SpiderWomanKnits

Free Pattern and New to the Shop: Textured Cowl

First, many, many heart felt thanks for your support of my farm and fibery endeavours. I shipped out the first batch of yarn today and have more going out tomorrow. I love knowing that Indy and Hayden are "out there" now, along with my daily chores and labor, love, laughs, time, good energy and everything else that goes into small scale fiber production. If you happen to be on the receiving end of a skein I'm really looking forward to your feedback. You can find indy hayden twenty twelve as part of the Rav database too. If you're in the market for some sweet alpaca yarn you can find some here. Yahoo!  

Ok, so, here we go again folks! I wrote up another addictive (warned) and fun cowl project for you that is sure to warm your needles and your necks. I'm calling it the Textured Cowl, because I am much more creative with my knits than my naming, and you can find it for FREE as a Ravelry Download.

I really love this cowl. I think it's suitable for a man or woman depending on the color you use and I also think that depending on color it takes on very different feelings. I can't wait to knit one in a sweatshirty gray. I am staring at an absurd amount of super bulky in my stash but, of course, not that color. 

I feel like such a bore being redundant but it must be said that I love offering patterns for free, in turn, I humbly ask that you direct people who are interested in purchasing a cowl to my Etsy shop, please do not sell any yourself. I'm going to try something new here. I want my patterns to be available to everyone (read free) but if you've knit (and enjoyed) my patterns before and feel that they are worth something to you or feel inclined to contribute to my design work I've added a PayPal donation button to the sidebar. I'll be sure to keep the patterns coming. Thank you so much! 

Whew. Now that I got that out of the way. I can't wait to hear what you think about this knit and look forward to seeing your creations on Ravelry. If you don't happen to be a knitter, this cowl is currently available in my Esty shop and ready to ship or you can choose your own color and let me knit for you, which I love to do. 

Enjoy! And many heartfelt blessings and thanks, 

xo Spidey 

 

yarn! in the shop!

Indy and Hayden gave up this particular fleece almost two years ago. I had to live with their fleeces for a while, touching them, smelling them and just generally loving them before I was able to drop them off at the local mill. Months went by as I patiently waited for them to return, spun from raw fiber into delicious, delicious yarn. Then I had to live with the yarn for a few more months, touching it, smelling it, loving it and knitting it into a variety of different works before I was able to finally decide to share some in The Shop tonight. 

I had this yarn spun for knitters, blending Indy and Hayden's fleece with a wee bit of local wool so that you would get all the luxury, softness and warmth of alpaca but with just enough wool to give the yarn definition and structure. It's a 4ply worsted to heavy worsted yarn because that is the yarn that I personally turn to most often,(when I am not knitting hundreds of super bulky cowls!)the work horse of any stash I think. I've maintained Indy and Hayden's fawn/caramel coloring but the yarn has flecks of natural wool in it for a subtle tweed effect. 

Look at these guys! They are mighty proud and they should be. Both the shearer and the mill owner said that their fleece was among the nicest they've seen. My plan is to have different weights spun from year to year so for now there will be a very limited amount available in the shop of what I am calling the indy hayden twenty twelve worsted blend. One skein is plenty to make a hat or a pair of mitts or, dare I say, a cowl. If you happen to end up with a skein or two, I hope that you love it as much as me. I can say that it is a true pleasure to knit up. 

Free Recipe for the InSPirATion Cowl

I designed this cowl as part of my InSPirATion Series of ooak hand knits for my Etsy shop but would love to share the simple recipe for this design here for knitters. 

Grab: Two main colors and one contrast color of Super Bulky yarn, I used Lion Brand Thick and Quick. Size 15 needles, circular or straight and a size K crochet hook. 

Make it: Cast on 42 stitches and knit every row, switching colors with your two chosen main colors on the right side row whenever you feel inclined and carrying your other yarn up the side. Continue doing this until your piece measures about 10" tall or however tall you'd like. Bind off leaving a long tail about 18 inches long. Using your contrast color and a size K crochet hook, single crochet along one edge. Break yarn and pull through loop. Seam your cowl using a mattress stitch and your purl ridges while taking care to line up your stripes. Weave in all ends. Wear and enjoy!

As always, with my pattern offerings, patterns are for personal use only. I ask that you kindly refer those who would like you to purchase a cowl to my Etsy shop and not sell any for your own personal profit. I hope you have fun making one! Can't wait to see all of the color combintaions! 

xo Spidey

 

FO : Shaelyn

Well, hello there! What a blessing the past few months have been. Red Comb Vintage has been keeping me good and busy but I managed to sneak in a very special knit for a very special woman and I am so excited to share it with you. 

