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Post Mortem: Larkin

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Larkin is the story of the design call that could.  Just like the iconic train saying “I think I can,” Larkin was a design I believed in from the beginning, but one that just had to keep plugging along until it got accepted. Larkin started out as “50’s Flame” – a vintage inspired top for a design call for Three Irish Girls nearly 4 years ago.  It looked like this:

It got rejected.  I also submitted it to Knitpicks, Interweave Knits, and a handful of other design calls.  Each time it would come back, a few months later, unchosen.  Which happens.  I knew the design was a good one, but it just never was quite what the editing team was looking for.
So I’d wait until another design call came along where this pattern would fit, repackage the pattern, and submit again.
Until last year, with Classic Elite.  Over time the design layout had been updated, I’d gotten a new logo and a new company name. The wording had changed (a little) and the name had changed.  It was now called Flaming Mamie, after a great swingy song I used to sing at camp.
Let’s be frank – not much changed.  But this time it was the right time, right place, right design, and CEY picked the design up.
So let’s compare the sketch to the finished product:
Puffed sleeves, flame motif, same neckline, scoop neck and false neckline.  The flames in this yarn are a little squatter and slimmer- I made them slightly smaller to accommodate sizing.  The ribbing along the neckline went away, because I thought the more rustic neck matched the yarn, and I wanted to keep that area a little less busy.  But otherwise?  Not much changed.  The things that made me believe this design was a keeper in the first place remained the things that I love in the finished product.
I love how the sleeves are slightly pleated.  I love how the ribbing runs seamlessly into the pattern.  I love how the design is slightly retro and oh-so feminine.  I love the figure-complimenting look.
I just kept pitching the design until someone saw it’s potential.  Thank-you CEY!
Love the design – like it on Ravelry or Facebook!  Want to know when others come out – sign up for our newsletter!

Newport all worked up!

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I’ve got a few more lengthy blog posts in the works, but while those are marinating, I wanted to share something exciting.  Textilemagician  from Ravelry just finished Newport, my crochet design
from Classic Elite.  You’ve got to take a look, it’s gorgeous!

She chose to do a yarn substitution, using Tilli Tomas Rock Star and Pure and Simple, both in Moroccan blue.  She says of Newport, “Fairly easy project.  I am hoping that the silk will drop when washed.”

It’s so exciting to see the pattern all worked up and on somebody!  It’s one of the best feelings to know someone took your thoughts that you put on paper, and then was able to construct what you envisioned.

Post Mortem: Newport

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Newport started as a submission titled Whisper.

I knew I wanted to design for Classic Elite Yarns, and had gotten in touch with someone on Ravelry who had designed for them before, asking how I would go about approaching them.  The Ravelry user told me that Classic Elite has a mailing list for designers who want to know about design calls.  The Ravelry user gave me the person to contact, and I went about emailing CEY.  There’d been a design call that had ended a day or two ago, but CEY said if I could pull a proposal off by the end of the week, they would consider it.

The design call featured lots of color blocks, open and airy pieces (makes sense – it is the spring call).  Some of the pictures had a beach in the background, or sailor themed jackets.  You can see some of the slides that were included below:

In about a day I pulled together my design proposal, as you can see below:
Link

Or view above.
Things I Did Well:
  • I followed the design demands.
  • I’ve got a clear schematic, that is actually really well drawn, considering.
  • My sketch approximates colors that Classic Elite actually carries in Classic Silk
  • I’ve got a bio, my contact information, needles needed, how it’s worked up, and a lot of other information that helps them come to an informed decision.
  • Right Place, Right time.  I was late, but I just happened to submit a crochet pattern in the yarn they needed to fill in the CEY Crochet Booklet.  I was late, but somehow, I managed to be the thing they needed right then.  Being in the right place at the right time cannot be discounted.  And the only way to do that is to put yourself forward.  If I’d decided to put myself forward a week later, it would have been too late, I’m sure.

