Swatch-a-thon

 It's been a while again.

A design I proposed was accepted by CastOn magazine and will be published in a few weeks. It took me ALL THE TIME to knit and write the pattern. When I turned it in I was a bit cross-eyed with the effort but I'm glad I did it.

I was not going to propose another design as my husband and I planned to take a holiday and there is a wedding to attend in September. Then, he fell out of the attic and broke his tibia. So, no holiday, but maybe we will still do the wedding. 

So, I put in a proposal for another sweater design. I hope they like it. 

In any event, after I turned in the pattern and sample I did not feel like going back to any of my in-progress projects. Actually, I did not feel like knitting at all for a few days. For me, that is really weird. Then, suddenly, I needed to swatch. I was looking for a diamond pattern that would be suitable for beaded embellishment. I ended up down a quilting/floating stitch rabbit hole. Then, there was one very special discovery - the kind of pattern I live for. 

Let's see what what I did, and what I think about it

This first one is Quilted Lattice from Barbara Walkers first Treasury. My opinion is that it looks better in the photograph than in person. It is really easy, and I could place beads on the floats, but it could weigh them down. That could be good to. It just wasn't what I was looking for exactly.

The very next pattern in the book is the English Diamond Quilting pattern. It is closer to what I was looking for but I don't see an easy way to mount beads. It uses two yo stitches to add yarn for the elongated stitches. It seemed a bit confusing and the stitches seemed sloppy. I could try again with some intentional adjustments to the tension, but I saw how this one works and was ready to move on.

The next turned into a multi-swatch. Starting on the bottom is a modification of the quilted lattice. Instead of offsetting the pattern I just worked the first two rows. It's OK, but I was looking for something a bit more dense. I should probably work it again with beads on the floats and in sport weight yarn. It could make a nice beaded border for a tank or shell. 

Next up is Cluster Quilting from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury.  I do love a two tone pattern and this one has potential. It is worked differently from the English Diamond by using a purl wrapping twice instead of a yo to make the elongated stitches. It also uses a double wrap to sort of hide the intersection of the diamonds. It looks neater in the Walker book. Perhaps, another go, intentionally tightening up those wraps would produce a neater result. That wrapped row is five stitches of the foreground pattern so that one only slips three background stitches. It's pretty clever, as the first and fifth stitches are sort of covered up by the diagonal elongated stitch.

Next up is Cornflower pattern again from the Second Treasury. This one surprised me. I thought it would be too cute, but I actually like it a lot. I can see combining it with some other leaf type motifs for a flower themed texture piece. The little buds could be  arranged to play in a more vertical panel than the spread-out horizontal as written. I could mount a bead on that top center elongated stitch, but that may not add to the pattern effect. It is a bit fussy with a lot of slipping back and forth, but I think it is worth it. 

The top one blew me away. It is also in the Second Treasury and is called Two-tone Lattice. It is effectively a brick type slip stitch with one WS knit row. The RS purl bumps from that row make the diagonal lattice. This is what I love about some knitting patterns. It produces an attractive and complex effect with a very simple and easy to remember pattern.

So, we come to the end of my sharing. Send some comments this way if anyone is reading.

Rayon/Cotton Woes

One of the reasons why I tend to be a monogamous knitter is that I often can't figure out what I was thinking if I put a project aside for a while. How long is a while? Well, right now, it appears to be a few months. That is what happened to this tank I started in September of last year. It was put aside because our move out of Houston went into high activity in November. When life settled down some, I had other knitting priorities, like finishing the TKGA program. 

This tank is a continuation of my many year stash down. I've had this yarn in stash since the early 2000's. It is labeled DK, but is really more a worsted gauge. It is shiny, but also really heavy. I've knit it into a few things, then ripped it out as the multicolor pools and I found it cranky in a lot of applications. It is too heavy for a slip stitch top and I don't have enough for a jacket. What to do? 

Oh, Entrelac. Finally, it is beautiful in entrelac. 

Now, what to make? A sleeveless top because I live in Texas and it gets hot here. Top down, as I am unsure how long I can make the thing due to the many partial skeins and lost yarn from past failures.

All was going well, but then it was put aside, took many trips in the car, and for some reason just felt too complicated to pick up and figure out. Some stitches came off the needle, and did not get placed back right, and half the progress had to be ripped, then I spent two days figuring out how I needed to set up the triangles to get the armhole closed up. Then, magically, all was good until my wrist became sore. 

I've put it aside for two weeks, and am working with some wool. My wrist feels better now, so I should pick it up again. Now, I wonder how long and how often should I work on it to prevent my wrist from getting sore again?

I have enough yarn for one more row of the multi-colored yarn after the current row of blue. I have some darker navy that will do for all the edging. A new friend suggested that I work it in an open work pattern if I'm concerned about the length. I think that is a great idea.

Where did Swatchy Go?

 It's been a year since my last blog post. A lot has happened.

