Purl Diving Patterns by Katherine Matthews

Workshops from Katherine Matthews at the 2016 Toronto Knitters Frolic

2016-02-01T15:14:56-05:00

The sign-ups are open for the workshops being offered on Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st at the 2016 Toronto Knitters Frolic - follow this link to see more about the two workshops that I'm presenting:

Smooth As Silk: Silk Hankies for Knitting (1 hour) on Saturday April 30th
Basic Orenburg Stitches (3 hours) on Sunday May 1st

I hope to see you there!

purl diving at the 2016 Toronto Knitters Frolic

2016-01-25T11:00:27-05:00

Great news! purl diving will be at the 2016 Toronto Knitters Frolic, with a booth in the Marketplace from 9:00am to 4:30pm on Saturday April 30th, where you'll be able to buy my indie designer hand-dyed yarns and patterns.

As well, I'm presenting two workshops at the Frolic:

Smooth as Silk – Intro to Silk Hankies at 4:00pm on Saturday April 30th (1 hour)
Basic Orenberg Stitches at 9:00am on Sunday May 1st (3 hours)

Keep up with the latest news about purl diving and other interesting knitting related items on the new purldiving.com Facebook Page.

Introducing the Make Waffles cowl pattern and a little catch-up on what Purl Diving has been up to

2015-10-28T17:07:59-04:00

Make Waffles...

The latest pattern from Katherine Matthews of Purl Diving is called Make Waffles, and it was inspired by the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where there’s a moment when Kimmy finally returns to her Indiana hometown for the trial of Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne, who kept her and the other Mole Women sequestered for many years. Kimmy tells her friend Titus that she plans to “make waffles” out of him, the worst thing possible in her town. This cowl is a tribute to Kimmy’s unbreakable spirit. Whenever life hands you lemons? Make waffles.

The sample, shown in the photo, was knit in my own Purl Diving labelled yarn (see below for more about that) called 'Chapel Lane Chunky', hand-dyed in a limited-edition 'Unbreakable' colourway. It should work well with any bulky or chunky weight yarn that knits up to a gauge of 20sts and 28 rows over 10cm / 4in (unblocked) or 14sts and 22 rows over 10cm / 4in (blocked) in the waffle stitch pattern; I will have some suggested alternative commercial yarns in the near future.

The cowl is knit flat and comes in one size. Written instructions only, no charts. Required skills: Knit, purl, yo, k2tog, cast on, cast off.

Catching Up...

There are a few patterns that have been published and included on the Pattern Catalogue page, but haven't been announced here on the blog page. So, to address that oversight, here are the patterns that have been added to my portfolio since the last blog post (click on each image to open full size in a new window):

Kiran - A triangular lace shawl. The lace pattern is charted (no written instructions provided for the lace pattern) and can be worked in either of two sizes: small or large. For Intermediate to Experienced lace knitters.
Florideae - A triangular lace shawl, with optional beaded embellishment. The lace pattern is charted (no written instructions provided for the lace pattern), for one size. For Experienced lace knitters.
Mariza - A crescent shaped shawl incorporating a lace border adapted from the Portuguese Edging in Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Mariza has three panels of garter-stitch in the centre (see schematic for shaping) which results in a deeper body when compared with the earlier Amalia shoulder shawl (where the curve is achieved using short-rows). Both written and charted instructions are included, one size; for an Adventurous Intermediate knitter with some lace knitting experience.
Tikal - A gracefully arcing shawl, a cousin to the Aldred scarf, Tikal is also inspired by architecture – in this case the edging, resembling the pyramids at the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, features ribbing to echo the pyramid staircases. Written instructions only, one size; for an Adventurous Intermediate knitter.
Tide - A 90° right-triangle shawl with a long edge taking the form of a curved coastline, and an edging resembling waves rolling onto a beach. Tide comes in one size, and the pattern includes both written instructions and charts (except for the edging, which has written instructions only). For Intermediate knitters.
Dulce - This design, which features a version of Walker's Portuguese lace edging, includes two takes on the theme: a scarf and a shawl, both of which are not-quite triangular/almost crescent shaped (check out the schematics for the shawl and the scarf to see what I mean). The pattern includes both written and charted instructions. For intermediate knitters.
Breakwater - Breakwater is a shallow crescent shawl. The edging, worked first, is created by knitted garter welt mitred squares in two colours. Then stitches are picked up along the top edge, and short rows create the gentle curve of the shawl. Breakwater comes in one size, includes written instructions only, and requires the following "Intermediate Knitter" skills: Knit, purl, ssk, sssk, picking up stitches, short rowing.

