Thursday, March 20, 2008

March Sweater Madness

As we head into Spring (well technically I don't think we actually had what could be classed as a winter) here in Fresno and I don my flip flops (which makes it hard to finish those Pomatomus socks-they're slow knitting) a crazy voice inside is persuading me to spend time working on sweaters....perhaps crazy or possibly intentionally organized....you see if I work on these now then they'll be all ready for selling when cooler weather is on the horizon again!
First up is the aforementioned design that I withdrew from publication and which I can now reveal here: (No Name Yet)!





YARN: Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk DK weight in "Ice Blue" (50% Tussah Silk/50% wool)
Took 1 cone (1120 yards) to knit ......great value, an amazing range of colours...love this yarn!

CONSTRUCTION: This is a bottom up raglan using an all over Shetland lace (Same as I used for the Unst Cap).
The shaping was created by changing needle size so as not to disturb the lace pattern to much. Definitely intended to be close fitting-negative ease means the lace pattern opens out when worn.

Some of the pictures have pretty intense colour issues going on - taken before I got my new camera- sorry about that!
I originally designed this for my sister (who now has it and loves it) and right now only have the pattern written up in rough. So I need to get some test knitting done (I'll be contacting you soon Christy), write up the pattern properly.....tech edit it and all that good stuff....shouldn't take too long right?.....I'm so impatient!

(removed the part about a sweater design I'm working on)

and....I decided to knit myself a "Slipped Hours"...(is it weird to knit one of your own patterns?)...I really loved how the original turned out but wasn't able to keep it....and I had the same yarn (but in this gorgeous burnt golden colour)...and I'm hoping by knitting another in a different size and colour I may inspire some of those folks on Ravelry who have this in their queue!



Then there's the other stack of Malabrigo that may arrive on my doorstep today destined to be a sweater (not sure which one yet) for a friend in Scotland......told you it was madness!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Sugar and Spice and I Need some Advice!

The sugar and spice refers of course to little girls.....and things girly that they enjoy...like these fairy wings ("Woodland Fairy Wings"- from Boho Baby Knits by Kat Coyle)....destined for my soon to be 4 year old niece in New Zealand.
These were a fun knit and actually didn't take too long even with my painfully slow crochet...took me an hour to do one row (well one of the ties was 300 sts).....
Crystal Palace Yarns Kid Merino:Strawberries and Limes/Tulips
Crystal Palace Yarns Deco Stardust: Gold


I had planned on having Maya model them for me but ...well...she isn't 4 anymore and her wingspan outstretches this pair of wings....instead here she is looking very grown up, sophisticated and art studenty, modeling my latest Bousta Beret (my 5th) which will be going to my Mum (if you live in a house in Shetland called Muckle Bousta then you've got to have a Bousta Beret one would think)!


BTW that's a lizard Maya is working on for her brother's birthday...and yes she now wants a beret too!

Edited: I decided to remove this section of text about my submission issue and instead to finish dealing with it "off blog" and to just put it down to experience and move on! I appreciate all the words of advice both on here and privately.