knit Simple Holiday Issue 2011 for an upcoming class I am teaching at the Knit Circus Mini-Retreat in Madison, WI, on November 19th. There are still a few spots left in my fairy class and a few spots left in Amy Detjen’s colorwork class if you are in the Madison area that weekend. I hope you can join us at the retreat.

Click here to see the fairies from Knit Simple!

Click here to find out about the Knit Circus Mini-Retreat!

I am really looking forward to this class and to making more fairies right here on Spud says! I will start next week but you can join in any time you’d like. In order to knit along with me you will need a copy of the pattern in the Knit Simple Holiday magazine which is out right now at your local yarn shops and book shops, and you will need Spud & Chloë Fine in your selected colorways.

I am calling this a Mini-Fairy-Along. Let me know if you are planning on joining in. The fairies are a perfect little holiday gift, stocking stuffer, ornament or even a gift topper!

(photo provided by BlueberrHill – rav id)

I also want to mention the Beluga and Firefly Hat, the new free pattern posted earlier this week. Some people had a bit of difficulty downloading the pattern. I think we have all of the technical bugs worked out now!

Click here to find out more or to download the free hat pattern!

Click here for the Ravelry page for the hat!

The photo above is from Andrea who kindly gave me permission to share with you.  She goes by BlueberryHill on Ravelry. Andrea is a wonderfully talented knitter who enjoys Spud & Chloë. I really enjoy following her projects. Click here to see Andrea’s project page for her Beluga & Firecracker Hat. She made some modification that she shares on her blog right here. I think that the Beluga colorway is the perfect neutral for any other colorway in Sweater. I love Andrea’s combination of Firecracker and Beluga! Great work!

I’ll be back soon with the Fairy-along!

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I’ve been putting in 10 to 12 hour days filming in the Craftsy studios this week. It’s going really well and it’s all knitting all the day long.

So what do I do in my spare time? I knit, of course! Wouldn’t you?

I’ve been futzing around with making up a cool striping sequence with my new grellow love (that’s gray and yellow combined). I’ve landed on the one in the photo. It’s easy but yet interesting and that’s my other favorite combination. I’ll fill you in on the new hat pattern in Firefly and Beluga Sweater very soon. It will be a free pattern coming up.

I’ll also be back soon to tell you all about my online Craftsy.com classes as they involve all kinds of Spud & Chloë goodness!

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I’m packing up my bag of friends and hitting the road. I am leaving for Los Angeles and Vogue Knitting Live! I will be there teaching four workshops on this Friday and Saturday, September 23rd and 24th,  and I hope to see lots of you there! It should be a fun and exciting event. There is a gigantic marketplace and fashion shows and yarn and bags and needles and your favorite designers and authors…. don’t miss it if you are able to attend.

Click here to find out more about Vogue Knitting Live!

By the way, my luggage always has a slip in it telling me that it was searched by the airport security. I often wonder what goes through the mind of the security person searching through my bag full of knitting and stuffed characters. It would be good to be a fly on the wall for that.

Well, I am hoping to post from the event so stay tuned. When I return I am going to finish up my second Polly Cardigan and get those instructions written up for you. Don’t forget our knitalong for the Polly Pullover/Cardigan begins on September 28th, 2011. I can’t wait and the response to join in has been terrific. Thank you. We are going to have a good time knitting together.

See you soon and wish me luck!

Spud & Chloë Cardigan by Tanis Gray

(Photo by Joe Coca for Interweave)

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

First of all, thanks for your patience while we figured out the difficulties for some of you trying to download Chloë’s Cardigan pattern. Things are all set and good to go. If you had trouble be sure to try again. Chloë will have cardigans!

The new Interweave Gifts Issue 2011 is coming out very soon, September 6th, in fact. The wonderful designer and knitter Tanis Gray has a fantastic kid-sized cardigan included in the issue. The cardigan is called, Scherenschnitte, and Tanis uses Spud & Chloë Sweater in the Toast and Grape Jelly colorways. I love Tanis’ smart design work and this cardigan is a gem.

Toast and Jelly, the perfect combination of colors for a cardigan (and for your breakfast menu)!

To purchase the Interweave Gifts Issue 2011 click here!

I’ll be back soon with more….

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I am on the last square for my new stitch pattern Outer baby blanket. It is the squishiest, yummiest blanket I have made. I can’t wait to get the squares together and put the border on.

I’ll be back next week with the finished blanket and a video tutorial on the provisional cast on I used. You are going to love this technique. With the live stitches at the ends of each square, putting it all together becomes a whole new game with different options. The same goes for picking up to apply the border. It will be easy-peasy.

If you want a quick and stunning lap or baby blanket this one may be your ticket!

