The Weekly Rec – Three Designers That Give it All Away

Happy Thursday! I’ve had a great week watching my blog blow up with visitors thanks to Lionbrand and their FaceBook post on my little yarn-cake-cozy pattern. It was my 22nd pattern. Does that sound like a lot? It’s not! Let me introduce you to three talented designers that between them have published 631 patterns (as of this writing) to raverly. And they are all free.

Today I’m recommending MMario, Tamara Kelly, and Frankie Brown. Ravelry just wouldn’t be the same without them.

MMario

MMario has 183 free patterns available from ravelry. That’s less than half of his body of work. To see everything he does, you’ll need to join MMario KKnits, a yahoo group for friends and beta knitters. From what I can track down, MMario has finished over 500 designs and nearly all of them are lace shawls. I can’t even imagine knitting 500 shalws in one lifetime let alone designing them.

From browsing his designs you can tell that he likes the circular shawls. Its what he makes most. But, there are other styles in there. And (here is the real find) he has written the Shape of Shawls to Come. Its an explanation of how shawls in all their shapes and designs are constructed. Its starts with basic circles and squares then moves on to Farose, Ruana, Fichu, crescents, hearts and so on. Have you seen those classes that teach you how to design your own shawl? Its like that and you can download it for free from his ravelry designer page. That amazes me. MMario is a true master and is sharing all that he knows with the world.

Here are his most popular designs. Each image should take you right to the ravelry pattern page.

Queen Anne’s Lace by MMario

Uhura by MMario

Queen of Heaven by MMario

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Tamara Kelly

Who? Ahh, I bet you know her by her blog name, Moogly.  She has gotten big and very successful over the years. Her blog has changed quite a bit (I’m a follower!). But one thing that has not changed is that Tamara regularly publishes free patterns for her readers. And she has patterns for everything you can imagine.

She has baby stuff, blankets, bunting, bath stuff, bowls… and those are just the B’s. Tamara Kelly does not limit herself and she hasn’t specialized. She’ll make anything and I LOVE that about her. She’ll also try new shapes and make new motifs that you don’t see in other designs.

Like the Clover Stitch in her Lucky Day Cowl.

Lucky Day Cowl by Tamara Kelly

Lately she has been experimenting with an arrow-like stitch pattern. She’s given us a scarf, two blankets, and a tote bag all made with her new technique. My favorite version of it is the Ombre Arrows Afghan.

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Frankie Brown

Love her. I like many of her designs but I LOVE what she does with them. Frankie Brown, aka Rosemily, has published 289 designs to ravelry. They are all free. All she asks is that you consider making a donation to her charity of choice: the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation through her fundraising page at JustGiving. Its a wonderful idea and it works. If you visit the main fundraising page for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, you’ll see that Frankie Brown is their top fund raiser. She has raised (as of this writing) £10,637.80. She is literally changing the world with her knitting. How wonderful is that?

Here are some of her designs that will tempt you to cast on and to click that donation button!

Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown

I bet you recognize that one, lol. Its been made over 4000 times. There is also a round version, a triangle version, a double row version, and a zig-zag version.

Pinwheel Purse by Frankie Brown

Lightning Shawl by Frankie Brown

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Don’t stop with the few patterns I’ve linked here. There are hundreds, literally hundreds, for you to choose from. And remember, designers love feedback. A click on the “add to favorites” button means a lot. Leaving a comment on their design page means even more.

Enjoy!

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