We are in the Seattle Times.

Today I woke up to a lovely surprise! The Ladies of Mischief were featured in the Seattle times. Here is a link to the article so you can take a look. I am so proud of my fellow Ladies I can’t even begin to tell you. Just in case you do not have a copy of Needles and artifice yet you can pick up a copy over at cooperative press or through the cart on the right of this page.

Thanks for all the support!! And of course if you would like to contact us drop an email to ladiesofmischief [at] gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.

All photography is courtesy of the Seattle times.

News and links and dates!

Grettings, my colleagues!  Much excitement going on at Mischief Central and some news and updates for you all.  First of all, hard-copy books have arrived!  And so have many great places to acquire one, if you haven’t already: hard-copies through Amazon, already filling up with great reviews (thank you!!); Knit Picks and Ravelry for the eBook, and of course Cooperative Press for the two-in-one… OR simply use the lovely link to your right.  So simple!

For our most excellent (and patient) kickstarter supporters, signed hard-copies and those with extra gifts will be on their way soon!  In the meantime, we’d love to send a free pdf eBook to anyone who selected one of the book prizes on kickstarter to tide you over.  If you haven’t gotten one yet, please drop a line to ladiesofmischief@gmail.com and we’ll get you hooked up right away.

Aaaand for the last, but certainly not least, announcement….

Saturday, January the 12th – Save the Date for our Launch Party!  Details to follow, but for now, know that it will be in Seattle, full of outstanding food, festivities and entertainment; and we would love for you to join us!  So, pencil it in on your calendar in your most over-the-top Victorian script and start planning (or knitting) your ensemble!

Whew!  That’s enough excitement for the moment, I think.  But I’ll be back again soon with the inside designer scoop for our final chapter, Mechanical.  Stay tuned!

…to idyllic Countrysides

Greetings my colleagues!  As I’m sure you heard earlier this week Needles and Artifice has been unleashed upon the world!  Available for you in print and digital format right here at Cooperative Press, or as a download on Ravelry.  Get yours today! (or just admire the lovely pictures)

We here at Mischief Central are eagerly awaiting our very own Box O’ Books, and the first order of business (after oohing and aahing and crying for joy) is signing a whole lovely pile of them for our amazing Kickstarter supporters!  We’ll let you know as soon as they’re on the way.  We’ll also be hard at work putting together the other prizes that included additional treats along with a finished book, with those on their way ASAP as well!  Thanks again SO MUCH for your continued support and patience seeing this project through to fruition!

More news and plans on the horizon, but in the meantime I’d like to showcase two more patterns from the lush and serene Countyside chapter of Needles and Artifice.  Enjoy!

The Mountain Lily Scarf

Designer: Heidi Kunkel

Yarn: Lazy Perry Ranch Baby Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere Extra Fine Lace

This scarf was inspired by the Laminaria shawl by Elizabeth Freeman. I have a strong affinity for knitting lace, and I’ve always preferred floral lace to other more geometric patterns. I had worked nupps many times before, but the Laminaria pattern introduced me to a variation on those: purling each of the increased stitches individually on the following wrong side row. I was hooked from my first try of this “Estonian Star Stitch”, and I knew I wanted to make this stitch the centerpiece of a scarf design… thus, the Mountain Lily scarf was born.

The Take Flight Bonnet

Designer: Jen Schripsema

Yarn: JulieSpins Cable Sport/DK SW Merino

Because I lack impulse control when it comes to haircuts, my hair seems to be perpetually in “that awkward growing out length” and I struggle to find flattering hats. Beanies look terrible and slouchy hats often leave my ears out in the cold. One day when browsing hat patterns in Ravelry, I thought to myself, “There’s no reason why bonnets should be exclusively a baby garment.” To prevent the style from looking too twee or feminine, I used a traditionally masculine herringbone stitch pattern and added metal buckles. Think less “Little House on the Prairie” and more modern Amelia Earhart.

It’s Time for Adventure with the Ladies of Mischief!

Greetings, my wonderful friends and colleagues!  This month our blog turns TWO.  And what better way to celebrate than to, oh, I don’t know…

Officially Announce the release of Needles And Artifice: A refined adventure story with ingenious knitting patterns!!!  Available THIS VERY MOMENT from Cooperative Press!  Coming soon to fine book and yarn shops near you and magical invisible internet book and yarn shops worldwide!

We will have a slew of updates later today and this week, with more pattern previews, event dates, etc, etc.  But for now, get thee over to Cooperative Press to oogle the gorgeous pictures and start queueing up those patterns on the Ravelry Book Page (which is getting filled up with the 20+ patterns as I type!)

Thank you all for your amazing support these past two years, and Happy Birthday to the Ladies of Mischief!!!

