Party Dress

Today I feel lighter -- not physically, mentally. There have been many new things happening in my life which I will share when I can sort it all out in my head, but until then, the new thing that I can share is this ~ Jamberry. It's a little girl's dress, designed in sizes from 12 months to 6 years.

This time around I am going to see about having it tech edited as well as test knit. I'd like to streamline the process once I get the ball rolling on coming out with more self-published patterns.

There was something about this yarn, Vigna by Trendsetter Yarns. When I saw it at Gotta Knit this August, I immediately envisioned the dress. Even though I don't have a little girl who could wear it, I had to make it. I'm hoping to have it ready for publication by the end of the month, just in time for the winter party season.

Exotic Wood and Chinaberry, a New Pattern

When I was a girl, my dad worked as a machinist in a lumberyard in the Bronx. He used to come home smelling of sawdust. I loved that smell -- maybe it was dad, maybe it was the wood.

Every once in a while he would bring home a special bag. Inside would be small blocks of the exotic hardwoods that the lumberyard handled. There would be babinga, ebony, mahogany and teak. There were so many, I could never keep track, but it was a great lesson in geography because he used to tell us where each tree grew, and we would find it in the atlas. I don't think he ever brought home any wood from the Chinaberry tree, but it sounds exotic enough that he would have. It grows in China (of course), as well as Australia and India. The tree yields small purple or yellow flowers that look like bells. These bells remind me of the lace on my newest pattern, Chinaberry.

This pattern took some time to develop. I wanted to take the leap into self-publishing and I had some ideas, sketched out. I decided on one. Chinaberry started out as this sketch:
As you can see, it was originally meant to be sleeveless, and it still may have an incarnation as that, but for this piece I wanted sleeves. After the pattern was written and the prototype was knit (see post from July 25th), I had some lovely women test knit the pattern. A huge thank you to Deb (jstdt3t), Liz (oddlizard), Rose (rosejulia1), Connie (faeriesandpixies), Louise (louiseclsc171260) and Elly (iknitcupcakes) for the many, many hours they took to not only knit the pattern, but find my errors and keep me grounded in reality. Without their support and encouragement, I'm not sure I'd ever have had the courage to self-publish.

Then, of course, came the pattern layout. I'd been working on parts of the design layout all summer. I knew what I wanted my patterns to look like, but it took me the better part of this month to tweak it down to what I envisioned.

Yesterday, my husband and I took a ride to the beach on the Long Island Sound near where we live for the photoshoot with out new camera. The day was fantastic for late September -- 80's and sunny (and just a little bit sad because you know you won't be getting many more like it). I love the light in the autumn. Although my hair leaves much to be desired (appointment next week, Nicole, are you listening?), I think the pictures were wonderful. So, thanks Joe for being so supportive.

Chinaberry is an elegant, easy-to-wear, three-season lace pullover in five sizes (S, M, L, 1X, 2X). It features set-in sleeves, high jewel neck and center front placket. Simple lace adorns the yoke, cuffs and bottom band. All pieces are knit flat, bottom up and seamed. The pattern is written in table format for ease in following directions.

It's available to download now through Ravelry.

Kidney Pie and the End of Summer

Today is unofficially the last day of summer -- in all possible ways. I always try to pack in all the fun I can between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This year we did the "'burgs." Williams in July with good friends and Gettys in August with husband and sons. I spent serious time in the city (NY), yarn-shop hopping with a good friend. We beached, picnicked, lolled around the pool, walked, ran, played ball, bbq'ed, movie'd and assorted other things. Unfortunately there were many things we wanted to do, but didn't. There's always next year, but...

as they say, all good things come to an end...

Today is the end. Tomorrow we all start school. I'm changing grades, sons (both) are moving up to different schools and daughter is a senior. As much as we all have something to look forward to, no one wants to leave summer behind.

Yesterday we spent the day at our cousins' beach house in Mattituck. It was a beautiful day, weatherwise and otherwise. Today we tried to have fun with a family bbq, but we all kind of moped.

To cheer myself up, I finished a new pattern, the Kidney Pie Cap.



Beautiful daughter is modeling. (It was hard to get her to laugh today, but we managed. She even managed to get me to laugh when she did this "supermodel?!" face.) The pattern is free on Ravelry. It was the first time I worked with Tahki Torino Bulky and I loved it!!! It feels so lightweight for a bulky. I bought two skeins when I was at Gotta Knit in NYC in June. My friend, Sima, laughed because I'm forever buying yarn to swatch with, but I have to try it out, y'know? I knew I wanted to make a hat with this. Unfortunately for me, I think this sample has now disappeared into one of daughter's drawers. The pattern is super stretchy because of the ktbl nature of the ribbing. So even though this measures a mere 15" around, when worn it will fit a variety of sizes, my head (22 1/2" - watermelon) or daughter's (20 1/2" - macintosh). There might be another one in the works for me.

