Katherine

After over a year from start to finish, my Katherine hat pattern has finally made it to my Ravelry pattern store. I bought the Malabrigo silky merino sometime last winter, and started dreaming up patterns for my favorite shade of yellow. My first attempt looked like this:

I didn’t really like the close of it, I wanted it to be flat. Thanks to an unfortunate blocking situation (who knew that silk expanded so much when wet?) I was given the opportunity to re-work the pattern and create the shape that I really wanted. This resulting hat, of which I have no picture, has been my go-to hat since it dried from blocking the second go round. Not only do I love the color, but I’m exceptionally pleased with how the pattern turned out. Never will you hear me say that I am a ‘plan ahead’ type of designer. I’m as ‘trial and error’ as they come, with much frustration along the way. I like to think that I learn more through this method than I would otherwise. But I have to say that I’m glad I’ve done math ahead of knitting for my cardigan, because I think I’ve re-knit it quite enough already.

Well, without further ado, I give you Katherine.

Slow and Steady

Monday night I spent doing math for my new cardigan pattern, pretty much until I went blind and didn’t know what addition was. I even did the math for multiple sizes at once. I kept going until I finished all of the math, and some general written instructions, for the back. Oh yes, I’m doing this in pieces. The benefit of this being not only that seams give  a garment structure, but that I can start it piece by piece. The back was cast on Tuesday, and I’ve spent all of my knitting time ignoring that I can’t have a cardigan with only the back math done. But perhaps that’s what this weekend is for.

I’m also being vicariously productive (is that a thing?) through my test knitters. I set up a test on Ravelry for my Katherine hat pattern. I was debating back and forth for a few days about doing a test for it, but ultimately decided that if I was going to expect people to pay real money for the pattern, the pattern better be fool-proof. It’s actually really exciting having testers, and I can’t wait to see their hats. Because it’s a group for free test knitting on Ravelry, there’s only so much that I can ask for. I’m having two people using 100% wool and two people using 50% silk 50% wool. I even got so lucky as to have someone use exactly what my pattern calls for, Malabrigo silky merino.

Despite all of this excitement, if I’m being completely honest, I think I’m having sock withdrawal. It’s been very comforting having a sock going these last three months, something that I can just relax with, something that’s not too big or complicated. Soon enough I’ll be casting on for the April socks, just as soon as I figure out what they’re going to be.

Happy Knitting!

I knit a lot, who knew?

I decided today that it was cold enough for me to wear my purple sweater, which needs a turtleneck underneath, making it a very cold weather only sweater. While I was getting dressed I realized that I really like the pattern I used for the sweater, or at least the overall idea. The sweater was kind of Kimono inspired, with a large waistband and draped sleeves that go a little past the elbow. It’s very comfortable and cute, but obviously there are a few things I would change about it. The biggest issue is the waistband, because while it’s very pretty and cinches nicely, I’m pretty sure it took nearly two skeins of yarn all by itself. And as much of a waste that is, it’s also just plain frustrating to be knitting and knitting and not get anywhere. I need to think of something that I would replace it with that is a different texture than reverse stockinette, but it’s overly complicated. There are a few other little details and shaping issues that I’d want to fix, but the waistband is my biggest complaint.

In addition to the purple sweater, which I made this past spring, I also made a sweater for my friend Rosy around the same time, and two winters ago I made a long cardigan (which I used completely the wrong yarn for), and I can’t forget my most recent – the sweater dress. But thinking about this made me feel a little better, because I’d been feeling bad about how infrequently I publish patterns, especially compared to someone like Glenna C. In reality, I designed a lot of things over the last two years that I just haven’t spent the time to write up and publish. Part of that issue is that I’m still not used to writing for multiple standard sizes. And there’s the fact that I don’t seem to plan out a pattern fully before I start, or even write it down as I’m knitting.

Going through Working Diamonds has been nice, just doing the calculations and seeing how things work out. I’ve nearly finished the front, which I need to measure to make sure it matches what it should be. And I’m a little worried that I’ll run out of yarn before I finish, so I might just have to order more yarn from KnitPicks, bummer. Also, taking pictures on the metro doesn’t work as well as it should.

Happy Knitting!

Who knew?

My sweater dress is coming along very nicely. I had decided that I was going to try raglan sleeves, and I’m nearly at the point where I can join the body and sleeves together. Because I have been, as always, designing as I go, I decided to work the sleeves simultaneously with the Magic Loop method. And lo and behold, it’s great! It might be a bit nicer with a longer circular, but it’s actually quite easy. And I have to say, being able to finish both sleeves at the same time seems ideal (unless, of course, I screw something up with the design and have to frog both back). I’m still not sure what I want for the neck, I’m stuck between a nice big comfy cowl neck, or a more slim-lined boat neck. Although the more I knit the more I realize how quickly I’m running out of yarn… So it might end up as a boat neck out of necessity. I am very excited for the finished product, although it’s still a few weeks/months away from being sweater dress weather. In the meantime though I can type up the pattern and perhaps submit it to KnitPicks IDP program, seeing as it’s knit out of KnitPicks cotton yarn. Which, by the was is super soft and smooshy, especially after running it through the washer and dryer, I used it for Rosy’s sweater too.

