Hello Yarnies,
Working on some new patterns. This one is scheduled to come out in the fall (I know, it’s strange that you have to think about making a pattern a full season and a half before it’s supposed to come out).
Sweetness was kind enough to model it for me. It’s made from an angora/lambswool mix yarn. It promises to be quite warm!
What do you think?
~Jen
Hello Yarnies,
So I’ve mentioned before that I have a Crochet along starting this Thursday. It’s looking to be a good turnout, so you should buy your yarn and come out. It’s at the Yarn Spot from 6:30-7:30, more details here. I’m still dithering about what yarn to use, but it’s promising to be a great turnout.
In other news, I’ve been working on a few new designs, and should have some peaks at them shortly. Also, the first Beginner Crochet of the season started on Sunday, and my students are making some great progress. Jen, from Magpie Knitter Designs, is in the class and she posted some great photos. Also, you should check out her stash. It’s epic.
Until later,
Jen
Confession time, Yarnies.
They do say it’s good for the soul.
I have a problem. The Yarn Harlot has this problem too (she details it in Free-Range Knitter), so I at least can claim to be in good company. You see, I think I know better than the designer. I come across this pattern. It’s wonderful! It’s georgous! It’s pratically sublime.
But, dear designer, there’s just this one problem. There’s this bit that’s a little niggly, and I’m sure I could fix it just so. Or alternatively, you have me doing a technique I hate. Like seaming. So I’ve decided that I’m just going to fix the pattern a bit, just so I don’t have to do some seams. It’ll take a bit of math, and I understand why you think that it would be better to do the seaming… after all, not every reader you encounter is going to be as smart to modify the pattern like I did, and if you did it in the round you’d have to write at least another page and a half of instruction. And I know you were trying to save the trees/fit into a magazine page limit, so I’ll forgive you.
I’ll just do it in the round.
But oh, I just realized, when I do it in the round this little bit of lace, here, suddenly gets that much more complicated. That’s all right. I’ll just chart it out so that I can do it in the round.
But while I’m at it, why don’t I just add a little bit of a cable/extra picot/pineapple here? I think it would look lovely. But hmmm, then it throws this off balance. That’s all right, I wasn’t too fond of that design feature anyway.
… and so on.
Well, I’m having a bit of that problem with the Josephine Pullover by Annette Petavy. It’s beautiful. Both delicate and wonderful. And I’m managing to modify myself in knots.
Let me first make note, the pattern as written is perfect. Do it as she tells you and you will be fine. In fact, you might even be more than fine. You might even finish it before I do. And I started it in… oh, October 2010.
You see, first I thought that it would look gorgeous in an alpaca instead of the Rowan wool you recommended. After all, it’s discontinued anyway. I figured that the ribbing would make sure it would hang right, and because the panels down at the bottom are lace, it won’t pull on the fabric overly much. You see, I know that alpaca can sometimes drape different than plain sheep’s wool. And since the Alpaca I was using was lace also, instead of the fingering you recommended, I figured that would be okay. I’d just make the largest size… and a slightly smaller needle, and it would fit (eventually) as I lost weight with weight watchers. So far, I hadn’t modded too much.
I figured the designer knew best, so instead of trying to do the knitted portion in the round, I actually did it in two pieces and seamed them together. This is a big deal. I really don’t like seaming. But I figured I would follow the pattern anyway.
…
Okay, since we’re going for a full confession, I did add a selvage edge, because I was planning to crochet them together instead of sewing them. Hey, ever tried sewing with alpaca yarn? (that’s loosely plied?) Not something I would want to do. So I (Mostly) followed the directions for the knitting part. Oh, and I know the directions said to do the front and the back with the crochet before you seam them, but I decided against that also.
Then came the crochet lace part. Oh, my. The designer wanted me to do the front and the back, crochet the front and the back lace patterns, and then seam up crochet. My my, no way am I doing that. I don’t like how it looks. I’ll just do the knitting part, and then I’ll do the crochet part in the round. MMKay? Great.
… Except, I have more hips than the model. And I don’t like how the pattern did the shaping in the lace, so I’m modified how I did increases. And I’m going to add more increases because I have rather gifted hips.
So far so good.
…
…
Well, maybe not. You see gentle readers, the pattern wanted me to do the sleeves from the wrist up. And then seam those to the shirt. If you thought I’d be willing to do that for the bottom half of the shirt, I’m definitely not doing that for the sleeves. I decided I was just going to start them at the shoulder and go down.
