Travel by Rail Shawl Pattern

 The Travel by Rail Shawl is a shawl for every loomer. It may be loomed on a large, regular, or small gauge loom, with worsted, DK, or fingering weight yarn. And if you want, you may even use lace weight on your Martha Stewart 3/8 inch setting. The pattern includes peg numbers and yardage for four looms sizes, including the new Martha Stewart looms.

 The shawl itself is a mid-sized shawl, worked in two colors of yarn, and trimmed with ribbon around the edges.  It sits nicely on the shoulders without slipping, and does not need a shawl pin.

 There are a few new, very simple techniques in the pattern for colorworking the rows while increasing and decreasing to create an eyelet edge. The basic fabric of the shawl is garter stitch, using the ewrap knit to create the proper ease for blocking.

 The shawls in the photos were made on my favorite CinDwood 1/2 inch gauge loom, using 48 and 50 pegs, but a 40 peg large gauge loom, or 48 peg purple hat loom, or Martha Stewart small peg configuration of 75 pegs will all work with this pattern. Best of all, the shawl is loomed entirely in one piece, with no seams.

As always, the pattern is in a large print format. I hope you all enjoy this pattern. Please let me know what you think, and whether you have liked the "Travel by" collection.
Travel by Rail Shawl $4.50 US

Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime

$12.00 US ebook

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Wrapping up a Year of Looming

I saw a topic on Ravelry this week for planning knitting goals for 2012. Instead, I've taken stock of 2011, which was a pretty busy loom year for me.
The year started with an ocean-inspired pattern collection that included:
Coral Reef Cap - January
Sea Glass Wrap - February
Abalone Lace Shawlette -  March
Leafy Sea Dragon Scarf - April
Pink Pearl Wrap - May
April was a very special month, with the publication of Jane's Shawl for the Loom, and with the help of my friend Helen Jacobs-Grant, Jane's Shawl for Needles, both designed from photos of a shawl in the Jane Eyre movie, and seen in the photo at the top of  this post.
The next few months were spent putting together the shawl booklet with 5 patterns, plus variations:
Sweet on Ruffles Shawl
Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl
Peaceful Days Shawl
Diamonds in the Ruff(les)
My Fair Faroese
The end of the year brought the "Travel by" collection:
Travel by Rail Beret
Travel by Rail Cuffs
and later this week, the Travel by Rail Shawl.

I'm happy to say that 8 of these patterns were free, and I hope you have enjoyed all the patterns as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. Check back this week for the last pattern of 2011, "The Travel by Rail Shawl," seen in the second photo.
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Looming around the Net

December will be filled with many loomy gifts, and the loom blogs have many  possibilities for us. At the top of my list is Brenda the Loom Lady's wonderful blog, Loom Lore.  Brenda has shared two new patterns, a darling "Acorn Tawashi" and a lovely "Indian Corn Hotpad". The hotpad is beautifully made in a reversed-sided linen stitch. Brenda's pattern box is filled with holiday patterns, including angels, stars, bells, candy canes and stockings. And, best of all, Brenda has an updated edition of her wonderful book from Boye, "I Taught Myself to Loom Knit."
For more looming fun, the Ravelry Loom-a-long group will be making Robin McCoy's "McCoy Mitts" pattern, with Robin hosting the loom-a-long all month.
Another sweet pattern has been shared by JEC of NEPA, at her blog "I Share With You." The "Little Girl Bag" is a perfect small gift for the holidays.
I hope to see you all over at the loom-a-long.

$12.00 "Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime"
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Travel by Rail Cuffs

 Today I have the second pattern from the "Travel by Rail" collection. These pretty ruffled cuffs are a fast gift to make. They may be worn several ways. The first photo shows them as a jacket or shirt cuff.

 The second photo shows them worn as a boot topper. My daughter liked them best this way.

 The third photo shows them as a cuff under a pair of jeans, over a pair of heels.

In the last photo you will see the eyelets and ribbon details. I hope you will enjoy this little pattern. Travel by Rail Cuffs for the Loom $2.49 US

 $12.00 "Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime"
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Travel by Rail Beret

 I'm very happy to give you this new pattern today. The "Travel by Rail Beret" is a simple but elegant beret, perfect to wear when you want to be warm and comfortable, yet still stylish with a touch of elegance.

 The beret features a relaxed band that will not pull on your hair, with a lace edged cast-off.

 It has a gentle swirl that ends with a tassel. I used a home-made velvet ribbon tassel, but a long tassel of any kind adds a lovely touch to this beret.

Enjoy this pattern, and please let me know how you like it. $3.00 US  

$12.00 e-book "Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime"

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

On and Off the Loom

 November is here, and that means time to get the gifts finished (or in my case, started.) I have a few things just off the loom, and the patterns are almost ready. In the first photo, a sweet tasseled beret.

 The second photo shows a shawl using two colors of natural alpaca yarn. This was such a pleasure to loom! The shawl has an eyelet edging that will have a ribbon woven through it once the blocking is finished.

The last photo shows a ruffled cuff also made from a soft, undyed alpaca yarn. The cuff may be worn under a jacket, or on your ankle topping a pretty shoe.
What is on your loom?

 Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime $12.00

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Tea on Tuesday

$12.00 US

Tea on Tuesday

Little Lemon Ginger Cookies

A sweet little gem of a cookie, my girls can not get enough of these. The cookies may be made a few days ahead of serving and stored in a sealed container between waxed paper or parchment paper. For an extra treat, sprinkle the tops with a little lemon sugar.

1 stick (8 TBSP.) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

1/4 tsp. lemon extract

1 and 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup candied ginger, finely diced

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper. In bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat to combine. Add the zest and lemon extract and beat in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, salt and candied ginger. On low speed, add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until just combined. Drop teaspoons of batter onto the baking sheets (a small sized cookie scoop or melon ball scoop works well for this and gives you very even, round little cookies.) Sprinkle tops with a little sugar or lemon sugar. Bake 7 - 9 minutes, until bottoms have browned. Centers will be a little soft.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Copyright 2000-2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.