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WIP Wednesday: So Close

(I know, I know, it’s Thursday. I got busy yesterday and didn’t manage to get a post up. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t!)

Most of last week was spent working on my Concord Vest re-knit for the Knit Picks Independent Designer program. Everything was going along swimmingly until I got to the last part of the back:

And ran out of yarn. *facepalm*

Usually underestimating yarn requirements isn’t a problem for me (if anything, I tend to go in the other direction), but somehow I screwed up on this one and need another fourth of a skein or so. Luckily Knit Picks has the same dyelot still in stock, so they’re graciously sending me out another skein.

So while that’s on hold, I’ve been working on crunching the final numbers for my secret designs, because I have to have them finished to be able to work on a design using… drumroll please…

..this gorgeous yarn, which arrived yesterday! This is highly coveted Madelinetosh DK Twist in the Bluestem Willow and Farmhouse White colorways. It’s going to be a new striped vest design, which I already have planned out. I’m participating in the Twist and Shout KAL in the Madelinetosh Lovers group on Ravelry, so I have to wait until Monday to cast on. Expect to hear more about this design after that!

Oh, and I realized I got some yummy yarn last month that I forgot to show off here. As a participant in the Madelinetosh Lovers Rav group’s Mad May festivities, I was eligible to win prizes, and I was delighted to win a random drawing for two skeins of Tosh MCN Fingering donated by a lovely group member:

The colorway is Fluoro Rose, and let me tell you, it is bright. Photographing it accurately took me a lot of tries! It’s not a color I would normally have chosen, but I really like it. It’s a blue-ish pink rather than a reddish one, which definitely is more my color. I’ll have to figure out some properly eye-searing accessories for this yarn. :-)

WIP Wednesday: Stuff I Can’t Show You Edition

I’ve been hard at work on a secret, very large, commissioned project. Since I can’t actually show you what it is, here’s a teaser pic:

As you can see, it’s got lovely squishy garter stitch and a texture pattern, and it’s in one of the nicest yarns I’ve had the pleasure to work with. I’m sad I have to wait to share it until the pattern is released!

To distract from the lack of actual WIP pictures, I’ll show you the other stuff I’ve been working on: re-blocking samples for TNNA this weekend. Our cross-country move last summer was not kind to my poor sweaters and accessories.

Hats blocking using my preferred balloon-in-a-mug method

My Hipster Stripe and Put Together samples drying on the blocking boards

Pile of blocked sweaters awaiting transport

I’m still nervous about the show, but as you can see, things are coming along nicely. My next post will probably be a TNNA wrap-up, so wish me luck!

WIP Wednesday: Blue and Green Edition

I’m still trucking along on my Bevin re-knit. The back and front are done and sewn together:

Actually, the sleeves are done too since that picture was taken. Now it’s sewing up time (urgh), which means there’s a lot of this action happening:

Sigh. So anyway, I’m taking breaks between sewing up sessions to knit other things. I decided to re-knit the sample for my Europos Scarf as well, using the gorgeous Malabrigo Rios in Vaa I showed off in my last post. It’s coming along nicely!

Seeing a color theme yet? If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you might have noticed I gravitate toward blues and greens (preferably both at once!) above all other colors. I kept trying to make myself branch out, but the truth is that the colors are flattering on me, photograph beautifully, and are fun to knit. I think maybe I should just embrace it.

And just as I was thinking this, the yarn arrived for a secret design for a yarn company.

The pic is intentionally hard to make out (secret, remember?), but it’s dark shades of–you guessed it–green and blue.

I’m in love. :-)

WIP Wednesday: Still Bevin, and Dandelion Clock

I’m still plugging away on my Bevin sweater. I’ve made real progress this week, though. Here’s last week’s shot:

And here’s this week’s!

As you can see, I’ve finished the front and just completed the twisted-stitch motif on the back. I’ve been feeling like it’s going really slowly, but hey–nothing like pictures to show you the objective view of things.

I’ve also been working on the pattern writing for the white hat I showed you on Friday.

I went back and forth on a name several times. Molly of deepbluerenegade suggested Dandelion, which I really liked, but a quick Ravelry search turned up pages and pages of patterns with this name. So in the interest of making the pattern easier to find, I decided to go with… drumroll please…

Dandelion Clock!

