FO-tastic: Sotherton

Sotherton is a favorite of mine because it really shows what a knit can do for your figure. There are many lovely examples on Ravelry - here's a small sample of what beauties people have created...

lanismom looks lovely in hers - she used short rows to create a neckline that she preferred to the original boatneck.

AnnemarieErbel's version is so delicate, perhaps thanks to her color choice. Super-flattering.

Not only did ucagranduca make a lovely short-sleeved version, but she had a charming photo shoot complete with blooming roses.

How gorgeous is sewfancy in hers? And the addition of colorway-matching flowers takes these pictures to the next level.

In case you can't tell from her RavID, mandyandbingley is a serious Janeite. And her Sotherton is seriously flattering - love the extra-long sleeves.

All images from the projects' Ravelry pages. No copyright infringement intended - just want to share the love and appreciation!

In case you want to check out the rest of the fabulous Sothertons in existence:

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!

xoxo, Kathleen

P.S. Have a finished object (FO) you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments (just click on that little pencil right down there) or by sending me a message on Ravelry.

Interweave Sale

30% off patterns at the Interweave site! This means you can purchase downloads of the original patterns for $4.20 (regular price $6):

An Aran for Anne
An Aran for Frederick
Bixby
Sotherton

A Vest for Charles and Benwick are not yet available, but I'll let you know when they are.

The kids are off school for two (2!) weeks of Spring Break. Sadly, the weather is decidedly wintry. Work is slower than usual due to wrangling said children, but I keep plugging away :)

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

Today's Sweater: Sotherton

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from me and mine :)

I am grateful for my family and friends. For wool and inspiration. For Boreas not being as bad as predicted for me and my traveling brood. For you sharing in my adventures. 

Gobble gobble, and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo, Kathleen 

Jane Austen Knits patterns now on Ravelry!

I've been a busy bee since the kids went back to school, and now all three of my Jane Austen Knits patterns are available as individual downloads from Ravelry*, Etsy**, and Craftsy!

An Aran for Anne by Kathleen Dames

An Aran for Frederick by Kathleen Dames

Sotherton by Kathleen Dames

*20% off birthday sale on all patterns is still going on until the end of September 2013. Discount automatically applied on Ravelry.
**Use the code BIRTHDAY2013 to get 20% off on Etsy.

Video Tuesday: Sotherton

E.T.A. Sotherton is currently on sale for 30% off at Interweave's site, along with An Aran for Anne, An Aran for Frederick, and Bixby.

It's been a little emotional over here of late, and I haven't felt like posting. Plus, I'm working hard on two deadline projects. But today may be the last chilly day in New York, so I'm celebrating by wearing (and talking about) Sotherton in my latest video, which I have also uploaded to YouTube - we'll see if I can make this work.

I misspoke there about using tosh dk - the sample I'm wearing was worked in tosh vintage.

If you follow the link in the first paragraph, you will be able to browse all the Sothertons on Ravelry. It is a sweater that flatters many figures. If you haven't made one yet, why not? :) That link will also link you to the Interweave store where you can get your own copy of the pattern.

Out of curiosity, would people be interested in my self-publishing the pattern (and any other Jane Austen Knits patterns)? It would mean the patterns would be available from Ravelry/Etsy/Craftsy. I know some knitters like to keep all their patterns together in their Ravelry libraries. Comment or drop me an email at kathleendames at gmail dot com. Since this would take some extra work on my part, I only want to do it if it would be of some worth to people.

Thanks for watching/reading, and happy knitting!

P.S. My friend Mike thinks that I should start calling my knitting video blogs "klogs". Am I a klogger? ;)

Sotherton download available

You can now purchase Sotherton as an individual download from the Interweave store! The individual pattern is $6, or you can purchase the entire issue of Jane Austen Knits, Summer 2012 for $8.99 (on sale - normally $14.99).

Sotherton by Kathleen Dames

Sotherton
Jane Austen Knits, Summer 2012

I'll let you know when An Aran for Anne will be released as soon as I know.