What I could have done better:

  • The Sketch seems rough, which it is.  I was rushed.  Also, I think she looks rather like a boy.  Not a bad thing, but not what I was going for.
  • I wish it was on one page.  One page is about all people have the attention for, luckily my second page is just a visual, and not much reading.  Acceptable.
  • The bio needs to be smaller.  Gosh, that took up so much space that I could have used for other things.
  • The swatch is not blocked very well, and is rather small and long.  I would have liked to have done something wider so it gave a better idea of fabric – but again, time.
Some nitpicky personal things:
  • you’ll notice the sleeves are shaped differently than is said in the sketch.  I figured out the way I imagined was a lot of fabric and didn’t look good.
  • Also, there’s only one sleeve length in the final pattern.  Grading one sleeve length was enough.  Don’t need long sleeves on a spring pattern either.
  • Shaping is done differently than described: I use short rows instead of shaping like the Cap-Sleeve Top by Mary Jane Hall that inspired the pattern.  This, I think, is a good thing.
  • The name changed.  This happens in about 50% of patterns, especially in magazines and cohesive collections like CEY puts out.  They have a theme, and the name will be changed to reflect the theme.  I think Newport is a better name than Whisper anyway.
So what are your thoughts?  What could have been done better?  What do you think worked well?  Are you surprised by anything?  How does the proposal compare to the original?

One last thing: I’m not the only one who is doing Post Mortems.  Check out this post inspired by my last Post Mortem.

Newport and it’s Namesake

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I wanted to share this story the day that it happened, but couldn’t, because it would have given things away for Classic Elite, and they like their surprises.  But now that the design is out, I can tell you about it.

I wrote the Newport design nearly ten months ago.  By October, I had put the design out of my mind, and was working on other things.  I got an email from Classic Elite; they needed me to resend my pattern and, by the way, here’s some of the pictures from the photoshoot for the sample.

The pictures, which you can see on Ravelry, or in the previous pictures in my blog, were stunning.  I could hardly contain myself.  I went to call my mother, after forwarding her the email (probably against the rules, as I’m not supposed to make public the details of my design until they publish it, but I thought my mother could be… mum. heh.)  I’d forgotten that my mother and my two grandmothers had taken a trip that weekend TO Newport.

You can’t see it so clearly in any of the pictures used for Newport, but in Bondi, pictured at right, you can see some of the resort/hotels/condos that are typical of the Newport Beaches.  While I didn’t know for certain, I mentioned to my mother and grandmothers that I *thought* they had done the photoshoot in Newport.

I should have known that was dangerous.  Before I could say more, my grandmothers had declared that they were going to look and see if they could find the stretch of beach where the pictures were taken.

My poor mother knows not to protest when my grandmothers go off on a tear.

Me?  I could hardly contain my laughter.  Mostly because had I been with them, I would have been searching the beaches too.

Inspirations and Influences: Newport

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Newport is one of the few designs that didn’t start with a stitch pattern, which is how I mostly design.  I get an idea for a pattern, and then I pull the shape of the thing around it.  Instead, Newport was directly inspired by Mary Jane Hall’s Cap Sleeve Top.  My room mate at the time had just created one in Ty-Dy Cotton, and I responded by creating my own in Ty Dy Wool.  I liked it, but I began wondering what would happen if I…?

About the same time, I had been admiring the patterns in New England Knits, specifically the pattern on the cover, the Middlefield Pullover.  I loved the asymmetrical line going down the side, I loved the open neck that showed the collarbones.  But… I wanted something in crochet.  And I wasn’t sure I wanted something quite as warm, or quite as fitted.

You can see where this is going, right?

The clincher was I had just finished a knit-along in Classic Silk, and after I had managed to pick the right size (I had forgotten I had lost so much weight, and used old measurements… silly me), I had a ball knitting the top up.  It just simply flew off the needles.  I had some classic silk left over, so I worked up a swatch in that, and sent it in.

The rest?  Well that’s another story that you’ll have to wait for.

