Kaleido by Silkie B.

Knitting Designs By Silka Burgoyne

HaPpY nEw YeAr! January 4, 2012

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with friends and family. As for me, my dear sister Bonnie and her family spent the holiday at my house… It was wonderful time to catch up with each other.

I have just realized that it’s really been awhile since my last post… say at least a couple of months. The truth is that I have been so busy at work that I have unfortunately put my needles on hold for majority part of last year. I did however manage to knit 4 pairs of Maneisha in a slight variation from my original design for my daughter’s dance teachers for the holiday. It’s such a fun pattern to knit if you have not check it out already.

So what have I been up to lately. Well, I will be busy this month to finish up a couple pairs of gloves for the Fall 2012 magazine publication and that will most likely be the only design that I will have for publication this year. I will be providing 2 versions of my design; convertible and full gloves version as you see below.  Thank you Suzanne at SP Photoart for taking the wonderful pictures and Amy for being the model. The sample of the convertible version was worked using one of my favorite yarn tern from Quince & Co in color sea grass; whereas the full gloves version was worked using a hand-dyed yarn from my friend Lindsey of  Waterloo Wools.

After I finish my commitment to the magazine later this month, I will start my big project of this year. You might be wondering what my big project is. Well I will finally start to work on my very first kids collection.  I actually have started the project last year; a couple of designs has finished but missing the actual written patterns; some of the design has swatches and most of the collection will be worked this year. My kids collection will feature knitwear and accessories from the little tiny to teen. It’s a very ambitious project but I am sure it will be a lot of fun!

First of all, I would like to introducing my first design for the collection – Taylor.

Taylor is a cap and sweater set for a baby; the pattern will be available from size 6 mos to 4 years. I designed this set for my friend, Glenna’s god-daughter who has given birth to a baby boy this past August. Taylor features celtic cable as the main center motif and I paired the cable with variation of cable rib. I have so much fun designing and knitting the Taylor set this summer and is very excited to include this design as part of my kids collection. A special thanks to my friend Karen K for taking the picture and have her baby girl Nia as the model.

Another design for the collection is Isaac. Isaac is an unisex cable cardigan design for your boy or girl. I designed this sweater with my son Isaac in mind. I don’t normally like to mix colors but with this particular design, I actually decided to play with colors. I love cable for winter sweater and it’s not surprising for me to incorporate cable into this sweater design. Isaac also features mock turtleneck and button enclosure. There is no buttonhole on the body band; hence the possible for the front enclosure is versatile depending on individual preference. The pattern for Isaac will be available from 4 to 10 years old.

I will keep updating on my collection throughout the year… so stay tune!


 

Introducing Hannie November 9, 2011

Introducing Hannie – A little beanie design for both kids and adult. Please don’t be fooled by the cover, the pattern for this beanie has adult sizing! Hannie features allover double texture cable motif and it is perfect for both gender. Knit in bulky yarn and it will definitely keep you warm and cozy in this winter. Hannie knits up quickly and will be a perfect gift for the holiday.

Detail of the project:

SIZE
S/L (for kids) M/L (most teen and adult)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Circumference: 17 (19.5) inches after pressing without stretch
Height: 7.5 (8.5) inches tall without pompom.

MATERIALS
Yarn: Osprey by quince & co. (100% Wool, 25%; 170 yd [155 m] /100 g) Color: Rosa Rugosa; 1 (2) skein(s).

NOTE: Substitute Osprey with any heavy worsted weight or bulky yarn that maintains the same gauge.

RECOMMENDED NEEDLE SIZES
Ribbing Body – Size 8 (5.00 mm): 16 inches circular (cir). Adjust needle sizes to obtain the correct gauge.
Beanie Body – Size 10.5 (6.50 mm): 16 inches circular (cir). Adjust needle sizes to obtain the correct gauge.
A set of size 10.5 (6.50 mm) dpn or a 29” or longer circular knitting for crown shaping using magic loop method.

NOTIONS
stitch markers, Tapestry needle

GAUGE
14 sts and 22 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette st with Size 10.5 (6.50 mm) needle after pressing
16 sts and 24 rows = 4 inches in Beanie Ribbing using Size 8 (5.00 mm) needle after pressing

The pattern include written instruction and charts for the beanie body and crown shaping for both sizes. The pattern is now available in Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!!

 

Maneisha is live! July 5, 2011

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After all the delay, the pattern for my first design for my Accessory Collection, 2011, Maneisha, has completed and live at Ravelry.com. For the Accessory Collection, 2011, I wanted to create a collection that is functional and with different skill levels for all knitters. Maneisha is a fingerless mittens design that combined Eyelet Cable Rib and a texture stitch… I wanted to create a design that is fun for experienced knitters and also fun for beginner who would like to experience basic cable and lace knitting and also using magic loop method.

Here is the basic information about Maneisha:

SIZE
One Size fit most

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Arm Circumference: 7.5 inches without stretch
Length: Can be varies depending on each individual preference

MATERIALS
Yarn: tern by Quince & Co. (75% American Wool, 25% Silk; 221 yd [202m]/50 g)
Back Bay (148); 1 skein

NOTE: Substitute tern with any fine yarn that maintains the same gauge.