Apologies for not doing any Falala posts this week - I've been working at Penelope's school a few days a week while one of the teachers is out, so my limited "focus" time has been even more limited. I'll try to catch up this weekend.

FO: Sotherton (P.S. Rhinebeck!)

Can't you see how excited I am?

Yay! I finished my Sotherton. Despite my bemused expression, I am really happy with this knit (self-portraiture with my D80's remote is, as yet, unperfected). There were a few modifications (I can't even knit my own pattern "straight"!), since I chose this beautiful tosh vintage, instead of the tosh dk called for in the pattern. My gauge was a little different, but since I was happy with the fabric I was creating I used the numbers for the 2nd size (I'm really a Medium/third size) for the body and ended up using the smallest size for the sleeves but knitting them much longer thanks to my lanky arms. And I raised the back of the neck about an inch by working a repeat of the twist pattern back-and-forth across the back stitches and then picking up a few stitches at each edge before working the collar ribbing.

Don't forget: There's an ongoing Sotherton KAL in my Ravelry group - join us!

And the back

Isn't that Byzantine colorway lovely? And aren't you proud of me for not knitting a blue sweater for once? After a skein disaster I had on an upcoming pattern, where one sleeve ended up looking more washed out than the rest of the sweater, I alternated skeins on the body of this one and chose the matching-est skeins for the sleeves. In case you're wondering, I ended up ripping out both sleeves on the other pattern, reknitting them alternating skeins, and then reknitting the yoke, also alternating skeins. That was a major bummer, but worth it. Hopefully, you'll see the final product of that agony next week. I'm sending the pattern off to my new tech editor today and hope to have good photos in the next few days, weather and "personnel" (Nick and the girls) permitting.

And there are three other patterns with the tech editor. I've been dying to share them, but I've decided that "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" and I love when I release a pattern on Ravelry once it's all ready to go. That way you don't have to wait to buy it, and I don't have to create additional documents like a pre-sell version with specs and swatch information. I like it all in one place, tidy and ready to knit. I hope you agree.

OK. Off to work on the other photographed pattern so I can get it to the tech editor ASAP. It's in Bartlett Yarns, who will be at Rhinebeck next weekend, so I'd love to release the pattern before I head upstate. But it's a cable doozy, so there are a lot of i's to dot and t's to cross, plus it's the first pattern I've written with a hood. You're going to love it!

Will I see you at New York Sheep & Wool on Sunday (10/21)? I'll be there just for the day and have to decide which sweater to wear, since there is an embarassment of riches this year :)

Sotherton KAL

Sotherton is proving to be a popular pattern. I am, of course, deeply gratified and very humbled. It is very exciting when other people think something you came up with is worthwhile.

Anyway, I've started a KAL over on my Ravelry group, so please join us! I will be starting my own near the end of August with some lovely tosh dk in Byzantine. Can't wait! But until then I am happy to answer questions as best I can, and there is already a nice little gang working their way through the pattern. Until the Summer 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits sells out, that's the only place to get the pattern. But once the issue is out of print, JAK will begin selling the individual patterns on Interweave's site.

And I'm hard at work on ideas for the 2013 call for entries!

Anne and Frederick are back home

A day earlier than expected a good-sized box arrived with An Aran for Anne and An Aran for Frederick, as well as my tear sheets and copy of Jane Austen Knits Summer 2012. Even better was a sweet note from Amy, the editor. The magazine, in case you haven't seen it, looks great! I can't wait to spend some quality time with the articles and patterns.

Of course today would have to reach the 70s with humidity over 80%, so I will not be modeling the prodigal sweaters any time soon, though I have been trying on the current project, which may be a Knitty submission, if I can finish it to my liking in time. It's been interrupted by some freelance graphic design work and a bunch of inaugural-presidential "stuff" for Penelope's preschool. And therein lies the problem, I think. I've had time to think about this knit, which leads me to think of making changes, which stops me in my tracks and makes me think more. But I think it's good; now to just get it done.