But Wait, There's More...

I've branched out from pattern designing and have launched (quietly) a line of Purl Diving hand-dyed yarns. These have been sold at local pop up craft shops like the Holiday Handmade POP UP Shop organized by Necessary Arts Company (where I have a studio space for dyeing yarns) in Guelph, Ontario, and at knitting shows like the KW Knitters' Fair in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario and the Woodstock Fleece Festival in Woodstock, Ontario. Here's a photo of my table in the Micro Market at the 2015 KW Knitters' Fair:

Here are a few photos of the yarns I've dyed:

The yarns I will be doing on a regular basis have been given street names from Guelph, so if you're familiar with the city I think you'll recognize them: Baker Street Fingering, Carden Street Worsted, Suffolk Street Sock, Chapel Lane Chunky and Cork Street Sock. The colourways are, I think, uniquely representative of my own sense of colour, and are often inspired by the colours I see in movies or TV shows. In any case, dyelots are small due to the nature of the hand-dyeing production process I use, and there is some variability between dyelots (and even within a dyelot), which is all part of the uniqueness - no two skeins are exactly the same.

My 'Tech Guy' (the DH) is working on setting up online sales of Purl Diving yarns, so stay tuned for more information on how to buy them online. Until then, they will be available to purchase locally in Guelph, by appointment - contact me to set up a time to meet at my studio space in the Necessary Arts Company location. You can also watch for announcements about knitting shows and pop up shops that I will be selling at in the future.

One More Thing...

I also have for sale some knitting themed (click on the photo to view the full size image which will let you better see the knit stitch pattern in the surface of the pieces), hand crafted ceramics from Charan Sachar of Creative With Clay. Here's a picture of the items I have available:

In the front is a small round knitted dish (7.6 cm/3 inch diameter; priced at CA$22) that's useful for holding a teabag, small notions or beads while doing beaded knitting; behind that, on the left is a knitted drinking cup with no handle (8.9 cm/3.5 inch high by 7.6 cm/3 inch diameter, holds 237 mL/8 oz.; priced at CA$36) and on the right is a knitted medium tea mug with a handle (10 cm/4 inch high by 7.6 cm/3 inch diameter, holds 266 mL/9 oz.; priced at CA$54). These are beautifully made and each of them is available in three colours - the dish in the photo is blue, the cup (no handle) is green, and the mug (with handle) is honey. As with my yarns, these are available at my studio space (by appointment), or when I am selling at knitting shows or pop up shops. Once online sales are set up, they will be listed there as well. They are produced by hand in limited quantities, and are hard to find in Canada - great if you're looking for a unique item to show your passion for knitting, or as a unique gift for another lucky knitter. Contact me by email 'purldiving(AT)purldiving(DOT)com' (replace the (AT) and (DOT) that I've used to avoid spammers with @ and . respectively) if you're interested in purchasing and we can work out the details.

Two New Purl Diving Lace Shawl Patterns: Les Bermudes and Soraya

2011-11-18T22:58:31-05:00

Recent additions to the Purl Diving "Mother of Purl" series of patterns include two new lace shawls: Les Bermudes and Soraya. They are both available as downloadable PDFs from PatternFish.

Les Bermudes

A storm, a shipwreck, and a mysterious island: "here's a maze trod, indeed, through forth-rights and meanders". Les Bermudes ("The Bermudas") is named after the purported setting of Shakespeare's play The Tempest, a place of myth and enchantment.

"Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands;
Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
The wild waves whist:
Foot it featly here and there,
And sweet sprites bear
The burthen. Hark, hark."

Les Bermudes can be worked with 4- or 5-panels; the materials and instructions for the 5-panel version are in shown in parentheses “()”.

A few more images:

Soraya

Soraya is a name of Persian origin meaning “rich” or “princess”. You won’t need to be rich to make this shawl, but it could make you feel like a princess wearing it!

The lace is charted (no written instructions) and can be worked to make a small or large size triangular shawl. Beads on the edging add a touch of glitter, whichever size you decide on.

Both of the suggested yarns fall in the "heavy fingering" to "light sport" weight category.

For experienced lace knitters.

Some more photos:

Aldred Scarf - Erratum

2011-08-06T09:02:00-04:00

An error in the pattern for the Aldred scarf has been reported - a corrected version of the PDF sold through PatternFish has been uploaded, so if you bought a copy there has a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please go to your account there to download the latest version.

If you purchased a printed copy of the pattern from your LYS with a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please accept my apologies for the mistake in your copy - you can correct it by crossing out (or just ignoring) the second sentence of the "W&T (Wrap and Turn) instructions" in the shaded text box on page 3.

Calsada Scarf - Erratum 2

2011-08-06T09:01:00-04:00

An error in the pattern for the Calsada scarf has been reported - a corrected version of the PDF sold through PatternFish has been uploaded, so if you bought a copy there has a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please go to your account there to download the latest version.

If you purchased a printed copy of the pattern from your LYS with a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please accept my apologies for the mistake in your copy - you can correct it by crossing out (or just ignoring) the second sentence of the "W&T (Wrap and Turn) instructions" in the shaded text box on page 3.

Amalia Shawl - Erratum

2011-08-06T09:00:00-04:00

An error in the pattern for the Amalia shawl has been reported - a corrected version of the PDF sold through PatternFish has been uploaded, so if you bought a copy there has a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please go to your account there to download the latest version.

If you purchased a printed copy of the pattern from your LYS with a "Last Update" date in the page footer prior to 2011-08-04, please accept my apologies for the mistake in your copy - you can correct it by crossing out (or just ignoring) the second sentence of the "W&T (Wrap and Turn) instructions" in the shaded text box on page 4.

Calsada Scarf - Erratum

2011-05-30T20:47:15-04:00

If you purchased a printed copy of the pattern from your LYS, please accept my apologies for the mistake - you can correct it by changing the following text under "Finishing the Edging" on page 2:

From: "Repeat Rows 2 and 3 four times more."

To:"Repeat Rows 2 and 3 three times more."

New Purl Diving Patterns: Mala Cowl and Les vignes Shawl

2011-02-12T13:32:25-05:00

The two latest Purl Diving patterns from Katherine Matthews are Mala and Les vignes. Both are available as downloadable PDFs from PatternFish. Printed patterns are currently available from Shall We Knit? in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Mala

A garland of leaves gently circle the neck in this pretty cowl pattern, named Mala after the character played by Indian actress Rani Mukherjee in her first film. The cowl comes in two sizes, small and large, with the instructions for the large size given in parentheses.

This is a lacy pattern, but it’s important to make sure the stockinette leaves are not knit too loosely. Adjust your needle size accordingly to match the gauge and blocked measurements.

Here are a few more images:

Les vignes

Like a vineyard stretching out to the horizon, this simple lace pattern winds its way down the shawl.

Les vignes (vineyards in French) may be worked with two panels for a traditional triangle shape, or three panels to allow it to drape gracefully around the neck and over the shoulders.

Both written and charted instructions for the lace are provided. Both 2- and 3-panel versions of the shawl can be worked in either of two sizes: small or large. See the schematic in the images (under "Click below for all images in detail") for sizing and shape details.

And like a fine vintage, this is a design you can savour for years to come.

Here are the schematics, to give you an idea of the shapes of the two versions, as well as the dimensions of the two sizes:

And a few more images to give some details:

Purl Diving site makeover

2011-02-06T23:11:11-05:00

This site originated as the shownotes blog for my Purl Diving knitting podcast. After producing a total of 28 episodes of the podcast, life took me in other directions, and one of those was to become more serious about designing and publishing knitting patterns, which coincidentally also use the Purl Diving label.

So my Tech Guy has rebuilt the website to feature my Purl Diving knitting patterns, and also set up a separate archive site for the podcast to allow new listeners to continue to discover it (the stats show it's still finding a new audience). If you're interested in downloading the episodes, the easiest way is to subscribe in iTunes (full instructions are on the podcast site).

The blog on this site will now be used principally for announcements regarding new patterns, additional retailers where you can buy printed copies of patterns and updated information about specific patterns. You can subscribe to the blog's feed in the sidebar or follow @purldiving on Twitter in order to automatically receive new posts.

I post more general knitting content, including thoughts about the design process, on my Apparknitchik blog.

Please have a look around, I'd love to hear your feedback on the new site - you can leave a comment on this post, or email me using the link in the sidebar.