But now I’m stalled.
What? But you modified everything else, this should be easy, right?
Stay tuned… and I’ll explain.
Oh Hi. It’s me again. I have been very mischievous and stolen some of Jen’s yarn. She was going to make me a toy out of it, but now I’m not so sure. I have been making pitiful noises at her to try and get her to forgive me, but I’m not sure she is fooled.
You would forgive me, right?
Tuesday in My Queue
I know it is spring. I know, you are still feeling guilty about those projects that you started and wanted to wear for winter. I know, I know. I have the same problem. But… and I say this with all earnestness, you need to be thinking about summer, and you need to be thinking about summer with the Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole. It’s by Corrina Ferguson, who is a solid designer. I especially like her shawl and sock patterns, which she occasionally offers deals on her blog, so you should keep an eye on it. It’s a Classic Elite pattern, and I think by now you all know about how much I love Classic Elite patterns. I would knit for them in a heartbeat. It’s a camisole (really a tanktop), so really, it’ll be fast to finish, not use that much yarn, and gosh, could be worn plain in the summer, under jackets in the fall, and under sweaters in the spring. Why, if you wanted to you could crank up the heat in winter and wear it as pajama tops. And in Classic Elite Classic Silk, I would wear it every chance I get. Plus, it’s a free pattern. Yes, Oh, all right, you want to hear what I think about it. Well, if you insist… What people are doing with it: The word on the street is you want to swatch first. While some people were about to work it with the same yarn, or even different yarns, and get gauge, this is a silk blend we’re talking about, and sometimes that makes for some funky knitting. Swatch first, throw it in with your wash, and then see what happens. A lot of people make substitutions for this camisole, without any problem. The great thing about this pattern is the shaping is included. The not so good thing is the shaping is included, and if you aren’t quite as curvy, or more curvy than the model, you might need to make some mods. One person did the waist shaping for the medium, and then did the bust shaping for the small, because she wasn’t quite “gifted” in the chest to fill out the medium. You might have to do the same. Make sure you measure and swatch, and you’ll be fine. The Specs: Published in Classic Elite Yarns Web-letter
Published August 2010 Yarns suggested Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk
Yarn weight DK / 8 ply (11 wpi)
Gauge 20 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette Stitch
Needle size US 6 – 4.0 mm
SIZES: Extra Small (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, 2X Large)
Finished Meas: 30 (34, 38, 42, 46, 50)” MATERIALS: Classic Silk by Classic Elite (50% cotton, 30% silk, 20% nylon; 50 gram ball = approx 135 yards) • 3 (4, 4, 5, 6, 6) balls 6905 Old Lilac Needles: • One 24” circular size US 6 (4 mm) Or size to obtain gauge • Five stitch markers (4 of one color; 1 of another for BOR) • Removable markers or safety pins
HEY! For those of you who frequent the Yarn Spot, we’re doing a knit along with this pattern. You should join us. Details are on my classes page. Until later Yarnies, Feline Friday Oh hi. I’m a cat. My name is Zephyr. I belong to Debbie, Jen’s roomate. I am cute, so I decided to pop in. I like stealing yarn. And playing fetch. Jen picks up my mouse and throws it across the room and I go get it. Then I bring it back. And drop it just out of reach. And then I paw at her foot. You should leave comments, because I’m adorable. I’ll just wait here. Go ahead. Little FrustratedYarnies, It’s been one of those days. I thought I was doing well on my second sock for the entrelac socks (a pattern I’m working on putting together), only to try them on at the end of the day, and even though I followed my notes EXACTLY, one of them is shorter than the other. What’s a girl to do? Yes, that’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow: RIP. In other news, I have a bad case of startitis (because my current projects are stalled in frustrating places). I want to start something so badly, but I know that I have two (possibly three) knit alongs starting up, and I really ought to get these things done before then. So I’ll be ripping soon, I guess. Anyone else stuck? I could use a little company right now. Learning New SkillsHello Yarnies, So this post starts with a story. Occasionally I take care of a sister duo, Sweetness and Light. Sweetness is four, and Light, is around… oh, seventeen months.
