Laura Ricketts Designs

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands..."

Laura Ricketts Designs is a personal and business website for Laura Ricketts, hand-knitwear designer, author, teacher, crafter, mother and wife.

Fall Knitting and Teaching

The start of cold weather means the genesis of a new knitting season.

Oh, don't roll your eyes at me!

Oh, don't roll your eyes at me!

I've had a great month: teaching at the Nordic Knitting conference and a smaller conference here near home. I've taught some new knitters and I've taught some new spinners as teaching older knitters some more difficult techniques.

New knitter!

New knitter!

Jazz hands!

Jazz hands!

Audrey pieces together her FIRST KNITTING PROJECT. That's right: a lace, long-sleeved tunic!

Audrey pieces together her FIRST KNITTING PROJECT. That's right: a lace, long-sleeved tunic!

I've finished up a group of Christmas presents, and a project for the Spring 2017 Love of Knitting magazine. I can't post pictures of those, yet. So... here's a hat for a friend's daughter. She is in (her first) semester at a boarding school in Vermont. 

warm and snuggly, no?

warm and snuggly, no?

Today, I hope to finish knitting the body of a vest I started six years ago. I rediscovered it about 2 weeks ago and put it in the queue. I had stalled on it after two days of knitting in November 2010, because I had a sizable mistake in the fair isle pattern measuring about one inch by two inches. I had the option of ripping out five rows, or dropping 8 stitches four rows down. Well, six years later, I chose the later. It took about one hour to correct (well, an hour and six years) and I was on my way. 

It is a deep V, steeked, two-color argyle vest by Eunny Jang. The pattern is so clever! I'll have some pictures later, but first I must knit the last four rows...

A Mysterious Stocking

I had a lovely time at the Nordic Knitting Conference, held at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle. If you haven't been there, you should definitely visit the site before the new museum is built. Right now, it is housed in an old school in Ballard, and while it has it's disadvantages, visitors also know the school is a bit of the local history as well.

One can wander in and out of exhibitions, visit the museum for movie lunches and soup, or attend excellent events like the knitting conference. More on that later.

During my trip, my zen knitting was a Christmas stocking for a dear friend. And, life has caught up with me. While I quietly make fun of people who get stuck in the time warp of knitting expectation (that is, "I must make this acrylic, intarsia, Santa stocking for my great-nephew because I have made 93 others for the rest of the family"), I have been caught in a trap of my own making. Maybe if I didn't love the Gjertsens so much, or maybe if they didn't have great kids, I wouldn't have had to make three 4+ foot long, stockinette alpaca Christmas stockings.

But since their kids Valor and Grant Perseverance have one (oh yeah -- I made those, too), how could I let little Mystery Lord not have her own?

Doesn't look so bad on its own, does it?

Doesn't look so bad on its own, does it?

And, yet, here it is with a sock I normally wear with boots.

And, yet, here it is with a sock I normally wear with boots.

And, here it is on my almost-5'7" baby girl.

And, here it is on my almost-5'7" baby girl.

Abby will felt it and add a hanging tab, and then have the chore of filling it with goodness every Christmas of little Mystery's life.

For those who aren't familiar with the Gjertsen's story, here is the link to their blog: http://www.houseofgjertsen.info

Merry Christmas, Mystery!

Knitting Retreat

I'll be at another retreat this month. This one is held locally:

It's bound to be lots of fun.Please, consider coming to this and leaving the food and clean-up to the great folks at Geneva Center! Bring holiday gifting projects, or just ideas and yarn, and we'll tackle them together!

It's bound to be lots of fun.

Please, consider coming to this and leaving the food and clean-up to the great folks at Geneva Center! Bring holiday gifting projects, or just ideas and yarn, and we'll tackle them together!