Whenever I have been fortunate enough to visit Hawaii, I always fantasize about quitting my job (which I love) and moving there, buying a small piece of land, and spending my days eating tropical fruit we grew ourselves, raising chickens, angora bunnies, and Pygoras, and maybe running a small coffee/yarn shop. My husband and I were supposed to ...

My friend Valerie recently passed from an aggressive form of lung cancer. She was an extraordinary person; in addition to being an accomplished artist and passionate activist, she was kind, warm, thoughtful, and fun. I designed this triangular shawl in her memory and imagine that she would have enjoyed wearing it. I labeled each section of stit...

This stroller-size blanket is the perfect gift for cat-loving parents-to-be. It features a chubby cat silhouette surrounded by four large pawprints, with the letters of the alphabet running along the top and bottom. The central panel is surrounded by an attractive textured border that will lie flat. It is knit seamlessly from the bottom up and ...

A friend of mine had been struggling for years to start a family, so when she announced she was pregnant, I wanted to design a special blanket for her to celebrate the arrival of her little one. This blanket is knit in one piece, and while not strictly reversible, I chose stitch patterns that would look attractive on both sides, so there is not...

I offered to knit my friend a hat, and when I asked him to send me a photo of the kind of hat he would like, he sent me the photo from a hilarious story of mistaken hipster identity. When I asked my friend his colour preference, he wanted a gradient from navy blue to light blue, so we settled on a set of Frabjous Fibers/Wonderland Yarn Mad Hatt...

I am fortunate to be visiting Hawaii with my husband and parents this December. It’s always a treat to see the green sea turtles (honu), so as a way to commemorate this special trip, I wanted to make a sea turtle Christmas tree ornament.

I designed this Christmas tree ornament as a gift for my parents, who are both avid curlers, and who instilled a love for the game in my brother and me. I rarely curl anymore, but I have great memories of the four of us curling as a team when my brother and I were kids.

These adorable stuffed taiko are the perfect gift for the taiko player in your life! They would make a great Christmas tree ornament, keychain, or decorative zipper-pull. They are so small that very little yarn is needed (probably only a few yards of each colour). Examples shown were made with Loops & Threads Woolike (beige, chocolate, and ...

I hate being cold. If it were up to me, I’d spend the entire duration of the cloudy and rainy Pacific Northwest winter snuggled up in a blanket with a cat in my lap, a cup of coffee, and my knitting. I designed this “swoncho” (sweater/poncho) so I could have a garment I could throw on top of whatever I was wearing so I could feel cozy while sti...

This cowl is knit in the round using an I-cord cast-on and bind-off, featuring an addictive herringbone brioche pattern in two contrasting colours.

Heart of the Dragon is a long, crescent-shaped shawlette designed to showcase the beauty of that special single skein of fingering weight yarn that has been patiently waiting in your stash for the perfect project. It is worked sideways with a rolled selvage edge, a section of garter stitch that gradually increases and then decreases in width to...

This hat is a very basic beanie and could be knit in a variety of sizes and weights of yarn. The instructions are for worsted/aran, but one could consult other beanie patterns to figure out needle size and number of cast-on stitches if one wanted to make a different size or use a different weight of yarn. The “long life” symbol is worked as a s...

These fingerless mitts were designed to match Galia Lael’s Casu Cowl. You can get a pair of mitts and a nice-sized cowl out of two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted or Malabrigo Rios.

My mom knit a blanket similar to this one sometime before I was born. I remember curling up underneath it all through my childhood. That blanket is looking pretty tired now, and my mom wanted to make another one but she no longer had the instructions, so I came up with this pattern.

This long, crescent-shaped shawlette was designed in honour of Inés V. and was inspired by the lush greenness of Portland, Oregon. The shawlette is knit with a rolled edge, a section of garter stitch that gradually increases (and then decreases) in width to form the crescent shape, and a lace edging. Gauge is not critical. Approx. finished dime...

3/19/2018: Complete re-write of the pattern for improved shaping and fit, more sizing options, and greater clarity.