If you haven’t guessed, her father is an engineer. Well, since I’ve been taking care of her, occasionally she’ll see me knitting or crocheting. We’ll have a moment when Vivi is playing and she is drawing, and I’ll pull out my knitting or crochet to get a few rows done. Well, lately she’s been asking me to teach her. You see, at first I taught her finger knitting, but she quickly realized that what she was doing, and what I was doing were two different things. She wanted to knit with sticks. Okay, I said, fine by me. I really didn’t expect it to go anywhere. It’s the rare four year old that has the hand-eye coordination, never-mind the concentration to learn to knit. So I taught her. She practiced for a few minutes, got tired of it, and decided to make up her own knitting. Which basically meant that she made a big tangle of the yarn. That was fine. I only gave her a little yarn. (yes, I’ve been through this before. Children will use all of any resource you give them. That’s why my mother only kept three band-aids in the box, and the rest somewhere else. Otherwise, we’d want ALL the band-aids for our dolls) I really didn’t expect her to even sit through the whole lesson. Well, a week passed, and I was knitting again. She asked to help. I put her hands on the needles and just let her watch as I worked. Another week passed, and again Sweetness asked to learn. It had been a rough day, and I might have responded a little harshly. I said it wasn’t fair to me to teach her if she wasn’t willing to practice. She said she would. I taught her, at first, her just placing the needles and me wrapping the yarn. And then, at her insistence, I taught her how to wrap the yarn so she could do it herself. And now? She’s still working on it. It’s slow, and she only does three or four stitches, but when you’re that young? That’s quite a feat. My point is, when you learn a new skill, things can often look rocky. Take my Kitchener stitch. For the longest time, every time I needed to do it I had to look it up. When I do it now, I always accidentally purl the first few stitches, and then have to undo it and correct it again. But one day in the future I will whip out something that needs to be Kitchenered, and I will remember it, right away. And it will be a beautiful day. The other lesson: indoctrinate children to knitting/crochet early. It can keep them occupied and quiet for a full five minutes. Tuesday in My Queue
It’s time for another edition of Tuesday in My Queue. This week is Ivywild, by Carol Schoenfelder, a pattern that I think is particularly suited for the Spring that is just around the corner. Seriously, I don’t care what anyone says. Spring might be officially weeks away, but I come from the NORTH, darn-knit (tehehe. A pun), and when it’s raining, there’s mud, and there’s daffodils, it’s spring. Now, if that means spring comes early now that I’m in DC, and later if I were to live, say, in Canada? So, Ivywild. I found this pattern in the fall, and when I looked at it, I knew it was going in my queue, because while I wouldn’t be interested in working on it NOW, I knew that it would be perfect if I did it in some sort of milk/soy fiber for spring/summer. There’s a really sweet one that The Yarn Spot carries, that escapes me now, but I know it when I see it. What people are doing with it: One of the things I would say to watch for in the pattern is where the end of the diamonds hit on the bust. I have a big bust, which might make the point of the diamonds hit in just the wrong spot. Other things I’d look out for: I’m not quite sure what is going on with the cap of the sleeve, which doesn’t seem to be fitting quite the right way. That might be the way the decreases are worked, and it might be something else entirely, but I’d be tempted to mess around with it a bit. I like the ribbing on the bottom, and the way it looks a bit lacy. I wonder in the cotton how effective the ribbing is, seeing that cotton doesn’t quite have the springback that a wool or wool blend would. I’m also a bit dubious about the neckline. I’d be tempted to simplify it, and maybe get rid of the points. It doesn’t seem to be lying quite flat on the model’s neck, and that would drive me crazy. I might just go for something that would draw it in a bit more. You can see how the girl to the right here brought it up higher, and made it so it gathered tighter around her neck. This causes the diamonds to hit a different place on her bust, but I think it works for her. I would seriously consider doing the whole sweater in reverse stockinette, not just the diamond part. I think it would be interesting. Plus, I love knitting reverse stockinette. I’m not quite sure what the shaping for this pattern is, but I think it would be a simple matter to make sure you do some increases around the hips to make sure it expands nicely. It would also solve the potential problem of having the ribbing around the hips stretch too much. The Specs: Published in:Knit Picks Website
Published: June 2010 Yarns suggested:Knit Picks CotLin
Yarn weight:DK / 8 ply (11 wpi)
Gague: 16 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in stockinette Needle size: US 5 – 3.75 mm
Yardage: 550 – 750 yards (503 – 686 m)
Sizes available: Ladies XS (S, M, L), Petite XS (S, M, L)
Until later, |