Good news, first - I passed the TKGA Master Knitter program. I will not say with flying colors, but passing is passing so I now can claim to be a Master Knitter.

Second, I did meet my personal goal of 2021 to get two patterns published. One was a hat for Cast On Magazine and the other was a toddler top published by I Like Knitting, and online magazine. 

Both were star stitch. I was going to start a new star stitch project and my hands went BLEAH. I was done with my new favorite stitch after blathering on about how great it was. 

Other stuff happened as well and now I live in a new place. So there was a lot of packing, painting, house hunting, house marketing, loan qualifying, and form signing. We are mostly settled, just waiting to have some flooring finished. That is the not so good news - for too many reasons the crew hired to paint and install flooring are late. Very late. The guy said it would take three weeks and we are now well past the three month point. Thus, all crafting materials remain in the cardboard boxes they were placed in last October. 

I finished some stuff and started some other stuff. Here are some photos. 

The TKGA L3 sweater

A brioche baby sweater from some stash.

A brioche me sweater from some other stash. 

I've got a new project brewing, but more on that later. 

Obsessed with the Star Stitch

 Well, it is almost February. 

The last few years, I have been binge watching streaming series or binge listening to audio books while I knit.  Since the pandemic, I've spent more time just knitting. My husband is working in our home office, so perhaps I'm embarrassed about how much media I consume. In any event, when I'm knitting without media my mind wanders and I find I'm obsessing about some knitting ideas more than others.

It is a struggle to keep up progress on my TKGA project. However, finishing all the bits for submission this year is a top priority. I've set the armhole steeks, and after the next pink band I'll set the neck. I decided to steek that as well. The picot edge used on the cuffs and waist welt will be echoed on the neckband and I can work a few more rows to cover up the raw edge. 

That is the plan at least. 

So, on to obsessions. There are several but I think I'll cover one at a time. Less overwhelming for me.

The Star Stitch

I'm obsessed with the star stitch. Last year I worked these gloves and was so very excited with how they turned out.

Next, I worked out a hat. My had model friend liked it enough to order one in her choice of colors, so here is hers in what I could call the KZ colorway.

Now, I have a child sized sweater sample done. I don't like the neck, in this sample. While thinking about it I believe I've worked out the solution so that it lays flat. If that works out I'll see if I can get it test knitted in other sizes. 

In a few months, once I've worked through my other two or three obsessions, I'll work out an adult sweater. It is already swatched. 

Note, the slip stitch edging, another obsession, but more on that later. 

I'm also thinking of an infant saque and a tank with a stockinette yoke and bust shaping.

That is six designs for this single orphaned stitch pattern.

I'm not done yet.

 More obsessions next month. 

It's 2021

Well, hello, new year.

I'm still working away on the project for the TKGA Master Knitter certification. Progress is slow, but steady. I'm about half way to the armhole steeks. I'm hoping to have most of the knitting finished by the end of January.

In the mean time, designer brain is still working. I've proposed a few designs for publication and an article. I have to learn to send them out, then let go. Instead I'm pinging my email for responses that will not come for weeks. 

New Schedule

 Well, big news.

TKGA decided to publish a special issue to showcase the 2020 competition entries. We had the option to submit the pattern and since I actually wrote one while I was working up the project, I sent it on. So now, I am officially a published designer. Check it out on Ravelry.

So, design brain is getting in the way of my Master Knitter project, but more on that some other time. I did finish the sleeves before the end of the year. The body is cast on, but I'm still working on the waist edging. I hope to begin the stranded work by the end of the year.

The new schedule is to finish in time for Texas Bluebonnet season 2021. That way, I can take a photo of my beautiful sweater with it's inspiration.

Hats Hats Hats

 Hats, hats, hats.

I've been designing. I blame that contest. While I did not win or place, the process seems to have triggered something and I became somewhat obsessed. The only thing to do was to drop the TKGA masters sweater and give in. 

So, here we go.....

The star stitch pattern has a lot of future designs. I've done a child's size sweater but I'm not yet happy with the neck opening. In the mean time, here is a hat done in KnitPicks Brava sport. 

I thought that even though the Brava is marked as sport weight it worked up more like DK. 

I'm calling this one the Stars Around Hat. 

Then I got into some alpaca and did a lace pattern called Smiling Diamonds. So, it is the Smiling Diamonds Hat.

It took some fiddling to get the crown to work. This hat has a little I-cord top knot, just because. 

The alpaca was ancient, but I think any soft DK weight yarn would work well. 

The picot edge is folded over, and I put an elastic headband inside. That way, the hat will stay put even if the alpaca decides to go saggy. 

Next up is the Migration Hat. It is also alpaca and also has some elastic inside. 

 

It is worked from the top down, and I really like how the crown turned out. It looks almost like a four leaf clover. 

After some futzing around I was able to load them on Ravelry so now I have a little shop there. 

Many thanks to my friend Kendall who modeled for me. She will be getting a Stars Around hat in her own personal colorway.