Have a beautiful weekend, Knitters.

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

The time has come to start our Chloë knitalong. I promised I would open a thread on our Ravelry group, Friends of Spud & Chloë, in mid-July. That day is here. I will be on the thread answering questions and just sharing in general. Feel free to ask questions on here as well.

Click here to see the Chloë knitalong thread on our Ravelry group!

The pattern is found in Spud & Chloë at the Farm. The yarn is Spud & Chloë Sweater. You will need one hank each of Toast, Firecracker and Splash. I used US size 5 and 7 double-pointed needles but be sure to check your gauge as specified in the book. You will need some stuffing and embroidery floss, too.

For more information and to see more finished Chloës click here!

I have a fun little Chloë-related pattern up my sleeve once we get going with the knitalong. I am planning a couple of helpful videos for you, too. I want to show you how I do the hair for sure. I get a lot of questions about that and I think a video would be a good thing.

Please let me know if you are joining in and if you have already knit your own Chloë please share her with us. I’m really excited to get our Chloë knitalong going.

I’ll be back soon with more…

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I have some huge and exciting news today! We love to listen to our customers and it has become very clear through your many requests that we open an online pattern shop for our original pattern line. Well, today is the day! If you look at the upper right corner of our website you will see the shiny new category called, Pattern Store!

That’s right, you are now able to purchase all of the Spud & Chloë patterns online as they are now ready for immediate download! I am so excited about this. Access to all of our fun designs and patterns just got a whole lot easier.

Click here to check out our new online pattern shop!

All of the patterns are now ready for you to instantly download in pdf form! You can use Paypal or another form of payment – all quick and easy!

One pattern I am most excited about is this one called, Polly Pullover which is designed by our very own Merri (she writes the Blue Sky Alpacas Bluesletter which you should all subscribe to). If you are clicking away to buy some of our online patterns you might want to add this one to your cart. I am planning a knitalong for early fall for the Polly Pullover. I hope you will consider joining me.

Every week since Spud & Chloë launched two years ago I have been fielding requests for us to make our patterns available for download. You can imagine my excitement about this new venture for Spud! Now I can respond to these requests with a link to our new pattern shop! How great is that?

One important thing to note is that our printed pattern line is still so very valuable to us. The entire line, including future patterns and our pattern box, is still and will always be available for purchase in local yarn shops and online yarn shops. I am a huge fan of our unique printed patterns here at Spud & Chloë and as you can see I put my my Spud & Chloë pattern box to good use! There is nothing like a high quality and well-designed printed pattern and I actually prefer to have a printed pattern like this whenever I am able. Remember to always support your local yarn shops first. They need you!

It’s a new and exciting day for Spud & Chloë! Enjoy!

I’ll be back soon with another exciting announcement….

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

Ruminating means to think, muse and ponder. It can also mean, in medical terms, to chew on food that’s already been chewed. I know that last definition is a little gross but I am talking figuratively not literally and in a design sense. Both of these definitions ring true for what I am planning.

Yesterday I gathered up an armload of Spud & Chloë Outer in nine gorgeous colors. I even cast on to play around a bit. The two colors missing from the photos are on my needles right now. I have been spending some quiet time doing research in my stitch dictionaries as well.

I hope to have more time to ruminate today. When you see a big bunch of beautiful yarn like this it is so inspiring.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Are you pondering over any new Spud & Chloë projects? Fill me in!

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I have a new free pattern coming up quick here. A Simple Shrug is just that, an easy-peasy fun and wearable piece that can warm your shoulders on a cool summer night or a brisk fall day or a chilly winter night. You get it, it’s a year-round versatile shrug that you can whip up in no time at all.

A Simple Shrug can be dressed up or down. Throw it on over a t-shirt and jeans or over a dressy tank and skirt or a sleeveless dress. It all works in a comfortable cozy way.

I added a ruching detail to spice things up a bit.

You will need three hanks of Sweater to make your own version of A Simple Shrug. I made mine using 3 hanks of Spud & Chloë Sweater in the new Beluga #7521 shade of gray. I was dying to give this color a go on my needles as soon as I saw it and sure enough I want to knit more with Beluga. I think a cardigan would be the best in this shade of gray. That is on my list.

For the shrug I used US size 7 sixteen inch circular needles to knit the entire thing. The gauge is 5 stitches per inch.

Basically, all you are doing is making a long tube that has an opening in the center. It goes really fast.

I love ruching. It adds texture in an easy way. Also, the ruching in this project naturally makes a scalloped edging along the front and back of the shoulders.

I will provide the pattern to make a size medium and then I will tell you how to take a couple of quick measurements to make your own shrug to custom fit you! How does that sound?

I’ll be back soon with the pattern for you. Have a good weekend!