My Grandma turns 95 today! She is really an amazing lady. She's an Armenian Genocide survivor with a story of survival too difficult to even tell, has one of the most beautiful singing voices you've ever heard, is a licensed Funeral Director, has done commercials (quite recently) and modeled (in the past, at 95 swims nearly every day and can not be beat in a game of cards. 

I knit this shawl for her, the only request she had was that it be colorful. 

This was such a great knit. The lace pattern is easily memorized and you have the stockinette rows to break it up a bit. You can find all of my project details on Ravelry. 

I'm not able to blog much these days but you can find me often on Instagram. I'm spiderwomanknits there as well. Have a follow if you will! Hope all is well in your world. 

xo Spidey

A Sweet Shop Update

Vintage Chrome Cake Server SOLD

Triple Layer Yellow Chiffon Slip SOLD

A Pound of The Sweetest Scraps

Vintage Amelia Earhart

Vintage 1950's Porta-file in *Plaid* 

Red Comb Vintage has been closed for the summer so that I could treasure hunt, wrangle weeds and make happy memories with the kids but it's reopened now. I just added these vintage cuties to my Etsy Shop and I have a feeling it won't be long until they are matched to their forever homes. You can click on the links under each picture to have a closer look. That Cake Carrier is really something!

I hope your weekend was full of all sorts of treasures too!

xo Spidey 

Red Comb Vintage : It's all about The Bag

I've been carving out time to get back to hunting for vintage goodies these days (for the shop and for my home) and I finally had some nice treasures to share. These lovely bags made their way into my Etsy Shop today. Check 'em out. Oh, and while you're there take a look at this. I just about fell over when I found it. So, so sweet. 

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I was a bit of a Weekend Warrior on Saturday and decided to paint my kitchen. Whoa Nelly! 

xoxo, 

Spidey 

Sunday Cats

It's that kind of weekend here. I'm feeling a touch run down and we're all just nestled in and relaxing. I'm looking to the cats for inspiration. They're my relaxation Gurus. But, I may just have another fun pattern to share soon as a result of this weekend's bliss! Have you seen all the cowls being knit on Ravelry? It's so exciting! 

Who's watching the Superbowl tonight? Anyone? We're such a house of geeky nerds that it's not really on our radar but I did put up a pot of our favorite Chili this morning. Such a good, quick (to assemble), easy recipe and you can find it here. My family likes a medley of dark red, light red, pinto and black beans. I use chili powder from our local food co-op and any salsa I have on hand. Usually, I double the recipe to fill my 7 quart crock pot. Then, I let it cook all day. We barely have any leftovers! I hope you give it a shot. 

And, for another moment of shameless self promotion (so sorry), I have everything in the shop 25% off for today only. Just use the coupon code SUPERSALE and it will automatically deduct the prices at checkout on Etsy. Check it out or just help me spread the word. 

I hope everyone is getting in touch with their Sunday Cats this weekend. 

xoxo

Spidey 

Busy Making

I'm in the midst of a crafting flurry. Mostly, rather exclusively, for the shop. I'm just feeling very motivated these days and it's been very fun. I had my first run at a local festival just this past weekend. It was such a great experience. I've never been sure how that would work out for me but it was nice. I learned a lot. I squeeze in most of my work during naps times or moments of opportunity so it often feels like I am not getting much done, which made it all the more satisfying to see (almost) all of my handiwork laid out in one place. I can definitely see myself doing some fairs and the farmers market this summer. 

These Wee Babies have been such a pleasure to make too. It's fun knowing that there are a whole bunch out there being cuddled by little ones. I just added five more to the shop who are looking for their forever homes. These little cuties pictured above and one Wee (Pink) Baby too who is not pictured. You can find them in my Handmade Doll section. I have so many more ideas for new dolls I'd like to try making swimming around in my head so I'm not sure how many more of these I'll make. Inspiration is such a blessing. No?

Free Pattern! Drop Stitch Cowl

Remember when I mentioned I had another freebie pattern to share? This past fall I knit up one of these cowls and it has become my favorite knitted accessory. I wear it all the time, with or without my coat! For knitters, it's a very simple and gratifying project using a conservative amount of your yarn and your time. Grab your size 15 circs, a ball of super bulky yarn and cast on! In no time at all you’ll have a stylish accessory that will quickly become one of your most treasured possessions. I've went ahead and written up the pattern for you. I'm sure you can whip one up this weekend and I really hope you do! 

You can find the pattern on Ravelry or purchase a License to knit this pattern for profit on my website. 

Enjoy!

xoxo

Spidey

i just can't stop

This is Willa. She's in the shop too. I am just having so much fun making these so bear with me and all the shameless self promotion just a little while longer, will you?  ;)