RECOMMENDED NEEDLE SIZES
Ribbing and Hand – Size 1 (2.25 mm): 29 circular (cir) needle or longer for magic loop method. Adjust needle sizes to obtain the correct gauge.
Wrist – Size 2 (2.75 mm): 29 circular (cir) or longer for magic loop method. Adjust needle sizes to obtain the correct gauge.

NOTE: If you prefer using dpn, please substitute the same size as the circular needle

NOTIONS
2 Waste yarn or a spare pair of circular needle, 2 stitch markers, Tapestry needle

GAUGE
32 sts and 35 rows = 4 inches in Eyelet Cable Rib st with Size 2(2.75 mm) needle
26 sts and 40 rows = 4 inches in Dot Stitch with Size 1 (2.25 mm) needle
34 sts and 40 rows = 4 inches in Twisted Ribbing Stitch with Size 1 (2.25 mm) needle

The pattern include detailed instruction, chart and instruction on magic loop method.

A special thanks to my friend, Suzanne, at Sphotoart for taking pictures for my design.

As always, if you have any question, please feel free to contact me.

If you would like to purchase this pattern, simple clicks here:

Happy Knitting!!!

 

Maneisha – A preview June 6, 2011

Introducting Maneisha – First Design for Kaleido Accessory 2011

Maneisha

 

A Close Call… April 23, 2011

Like I said in my previous post that I have not knitted anything for the past couple of months… so last week, I have decided that I should start looking at submitting design again and back to my knitting self… what I am not sure at this moment is to whether I should concentrate on publish pattern on the online magazine or on actual Magazine or just published my design as idie pattern for my own site….

Anyhow, last week, I decided to start with something small… so I naturally decided on a pair of fingerless mittens.. as for yarn.. looking through my stash… I have a few skeins of tern by Quince and Co. already winded in varies color… so I chose one of the more subtle color and cast on… as for the design, I decided to choose a combination of eyelet cable and texture stitch.. the eyelet cable stitch will be featured in the arm and wrist area, eyelet rib as the divider, and the hand potion will feature a simple texture stitch…. After I finished the first fingerless mitten, I am loving the outcome of the design so much that I went ahead and work on the second mitten.. It might sound strange that I said ‘I went ahead and work on the second mitten’.. often time when I work on a submission, I will only work on a sample, so it is not unusual for me not to actually finish a pair of mittens or socks… in fact I have quite a few single mitten or sock laying around… Anyhow, as I was working on my second mitten, I suddenly realized that I might run out of yarn. For a designer, you should always calculate the amount of yarn needed for a project before starting to knit… so what happened to me then? That idea of running out of yarn did not even come across my mind… what a shame…

As I go further along with my second mitten, I saw the ball of yarn kept getting smaller and smaller.. it alarmed me. I just prayed that I would have enough yarn to finish it. I have a few idea in my head of course just in case if I ran out of yarn.. such as potentially work in a alternate color to create a stripe pattern for the upper potion etc… fortunately, I made it through… I finished my second mitten with less than a yard of yarn to spare… that’s a close call…..

Now my new fingerless mittens design has finished.. I just need to think a nice name for it.

I am not sure at this point in what I am going to do with this design.. so for now, I will not be posting any picture at this moment. All I can say is that I am extremely delighted with the result and loving the color and the yarn. Now I just need to create a matching cowl to go along with the mittens… it will be a nice set for the upcoming fall and winter season…

 

Me, Myself, Yarn October 9, 2010

What have I been up to last week or so?
1. got one of the project commitment completed for the magazine and sent out for editorial…
2. Got the pictures taken for another project commitment and have started charting the pattern…
3. One submission done..

Not that I sleep much anyway… but for the last few nights… it was rather brutal… but it’s in a good way… since I am doing something I enjoyed.. I have been spending time.. sketching… playing with yarn.. and working on the swatch… just check out my messy workspace.. basically in the bed in my guestroom… and a pile of beautiful yarns from Quinco & Co, Spud and Chloe and Waterloo Wools… and yes… they are all skinny yarn… and may be a skein or 2 in DK weight…. I am seeing a lot of gloves… sock.. shawl… and lightweight cardi in the next 2 months… btw, I didn’t even take picture of my other corner of the bed.. which have another pile of worsted weight and bulky yarn for a couple of sweater design… yeap… looks like a very busy couple of months before the holiday… not all of them of course are for the magazine… some are just simply projects that I have been putting aside because I am so busy… may be I will finally squeeze in time to work on a sweater for myself….

Cheers!

 

Got my quince & Co. July 28, 2010

Filed under: Knitting Life — silkaburgoyne @ 7:25 pm
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I have first heard about quince & Co. from brooklyn tweed facebook page. Then quince & Co. keep popping up everywhere. I went to the website and checkout the story behind the company and the yarn that the company offer. The first impression is the simpicity of the site. It’s clean.. easy to navigate… and to the point content…. it’s a true minimalist style…. then their products.. 4 different yarns in 4 different weights and a large selection of colors…. how can one resist?!?

My order arrived today… I ordered a skein of Osprey in rosa rugosa and a couple skeins of chickadee in river… can’t wait to get my hands on them… well…. have to wait after my last project deadline….