Bixby blocking photos

There have been some questions about the photos and schematic in the magazine...

I'm a little bigger than the average model, so I didn't photograph myself in Bixby before it went off to Knitscene, but here are some blocking shots (NOT pretty - sorry!), which may convey a better idea of the neckline situation/structure. The schematic is trying to convey how the pieces appear before seaming, but it is a little confusing, so hopefully these shots will clarify a little.

I would wear it with at least one of the zippers undone a bit for a sort of punky, Flashdance-esque vibe.

Bixby--Knitscene, Fall 2012

© Interweave

I have a new pattern in the Fall 2012 issue of Knitscene: Bixby Pullover. This is a dolman-sleeved pullover with massive zipper detail. The yarn used is Takhi Yarns Donegal Tweed, which is a delightfully rustic wool in Aran weight, which makes this a quick knit. And the zipper adds a sleek toughness to the mix. There are some short rows on the front sleeves to drop the neckline, as well as on the back of the yoke to raise the back of the neck.

© Interweave

 For more information, check out the Knitting Daily blog and Ravelry. And if you're the kind of knitter who prefers buying individual patterns to entire issues (but have you checked out the issue? lots of pretty stuff here), be sure to follow the blog - I'll announce when the pattern is available individually.

© Interweave

Thought you might enjoy seeing one of my sketches from the submission. Clearly, I am not a fashion illustrator, but this will give you an idea of my idea. I was going for a bit of a punky, Flashdance vibe. Try unzipping one side and letting it slip off your shoulder!

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July!


This shot from our trip to Ellis Island yesterday with Nick's parents. His mom came through there as a little girl, disappointingly for us we couldn't look her up in the system there, since it cuts off before her arrival. Still, it was so neat to see the place with her and hear what she remembered. And the boat ride was refreshing on a hot day. See the Flickr set here.

July??? How did that happen? WEBS recap

It seems that even before the kids got out of school, I got busy. And the blog has been sadly neglected.  But I have been busy in a fiber-y way.

My dear friend Annie and I met up at WEBS (she drove out from Boston, I up from NYC) the second weekend of June for some much-needed Mommy-alone time. Annie had a list, while I just wandered and pondered. But I found the perfect yarn for a women's Deckhand: Cascade Yarns' Ultra Pima, which is lovely and silky and a pleasure to knit. Annie bought a pile in a perfect red (Wine, I think, though it's really just ... perfect red) and some Natural for her stripes, while I went classic with Natural for the main color and Indigo Blue for the stripes and edgings. Annie is going to be my test knitter, if I ever get going on the pattern. I swatched and wasn't sure about my chosen needle size, but the yarn blooms a little without losing its silkiness, so US6 may be just right. The children's Deckhand was worked flat and seamed with drop shoulders, but we've been talking in-the-round with raglans for the grown-ups. Something a little more refined.

Annie also got her yarn for Sotherton. I got mine a while back at Knitty City. And I think we'll do a little KAL once the weather cools off. Much as I lovelovelove Madeline Tosh yarn, I don't want a sweater's worth of it on my lap in July or August. So, I'll announce that here on the blog and on the Kathleen Dames Ravelry group, probably some time after the *lympics. (Don't want to get in trouble with the USOC, you know.)

As you can see, we were very excited to get to WEBS!

My other WEBS purchase was a skein of tosh prairie (I know lots of knitters don't like single-ply yarns, but I really like this) in Plaid Blanket, which became my travel knitting when we went to see the folks in Door County. I'm inordinately fond of lace projects for traveling: one small/big skein (you know, lots of yardage but compact) and one needle. I made up a shawl pattern that may or may not be finished now. I have to block it before I know for sure, but it was lovely to knit. And the colors were perfect for the woods of Wisconsin: forest green, the gold of fallen pine needles, grey stones, flashes of midnight sky, and that bright green of new cedar boughs.

Prairie and Ultra Pima

Our haul!

There may also be three sweaters in various states of close-to-done-ness awaiting my ever-wandering attention. One needs a zipper re-sewn in (is there anything less fun than sewing a zipper in a sweater, again?), another needs the yoke reknit since one skein of yarn ended up being lighter than the other three (see, even "experienced" knitters mess up and should know better than to not alternate skeins in mildly variegated yarn), and the third needs ... something ... again (sigh).

Matryoshkas and Gnomes and Folklore Crafts (Oh, my!)

Folklore Crafts: Matryoshka

Folklore Crafts: Garden Gnomes

Not so long ago, the cool people at Fabulous Publishing approached me about including Matryoshka Japonais in their Folklore Crafts: Matryoshka book. And now they've published it along with another Folklore Crafts book on Garden Gnomes. Each book contains thirteen patterns in a variety of crafts (knitting, crochet, embroidery, stamping, needle-felting, printables, etc.). There are even costumes to make! Both books are available from MagCloud in printed and digital form. Check them out!

Matryoshka costume

Gnome Cupcake Toppers

Matryoshka Japonais

A couple of months ago I knitted up a new set of Matryoshka Japonais, so Isobel could finally have her own. Next week (when I get past some deadlines - ack) I'll assemble them here on the blog so you can see a little bit of one of these Folklore Crafts in action.

If you would like a chance to win your own Folklore Crafts book, go "like" FabPub's Facebook page and leave me a comment here. I'll randomly select a winner for each book, and those cool people at FabPub will send it to you!

Blog Tour

5/28    Margot Potter    www.margotpotter.com

5/29    Joanna Montrichard    thatthingimade.blogspot.com

5/30    Vikram Goyal    craftgossip.com
5/31    Kathleen Dames    kathleendames.blogspot.com
6/1      Samantha Townsend    geekysweetheart.blogspot.co.uk
6/2      Redd Hynes    damenamedredd.com
6/3      Renee Lavinsky    myuglykitty.com
6/4      Val Hebert    valsartstudio.blogspot.com
6/5      Jessica Blaszczak    ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com
6/6      Shayne Rioux    transcraftinental.com
6/7      Jean Yates    prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com
6/8      Leesandra Diaz    sweetspotcards.blogspot.com
6/9      Jo Stafferton    feelingstitchy.com
6/10    Lori Anderson    prettythingsblog.com
6/11    Paul Hynes    g33kopolis.com
6/12    Alexis Lebrow-Wolf    whatthecraft.com
6/13    Anna Gailey    weeklyenthusiast.wordpress.com
6/14    Chrissy Leiberan-Titus    museofthemorning.com
6/15    Susan Beal    westcoastcrafty.com
6/16    Tonya Simmons    thetroublewithcrafting.blogspot.com
6/17    Sherezada Windham-Kent    handeyemouth.blogspot.com
6/18    Shayne Rioux    geekcrafts.com

An Aran for Anne - errata

An eagle-eyed knitter (who I just deduced lives in the area - how cool!) noticed two errors in the the sleeve chart for An Aran for Anne: the fifth symbol down should read, “sl 1 st onto cn and hold in front, p1, k1 from cn”, and the seventh should read, “sl 1 st onto cn and hold in front, p2, k1 from cn.” The symbols are correct and are implemented correctly in the chart, but their descriptions in the legend are incorrect. I've bumped her comment on the Ravelry pattern page and let my editor know, so the errata should go up on Interweave's site soon.


I'm sorry for the error and hope it doesn't inconvenience anyone too much.

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.