Riverbero - now live! And grab yourself a discount, too

My latest new pattern, Riverbero, is now published!

As a special introductory offer, use code reverberate to get 25% discount in my Payhip, Etsy and Ravelry stores as well as here on this website.

If you can use Ravelry safely, here’s a direct link with the promotion already added:

https://www.ravelry.com/redeem/woolly-wormhead?code=reverberate

The discount code will give you 25% off until midnight 18th February Italian time.

I wrote a tutorial to help folks adding the discount code to this current cart or in the Payhip store:

https://www.woollywormhead.com/blog/2022/10/14/payhip-discount-codes

Newsletter subscribers will want to check their inboxes, as they’ve an extra special something.

Use the #WWRiverberoHat on social media so I can see what you do with the pattern? I do love to see your makes!

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As a reminder, because I'm VAT registered and my business is a formally registered publisher - yes, I can publish works by other designers and authors besides myself, I’m officially a bonafide publisher! - I have ISBNs for all my e/Patterns, e/Books and e/Workshops. Which means you won't have any VAT added if you shop via my Payhip, Teachable or Ravelry stores, or through my website, because everything is either tax-exempt or zero-rated. And if you buy a pattern through my Payhip store or my website, you won't pay any GST or sales tax. Win!

Stepping in front of the camera again...

This time we decided to try taking some photos of me without a wig wearing Nettare - just me and my uber short thin grey hair - to see how they looked.

And you know what? I’m pretty OK with them! Considering how uncomfortable the camera has always made me, the panic attacks that have followed whenever I’ve tried to model, I reckon I’m doing OK. No panic attacks at all, only some mild anxiety and overwhelm from all the positive comments on Instagram and Twitter.

Which is seriously good going! Testament to the power of having the right diagnoses - ADHD and Autism - and to intensive EMDR therapy, courtesy of everyone’s support via the GFM campaign Tom set up.

The comments and feedback I received which were the most helpful were those saying they were on the fence about buying the pattern, but seeing me in the photos, someone who looks more like themselves, swung it. And that’s my aim.

I’ve been slowly working away at trying to use a wider range of models, this is something I’ve talked about before. But it’s not always easy, and trying to find older models - who weren’t me! - has proved tricky. Especially models with natural grey hair. I’ve been gifted a human hair wig which I’m in the process of bleaching then dyeing, which will give me the option of modelling with longer grey hair. It won’t be as glam and therefore as visually dominating as the cheap wig I tried before, which to me is a step in the right direction. It’ll look more real, being human hair, and it was free, except for the bleach and dye, so it’s very much worth a try.

But I still wasn’t comfortable with myself and my short hair. The wig places a little bit of distance between me as myself and the person in the photo. And yet, somehow, I took the plunge and took myself way out of my comfort zone and I’m doing reasonably OK. In fact, we’re thinking to try some more, in different environments.

Photoshoots can be expensive and time consuming. We’re fortunate enough to have a few good environments and locations nearby that we can use for free. Yet I still pay my models for their time, so they’re not free. More importantly, arranging photoshoots takes an awful lot of brain space - asking if someone’s available, arranging a date with them, arranging a location - then the make-up and hair discussions and more. That’s before any editing or photo selecting.

When we’ve a shoot arranged I can’t think or do much else for a few days before and after it, which impacts everything else. I get less creative time but more importantly I lose the flow of whatever I’m working on - hello, neurodivergent brain - which can take time to recover from but is also incredibly stressful. If we can work more with myself, Tom and Aran as models it’ll improve my work-flow as well as add us to the range of models. I won’t stop working with other models, on the contrary, but it does mean we can focus more on larger shoots with them and justify the time and money spent better.

Anyways! Went off on a bit of a tangent there. I came here to share the photos and also remind folks that the 15% discount on this pattern ends tomorrow night, 5th November 2022. Use code code SweetNectar here, and in my Ravelry, Etsy and Payhip stores.

Ravelry and Etsy both provide direct links with the coupon applied:

Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/redeem/woolly-wormhead?code=SweetNectar
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WoollyWormheadHats?coupon=SWEETNECTAR

Hope you enjoy the pattern, I’m looking forward to seeing what you make with it!

Nettare is now live!

Yup indeedy, the newsletter went out this morning to members of The Woolly Hat Society with details of the Hat and their exclusive member discount code.

To get 15% discount on this pattern between now and 5th November 2022, use the code SweetNectar here, and in my Ravelry, Etsy and Payhip stores.

Ravelry and Etsy both provide direct links with the coupon applied:

Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/redeem/woolly-wormhead?code=SweetNectar
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WoollyWormheadHats?coupon=SWEETNECTAR

I’m hoping to get some photos and video of the inside of the Hat today, as well as some flat shots of the Hat. A lot of my Hats don’t photograph well flat but I’m hoping this one will!

Next new pattern release - Nettare

If stranded colourwork is your thing, then you' might be interested in this new pattern, due to be published this coming Thursday, 27th October.

It’s been a while since I designed a stranded Hat. This one jumped onto my needles earlier in the year, then got left by the wayside as I worked on other things. It’s colourwork pattern is a self-contained motif - it doesn’t grow out of the brim and it completes itself during the crown shaping. This concept led to a few challenges, especially as, as always, I wanted to the motif to be all-over and uninterrupted, which meant the use of moving markers.

When using fairisle and stranded knitting patterns in garments there are tricks you can use to ensure the motif remains central and incorporate any shaping. But you can’t get away with those kinds of tricks in a Hat as the shaping occurs in different places, and there aren’t any side or shoulder seams to work motif steps or changes in to. So the only way around it is moving markers.

They’re not as difficult at all, I promise! And it’s all covered in the written instructions and chart, which indicate where to move the marker and how many stitches to slip. And I’ll re-iterate that it’s important to slip the stitches when moving the marker, not knit them, as that’s what creates the jog.

Sure, you get a small float where you move the marker and slip the stitches but this is stranded colourwork - the wrong side of the work is nothing but floats! And so it gets hidden.

Nettare went through several rounds of tech editing to make sure all the challenges the design threw up were ironed out! And it’s in mighty fine shape.

The pattern is graded by gauge, and two sizes are written into the pattern. However, armed with a gauge swatch you can adjust the sizing to your own needs by tweaking either your needle size, yarn weight, or both. The sample is shown in Malabrigo Arroyo knit to a 4ply gauge. Although Arroyo is listed as a sport weight I find it a creates a lovely dense yet drapey fabric over 2.75mm needles, which is perfect for making a cosy stranded Hat.

The pattern is provided in both written and charted format, and will include download links for the relevant tutorials. We’re also tidying up some of my old video tutorials over on Instagram should folks prefer to learn the methods that way.

Members of The Woolly Hat Society will get a newsletter on Thursday with their exclusive discount code, so keep an eye out for that! I do hope you enjoy this Hat, it reminded me that I can have fun with stranded designs and that I probably should design more of them….

PentaCap, the new free pattern for members

Members of The Woolly Hat Society have been sent the latest free pattern in PDF format, and new members will get a copy when they sign up, too.

The pattern is scheduled to go live here on the blog on October 4th 2022. But why wait! The Woolly Hat Society is free to join and members get exclusive discounts and much, much more.

The pattern is written for worsted weight and includes several sizes. As you may expect with my patterns, it uses a few interesting techniques to create those extra details that set the Hat apart.

Free patterns are sponsored by my Patreon supporters. Without their help I couldn’t afford to design, publish or support free patterns and tutorials. If you’d like to help me continue to offer free content then we’d love to have you join us on Patreon! Membership starts from $1 a month.