Everything old is New Year's

Happy 2010, everyone! I rang in the new year with an old friend, who was in town for a gig with his band (well, way OUT of town, as it happens, but here in Texas we just call any destination less than 300 miles away "yonder" and drive to it--carbon footprint, carbon schmootprint!). The resultant hangover notwithstanding, I put the finishing touches on the latest iteration of the Myrtle cardigan, got some pics of it at knitting on Saturday (including this absolutely gorgeous one taken by its recipient, above), and posted the pattern on Ravelry. It's been doing really well and I'm incredibly gratified by all the super-nice comments people have made--it's gotten my year off to a great start!

The funny thing is, although it seems to have struck some sort of sympathetic note with all those Ravelers, there's very little that's actually new about Myrtle. It rather slavishly follows my usual design formula:

1. Discover some yarn you love unreasoningly and realize that you HAVE to make something with it right NOW.

In Myrtle's case, this was a skein of Nantucket Red sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill that I picked up at our group's swap. I don't even wear this color, normally, but for some reason I grabbed a bunch of coral-y reds that night. Go figure!

2. Ditto for a stitch pattern, usually from a Barbara Walker or Nicky Epstein book.

For Myrtle, this was Dayflower Lace, a really classic motif that's fun to work and easy to memorize. I came across it in a pocket stitch dictionary one of my professors had right around the same time I got the yarn.

3. Combine with a certain amount of alcohol and think of a librarian-y name for it.

A friend's beloved cat, which was named Myrtle, died around the time I was working on this and it just felt right.

4. Pour into a cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves.

Someone remarked to me recently, "You seem to make a lot of cardigans." This is true. I also wear a lot of cardigans. They're simply the best kind of sweater. And 3/4 length sleeves are the best kind of sleeve, because long sleeves are too long and you have to keep pushing them up if you're cooking, or if it's too hot in your office (or in Texas in general, which it almost always is).

4.1. Realize you don't have enough yarn and scramble around until you find more.

I only did this for the very first Myrtle, though. For the next two, I had enough left over to make a pair of matching socks if I wanted to. The green stuff you see above was originally an, um, intense yellow that my good friend Stephanie over at Spinning Colors overdyed for me, and it is even more delicious in person.

5. Attach vintage buttons.

These are some of the ones I picked up in St. Louis in November. Another eye-candy shot here from its new owner shows them off nicely!


6. Write up, release, repeat!

For Myrtle, this turned out to be a particular challenge, because of the lace motif, and because there were a bunch of little things in the prototype I realized I could/should have done differently, but I eventually pulled it off--the different-sized one I worked up purely from my calculations turned out perfectly. I hope to add a few more sizes at the top of the range to this pattern at some point in the future, since I kind of pooped out at 2X/48" bust for this one. Stay tuned, curvy ladies!

I even noticed that I'd made this sweater, like my previous design Decimal, in an orange version and a green version. Spooky, huh? Resolution for 2010: Try something a little different! But still the same, since this seems to be working for me...

(The Myrtle pattern is $5; includes charted and written instructions for lace.)

Tiny clothes, translated

You've heard that phrase, I'm sure--"When you're holding hammer, everything looks like a nail?" Well, when you're holding a pair of knitting needles, everything starts looking like a sweater. I think Pedro Almodovar's best work to date is Volver, mostly because of Penelope Cruz's absolutely mouthwatering...cardigans. The Matrix could just as aptly have been called The Latex, but the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar was certainly rocking some edgy deconstructed knitwear looks in there, too. And when we were watching The Road, I kept thinking I'd have an easier time of things than most in a post-apocalyptic cannibalistic society, because I could knit garments that would keep a person warm even in a nuclear winter.


So of course, during Fantastic Mr. Fox, what really held my attention was the meticulous set dressing and the puppet-sized costumery. Particularly the cute reverse-stockinette, broken-rib, long-sleeved shawl-collar cardigan Felicity Fox is wearing over her pajamas when the Fox family is driven underground. Someone else on Ravelry was asking about it, and I'd obsessed about it pretty much continuously since I saw the movie (making little sketches and even swatching with some merino-silk DK I didn't have a project in mind for yet). I felt like the pattern was practically written in my mind already, so I decided it was worth a quick detour from my other projects to finish it and post for the (at least) one other person who just hadda, hadda have it. I'm getting the Fastest Knitter In Town to rip out a prototype for me so I don't get hopelessly behind on the stuff that's hanging fire in the meantime. Pics coming soon! In the meantime, enjoy imagining what this charming garment will look like on the human variety of fox...

