Leaf Cable Cowl Pattern Now Available!

My Leaf Cable Cowl pattern is now available to purchase through my Payhip & Ravelry stores!

The cowl is knitted in gorgeous Eden Cottage Yarns Aran yarn and is perfect for the late winter/ early spring weather - wrap yourself up cosily or go for an elegant drape!

To celebrate my pattern release, the Leaf Cable Cowl pattern is available at a discounted price until Sunday 19th March 2023 and, during this time, when you purchase my Leaf Cable Cowl, you can add my Little Leaf Cable Cowl pattern for free! (On Payhip, add the Leaf Cable Cowl to your basket and a "pop-up" box will offer you the Little Leaf Cable Cowl at a 100% discount; On Ravelry, add both patterns to your basket and the discount will be automatically applied.)

The Little Leaf mini-cowl pattern is inspired by the full size design, features the same beautiful cable stitch pattern & is knitted in gorgeous Bowland Aran by Eden Cottage Yarns. Visit www.emmavining.com to view more images of the pattern on my website!

The Leaf Cable Cowl pattern was originally published in Knitting magazine 226, with the cowl knitted in Keswick Aran. This yarn is no longer available, but there are many great alternatives on the Eden Cottage Yarns Website, including the beautiful Bowland Aran yarn which knits to the same stitch pattern tension.

Silecroft Shawl Pattern Available Now!

I'm delighted to announce that my Silecroft Shawl pattern is now available for purchase through my designer stores on Ravelry and Payhip! I’m also very excited that the lovely folks at The Fibre Co. have created a kit with the Silecroft Shawl pattern and their beautiful Cumbria yarn, launching today alongside my pattern!

There is an introductory 10% discount on yarn and pattern kits purchased through The Fibre Co. website and also on patterns purchased direct from me on Ravelry and Payhip!

Code: silecroftshawl10

Expires: 20.02.2023

Here are some more details about my shawl design. Inspired by a beautiful stone wall on the coastal footpath near Silecroft Beach in Cumbria, this long narrow crescent shaped shawl is prefect for keeping cosy and warm during a leisurely walk. 

The different materials used to build the wall are represented by the textured cable pattern. Smooth stocking stitch folds represent the larger stones. An embedded twisted stitch pattern alternates between each large stone fold, representing the finer texture of other sections of the wall. The shawl’s central garter stitch section contains all the shaping and also provides a beautiful contrast to the raised outer cable edges.

The shawl is knitted with three skeins of The Fibre Co's beautiful Cumbria yarn and this lovely shade is called Catbells.

My New Website!

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all the best for 2023 and may your year be full of knitting, crochet and crafting!

The first day of the New Year is a great day to launch my new website, emmavining.com! 

On emmavining.com you can find links to my books, self-published patterns and my recent design collaborations with magazines, yarn companies and the wonderful Glasgow University Knits book! 

There is also a link to book the Behind The Pattern workshop and KAL with The Loom Shed, starting 18th January 2023! 

My website will evolve and grow over time, especially as my New Year’s resolution for 2023 is to release more of my published knitting patterns when the rights revert to me.  I’ll be featuring these patterns on my website with links to my Ravelry, LoveCrafts and Payhip stores.

Please do take a look and let me know what you think! Thank you!

Sargasso Cardigan

The lovely folks at Quince & Co have described my Sargasso cardigan as a perfect juxtaposition of layered shapes and lines! I love this! 

Sargasso is knitted in Quince & Co’s beautiful Owl yarn in two shades, Lagoon and Allagash. This lovely yarn has amazing stitch definition, perfect for the cardigan's curving cables, twisted stitches and garter stitch stripes.

My Sargasso cardigan pattern is available as a single pattern download or as part of the Voyage Collection, five gorgeous designs in beautiful wool blend yarns.

© 2022 Quince & Co Photography: Regan Kenny

Behind The Pattern KAL with The Loom Shed!

I'm super-excited to team up with Liz and Louise from The Loom Shed for a "Behind the Pattern" Knit-A-Long (KAL)! Join us in January on zoom to knit my Merrow Berries Shawl over four 1 hour sessions. At the start of each session I'll be talking about the design decisions "behind the pattern" and I'm really looking forward to interesting discussions about topics such as yarn and colour choices and shawl shaping!

This KAL is the perfect opportunity to use 4ply yarns from your stash, including sock yarn and mini-skeins. This can be as one ball/ skein or as smaller amounts of yarn as long as the total meterage is a minimum of 380m/415yds.

You may wish to make your final yarn choice and colour order after session 1 when I'll describe how I customised and extended my shawl to a larger size using multiple mini-skein shades.

Here's a little bit more about the shawl pattern. The Merrow Berries triangular shawl is inspired by branches and berries in the rain. The shawl is knitted as a long right-angled triangle with a series of stitch patterns that are gradually extended as the shawl grows. The shawl is worked as a right angled triangle, knitted from tip to wide cast off. The outer shawl edges are knitted in garter stitch, with the cast off edge worked in a picot pattern. The stitch pattern begins with a wrap stitch, which is knitted by drawing a loop of yarn through from the back of the work to the front, creating a small diagonal knitted line. In the second pattern section, this is extended with a large double-eyelet. The third pattern section includes textured garter stitch rows.

Booking is now open on The Loom Shed website and I hope to see you in January!

Recent Patterns in The Knitter Magazine!

I’m really delighted that over the last few months several of my designs have been published in The Knitter Magazine!

Here’s a round-up of the patterns, starting with my Avebury Cardigan in the current Issue 182. The Natural History Museum in London is full of geometric, decorative details, and this design was inspired by one small wall section. The stitch pattern is knitted as a series of blocks placed next to each other, joining the zigzag cables and creating partial shapes. These shapes are separated by horizontal lines of reverse stocking stitch ridges. The cardigan is hip length, knitted flat from the bottom up and is knitted in Rowan's gorgeous Softyak DK yarn. The lovely yellow shade is called Jaune!

My Mezereon Top was published in issue 180. This cap-sleeve top combines twisted stitch cables with a large eyelet openwork pattern to create a geometric design. The diamonds alternate between narrow and wide shapes, with each diamond containing a single large eyelet. The offset placement of the diamonds creates an impression of movement within the zigzagging twisted stitch lines. Mezereon is knitted in The Fibre Co.’s Cumbria, a beautifully soft yarn which has a subtle gleam and a heathered look. This gorgeous shade is called Calluna.

Issue 179 featured my Epidote top on the cover! This design was inspired by the bubbles contained in a lava lamp! The two sizes of circle-shaped bubbles are knitted using twisted stitches. Each bubble centre is knitted in stocking stitch and is surrounded by reverse stocking stitch - this creates an impression of a layered pattern with multiple moving bubbles. The bubble pattern emerges from the lower border, and partial bubbles blend into the stocking stitch sides. The gorgeous yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers in the wonderful shade of Lake Chelan.

All images are from The Knitter Magazine and were taken by The Shed Photo Studio.

Glasgow University Knits

My contributor's copy of Glasgow University Knits has arrived and I am delighted that my "Though The Round Window" scarf is included in this excellent knitting pattern book! 

I am really enjoying reading about all the designer's University inspirations for their beautiful patterns. The inspiration for my scarf is taken from the leaded circle details of the beautiful windows found throughout in the main building. This includes the Geography Department where I spent many happy hours studying for my degree!

For an excellent preview of the patterns take a look at this great video on YouTube and look out for my scarf displayed on the unicorn statue!

Glasgow University Knits is now available from the University Shop along with the University's own Cochno wool.