Watch Out Internet, Here She Comes!

As she so sheepishly admits, Courtney has finally been pulled kicking and screaming into the Internet age, and has set up her website to sell her pattterns. She has even mastered Paypal and that seductive "Buy Now" button. Named after the remote little island she fled Philadelphia for, her company appears to be called Smith Island Pattern Factory, as opposed to the Agnes Pattern Company, the name I had previously mentioned when I was talking about test knitting her pattern. If you click on the wistful looking woman to the left, it will take you to her cyberhome - www.thepatternfactory.blogspot.com.

And, speaking of the pattern I test knit, named Parthenhope, Courtney and I have been emailing about upping the gauge (right now we're both at about 4.5-5 stitches to the inch), and perhaps the needle size (I knit mine on a 5 beccause I'm loose, she knit hers on a 6), to make the thing bigger. While it does look lovely with a shawl pin (thanks Knitty D for my birthday present!!!), it could use a bit more length. The other solution, of course, is to add more repeats of the tile pattern, which I easily could have done, since I ended up with about a half a skein, perhaps a little less, of Anne. Anyway, it's really beautiful, and once the pattern is finished, I will certainly give everyone a shout- out, and I don't know, maybe I'll knit it again, and host a knit-a-long.

But, while you're waiting for Parthenhope, you can knit Courtney's Koigu baby jacket, the only pattern she has up for sale at this point (but there are more coming!).
Beatrix is knit in Koigu, and depending on the size, takes between 3-5 skeins. I've seen the finished jacket in person, and it's, as Courtney would say, really good looking.

And, while I'm on the topic of online knitting patterns, I've finally jumped onto the Jaywalker bandwagon, and have cast-on my first (because everyone says they're so addictive you end up knitting it again) pair of Jaywalkers in this fabulous skein of Anne (but is there a skein of Anne that is not fabulous in it's own way?). I'm at work, so I'll have to post a picture tomorrow, but what I thought was a mild mannered skein of red, black and grey, is not only red, black and grey, it's also green and purple, and the zigzags look awesome.

And, more online sharing - my Print O' the Wave stole is coming out even more beautiful than expected - I'm about 12 repeats into the first panel, and have decided there will be only one center panel - no grafting for me. Based on advice I got from Laura (thanks Laura, for enabling my inherent laziness), posted on one of my blog entries, she assured me it would work out just fine without the grafting, and I'm all for that! Considering I still have to follow Knitty's online picture tutorial on grafting for every single stitch, I was not looking forward to it.

And, on a side note - WELCOME HOME ROBIN! We were all a bit worried about you, and I'm certainly glad you're home safely. Hopefully, will see you at Rosie's tonight!