Meet WEBS’ Designer-in-Residence Fiona Ellis

This year the yarn store WEBS has started a designer-in-residence program, which means that each month this year they’ll introduce a new pattern by the same designer — odd-number months are knitting with Fiona Ellis and even-numbered months are crochet with Doris Chan — as well as sharing blog posts and tips from the designers to make their projects even better.

Fiona’s tenure started with the I Feel Vine cardigan, worked in Valley Yarns Amherst, a pretty merino wool. The pattern incorporates ribbing, funky leaves and eyelet lace for a cardigan that’s great in several seasons.

She talks about her design process, inspiration and more in an interview on their blog, and also covers some of her tips for success or maybe design notes that a lot of us don’t think about (changing needle sizes mid-project to change gauge is a great tip, by the way, one I have used but don’t all that often).

I’m excited to see what the rest of the year holds!

[Photo via WEBS.]

Next Pattern:

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

Next Pattern:

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