If you’re wondering what timekeeping has to do with anything, Dandelion Clock is actually a common name for these things, from a kids’ game where the number of puffs it takes to blow off the seeds is supposed to tell the time:

I think it works rather well. :-)

WIP Wednesday: Bevin Mark 2

Well, I guess Knitting & Crochet Blog Week must have taken a bit more out of me than I thought, because it’s been over a week since I last posted. Oops.

Anyway, during that time I’ve finished a prototype for a new hat design (more on that Friday!) and started this:

I’m knitting another sample for my own Bevin Pullover pattern, in the called-for Knit Picks CotLin yarn. The first sample was shipped back to me just as I moved across the country, and between a wonky forwarding order and the not-very-conscientious tenants who moved into our apartment after us, the sweater went missing.

I was never totally thrilled with the original pattern pictures anyway, so I’m not too upset. They were taken on a beach in the middle of summer, so I was trying my very best not to sweat profusely the whole time. This is my chance to knit a new version and do a new photoshoot. I’m just lucky Knit Picks got some nice ones, which they graciously allow me to use as I see fit:

Their model looks gorgeous in the white color, but I think the teal is better for me!

It’s pretty bizarre to be knitting from my own pattern. It’s been long enough since I wrote it that I don’t really remember much of the process, so it’s like reading something someone else put together! So far, so good. We’ll see if I manage to get through it without getting frustrated with myself…

WIP Wednesday: Grape Vest and Tosh-y Hat

The purple vest is almost ready for public viewing! We did a very successful photoshoot in our new backyard. It has this great wooden fence, which makes an excellent photo backdrop. Here’s a sneak peek from the photoshoot:

I’m done with the Excel sizing (XXS to 4X for this pattern), so the next steps are to lay out the pattern, finalize the chart, and proofread. Then I’ll put the pattern up for testing on Ravelry (likely in the Testing Pool group–if you think you might be interested in testing, drop me a line!).

I also need to think up a name for the pattern. Since it reminds me so much of grapes, I’m thinking maybe Concord Vest? Like these concord grapes:

And I’ve started another project! While looking through my Madelinetosh stash to get ideas for Madelinetosh May projects, I was struck with a colorwork hat idea. I tried to be good and wait for May so I could do the knitalong with everyone else, but I couldn’t stand waiting, so…

The main colorwork pattern is in Tosh Sock in French Gray and Norway Spruce. The lining (to be tacked up when the rest of the hat is complete) is Tosh too, but laceweight so it’ll tuck under without much bulk. I love how the design is going so far!

I don’t know what my deal is, though: usually I’m strictly a DK and up gal, but my last three projects have been on size 2-5 needles. Guess I’m branching out a little…

Tough Decisions

(This is one of a series of design posts. The earlier posts can be found here.)

Remember I said we had a failed photoshoot for the gray sweater? Well, I was going through the pictures we got and realized something. Something not so fun.

I think I want to rip out and re-knit 30-50% of the sweater.

This is a really tough decision, particularly because it has nothing to do with the fit of the sweater. The fit is perfect, actually. See below:

What’s not so perfect (and even easier to see in these pictures than in life!) is the really terrible pooling of the hand-dyed yarn at the waist and below. This is particularly irritating because the upper body was knit with the exact same skein, but the smaller width below the armholes didn’t agree with the length of the color changes. What’s worse, I was working on this sweater mostly in the evenings in front of the TV and didn’t notice until the whole body was finished.

It’s also easy to see that the second skein I used for the sleeves and front pocket, while appearing virtually identical in the skein, included lots of dark bits not found anywhere in the first skein.

To tell you the truth, this is the kind of thing I’d ignore completely if I were knitting the sweater only for myself. The fit is perfect! The sweater is snuggly and cozy, just like I wanted! Who cares about some color differences?

But since I’m planning to sell the pattern, I know I won’t be happy with anything less than great pictures. And that is going to require ripping, rewinding, and alternating skeins.

Sigh.

Another factor is the season. This sweater is definitely more of a fall/winter piece. By the time I get it re-knit (sport-weight yarn, remember), we’ll be well into the spring/summer knitting season. So I think this is going into the WIP bin for a few months. I’ll probably revisit it in July and get everything ready for test-knitting during August, which will put me on track for a fall 2013 pattern release.

