When being a knitting designer has nothing to do with knitting
Sometimes I wish that designing knitting patterns took more knitting and less, well, everything else.
You see that chart up there? I'm irrationally proud of it because I've spent the last three days working on it. Making this chart involved teaching myself a new software program (Inkscape, which if you're not familiar, is a freeware version of vector programs like Illustrator) and then staring at my monitor while copying each little square, referring back to my hand-drawn chart and the actual knitted mitten the whole time.
Because I know that most people will be printing out the charts in my patterns so that they can carry them around (who wants to knit while staring at a computer monitor? Not many people), I particularly care about how the chart looks printed out, which addes even more steps to the process. This printout you see above is the 4th so far, and I'm not done yet.
But I am at the point where I get to follow my instructions to knit the second mitt. And that's freakin' exciting, because it means I'm going to knit for the next few hours instead of dragging squares across the screen!
I'm just about to cast on for the mate to this mitten:
Which you might notice isn't the one I started out with, the pink one I've shown here and on Ravelry before . . . well I managed to lose the pink ball of yarn somewhere in this messy apartment, so I had to knit another set! The pattern photos will show both the pink single mitt and the pair of green mittens.
That, and individual charts for each size. I'm writing the pattern in three sizes, and decided to do separate charts for each size due to the way the thumbs are shaped (and also because I hate reading charts that say "start here for size small" or whatever, it's so confusing!). What's great about doing separate charts is that the knitter can just print out the one she needs and not waste ink printing stuff she isn't going to use! I'm pretty psyched about that.
But honestly, right now, I'm really hoping that the second and third charts will take way less time than the first one is taking . . .
Another Eldridge
Last night I finished knitting this second Eldridge hat and washed it, leaving it to block dry overnight. This morning, it was all ready for its debut!
For this second hat, I used Malabrigo Worsted instead of the Madelinetosh, and the result is a squishier, drapier hat. The Vintage has more body and therefore flops down a bit less than the Malabrigo, but the difference doesn't matter much for the design.
The color I used is Rattan (color number 504), which is a really pretty straw yellow with almost no color variation. I wanted to see the hat in an almost-solid color so that the lace would really shine through, which I think it really does in this one!
I also decided to knit this one in a size Large instead of the Medium I used for the original sample. The brim on the original was just a smidge tight on my huge head (my head is 22.5" around!), so the Large was probably the right size for me anyway. I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of both the hats!! Oh and it took way less than one skein of Malabrigo to finish this one, so you can almost certainly get three hats out of two skeins . . . which is an awesome deal.
Here's a closeup of the lace pattern:
And here's how it looked before blocking out the lace to open it up:
Big difference, huh?
Another pattern release! The Eldridge Slouchy Lace Hat in Madelinetosh
I was in Knitty City recently and fell in love with a skein of Madelinetosh ToshVintage in the color Celadon. It told me immediately that it wanted to be a slouchy lace hat (what? don't tell me that yarn doesn't talk to you this way!) and before I knew it, I had sketched, swatched, and finished this design!
I've decided to name it Eldridge, after one of the streets in my neighborhood here in NYC, and today I'm releasing it into the wild. I hope you like it!
Eldridge is a slouchy but not-too-slouchy hat in an allover lace pattern that's simple to knit. Knits, purls, decreases, and yarn overs in a simple 8-row repeat is all it takes. If you've never done lace before, this could be a great place to start!
Here's a detail shot of the lace texture:
I love how it accents the gorgeous, subtle colors in Tosh Vintage. There are so many stunning colorways in this yarn, I think I may have to make myself multiple hats in different colors! And just yesterday The Loopy Ewe got like 70 colors of this yarn in stock, so it's pretty much decided that I'm buying some more. I'm just trying to limit myself to at most 5 before I click that checkout button . . .
But back to the pattern! It's written in 3 sizes and is now available for immediate download for $4.00. You'll need size 7 needles, both 16" circulars and double-pointed needles, and one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage.
Oh and if you've bought the Chiagu Collection 2012, you've already received your copy! Check your email for the update from Ravelry. =)
I've got lots more in store for you in the near future, so stay tuned! It seems like I've fallen hard for Madelintosh recently . . .
Love, in knitted form
I think I'd known Dave for about a month when he first asked me to knit him a sweater. He has a thing for silly sweaters and as we talked about what kind of sweater he wanted, we came up with the idea to knit all our pets into it. How's that for silly? In fact, he floated the idea that he get a sweater covered in dachshunds and that Arnold should get one covered in Daves. I may still knit that sweater for Arnold actually . . .
Because I couldn't find a dachshund chart to work from, I decided to chart out the animals and work up a hat first, so that I could make sure the charts worked out. What you see above is the hat I knit for Dave while I spent a week on a cruise ship with my parents and sister, missing him terribly. I think it came out awesome! Although my color choices left a lot to be desired, and greatly influenced the work on the sweater.
A few days ago, I got to the colored yoke of his sweater and stopped to take a picture:
What you see up there is a row of snakes (he has a pet snaked named Ladysnake) and a row of XO's. Here's a closeup:
I'm afraid the snakes don't look all that much like snakes (in fact, I keep seeing sperm when I look at this picture!), but I'm going to embroider eyes onto a few of them to make it more obvious what they are.
I decided to make the sweater out of St Denis Nordique because the yarn is so lovely to work with and comes in so many great colors. Because we were planning such a detailed yoke design, I knew I needed to work in fine-gauge yarn, and Nordique is perfect in that way too. The only problem? Knitting a sweater for a fairly large man at 6 stitches to the inch.
The sweater is 51" around.
It's also 29" long.
The cast-on edge? 304 stitches.
After joining the sleeves? 429 stitches.
Of colorwork.
For 11".
This is an opus of a sweater, let me tell you!
I'm working on the neckline right now and after that there's only some ribbing and the finishing left. I'm aiming to finish by this weekend.
I did the math, and in all, the sweater will have about 75,000 stitches in it.
Like I said on the Ravelry project page: I must really love this man. =)
First Wholesale Customer!
I am so excited that I'm nearly bursting out of my skin! As of today Chiagu has its first wholesale customer: Knitty City!
Pearl, the owner, has decided to carry my kits, and today I delivered her first shipment. If you're looking for other colors of my Loreley Scarf, you can now find three exclusive colorways at her store!
Selling wholesale kits is only a tiny fraction of cool things I have planned for Chiagu for 2012 . . . stay tuned! Oh and if you know a store owner who might want to carry Koigu kits like Loreley or iKnit, please have them contact me, thanks!
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PS - Don't forget to enter my contest, there's only a day left! I've gotten fewer than 100 entries so your chances of winning are pretty awesome!!