Newport Classic Elite #9213, Surf’s Up

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Newport

by Jennifer Crowley

Published in: Classic Elite #9213, Surf’s Up
Craft: Crochet
Category: Sweater → Pullover
Published: February 2013
Yarns suggested: Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk
Yarn weight: DK / 8 ply (11 wpi) 
Gauge: 16 stitches and 8 rows = 4 inches in Sc-blo with larger hook
Hook size: 3.5 mm (E), 4.0 mm (G)
Yardage: 945 – 1485 yards (864 – 1358 m)
Sizes available: S (M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL)
Finished Measurements: 36¼ (38¼, 40¾, 43¾, 45¼, 47¾)”
Yarn Requirements: 6934 Plum MC 6 (7, 7, 8, 9, 10) balls, 6910 Soft Violet 1 ball

Ravelry Link

This pattern is available for instant download for $6 through Ravelry
You can also buy it on the Classic Elite Website.
It is also part of the pattern booklet #9213, Surf’s Up, by Classic Elite Yarns.  You can buy it in print at your local yarn store.

Debating if this pattern is for you?  Got questions?  This is the place to ask them.  Over the next few days I’ll be talking about the design process for Newport, including a great story about when I first saw the shots of the sample on the model.

See the Pretty?

Snow Day? And stories about Newport

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Today was supposedly a snow day – not that you would know it from where I was standing.  Michael stayed home though, which meant I was super productive – by the end of the day my brain hurt something fierce.  Mostly, my head has been buried as I have several design due-dates, both personal and professional I’m trying to meet before the wedding.  It may very nearly kill me.

On a higher note, yesterday I went to The Yarn Spot for the first time in forever.  I was sick, and planning the wedding and… well, just run down.  It was SO GOOD to see people I hadn’t seen in forever.  I need to get there more.

Much to my surprise I found that Victoria had arranged for the most wonderful gesture for me – I was nearly beside myself.  There, on the table, was my sample (the one I crocheted for Classic Elite).  Victoria had made sure to be the first store in the trunk show when the pattern went out.  There I am, dopey happy grin on my face, copy of the pattern in my hand, and crochet top (which I thought I’d never see again – samples are not typically returned to the designer) in my hands.

I was beyond myself.

Anyway, this is the unofficial way of announcing that my crochet pattern with Classic Elite is now out.  The collection is called Surf’s Up #9213, and it’s available for purchase at your local yarn shop.  The pattern is called Newport.

I’ll talk more about it in the next few days.

For now?  I’ve got a dopey grin pasted on my face.  My LYS loves me.

I’ve always been terrible about keeping secrets

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So when I was little, the two people you didn’t tell a secret to in our family was my father and myself.  My father, because he’d keep your secret, but would drive you bonkers in the process.  (Imagine just before Christmas  and my father going to us kids, “I know what your mother got you.  You want to know?” Us kids: No.  “Are you sure?  It’s really cool.”  Us kids: we want it to be a surprise.  “You want me to give you a hint?”)  And there was me, who just simply couldn’t keep exciting news in me.  Not because I told either, just because my whole demeanor changes when I know something nobody else knows.

Well, I have to share this with you.

Today I got an e-mail from Classic Elite Yarns, specifically Susan Mills.  She had some questions for me about my design.  But attached to her e-mail was what simply has become the highlight of my day.  Some proof pictures of my Crochet Top that is going to be published this spring.

They’re simply beautiful.  Gorgeous in a way I can’t describe.  It’s such a clutch to the heart to see something you worked so hard on made more beautiful – Classic Elite Yarns really has a great team that does the photoshoots.

I can’t show you the pictures – not until they are published – but I’ll tell you it’s in a lovely rose and purple.  And it’s in Classic Silk.

Not the color, but it is the yarn.

And that’s all I can give you.

Stash Sunday

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Yarn Organization 228Todays’s Stash Sunday is brought to you by Classic Elite, in the form of Classic Silk.

I used most on the Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole.  I like how it came out.

I’m debating about using the rest for another thing (perhaps a baby item?) or just trading it with someone else.

I like how the yarn knits up… nice hand.  Because it is cotton, it grows a little during the day, but it isn’t too bad.  When I made the camisole though I did reinforce the neckline with elastic, so it doesn’t stretch too much.  Otherwise I would have cast off different than the pattern asked for, so it wouldn’t stretch as much.

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