And it sure is a good thing FKIT can help me out on this right now. I just found out a dear friend back in CA is pregnant with twins (hooray for her and her own fantastic Mr.!), so I've got a whole passel of baby knitting on the docket, too! Ysolda Teague's Otto is my go-to for baby gifts, and I happen to have enough Baby Cashmerino in the stash to make a pair of 'em. On the other hand, I haven't made a blanket for a while, so I'm thinking maybe it's time to use that Serenity pattern I downloaded ages ago...who knows? Maybe both! Because you know I have so much free time...

Happy endings

Now, I am not one of those people who hated the Sopranos finale for being all postmodern and unresolved, and my favorite movie ending of all time is the one in The Italian Job. (The 1969 Michael Caine original, of course. Watch it, you'll die laughing when the credits roll.) All the same, I'm starting to realize that if things have to end, I'd rather they end happily. Call me old-fashioned, but I love it when the guy gets the girl. (And when the girl gets the girl, too--I heart Ellen and Portia! No on Prop 8!)

I also love it when I finally find my glasses/car keys/laptop charger after hunting all over the house, or when I get to the end of my workout and the sauna at the gym is NOT out of order anymore. Or the other day when it was cold and raining, and I was bummed about having to take the bus home, but then I found a soaking wet dollar bill on the sidewalk by the bus bench. Even little tiny happy endings like that can make my entire day.

My latest happy ending is Beverly. That was the project I frogged all the way from the hem to past the underarms when I realized it was all too small, and wrong, and just...bad. So discouraging. I put it aside for a while, then took a deep breath and started over a couple of weeks ago. Today, I put the very last finishing touches on it--and there were a LOT of finishing touches, let me tell you! Beverly is equal parts simple (top-down, seamless construction, all stockinette) and super-fancy (details like satin ribbon facing on the fronts, tiny hook-and-eye closures, tulip-hem sleeves, and beaded embroidery and appliques). Ravelry details are here. Between the silky alpaca yarn and the vintage-y style, it's like an instant heirloom.

The only little teensy thing I don't love about how this turned out: I wish I'd used more contrasty beads for the embroidery. These are too matchy-matchy, and they get kinda lost in the trim. But that's not enough to ruin it for me--not even close. I'm officially ending the Beverly saga with "and she lived happily ever after"!

THE END.

Introducing Agatha!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I went the entire day without knitting. On the other hand, I think I was eating or drinking (or both) for 18 straight hours, so the day wasn't a total loss. I co-hosted a big group dinner with a friend--I provided the turkey, she provided the house. A good time was had by all, mostly because there were three kinds of pie and the turkey, thank goodness, did not come out all dry. My thank-you note to my co-hostess will come in the form of the sample sweater I made for the Agatha pattern...now ready for download from Knit Picks!

I've also created an addendum for working this design in lace weight yarn. That's what I used for the very first version of the Agatha design. I do love how it turned out, but, whew, that's a LOT of tiny little stitches on tiny little needles. I can't imagine doing that again, especially after having made two more with sport and light worsted weight yarns. Those seemed to fly off the needles after the lace weight version. BUT, if you have 1700-2400 yards of merino lace singles (or comparable yarn with which you can get 30 sts/48 rows to 4" in stockinette on US size 3 needles!) lying around, and you're a glutton for punishment, hey, have at it with my blessing! The addendum will be free for the first 100 Ravelers who download it, and then just $1.00 after that. (You will still need to get the original version from Knit Picks to get the instructions, charts, etc., but that won't break the bank.)

Doing the hard good thing

Vera - front view
Originally uploaded by snowdenbecker

First things first--Vera is finally ready for prime time! Like Adelaide, she has been tech-edited, and thereby much improved, by the wonderful Hadley (Ravelry: hadleygetscrafty) and some extremely patient test-knitters. So that wasn't too hard for me, and I hope it'll be good for you! This design was originally made for Rowan Calmer, a longtime favorite of mine, and between the chainette construction of the yarn and the ribbing, it's a great stretchy cardigan to wrap up in for autumn (which has FINALLY arrived here in Texas). It's a $3.00 PDF download from Ravelry; the pattern includes charted and written instructions for the leaf-and-vine insets, and it's worked bottom-up with seamless set-in sleeves--practically no finishing required.



Second things second: Today I had to frog out half a sleeve and the entire body of a sweater-in-progress. Everything was the right shape, but it was just too small--the fit wasn't right for the style, and I knew if I went ahead and finished it as an XXS, I'd be so frustrated at not getting it right. So, rip rip rip up past the armpits, wind wind wind the yarn back onto the ball, and start from square one. Maybe one and a half--the shoulders and upper back were fine, and I had a lovely swatch to start with...

This is only the latest in a string reminders about something my husband says: Anyone can do the easy thing. Most people can do the easy good thing, and everyone does the easy bad thing more often than they should...but sometimes you have to do the hard good thing. I've done a couple of projects now where doing the hard good thing--ripping out hours worth of work--became inevitable. I wouldn't say it's gotten easier, but I've never once regretted it, or felt it wasn't worth the extra effort in the end. And hey, any excuse to put off doing more work on my dissertation!

