We've had a good monsoon season--lots of rain. That means lots of time for me to work inside rather than outside, so I have three new patterns almost ready for my Ravelry store. I love all the cowls that are in style now, but I don't want two yards of knitted fabric hanging around my neck, so these cowls are smaller, ranging from 16" to 22" in circumference. Almost like a necklace.

Leaves of Summer Knitted Cowl was inspired by all the greenery around us this year and my desire to try my hand at a lace knitting pattern that looks like leaves. I guess it appealed to my gardening DNA. I chose a worsted yarn because I wanted something that was quick to knit, but I plan to try it again in a lighter yarn. I love the tonal colors of the Knit Picks yarn.

Leaves of Fall Knitted Cowl was inspired by another leaf design lace pattern called 'Falling Leaves'. When I saw the golden shades of this Knit Picks tonal yarn, I had to have it. Sometimes it is the yarn first, and the pattern later to justify the purchase. Sorry, honey....you married a fiber addict.

The third pattern, Scarf Squared, was one that just intrigued me. No lace stitch here, but very symmetrical and a pattern that could be unisex if you know any guys that would wear a cowl. I used Berroco Weekender yarn for this one. It has a wonderful drape and feel to it and I plan to use it more often, especially for anything summery.

These should be up on my Ravelry store, Neenie Makes, within the next couple of weeks. I'm still tweaking the patterns and pictures, but am excited about the finished products.

For some reason, changing knitting patterns has become a fascination for me. I have books and books of stitch patterns, all for flat knitting. I love circular knitting. I find myself spending hours on diagrams and charts, figuring out how to change a flat pattern to a circular pattern. Can you say 'glutton for punishment'?

The wrong side row has to be reversed and the stitches reversed...I love the challenge. Sometimes you have extra stitches used for spacing on a flat pattern that may or may not translate to a circular pattern.

I found a really useful book for all of this--Charts Made Simple: Understanding Knitting Charts Visually, by J. C. Blair. I highly recommend this book if you really want to get into designing knitting patterns. You should also use the Craft Yarn Council standards for knitting abbreviations or knitting symbols. There is also a great class on Craftsy--Pattern Writing for Knitters. Creating patterns is by far the most fun I have ever had!