 

… to High Society Soirees

Hello again, my colleagues!  After the rousing success of last week’s post, I’m thrilled to bring you two more patterns from Needles And Artifice, the upcoming Ladies Of Mischief knitting and adventure book.  If you haven’t had a chance, be sure to check out the updated Ravelry links on the previous pattern reveals and tell us what you think!  We’ll be adding links to these too later this week, so you can continue to fave and queue to your heart’s content.  And we’ve been so overwhelmed by the outstanding enthusiasm you’ve shown, we’re going to continue with additional pattern reveals right up until publication!  Details will be coming soon, but for now, let’s hear from two more of our amazing designers…

Just the thing to dress up your favorite party hat

Gossip Stole

Designer: Amanda Williams

Yarn: The Painted Tiger

Three things are said about me. I’m a flirt, I like luxury and I like a challenge.

I don’t want just any flirtation. I want one with style and elegance. I like the old fashioned type with a glance under veil. Where you catch their eye and then look away. What better way to draw the eye than with the luxury of lace.  Lace is a luxury because it’s so unnecessary. Many design details support structure or have a role to play. Lace on the other hand is pure decoration. The work put into it is purely to catch the eye and draw it in. The end result is a testament to skill and patience.

This pattern is not a simple mindless thing.  It’s a piece to show off your skills and abilities. I hate finishing work, so this is designed to be knit without seams. The edging for the bottom is knit then the stiches are picked up to knit the body and finally the top edging is knit on. I created it to have mitered corners and for the repeats of the edging to match the repeats of the body so that you may adjust the size to your wishes. We show it here as a confection in laceweight yarn, but you can knit it with as many or few repeats as you wish and in any weight yarn. I even have a couple washcloths out of dishcloth cotton from testing the pattern out for myself. You may not be able to wear a veil in your day-to-day life, but a scarf for you neck or stole for an cool summer evening may suit you just fine.

Who was that mysterious beauty?

A more elegant wrap you may never find… just like the Lady wearing it.

Quadrille Overbust Corset

Designer: Valerie DiPietro

Yarn: Skein

The idea for the knit corset swam around in my head for many years before finally coming to fruition with this pattern. I have always enjoyed the structure and texture of traditional cabled sweaters. They are so simple, yet so complex. It was fascinating to see so much movement and life come from the simple overlapping of stitches. Similarly, the simple elegance and timeless shaping of traditional corsetry has always mesmerized me. It wasn’t until I got the idea to put them both together into one powerful piece that things got really exciting. I used a combination of textured stitches, twisted cables, complex cable latices, and open lace work to give the impression of steel boning. Additionally, this piece is fully adjustable to meet your exact measurements whether knit be worn over a laced corset or made as a striking bodice top. I hope you truly enjoy this historical juxtaposition as much as I do.

An intricate dance of cables and textures

Cinched and laced and ready to mingle

The good Dr. Erma knows when the evening calls for her more refined side

From Soaring Airships to Mad Science Labs

Greetings, my colleagues!  As promised, today I am thrilled to bring to you the first detailed pattern reveals from our upcoming publication:

 The Ladies of Mischief Interrupt Their Knitting To Present To You,

Needles and Artifice:
A Refined Adventure Story with Ingenious Knitting Patterns

Coming to you later this summer from Cooperative Press, and all of us here at Mischief Central.  Here’s an in-depth look at two of the patterns, with another two to be revealed next Sunday.  Enjoy!

Airship Captain Coraline Hackworth, always the picture of efficiency and style

Legacy Frock Coat

Designer: Sarra Loew

Yarn: Fidalgo 100% Merino by Woolgatherings

The Legacy Frock Coat was designed out of the most inspiring blend of elements- practicality combined with style. The cozy long sleeves and long tail provide coverage while the open front frames, flatters, and prevents overheating. The tail (which is adjustable to each knitter’s preference) solved a tricky fashion problem for me; I find low-rise pants comfortable to wear, but sitting in them can cause unwanted exposure. The Legacy Frock Coat sweater neatly solves this problem by covering just the back of the hips. The open front of the sweater makes it comfortably wearable in a variety of temperatures.
The style, reminiscent of formal frock coats, lends a classy feel to the coat, making it appropriate as a formal coverup. It’s not fussy at all, and is also easily utilized for day to day wear. It looks smashing in bright saturated colors, and in self-striping yarns. I have multiple versions of this coat and plan to make many more. The pattern is easy to knit and customize to your exact measurements. I hope that many knitters enjoy making and wearing this fine coat!

Miss Hackworth didn’t earn the right to run the family business by being timid

Sleek, poised, and elegant

The Null Hypothesis Scarf

Designer: Katrina Elsaesser

Yarn: Yarn Pirate Superwash BFL

I’ve always loved charted knitting designs; if you were ever a kid who drew on graph paper, or played with making pixelated characters on the computer, I’m sure you can relate. Absolutely anything you can draw out in little rectangles can be turned into a knitted garment, which pleases me to no end. I’ve also always loved the metamorphosing works of M.C. Escher, where one artistic element slowly turns into another, and into another, sometimes even morphing back around to the beginning. One fateful night, when pondering what a mad scientist might knit, those two elements fell serendipitously together and produced this scarf… all six feet of it.
Yet another thing I love is the (in my option) underutilized technique of Double Knitting. With only a few extra tricks – included in the pattern – you can produce a gorgeous, flat, non-rolling, reversible, warm and amazingly smooshy fabric. Absolutely perfect for scarves, and intricate charted patterns – floats are a non-issue!
The pattern journeys through books and beakers, gears and pipes, swirls and filigree. Take one chart element and makes some gloves, or repeat your favorite parts into a scarf design all your own. I hope this pattern takes you to you a place that’s perhaps a little mad, but quite inspired.