In case you were wondering, Sotherton does not get to come home. I'm not the biggest fan of knitting things more than once, especially garments, but I'm going to make an exception with this one. And I've already got the yarn:

Tosh Vintage in Byzantine

  

Doesn't that look yummy? I was tempted to just get more Filigree, as seen on that adorable model, since it was an awesome colorway to work with, but I thought it might be fun to try something new, something not blue (I know: who am I and what have I done with Kathleen?). So, Byzantine is a rich, spicy red, and the good people of Knitty City had enough of it (and, after The Best Day Ever, I was in need of some instant gratification!). I'd like to orchestrate a KAL for Sotherton, if anyone is interested (I know Annie*, my enabler, is - we texted back and forth about this yarn while I was in the shop). I'll post details in a week or so, and it probably wouldn't start until at least mid-June, though it might be better to wait until Fall. I'm used to having a pile of wool in my lap throughout the Summer, but not everyone is crazy like me. We'll see.

*We're going to enable each other into some SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) in a couple of weeks when we meet up in WEBS country for a little ladies-only adventure. No kids, no spouses - no offense. Just some girl time in the yarniest warehouse in the East.

"It's the best day ever!"

Many thanks to Spongebob Squarepants (and consequently, my children and in-laws, for acquainting me with the porous fellow and his song--there will be ear-worm-ish music at that link--you've been warned!) for today's post title. Actually, it was yesterday that was the best day ever for me, at least as far as notice on Ravelry goes. Check it:

SQUEE!!!! After Veera's lovely Color Affection, which is blowing up right now thanks to the Yarn Harlot's latest FO, my two sweaters were "hot right now" all day yesterday. As of this writing Sotherton has 540 hearts, and An Aran for Anne 144. That's in, like, one day. I've never had a day like that, and it feels so very, very nice.

To be honest I've been moping around a little this spring. After banging out two sweaters and three patterns in a month-and-a-half, I was pretty fried, mentally and physically (my hip is still kind of wonky from sitting in my "groove" on the couch knitting away for such long stretches--clearly I need to follow Rebecca Watson's advice in the Summer 2012 issue of Interweave Knits). That's on top of all the usual family wrangling and presiding over the PA at Penelope's preschool and my ex's father passing away and, just, life. Then I had to whip my existing patterns and Avast No. 1 into shape for print to do the trunk show in March, which reacquainted me with my Art Director muscles.

The dreaming-up and knitting-up portion of this job I'm creating for myself are the parts I love, and the wrestling with spreadsheets and numbers gets my inner geek going, but the sales and marketing parts are challenging for me, so I'm working on that. I purchased Tara Swiger's Market Yourself the other day (though I'm having a problem with the download that has yet to be resolved) and am exploring all the ways to get myself out there more (for a homebody like me, that's more challenging than you might think).

So, thank you so much to everyone who hearted and queued Sotherton and An Aran for Anne! And extra thanks to those of you who discovered one of my older patterns. This is the kind of marketing I like best :)

Sotherton--Jane Austen Knits, Summer 2012

I'm so excited to share my latest pattern! Sotherton is in the Summer 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits, now available as a digital edition (and arriving at your LYS by the beginning of June).

Sotherton is worked in-the-round from the bottom up with a round yoke and a Gothic grillwork-inspired twisted stitch pattern. Designed with negative ease and empire-style waist shaping, you can see how wildly flattering it is on the beautiful model! Madeline Tosh's tosh dk in Verdigris is the yarn, and it was lovely to use--the different shades of green with spikes of verdigris and golden sunlight is perfect.

4" of negative ease - don't fear negative ease!

Check out the Ravelry page (even if you are not a member of Ravelry, I believe you can access pattern pages). You can also pre-order your print copy here, if you can't wait for your LYS to get their copies.

All photographs of Sotherton are © Christa Tippmann, Jane Austen Knits.