blog previous July 2008   July June May April March February January 2007 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2006 December November October September August July June Archive Fin. July 20th, 2008 The Soft Linen Slip Smock Tee is finished. I'm really REALLY happy with how it came out. It's so much like what I imagined it's not even funny. I need to take another good look at the pattern and photograph it without my pajama pants, then the pattern will be available for sale. Ravel it. I borrowed a technique I learned from Joëlle Meier Rioux for shaping the sleeve caps while working them at the same time as the body. It's something she used in her Ariosa Garter Drop Stitch pullover in the Fall 08 CEY line. Such an engenious technique. I think it really worked well in this sweater too. OH, and speaking of CEY's Fall 08 line. The preview is live on their website! I'm hoping to get my gallery updated soon with the projects that I worked on for that line. Check back soon. Toe Up July 14th, 2008 I received a query the other day asking if my River of Life sock pattern was written from the toe up or the top down. I responded saying it was top down, but then began thinking about toe up socks and what it's like. Then I completely forgot about it… until yesterday. I was sitting on my floor doing who knows what when I randomly got the urge to take a look at my issues of Interweave Knits on the bottom shelf of my book case. I wasn't looking for anything particular, just looking to see if anything catches me. I stopped at the Summer 2007 issue, when I found information about how to knit socks from the Toe Up, written by Ann Budd. I pulled out my Pagewood farm yarn that was (at the time) knit into a partial knee-high sock that pooled like crazy. I frogged it, then began following the tutorial for toe-up socks. When I finished the toe, I searched through some stitch pattern books for something I thought might highlight the beautiful colors in the handpainted yarn, then began knitting the foot. Before I knew it the sock was 7" from the tip of the toe, and I was ready to begin the heel. It just kept going and going. What I'm loving about toe-up sock knitting is that I can stop whenever I feel like it! So, I don't really know if these are going to be ankle socks or knee socks. I guess we'll all find out when the time comes. Ahhh. July 13th, 2008 Yesterday I was finishing up the smocking (right top photo). Then today I'm almost finished with the back and back sleeves (right middle photo). This is working up SO quickly. Probablly mostly because the stitch patterns are relatively mindless and I can do them while doing almost anything else. I even considered bringing it on a hike with me yesterday, but decided that enjoying the natural surroundings would probably be more helpful—mentally. My friends and I found this pretty tall hill within walking distance from our apartment. We've been hanging out there the past few days. Hiking up there, experiencing the fresh air and eating wild blueberries is so invigorating. I was amazed that we could see the ocean from up there. We live pretty far from it, and it's usually about an hour drive to get to any beach. Note to self: Make sure you have all the yarn before beginning! July 8th, 2008 The two balls of yellow that I began knitting with were from the original shipment of sample yarn the CEY had received for Soft Linen. There is usually a good supply of sample yarn, so I didn’t worry about it being in stock. I just went to check, and there is every color except the yellow and green. At first I questioned if I should change the colors, but I know that I really don’t want to rip out what I have finished and knit it for a third time. I knew that it would just never be done if I did that. So I checked the regular stock, and the yellow was there, but no green. :shrug: I grabbed the yellow and started wandering back to my office figuring I may have to use the darker green and photoshop the garter band at the lower portion of the sweater… but then… as I was saying good morning to our shipper, out of the corner of my eye I saw more boxes of soft linen. The first one I opened up had the green! Yay! Now I’m only concerned about the dye lot of the yellow possibly not matching the sample yarn yellow. I guess I’ll just have to deal with it. I’ve learned this lesson. A new sweater project July 5th, 2008 Sometime a few weeks ago I had the inspiration to swatch some designs. One of which had its pattern born this weekend. Lately I've been envisioning designs without seams, or with very minimal seaming, and this design is representative of that. It's knit in the round to the underarms, where the front and back are divided and there are stitches cast on for the short sleeves, then it is worked to the shoulders; the front and back rejoin at the shoulders with a three-needle bind off. The only seam in this design is at the sleeve cast ons. I couldn't figure out a simple way to avoid there being a seam there. I s'pose some sort of provisional cast-on may have worked, but I'm pretty satisfied with this minimal amount of seaming, so I'll leave it as-is for now. At least the sides and shoulders don't need to be seamed too! Fortunately I had some of this yarn (CEY's Soft Linen) on hand, leftover from swatching, that I could use to begin knitting this beauty. I felt as though this is a design I should knit myself since I'm not 100% sure of how the bust shaping is going to work out. I'm using darts to shape the skirt to just under the bust, then there are lots of sts increased for the front bust, and just a few increased for the back, the pattern changes to the smocked pattern at the same time, which I hope will hide the increases. When the smocked pattern is finished just above the bust, the increased sts are decreased so the front and back again have the same number of stitches for the sleeves and upper body. As I said, I'm not positive it will work out as I'm hoping, but it's working up quickly, so we should know pretty soon (hopefully). (… daydreams about not having a full time job (and part time), so I could spend more time knitting…) Ravel it. River of Life Sock Pattern—Now available! July 4th, 2008 Phew! With the majority of the sock book tech editing out of the way I had a little time this morning to work on finishing up this pattern. My boyfriend was nice enough to help me photograph them too! The shape of my feet are a little funnier than I would have expected... but at least they show the socks. The color I've used in the model socks, unfortunately will not be available. There will be a lighter blue in the "Kettle Dyes" Alpaca Sox line coming out soon. Please feel free to use whatever color and yarn you like :) Pattern here. Ravel it. Patterns to Buy River of Life Socks Crochet Motif Cardigan Beatrice Ribbed Tie Coat Stormy Diamond Eyelet Cropped Vest Work's in Progress Soft Linen Tee Quilted Toe Up Socks Mountain (Knee) Socks Philosopher's Girl PO Crocheted Raglan Rasta Hat Master Knitting Striped Hat Forbidden Lace Cardigan Master Knitting Program - Level 1 Hauk Smiley Face Tire Cover