Eye Candy Friday, Design Edition

Hello, blog friends! I didn't intended to post today, but I got a little surprise yesterday and couldn't wait to share it.

If you've read this blog for any length of time then you know that most of my knitting designs are self-published. Sometimes, though, I will submit a pattern to a third-party publisher. It's a nice change of pace because someone else takes care of the editing, the layout, the photography, and the marketing, but it has its own challenges for me as a designer -- namely having to keep a pattern a secret for a long time because production schedules for magazines and other publications are such that the work has to be done many months ahead of publication. That's the case with my latest pattern, and it also was affected by changes at the publisher. A lot of those details are boring, so suffice it to say that I wrote up this pattern and knit up this sample last summer and I've been sitting on it ever since. But as of yesterday afternoon, it's up and I can share it!

My Echinacea Hat is part of the knitscene Summer Solstice Collection, a digital-only set of patterns that is now available from the Interweave website.

This is a slouchy hat, available in two sizes, that incorporates a stitch pattern that's a combination of lace and ribbing. That there are only two sizes is a bit misleading because the stitch pattern is actually super stretchy. The amount of slouch is also easy to adjust by changing the number of vertical repeats of the stitch pattern. The hat is worked in worsted weight yarn, and obviously it really shines in a vibrant, saturated solid or semisolid color.

Because this pattern is in a digital collection, you can only get it on the Interweave site for now. You can buy the pattern on its own (and it's on sale right now!) or as part of the entire collection (there are 10 patterns total in the collection, so that price is a bit of a steal if you ask me). I don't make anything off these sales, by the way -- I was paid a flat fee for the design. But I'm really excited to have it out and to not have to keep it a secret anymore!