But it’s not all doom and gloom on the pattern-writing front! I started a new vest design with more Rhinebeck yarn, these two beautiful skeins of Cephalopod Traveller:

Learning from my mistakes, I’ve been alternating skeins the whole way. I’m pretty sure I’ll run out of yarn before I reach the end, but I found a Raveler willing to sell me a skein of this colorway and it’s already on the way, so no worries there. The vest is really, really cute so far. A great cure for the meh of the gray sweater.

Sweater update (and some stash enhancement!)

(Sixth in my series of design posts. Earlier posts are here: Part Five, Part Four, Part Three, Part Two, Part One.)

I missed WIP Wednesday this week (probably just as well, since I keep showing the same sweater–I imagine people might get sick of it eventually!), but I thought I’d do a little progress report anyway.

The gray sweater is moving right along. I made a design decision when I reached the sleeves to knit them twice as long as I originally intended, so they can be cuffed or flipped over to cover the hands if it’s especially cold. I thought this worked well with the cozy vibe of the sweater.

Of course, that means I have to knit 2×2 ribbing on little needles for twice as long. Ugh. But since that picture was taken, I’ve knit the second sleeve up to the ribbing. I’m hoping to grit my teeth and power through the rest tonight.

But when that’s done, I’ll have to make another design decision–front pocket or no? Hmm.

In other news, I’ve gone kind of nutty with yarn buying this week. I swear I didn’t mean to! One of my favorite online retailers, Doodlebug Yarn, sent me an email announcing a sale on Imperial Yarn Columbia. I’ve been dying to knit a sweater out of this yarn since my husband used it to knit his first hat, so I snapped up a sweater’s worth:

I’m trying to branch out a little from my usual jewel tones, so I decided to order this delicious golden yellow.

And then I spotted a single skein of Mint Julep Sundara Yarn Merino Worsted in someone’s Ravelry destash. Yum.

And just to make me look really hedonistic, I realized I forgot to show off the skein of Malabrigo Rastita I bought a few weeks ago (my mom suggested a visit to a yarn store! Really, was I going to say no??):

It was a little hard to photograph the color correctly, but it’s a gorgeous blend of magentas and purples.

I better finish the gray sweater soon, because I’ve got a lot of yarn calling my name….

WIP Wednesday: Sweater-in-progress and Owl Puff

(This is fourth in my series of design process posts. Earlier posts are here: Part Three, Part Two, Part One.)

The sweater design is still rolling along! I just started the bottom ribbing on size US #3 needles, ugh. But I should be done with the body later tonight.

Last weekend, I was working merrily along on the neck increases below the sleeve split when I realized I’d made a pretty serious math error when I set the whole thing up. This is, unfortunately, as much a part of my design process as sketching or swatching. (That’s what I get for trying to crunch numbers while watching Supernatural episodes.)

So I had two choices at that point–rip out the entire yoke of the sweater, back to the point when I started the neck decreases–about an inch from the cast on–or rearrange the numbers so they worked with what I’d already done.

Guess which one I picked?

Turns out I like this neckline shape better anyway, though. I’m calling it a fortuitous accident. :-)

I also cast on a little mini-project yesterday:

It’s an in-progress Owl Puff (Ravelry link)! A friend of mine has helped me tremendously with the fiction-writing side of my life and loves owls, so she’s getting a little surprise in the mail as soon as I can get to the craft store to buy some felt and safety eyes.

And along those lines: I signed with a literary agent for my fiction yesterday! It means I’m that much closer to my goal of writing for a living. So it’s been a very good week all around. :-)

Same Sweater, Different Week

I’m still knitting away on my Tosh Merino Light sweater:

The placket part looks so weird before the buttonbands are added, doesn’t it? I have to keep reassuring myself that it’ll all look fine once the finishing is done.

Now that I’m past the part where the sweater is joined together, it’s smooth sailing (no more purl rows, yay!), so I should be able to make some good progress on it this week. I’m hoping to at least have the body and sleeves done by next Wednesday (the finishing would be great too, but I’m not sure if that’s a realistic goal).

I’m a few inches farther now than that picture–and I only just ran out of the first skein of TML! Knitting fingering weight on size #6 needles is definitely a good way to stretch out your yarn, that’s for sure. I’d be surprised if I used all of three skeins for the whole sweater, since I’m planning to do 3/4 sleeves anyway.

Back photo: