The Circled collection

As of a few hours ago, the Circled collection is now on pre-sale!

And the first pattern, Circled #1, is also now published.

All four Hats in the collection use 4ply/sock/fingering weight yarns, and they all use the same gauge. Sizing within the patterns is determined by gauge; they're quite complex in themselves, and grading with numbers made the patterns even more complicated. I included two example sizes for you, and you can adjust your gauge to achieve sizes outside of the range given.

So then, what's the Circled collection all about?

Circles! But not just circles. It's a double whammy of concept and technique.

It started with my exploration into methods of showing concentric circles within knitting. I've worked with this idea a few times within a few patterns, but I wanted something more prominent, and less obvious. In vertical knitting isn't not too difficult to add in circular features, as you are knitting in the round and the crown of a Hat is essentially (most of the time, at least) a circle.

But turn things sideways and things get pretty difficult, because of how you finish a sideways Hat. I could've taken a slightly easier route of a 3-needle bind-off or something, but you know that that seam would bug me for eternity! So I set about working on a grafting method that would allow slipped stitches to continuously flow around the surface of the Hat without interruption. I went with slipped stitches as they provide such brilliant definition against garter stitch, and garter stitch is rather kind with the maths and also short rows, and that seemed the best ground fabric to work with.

There is a *lot* of support for these patterns, to help you graft the slipped stitches. I've never seen any method before do this before and it's pretty exciting to be letting this method out into the wild!

To start with, the support tutorials are only available with the single patterns and/or eBook, until after the eBook is fully published. I want to share the methods, but I also want to give the folks buying into this early a little something that isn't available anywhere else.

The patterns are reasonably priced - £3.75/$6 per single pattern, or £7.50/$12 for the eBook. That includes all of the tutorials, all of the extra bits, and all the support via the Ravelry forum (we're already gearing up for the first KAL!). Zabet of Anti-Craft fame is working on the layout and we've got some great ideas brewing, and the collection will be available in print too, for wholesale. The single patterns will be available via Ravelry In-Store sales but will likely not be going into print wholesale, given the level of support the grafting method needs (i.e it doesn't neatly fit onto 4 pages & the cost to print is more than my wholesale rate)

So what of the four Hats and their concept?

the four Circled Hats, not necessarily in publication order!

Circled #1:
This Hat features offset arcs. An arc is a section of the circumference, and in this case, the arcs are two-thirds of the circumference. Each arc is offset by one-third of the circumference, and each arc is at equal spacing from each other, all the way from the centre of the crown. What these arcs create is a maze like pattern throughout the Hats, and it's quite compelling to follow the lines and see where they lead you.

Circled #2:
This Hat features concentric rings in a fibonacci sequence. Starting at the crown, the rings form a 5, 3, 2, 1 sequence ending at the brim. This is possibly the one Hat where the circles, and their grafting, are most prominent. It's also the easiest to knit, as there are no breaks in the lines!

Circled #3:
Here we see negative semi circles. Where one half of the Hat sees line, the other sees space, and on it goes, alternating all the way from the centre of the crown to the brim. It's not quite a Hat of two halves, but I think you get the idea.

Circled #4:
The last piece, and worth the wait. It's a top down corkscrew spiral and it's so very satisfying! I'll kid you not, it's a challenge. Each panel is ever so slightly different from the one before or the one after, so it takes a bit of concentrating. There are also some manoeuvres that may cause you to pause, as you may not see something like this anywhere else. It also makes for a bit of a monster, pattern writing/chart wise, and so the single pattern will only features the written instructions (we're working on space/layout to make sure the 12 charts are included, too)

Each of the Hats features on of your favourite indie yarnies, too. Let me introduce them:

Circled #1: Skeinny Dipping Mericash Sock
Circled #2: Malabrigo Sock
Circled #3: Countess Ablaze Lady Persephone Sock
Circled #4: Townhouse Yarns Clarendon Sock

So how does the pre-sale work?

Once a week, starting today, the next single pattern in the collection will be released. Once all 4 patterns are live, the final eBook will follow.

I've set up a bundle promotion, so that if you by the eBook, either here or on Ravelry, you'll also get the single patterns too. If you buy one of the singles, the system will automatically give you a discount towards buying the eBook at a later date should you so wish (it's based on value, so if you got a single pattern at a sale price, what you paid is the value of the discount). You are advised to stick to the same store (so if you buy once on Ravelry, buy again on Ravelry) to make the most of this feature, but it means that for the price of 2 single patterns, you can have the whole eBook in all it's glory. No excuse really, eh?

I really hope they make you as happy as they do me :)