My Etsy shop is hobbling along, views dropped a bit when I stopped adding new items, which was expected. I’m still not sure what I can do to get sales, but I’ve talked to Ty a bit about creating a twitter account for the shop and maybe draw some people in that way. Social media marketing is definitely more of Ty’s thing than mine though.

The Gabriella test knit is pretty much finished. There are only a few details I’d like to fix in the pattern, getting rid of any needle number references, is one of the big ones. I’ve been realizing while doing the sleeves with the magic loop method that tons of knitters have to do socks this way, no second sock syndrome to worry about! And I’m sure that people use it for gloves and mittens too, so to have any reference to what number needle you should be on seems overly confusing. My plan is to switch it to say ‘beginning of back of hand and palm side’ etc, that way there’s no confusion, hopefully. Once the patterns completely finished, with some better pictures too I think, I’ll post it here and link it on Ravelry. Then I’ll have my test knitters link their FOs to it and poof, insta-pattern-awesomeness. And maybe some new people using it too, that’d be nice.

sleeping during the hurricane, and cuddling my sweater/protecting it from the cats

Aaand, the hat, which I might be naming Katherine (with K, not a C, it’s much more alluring)*, is finished and blocked and beautiful! Really, I’m quite surprised that it turned out so well, it even seemed like it needed a bit of expanding during blocking, and I might block it again and actually stretch it a bit while it dries, just so it’s a little more slouchy. I still need to do a proper swatch, my first one was pretty good, but not enough rows, which is really the most important part for this hat, seeing as the band is knit sideways. I still need to take pictures of it, but I’ll start formatting the pattern soon so I can start it’s test knit soon too.

All in all I feel good about my progress, both with designing and with Etsy. I feel like I’m really putting effort in, and I think for now, that’s what counts.

Happy knitting!

*brownie points to anyone who gets my reference (really brownies if you’re local!)

Onwards and Upwards

Hmm, not to tell you all how awesome I am, because of course you already know, but that post title seems to sum up what I wanted to mention a little better than I had intended. I’m moving onwards right now by choosing another pattern to clean up and have test knit, and I’m moving upwards cause it’s a hat! Get it? I moved from gloves to a hat? I amuse myself a little to easily I think. On the plus side though my hat is too pretty to worry about how easily I get amused.

The hat is the yellow slouchy hat that I made in February. Or rather, the hat I made, then blocked and ruined, then re-made with a way better pattern. It’s quite a simple design, especially for me. Not to say that it doesn’t have lots of things I love, like cables and yarn overs, but there isn’t really anything confusing about it. And if I want to make it even more knitter friendly I’ll do what I’ve been thinking about and make the band a simple ribbed thing, with a normal cast on, instead of the separate sideways tube band I did for mine. Or maybe I’ll be super cool and put both on my pattern, let the knitters decide what they want to do.

One of my bigger questions is what to knit it with. I’m hesitant to make it with the same yarn that I used, because of the minor blocking catastrophe. But the yarn that I used is gorgeous, and I don’t really have any other DK at home to use. And of course the two skeins of Malabrigo silky merino that I do have are two slightly different blues, and I’m not sure I want to add color change into the already busy hat. So that leaves me with either buying new yarn, or using sock yarn. Right now I’m leaning toward using the sock yarn, it involves less effort and doesn’t make me feel guilty.

I’m holding off on buying any yarn right now, after that last Looped trip I’d feel a little bad. Particularly because most of the yarn is still sitting there unknit, like the majority of yarn I buy. But it’s a weird conundrum, pointed out by my hat that I want to test knit, it’d be rather nice if I just happened to have enough DK of the same color lying around, but I feel guilty when there’s yarn sitting around with no particular future. Maybe at some point I’ll get over my guilt and my stash will expand and Ty will just have to deal.

The Gabriella test knit is going well so far. A bit of confusion has gone around, but mostly with the parts I expected to be confusing. Although I have a feeling that one of my test knitters hasn’t ever knit gloves or mittens before, because she seemed a little too confused with the rather generic thumb increases. But maybe I overestimate peoples ability to see the trends between patterns. Either way, my test knitters have kept in touch with me regularly, and I think I’ve cleared up most of their questions. So we’ll just have to wait and see where we are at the end. The thumb will be another tricky part I’m sure. And after it’s all over, I haven’t decided if I’d want to offer the pattern for free or if I’ll make it my first paid pattern. I’ll probably ask my test knitters what they think. It’d make me a little sad to make people pay, but it still surprises me how willing knitters are to pay for patterns.

Speaking of getting paid, my Etsy shop is up and running again! And by running I of course mean that items are posted there and occasionally someone looks at them, obviously I didn’t mean that there were actual purchases going on, that’d be silly. I’ve been thinking about getting labels for my Etsy items, there are some cute twill cotton ones on Etsy, but I have to think of a design and have Alex make it look pretty before I can buy them. Also, I might wait until I have a tad more interest in my shop before I go spending more money on it. Either way, it’s nice to be back and looking professional. I won’t be able to keep up this steady stream of adding new items for long, but I think it’s smarter than adding twenty things at once, and who knows, maybe I’ll have some spare time in the future and whip up some more of those fingerless gloves I love so much.

Happy knitting!

(pictures from the wonderful lemon basil shortbread cookies I made last night)