Dr. Erma Melanogaster may have a few screws loose, but her style is unquestionable

When creativity and science come together, ingenious things happen

The Ladies at TNNA

Greetings, my colleagues!  My goodness, how quickly the countdown to publication is going.  And on that note, I wanted to pop in quickly with some very exciting news…

This coming weekend is one of the largest and most exciting knitting events of the year: The National NeedleArts Association’s Trade Show!  And amongst the who’s-who of designers, yarn dyers and knitting innovators will be our beloved Cooperative Press to officially unveil the glorious details of the Ladies Of Mischief knitting book!  Shannon will be on hand with pattern photos, sneak-peaks of content, and even a precious sample knit for you to fondle.  So please, pop by, say hello and be the envy of your friends!

Can’t make it to TNNA?  Well, fear not! because we’ll be offering a simultaneous unveiling on the blog too!  Be sure to tune in this Sunday and next Sunday for the first ever detailed pattern shots, yarn info, and exclusive designer insight on a hand-selected assortment of patterns from the book.  We’ve had to keep so much under our fancy hats for so long, we absolutely can’t wait to show you the results of our tinkering!  See you then!

A Look Ahead…

Hello, my dear Colleagues!  We’ve arrived on the other side of Submission Day, and have gotten a couple well-earned weeks of recuperation under our belts.  But our work is far from done!  What will the next few months before Book Day hold?

• Crafting and sending gifts to our amazing Kickstarter supporters (those that don’t include copies of the book , of course).  Your patience and support are so greatly appreciated, and will be well rewarded!
• Planning the Launch Party To End All Launch Parties.  If you can make it to Seattle, you’re invited!  Details forthcoming, but start planning your costumes now!
• Final edits, photography, cover art, and general Polishing To Perfection with our publisher.  This will be delicious eye-candy proudly displayed on your coffee table, not hidden away on a bookshelf.
• Spreading the word!  Setting up bookstore and yarnshop visits; telling all our friends and neighbors; and generally getting incredibly excited!  Please, drop us a line if you’d like the Ladies to pay your place of business, party, event, etc a call.  We are all about the win-win that is local business and crafters supporting each other.

We hope you’re getting excited too!  To help with that, here’s a few more tantalizing teasers (from a High Society soiree, if I’m not mistaken)…

 

 

 

The Final Countdown

Greetings dear colleagues!  My goodness – we’re mere weeks away from the final project deadline here at Mischief Central, at which point a year and a half of creative and collaborative effort will be handed off to the capable team at Cooperative Press.  From there, the final touches, tweaks, and meticulous details are hammered out and the whole shebang becomes A Book, available for your enjoyment in a few short months.  We can’t believe it’s nearly here, and we certainly wouldn’t be here without the whole team.  Speaking of, today I’d like to showcase the outstanding talents of our Team Illustrator and fellow Mischief Maker, Nicole Allin.  She recently shared a lovely snippet of the book artwork, as well as a behind-the-scenes view of her creative process.  We’re sure you’ll enjoy her amazing work as much as we all do, and are thrilled to count her among the multi-talented friends that make up Team Mischief.

And now, back to work!  Pattern testing, final costume sewing, photoshoots – it’s going to be a glorious sprint to the finish line!  See you all on the other side.

Start the Presses!

Greetings my colleagues!  My my, what an interesting few weeks it’s been, with balls and blog hacking and all.   I will admit the Ladies had been attempting to, ahem, get in touch as soon as they became aware of this research project.  I’m only beginning to understand the communication process, and their technological advances are truly fascinating… but all that aside, I really need to have a few words with Dr. Erma about Guest Blogger etiquette!  Still, I suppose it’s completely understandable, given what we know about her quirks; I’m beginning to understand her fellow Ladies’ chagrin first hand.  But I digress…  onto more important matters at hand!

It is my great pleasure to Officially Announce the upcoming publication of Needles And Artifice, a Ladies of Mischief  knitting book, by the wonderful Shannon Okey at Cooperative Press!  This book features a delightful assortment of original knitting patterns inspired by the Ladies and their adventures, from High Society to Mad Science and beyond.  But more than that,  these patterns and locals are drawn from the greatest Ladies of Mischief adventure story yet told, in multi-chapter glory, with all the Ladies you love (catching up on their blog stories thus far is not necessary, but highly recommended!)   Release is scheduled for late summer/early fall, and you can be sure we’ll provide additional publication details and event dates along the way.

Of course, we can’t give too much away yet, but here are a few delightful tidbits:

It has been such an outstanding collaborative journey, and we are thrilled to be able to share it with you soon!  In the meantime, stay tuned for photos of the aforementioned Ball and much more…