Amanda Scheuzger 1/1/20 Amanda Scheuzger 1/1/20

Holidays on Hoth- Day 7 Reveal

The colorway for day 7 is inspired by scenes from The Rise of Skywalker trailer depicting a new plant, Pasaana.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/31/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/31/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 6 Reveal

The colorway for day 6 is inspired by the idyllic home of Princess Leia, Alderaan.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/30/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/30/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 5 Reveal

The colorway for day 5 is inspired by the mysterious rainy planet, Kamino.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/29/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/29/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 4 Reveal

The colorway for day 4 is inspired by the nightlife in center of the galaxy, Coruscant.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/28/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/28/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 3 Reveal

The colorway for day 3 is inspired by the place that is not a moon or a space mall, it is the Death Star.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/27/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/27/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 2 Reveal

The colorway for day 2 is inspired by the birthplace of Vader and the hot spot of the Dark Side, Mustafar.

Amanda Scheuzger 12/26/19 Amanda Scheuzger 12/26/19

Holidays on Hoth- Day 1 Reveal

Handmaine Knits celebrates the holidays (and the new Star Wars movie) with an advent-style set of 12 mini-skeins, each inspired a different travel destination in the Star Wars universe.

The colorway for day 1 is inspired by the first planet we explore in the movie saga, that one that is farthest from the bright center of the universe, Tatooine.

Amanda Scheuzger 10/27/19 Amanda Scheuzger 10/27/19

Holidays on Hoth, A Yarn Advent Set

Celebrate the Holidays (and The Rise of Skywalker) with a Star Wars inspired advent style yarn set.

HandmaineKnits is pleased to announce our Holidays on Hoth yarn sets. Each set contains 12 mini skeins in colors inspired by planets across the Star Wars universe.

Choose between 12 days of Christmas and 8 nights of Hanukkah, and you will receive twelve 20-gram mini-skeins of Twist Sock, wrapped in either 12 or 8 packages based on your selection.

Twist Sock
80% merino/20% nylon blend
2-ply, fingering weight
approximately 80 yards per 20 grams

This set includes twelve 20 gram mini skeins for a total of 960 yards / 240 grams

Sets will ship the first week of December. Visit the HandmaineKnits Etsy shop for more details.

Buy Now

Amanda Scheuzger 8/16/19 Amanda Scheuzger 8/16/19

Knitting Bling for Your Coffee

I have just added beautiful yarn and knitting-inspired mugs in three exclusive designs with original artwork to my Etsy shop!

The orignal “Sweater Knitter’s Crest” – Whether it symbolizes your heritage, achievements, or aspirations, everyone should know you are a Sweater Knitter.

“I Turn Coffee into Sweaters” – Let your friends and family know you’re going to need that second cup, you have a sweater to finish!

Perhaps you are a bit of a “Yarn Snob”? It is okay to admit, we know you’re not judgmental, you just like what you like (we do too).

These ceramic mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe, and are made to order right here in the U.S., typically shipping within 3-5 days.

Amanda Scheuzger 7/3/19 Amanda Scheuzger 7/3/19

Perfect Blend MKAL Kits

HandmaineKnits now has kits for Casapinka’a Perfect Blend MKAL!

The Perfect Blend MKAL will begin on July 8th and contains 6 clues over 6 weeks. It is a boomerang shaped shawl (designed by Casapinka) knit with 12 mini skeins – the pattern is good for 80-100 yards mini skeins (or lssrger). The 80 yard skeins will make a slightly smaller shawl, the skeins with more yardage will have leftovers to be used in a surprise pattern that will be available after the final clue.

My kits are available in 2 sizes. The small shawl kit has 20 g/80 yard mini skeins in the Twist Sock base, a 2-ply 80% merino/20% nylon blend. The large shawl kit has 33 g/139 yard mini-skeins in the 100% superwash merino Single Ply base. Visit the HandmaineKnits Etsy Shop for more details.

I have created these schematics to show two options for color placement.

This shows the color order as the kits are numbered, the pinks are the most visible color in the final shawl.

In this version, the color order is reversed and the blues become the most visible.

All patterns are sold separately and not included with purchase of yarn. You can purchase the pattern and join the fun on Ravelry.

Amanda Scheuzger 11/29/17 Amanda Scheuzger 11/29/17

Helenium

Helenium, my latest sweater design, was published in the Fall 2017 issue of Twist Collective.

The idea for this design came about a year and a half ago, when I was working on another sweater with a brioche ribbing detail. I was a few rows into the brioche section when I felt the need to add some patterning to that design (I’m pretty sure I was inspired by photos of amazing brioche shawls on Instagram). It was way to late in the process to change that design, so I tucked the idea away to be explored later. When the opportunity to submit a sweater for Fall 2017 issue of Twist Collective came long, I immediately thought back to that seed of an idea from a year ago. Here is my sketch:

This was the first time I would attempt to design a brioche motif, so I went straight to my favorite brioche book, Knitting Fresh Brioche by Nancy Marchant. I highly recommend this book, by the way. It not only covers the basic stitches, but also includes information on increasing and decreasing, reading charts, fixing mistakes, and lots of brioche stitch patterns. It took me a few tries to get the flower motif just right, here is my initial swatch (left) and the final motif (right):

I chose to use straight single color brioche for the cuffs and bottom edging so knitters new to the technique could start with the easier stitch and get some practice before moving on to the 2-color brioche with shaping increases and decreases. I wanted to keep the body simple so the yoke would really be the focus of the sweater.

When you are working brioche, yarn choice is important. One that is slippery or heavy might stretch too much, a toothy or wooly yarn is best. The bloom and halo of Hikoo Kenzie look beautiful in brioche, especially after you block it - this is one of those yarns where the stitches really even out after blocking.

One last thing - fixing mistakes and dropped stitches can be intimidating in brioche knitting, but it really isn't so hard. There are great resources available that walk you through picking up dropped stitches or fixing missed yarn overs (see my gush about Nancy Marchant's book above). If the mistake is a wrong leaning decrease, try fixing it with duplicate stitch - this is much easier than tinking 20 rows of brioche (I know this from experience).

Visit the Twist Collective website for all the details or to purchase the pattern.

Amanda Scheuzger 11/29/16 Amanda Scheuzger 11/29/16

GAL 2016 Fantasy vs. Reality Part 3

Left: Lucienne Scarf by Katinka Designs, Right: Shelby hat by Katinka Designs.

More fantasy knitting today - this time I want to knit the Lucienne Scarf from Katinka Designs!

This scarf has all of the things I love to knit - cables (lots of those), lace (which somehow always makes the knitting seem faster), and dropped stitches (intentional dropped stitch are fun). I thinks this would be the perfect Christmas vacation project. Once you memorize the stitch pattern, you can knit through all the holiday festivities and still be able to join a conversation, play a game, or watch It's a Wonderful Life.

If the long scarf doesn’t fit into your gift knitting schedule, I would recommend the Shelby Hat. While it lacks those entertaining dropped stitches, it makes up for it with cables, cables, more cables, and pretty crown decreases. Maybe this is not the best social knitting, but it only requires one skein of worsted weight yarn. You will have it done in no time.

There are many more great patterns in Katy’s sale bundle, some of my favorites include the Ridley Shawl, Plummy Cowl and Mitts, and the Interwoven Mitts (I knit these last year and love them.) Go take a look, I'm sure you will find something you love.