The Great Game

Introducing the first pattern in the second Game of Thrones Collection! The Great Game was designed to work with Miss Babs 7 Color Gradient Set in Caroline or Yummy 2-Ply, and is shown in the Edge of Reality colorway. Be sure to check out the three amazing Great Game Sets that Miss Babs has dyed up in Caroline, her new super luxurious fingering weight cashmere blend.

Edge of Reality, which is even more amazing in person and what I used to design The Great Game.  The beautiful teal transitions to a teal/gray and then to charcoal. It's one of those colors that looks great on everyone!

This one is Edge of Temptation.  I think I'm going to pick up a set of this and knit another Great Game.  Those reds are really calling to me!

And Phoenix Rising.  Beautiful creams, gray and black.  This would go with anything and be a stunning Great Game shawl!

I designed The Great Game to be a simple to knit shawl that could be worn throughout the year. It has side to side construction with a delicate lace edging that is worked along with the body of the shawl.  It's one of those knit's that becomes intuitive early on in the pattern and provides a relaxing without being boring knit.  Aside from the lace edging, you won't have to worry about stitch counts which make it a perfect project to bring to knit group.  Ive provided instructions for the lace in both written and charted format for your knitting pleasure.  I hope that you guys enjoy knitting it as much as I did!

~Lara

Tyrion's Gift

I'm so pleased to announce the release of Tyrion's Gift, the fourth shawl patten in my Game of Thrones inspired series.

Tyrion's Gift is a top down triangle shawl that is deceptively easy to knit.  With resting rows on the wrong side, it's a perfect project to take to knit group or work on while you watch the Game of Thrones Season 4 Premier.  This tribute to Tyrion and his lady friend Shae is knit up in Miss Babs Tarte, in the Volcanic Eruption colorway.  Tarte has a wonderful hand and is a generous 500 yard skein.  Miss Babs dyed some up just in time for the pattern release and you can purchase directly from her site:  Miss Babs Volcanic Eruption 

A huge thank you goes to my test knitters Margi and Helen who whipped through this pattern in no time and gave it raving reviews! 

Like most couples, in the beginning Tyrion and Shae were truly in love. They were both quite happy until Tyrion's father forced him to marry another woman. 

Shae refused to leave Tyrion, even at the risk of her own safety.  Tyrion was forced to resort to sending her away in a rather brisk fashion.  As a parting gift to show how much he cared for her, Trion commissioned a shawl in deep reds of the Lannister colors.

A single, simple gift to keep Shae warm was what Tyrion intended to give to Shae.  The betrayal that he got in return was most unexpected.

Use coupon code: Gift for $1.00 off of Tyrion's Gift in my Ravelry Pattern Shop, good through Easter.

The Arya Collection

Needle is a small, slender sword that Jon Snow had made by Mikken for Arya Stark before he went away to the Night’s Watch. The sword is suitable to Arya’s slight build and the style of fencing known as “water dancing” used by the bravos of Braavos. Arya named it Needle as an ironic reference to her hatred of needlework. She sometimes refers to her use of the sword as needlework. Eventually, Needle also comes to represent her previous life at Winterfell and symbolizes the happy childhood with her family, which she still yearns for.

Earlier this year at Maryland Sheep & Wool I was able to spend a little bit of time chatting with Miss Babs.  We talked about our favorite characters from Game of Thrones and tossed around a few ideas for a new Game of Thrones inspired pattern.  Babs and I both really like Arya's character.  She's smart, spunky, and doesn't really back down from anything.  On the trip home I worked up a small chart and some sketches of Arya's Needle and then got to swatching.  After a Skype meeting with Babs and Jen, Babs created a limited edition colorway called Arya in Yummy 2-ply.  It will be available in limited quantities this weekend in her booth at Rhinebeck along with a hard copy version of both patterns.  The Arya yarn will also be available for pre-order at missbabs.com.  

Arya's Needle is a versatile shawl pattern and can easily be knit with three different looks. The edging and center sections have the same number of stitches and can be interchanged if you would like. You could have a shawl with three swords, two swords and lace in the center only, or lace in all three sections. The choice is yours!  

The long and slender point of needle will let you Subtly wield your sword with Arya’s Mitts. Instructions are included for a shorter version if you would prefer to wield a dagger rather than a sword! The pattern has two sizes: S/M and M/L and is very easily adjusted by going up or down a needle size.

The patterns can be purchased individually or in ebook format on Ravelry.

Beth, Helen and Kathy did a fabulous job test knitting.  If you have a chance, check out their projects on Ravelry.

A New Pattern Is Coming

New Pattern Coming on Monday, KAL Updates and Other Fun Stuff!

Game of Thrones Season 4 has come to a close and if you are like me, the withdrawals have already started.  It's the only show on tv that I find so completely enthralling that I don't knit while watching it.  A year is just too long to wait for next season!

After Mother of Dragons was released, Miss Babs and I have been collaborating to create a series of Game of Thrones themed patterns.  I have been having a hard time containing my excitement and not letting the Direwolf out of the bag!  There will be two more patterns coming out this year and the next one is being released on Monday June 30 and will be available in my Ravelry Pattern Shop.  The third in the series will be coming out later in the fall so you will have plenty of time to get this one knitted up before the next release!