New pattern, new prices

I must be a grown-up now: My first professionally tech-edited pattern is up and ready for download from Ravelry. You can buy it right now for $3.00 with the button below, in fact! Adelaide took some extra effort, because the construction method is a little unusual (worked from the borders inward, and then up from the hem, with no seams). Having convinced myself I had the math right, I wanted to make absolutely sure.

Hadley (on Ravelry: hadleygetscrafty) came highly recommended, had reasonable rates, and was available when I contacted her, which might be the most important thing. She turned the job around quickly and did really terrific work. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship! Hopefully, you all will benefit from her efforts without ever being truly aware of it. You'll just think I'm an awesome pattern-writer who's naturally perfect with math stuff. Riiiiiiiight...

Some of my older patterns will get the professional tech-edit treatment in the near future; they'll also be updated to include suggestions and improvements from folks who have worked from them already (things like new charts and schematics, technique refinements, etc.). Rest assured that if you've bought a pattern from me in the past, revised versions will always be available to you AT NO CHARGE. The way I see it, I'm not giving anything away (after all, you already bought it), and I'd rather my best work was available to everyone--not just whoever wants to shell out twice for the same pattern.

Last but not least, after having a "back to school sale" in late August/early September, I've decided to drop all my pattern prices to $3.00--permanently. Go crazy!

Placid, and full disclosure

Here I am, starting the day off right: With my knitting, the New Yorker, and a cup of coffee on the deck of our cabin by the lake at the Sherwood Forest Motor Inn near Lake Placid, NY. There were ducks and herons, and we went canoeing every day while we were in town for a friend's wedding. (A certain quantity of maple-nut fudge was also consumed.) It was a timely break, falling as it did in between submission of my written qualifying exams and my oral defense, the last stage in the qualifying procedure for my PhD. I passed my orals last week, and am pleased and relieved to report that I have now advanced to candidacy. Yay, me!

So, that at least partially explains the long gap between posts. That, and the fact that it's STILL getting up into the 90s around here. Knitting must be done indoors, and even then anything bigger than a sock will give you a seriously sweaty lap. I have, however, been kind of cranking them out lately--I finished the Vera-scarf-inspired Adelaide in time for Amy Singer's visit to The Knitting Nest (OK, all except for two buttons. Which I finished day before yesterday--that still counts! Final FO pics coming soon for that.) I think that pattern's just about ready for posting now, too--we'll unveil it for the Hill Country Yarn Crawl. Maybe get a KAL going for it or something...

I also finished Myrtle 2.0, with improvements made to the all the little things that bugged me about the first one. I mirrored the lace panels on either side of the front and back, inserted more lattice panels where I had ad hoc stockinette sections before, simplified the shaping, and worked out a more reliable way to keep the stitch count right on the set-in sleeves, which was difficult originally because the stitch count for dayflower lace changes pretty much every row. I even worked up the chart for the lace pattern, so I'm about halfway done writing up the pattern for multiple sizes, too. Whew. But that's not all! I've also written up instructions for Agatha and charted THAT lace pattern, too (getting to be an expert at this here charting stuff). Which leads me to my most exciting update...

FULL DISCLOSURE: Agatha will quite likely be the next pattern I release--and the first one I release as a sponsored knitter, with yarn support from KnitPicks! I was approached by a representative of the company several weeks ago with this generous offer--and after I got over my initial conviction that they must have me confused with someone else, I was thrilled to accept. It's probably clear from my Ravelry project page that I'm already a KnitPicks fan (especially of the oh-so-soft Alpaca Cloud: there's the shawl I made for my MIL, and the Laverne sweater I just finished for my pal Lisa--plus a dozen or so hats for friends in the late, lamented, lovely Panache, which they don't sell anymore). So it's not like I'm compromising my values here. In fact, I think KP really helps me knit in harmony with my values--for instance, I chose Shine Sport as an alternative for Decimal because it was a way more affordable option than the Rowan Cotton Glace I worked the original in. Life's too short to knit with cruddy yarn, but when you're talking about shelling out $100 for materials just for size XS, you know you're going to be pricing a lot of people out across the entire size range. And they have organic cottons, too!

Not all my future patterns will feature KnitPicks yarns. I support my LYSes faithfully, and those who know me know I'm powerless to resist good fibers, whatever the source. When I do design with KnitPicks in mind, though, you can be sure of two things: 1) I truly think that it's the best yarn for the project, and 2) KnitPicks was generous enough to provide me, an independent designer, with the support I needed to make it. Thanks, KnitPicks!