Just a quickie today 
The next Special Order deadline is Monday 26th March, and I’ve just written my first newsletter – which has a discount code in it, so you might want to sign up to get it!
<– look it’s here in the sidebar!
Have a great weekend everyone 
They Seek Him Here... Beanie © Practical Publishing
My latest design is in the current issue of Knit Now! They Seek Him Here… is a beanie inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel (sort of )
This hat is suitable for men or women, and the stitch pattern is an easy one to remember. Every other round is all knit stitches, so you could start one on Friday night and have it finished to wear on Monday morning!
The sample is knit in Dark Ash and comes sized in child and small/large adult sizes – all sizes take only one ball of Lanaloft Sport. See issue 6 of Knit Now for more details.
Susetheslowknitta has already posted her FO in the Knit Now Ravelry group. She modified the pattern to be larger, as she doesn’t know who the recipient will be, as it’s going to be part of her Christmas shoebox to Belarus. Love that cheery green!
The Seek Him... by Susetheslowknitta
Argh, I’ve tweeted about this, but forgot to blog it! It’s Special Order time again, so if you would like to Special Order any Brown Sheep yarn, you have until 10am tomorrow (1st March) to place your order.
Lamb’s Pride, Burly Spun, all weights of Nature Spun, and Cotton Fleece are all up on the site, just place an order as usual (read more about Special Orders here). I expect this order to arrive and the yarn to be with you around 21st – 28th March.
If you would like to Special Order any Brown Sheep yarn, you have until Monday at noon to place your order. Lamb’s Pride, Burly Spun, all weights of Nature Spun, and Cotton Fleece are all up on the site, just place an order as usual (read more about Special Orders here).
Elsewhere I have said Sunday at midnight, but in reality I won’t be collating all the orders until midday Monday, and I forgot to mention the deadline on the blog, so there you go, a little more deciding time!
Raindrop Slouch © Practical Publishing
Raindrop Slouch © Practical Publishing
1: My latest pattern release, Raindrop Slouch can be found in Knit Now issue 5. It takes one ball of Lanaloft Sport, and the sample shown is in Buoyant Blue!
2: I’ve started a ravelry group for Magpielly, drop by and say hello!
3: I’m looking for test-knitters for my patterns – see the group for more details!
4: I’ll be in Manchester tomorrow at the Knit Now meet up at Purl City (meeting first in Sugar Junction at 1pm) – See you there?
Welcome to the first in a new series here at Magpielly: Palette Pack Focus! People seemed to enjoy the look at examples of the Deep, Dark Night palette that was used in the Knit Now feature, and seeing the various styles of how it was used, so I thought I might do a little series of posts looking at the various palette packs available in the shop.
Astrid in Midnight Sakura
This week’s turn is Midnight Blossom, which made up of Thunder Bay, Bridal Rose and Celery. It is essentially navy, with pastel pink and green. When I was writing this post, I found it really hard to explain quite *why* I’ve worked these colours together. They just appealed to me! I certainly had something like this in mind. Colour perception is very subjective, affected both by personal taste, and the environment in which the colours are seen.
I first used these colours together in a kit for my Astrid pattern, and I think they work very well together when used in that way – largish blocks of colour, with a predominant dark colour.
But what about when the colours are used in smaller blocks, and closer together? Let’s look at a different swatch.
Various stitches
Here, although they are different colours (or hues), the pink and green almost blend into each other, and it is hard to see the pattern in the bottom of the swatch. This is because they are very similar in value (how light or dark a colour is).
This can be illustrated even more clearly if we desaturate the photo (take all the colour out!).
The same swatch, desaturated
In this version, we can really only see 2 ‘colours’, as the pink and green are so close in value. This is used to full effect in traditional Fair Isle knitting – when there are many colours, and yet a distinct pattern can still be seen. This is because the pattern is picked out in dark vs light values. Although we can still see the separate colours, particularly when we look closely, those separate colours will fall into 2 predominant groups, lights and darks.
So what does these mean for our knitting?
Well – firstly, don’t use colours that are very close in value if you want them to stand out from each other! But if you simply have to have certain colours, use them wisely!
Let’s go back to the original swatch. My points would be better illustrated by bigger swatches (with more repeats), alas, I have no swatch fairy to make them for me. But I trust you can use your imagination if needs be!
Various stitches
Colours similar in value widely separated, with colours used in distinct direction (our eyes are drawn to the horizontal lines, as this is a pattern our brains can easily recognise).
Colours similar in value are separate, but still fairly close. An ‘all-over’ pattern gives order, but it isn’t as obvious as the stripes one. Can be very effective – consider colour ratios: although Thunder Bay is the background colour, within the pattern repeat there are 10 dark coloured stitches to every 6 light coloured stitches – this is close to the Golden Ratio, which our brain loves!
Colours similar in tone right next to each other: baaaaad (unless colour ‘merging’ is what we want!)
If you want to introduce some extra colour to your knitting, the simplest way to go about it is stripe the colours! That’s what I did in this armwarmer pattern (you can see the whole thing here – click on the second little picture!). Notice again that the lighter colours are separated by the darker colour.
Simple Stripey Armwarmers close-up
Phew! If you got to the end, well done! I hope you find it helpful.
Finally, just a head-up: due to rising wool and shipping costs, I’m going to have to put my prices up 
But, to give you a chance to buy some lovely Lanaloft Sport before they do, I thought I’d give you fair warning!
Prices will be going up on Sunday 29th January so you’ve got until then to treat yourself at the lower price! 
So. My cute-oh little cushions were published in the latest Knit Now issue
Starburst & Sunburst, Photo © Practical Publishing
I loved making these cushions – so simple yet so effective and fun – just make 2 flat circles, then pick up stitches for the spokes. No long cast ons or cast offs, and NO SEAMS TO SEW! Just the ends to neaten away.
Including the spokes, the smaller one has a diameter of 43cm and uses 2 balls of Mulling Spice Lanaloft Sport, and the larger is 55cm across uses 3 balls of Orchid.
Bright jewel tones to liven up a dark corner of my living room – at least, they will be once I get the samples back!
(The Deep, Dark Night Palette Pack that was used for the Designer Challenge is now back in stock in the shop!)
For our final interview in the Knit Now issue 3: Designer Challenge series, we have Sam Parfitt of Dark Nights and Yarn Dreams, who designed the intriguing Liquorice Gloves. You can find buy her hand-dyed yarn on Etsy, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter.
Liquorice Gloves by Sam Parfitt, © Practical Publishing
Tell us a bit about yourself, and your fibrey pursuits. For example, where are you from, do you work as anything else other than a knitwear designer? When/how did you you learn to knit? What made you decide to design a pattern for publication?
I live in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, with my 5 year old daughter Billie Jo and I freelance as a knitwear designer, tutor and dyer. I learnt to knit when I was about 7, my mum taught me and I remember being a pain to teach! When I heard the Designer Challenge for Knit Now was using Lanaloft Sport in my favourite gothic colours I think I submitted about 4 different designs so I was in with more of a chance, and when my gloves were picked I couldn’t wait to knit them up!
What was your inspiration for the design? Did it come from the colours, or the yarn structure, or something else?
My inspiration, believe it or not, was a mixture of the freezing cold and liquorice. I had been craving liquorice for a while and the shape of the twist made me think up some twisty gloves, the colour of liquorice.
Tension: I’m interested to see that across the 3 patterns, there are vastly different tensions – from 20 sts to 30 sts to 10 cm! Why did you choose the tension you did, what effect did it have on the finished project?
I chose the tension I did because I wanted the gloves to be slouchy rather than fitted, and lace always shows up better when you use bigger needles than recommended.
A bit of quick fire fun:
Sweet or Savoury? Savoury
Marmite, yes or no? Yes. With bells on.
Favourite fibre? Muesli. Kidding, silk.
Crochet? Yes.
What are you reading now/what was the last book you read? The War of the Dwarves by Markus Heitz
Music tastes? Rock, metal and punk. Apart from Trivium.
What annoys you? People with no manners.
What makes you happy/helps you relax? Playing XBox, baking and of course, knitting.
Favourite colour(s)? Black, purple, turquoise, grey, pink, green…
And that wraps up our little series of interviews! I hope you enjoyed finding out more about the designers. Look out for Issue 4 of Knit Now, where you will find (among other fabulous designs) a pattern by yours truly! Yay! But more on that soon
The second designer interview is with Rachel Coopey, who designed the fabulous Zena Mittens. She blogs at Coop Knits and tweets @coopknit. This design, and the others in the series, are knitted with one ball each of Lanaloft Sport, in Rose Marquee, Deep Violet and Black Bear.
Together they make up the Deep, Dark Night which is available for £13.49. (Currently there is only one Deep Dark Night pack left, Deep Dark Night is now all sold out, but other colourways are available. More stock of Deep, Dark Night will be arriving mid-January, so I recommend that if you want one, purchase it now, and it will be reserved for you. Please see this page for more info.) Deep, Dark Night is back in stock!
Zena Mittens by Rachel Coopey, © Practical Publishing
Tell us a bit about yourself, and your fibrey pursuits. For example, where are you from, do you work as anything else other than a knitwear designer? When/how did you you learn to knit? What made you decide to design a pattern for publication?
I’m from Worcester and I’m a full time designer. My mum and Grandma were always knitting when I was little and I used to make them cast on for me and I would knit garter stitch squares. When I was about 16 I managed a whole scarf. In 2007 I bought a book and re-taught myself the basics and I haven’t stopped since!
What was your inspiration for the design? Did it come from the colours, or the yarn structure, something else?
The colours were the starting point for me – I started with the colourwork cuff and I wanted a cable pattern to co-ordinate with it, this is the first time I have worked with Lanaloft Sport – but it won’t be the last! I love proper woolly yarn and this is definitely that!
Tension: I’m interested to see that across the 3 patterns, there are vastly different tensions – from 20 sts to 30 sts to 10 cm! Why did you choose the tension you did, what effect did it have on the finished project?
I chose to work at a tight tension because I wanted the resulting fabric to be really firm and warm, thats one of the lovely things about this yarn – you can use it in such a range of tensions, I’m working on a project now which is a lot looser and it’s got a lovely drape!
Do you have any extra tips for your project, or for using Lanaloft Sport? Eg. cast on/cast off. type of increase, needles to use etc.
Try not to knit the colourwork section too tightly and learning how to cable without a cable needle will save you time!
A bit of quick fire fun:
Sweet or Savoury? Sweet
Marmite, yes or no? No
Favourite fibre? Wool
Crochet? I wish
What are you reading now/what was the last book you read? The Magicians.
Music tastes? Eclectic
What annoys you? Wasps
What makes you happy/helps you relax? A hot bath
Favourite colour(s)? Green, Yellow and Grey
That’s all for this year! After the New Year check back for Sam Parfitt’s interview, and a couple of exciting announcements – but in the mean time, I wish you a happy and hygge New Year!
Here is the first interview of the Designer Challenge series. It’s with Patricia Clift Martin, who designed the lovely Lotus-Eater Mitts.
Lotus Eater Mitts by Patricia Clift Martin, © Practical Publishing
Tell us a bit about yourself, and your fibrey pursuits. For example, where are you from, do you work as anything else other than a knitwear designer? When/how did you you learn to knit? What made you decide to design a pattern for publication?
I’m a born, bred, and resident Mancunian. I taught myself to knit using the Debbie Bliss “How to Knit” book when my next oldest sister was pregnant. That baby is going to school next year having turned 4 in November so I’ve not been knitting very long in the grand scheme of things. By the time she was born she had a big box of baby things and her mum had been wearing two hand knit maternity tops, one a lace cardigan, so it’s fair to say I took to it quickly.
I come from a fairly crafty and creative family. There are some great family photos of my older siblings in hand knit Icelandic style Lopi jumpers that my my mum knit in the 1970s. Sadly she was no longer able to knit by the time I was interested in learning but she is quite excited by my being published. Two of my sisters are excellent knitters, another crochets, another does lots of different needlework to an extremely high standard, and another is a wonderful photographer. I’ve been surrounded by inspirational people my whole life.
In terms of what made me design for publication it’s a little hard to say. I’ve been self-publishing for about a year and Knit Now issued their first call for submissions at the time when I’d just finished the first pattern which I really felt was different and exciting so it was serendipity to some extent.
What was your inspiration for the design? Did it come from the colours, the yarn, something else?
For me it was the colours. I really like the effects you can get from changing the background colour but keeping the contrast the same. It reminds me a little bit of the Jan Pienowski illustrations from the fairy tales I read as a kid.
(Ohh, I remember Meg & Mog – I loved those illustrations! – E)
I’m interested to see that across the 3 patterns, there are vastly different tensions – from 20 sts to 30 sts to 10 cm! Why did you choose the tension you did, what effect did it have on the finished project?
I’m basically an intuitive knitter so I feel the yarn and then pick the needles that seem appropriate, and crack on. With this design I had the lotus flower chart drawn out and that influenced the tension and the cast on a lot. Colour work makes my tension a bit tighter than usual and I find it doesn’t increase as much after blocking. I was also sick as a dog with a really heavy cold when I knit this up which definitely affected my tension!
Do you have any extra tips for your project, or for using Lanaloft Sport?
For my project you can resize upwards by using larger needles. I think this yarn is quite adaptable and will knit nicely in the 3.5 – 5mm needle range to create different fabrics.
A bit of quick fire fun:
Sweet or Savoury? Savoury
Marmite, yes or no? No, it’s the devil’s work
Favourite fibre? Wool
Crochet? No, my wrists don’t like it
What are you reading now/what was the last book you read? The Last Season by Anne de Courcy
Music tastes? Eclectic, anything from Swedish Jazz to 1980s power ballads, taking in Johnny Cash en route
What annoys you? Advertising that assumes the viewer is an eejit.
What makes you happy/helps you relax? Knitting obviously and baking. Baking is my big de-stressing activity.
Favourite colour(s)? Grey, Green, Blue
You can find more about Patricia at her blog, Unwinding Slowly, and more of her patterns are available on Ravelry. She has also released donation-ware pattern in conjunction with Knit Now’s campaign for Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, donate at Just Giving.com. She also tweets, @pmcblonde.
And there we have it! The next interview will be with Rachel Coopey, and will be out in between Christmas and the new year. In case you are interested in buying the yarn to use for the pattern, as of writing, I only have 2 balls of the beautiful Rose Marquee, and only one of the Deep Violet left! I have more stock on the way, expected to arrive sometime in the second week of January, but if you want a Deep, Dark Night Palette Pack sooner, best to snap it up!
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