Night's Watch is a effortless one skein garter stitch triangle shawlette in Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply in the Coffee Break colorway.  I have included both charted and written instructions and the pattern is easy to memorize which makes this a perfect knit night project. I've included some fun Game of Thrones graphics and a few other surprises in the pattern layout that I hope you will enjoy.

For a chance to win a copy of Night's Watch "like" the Lara Smoot Designs Facebook Page and share the Night's Watch post on Facebook.  The drawing will be on June 30 in conjunction with the pattern release.

The Summer of Socks KAL is in full swing with lot's of lovely projects popping up.  Be sure to pop on over to the KAL thread and check out all the socks!  A huge thank you to SuchGwenderfulStuff on Etsy for sponsoring the Summer of Socks KAL with a set of stitch markers from her shop.  I absolutely love her stitch markers.  They are thinner then some of the other brands that I have used the past and the colors show up well in my knitting.  The winner with have their choice of a set of markers in Gwen's shop.

The Mother of Dragons KAL is ending on July 1.  If you haven't posted your finished Mother of Dragons in the thread be sure to do so before July 1 to qualify for a chance to win a skein of Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply in Biker Chick or your choice of one of my patterns.

Photo courtesy of Miss Babs.

Mother of Dragons

I'm so pleased to announce the release of Mother of Dragons!  

Inspired by Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones, this lace shawl is deceptively easy to knit.  I used Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply in the Biker Chick colorway.  It has a lot of deep orange, dark red and gray colors in it which are perfect for the pattern.  The colors really reflect what I think of when dragons come to mind - fiery, bright and breathtaking.

The Mother of Dragons shawl was created to look like the wing of a dragon. The lace pattern mimics the intricate scales found on dragons and leads down to a fine point lace edging, like the points on dragon wings.

This pattern will be available at the Miss Babs booth at Stitches South April 10 - 13.  If you would like to purchase the pattern in pdf format it's available in my Etsy Shop and in my Ravelry Pattern Shop.

The Mother of Dragon Shawl is worked in 3 sections beginning with a garter stitch tab at the center neck. The body of the shawl is worked over a series of increase rows in sections 1 and 2 with garter stitch edgings to prevent the edging from rolling. The the lace edging border is worked across the bottom edge of the shawl incorporating all of the boarder stitches so there is minimal binding off at the end.

My test knitters Beth, Margi and Julia all did a fantastic job with this pattern. The deadline got bumped up by a couple of weeks when I found out that Miss Babs would be taking the pattern to Stitches South.  The three of them were all troupers and not only finished the test knit in time, but several days early!

This is Margi's test knit in Blue Ridge Yarns Silk Splash.  The dyer is in our area and Andy's favorite socks are in one of her yarns!

Here is Beth's in Fiber Optic Yarns Kashmir: 

Julia's in Buckwheat Bridge Mohair/Cormo Fingering:

 

If you are are looking for yarn for the Despicable Socks, Berry Colorful Yarnings has added several new Minion colorways to her shop! From left to right... Minion, Evil Minion, Edith, Gru.... all avail for pre order.

 This yarn was so much fun to work with!  I love how the strips on the socks match up perfectly - there are notes in the pattern on how to get yours to match up too.

Scrowl

Friday is finally here and what a relief!  It's been one of those weeks that even the simplest task seems to go wonky.  I plan on knitting on my Intersect Hat and relaxing while watching Neftlix or The Soprano's tonight.  We recently subscribed to HBO (there was a special deal) and have been able to watch a lot of shows that are new to us as well as get caught up on Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire.  We have also been watching Girls, which is a really odd show, but I can't seem to stop watching it so go figure! The best thing about tonight is that Andy has offered to cook.  He is making Italian Sausage, colored peppers, onions in a homemade sauce over Penne pasta.  I found some Cannoli at Fresh Market that the pastry chef guaranteed didn't come in contact with tree nuts, so we even have dessert.  

The Scrowl pattern is now available and is 20% off with coupon code: ShaliMarch2014 until 2/7.  Margi did an awesome job test knitting it and said she really liked the pattern.  I enjoyed knitting it and also wearing it.  It really blocks out the wind on the bone chilling days we have had recently.

From the pattern:

The Scrowl! It’s a scarf, it’s a wrap, it’s a cowl all in one; the perfect accessory to keep you warm and cozy while still looking stylish.

This is a very easy to knit pattern and uses two full skeins of Shalimar Yarns Edie Aran. Shown in the Penny Candy colorway. A great alternative would be Enzo Aran.

Both written and charted instructions are included.

I'm including this selfie so you can see what it looks like with a winter jacket.

My goal is to create patterns that are fun to knit and easy to follow and understand.  Knitting should be fun and patterns shouldn't be confusing!  There is nothing more frustrating (at least for me) than being in the middle of a pattern and not understanding what comes next or a technique that is being used.

I feel so blessed to have a  such a wonderful group of test knitters.  They give me feedback on what they like and don't like about how something is written or designed.  I know if something is working for me, but it's really important to have other eyes and hands on it so that it will work for others as well. 

I hope that you will find my patterns to be well written and enjoyable.  I would love to hear from you and see your projects!