The cap is relatively simple to work. Both the cables and the lace are easy repeats. However, when it came to shaping, I knew I didn't want to interrupt the cables or the lace too much. The decreases are not stacked in this one, but my goal of having the pattern follow through to the top of the cap was met.

The short version of how this cap got its name: My grandfather used to call a brain, kidneys. Of course he knew the difference, but it had something to do with a comedy act he had heard or seen. The running joke among my family is to say "use your kidneys" if you're doing something stupid for which you should think more carefully, thus -- Kidney Pie -- a cap to warm your brain!

Secrets

I don't like secrets. I don't like having them. Most of the time, I wish I didn't know them. Sometimes, I think if I don't tell them, I'll explode. But, in this case, I have to keep it

For the last 23 days I have been writing the pattern for and knitting a design for a magazine. I originally submitted the idea in the winter of 2009. (Yes, that is not a typo -- '09). My submission book was out there, and I didn't ask for it back until this spring. When I did, they sent it back, but, with my permission, made copies of the sketches and told me that if the ideas were taken by another publication, then, of course, they would understand. Within the next few weeks, they called me to ask about using one of those designs.

I'm really excited about this sweater, in particular because it's the first one I've designed and knit completely from the top down and seamlessly. If you read my post from June 6, 2010, you'll remember that I was doing my own top down work. I was excited, but found it difficult to "think" upside down.

Well, I'm happy to report that it wasn't as hard as I thought. Maybe it's the pressure of a deadline or maybe it's just that I NEEDED to do it, but it really worked out! And, I'm quite pleased with the results. Unfortunately, I can only tease you with this... and this...

I've knitted sweaters seamlessly before, but they've been bottom up. I enjoyed knitting this (even though I only had a few weeks to do it) and can definitely see the advantages of knitting top down. As far as the design process, it still requires the same sets of numbers, and you really need to think about how you want to handle increases before you set out. I think that these were my two stumbling blocks back in June. All in all, I think I learned a lot and I'm happy with the finished piece. I have a funny name for this piece, which I will reveal if the editors choose not to use it.

In other news, I was able to get some help for my Chinaberry pullover in the form of 6 wonderful test knitters. They are a lovely group of women. I am having a lot of fun working with them. I'll be posting more about the whole experience when the pattern is released through Ravelry in late September.

Penmanship Cowl

As an elementary school teacher, the end of August is always a sad and exciting time. Sad because summer is truly the best season of all for me. I love everything about it including this summer's sweltering temperatures. I know that autumn is coming, bit by bit, tiptoeing into our evenings. It's also exciting because I get to begin a new year, with plenty of eager minds to enjoy -- a fresh start, just as the earth is rounding its way toward its final quarter spin around the sun.

In honor of the beginning of school, I have a new (free) pattern on Ravelry - the Penmanship Cowl.

In 4th grade I had what was then known as an "open" classroom. Two teachers, 50 kids, and a huge physical space. I didn't like it, but I liked Mrs. Falsone. She taught us penmanship. By the 4th grade we were eager to write in "script." The curlicues of the cables reminded me of those curved lines we looped all over the page. The openwork is reminiscent of the dots that filled the paper showing you where you were to begin and end each letter and word.

EZ @ 100

Perhaps this has been said thousands of times before but, Elizabeth Zimmermann changed my life for the better. Dover Publishing which published Knitter's Almanac is located in Mineola, Long Island, not far from where I grew up and this book was the first of EZ's that I purchased. I think I drifted into the Dover facility and noticed the "Knitter's" in the title and picked it up. I'd never heard of EZ before. It was (and still is) unlike any other knitting book I had read. It is a novel, with patterns inserted into the narrative. I fell in love with Elizabeth. My maternal grandmother was the only member of my family to knit. She passed away when I was 3, so I never had a chance to learn from her. Elizabeth was the grandmother I was missing -- not only for her knitting talent, but for her spirit, her energy, her sense of humor, and most of all, her attitude -- the "do what you want and see what happens." I felt like she was writing just for me.

I went on to Knitting Without Tears. This book is a liberation of the mind (and needles). Her EPS system is revolutionary -- the Newtonian principles of knitting. Finally when I began designing, I purchased the rest of her titles** -- Knitting Around and Knitting Workshop. The latter is my all-time favorite Zimmermann book. If you have the opportunity to view/purchase the DVD that goes along with this book, DO IT. It is more entertaining than most feature films and you will learn more in those few hours (about knitting, about life, about family) than you will in years of living. I could watch this DVD twice a month and never grow tired of it. I feel like I know her. I miss her -- isn't that strange -- missing someone you've never met?

Anyway, today would have been Elizabeth's 100th birthday. Happy 100th, Elizabeth!

"Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."

** Also, read "The Opinionated Knitter" -- even though Elizabeth is listed as the author, it is Elizabeth's daughter Meg Swansen's homage to her mother. Wonderful!

Chinaberry

This is the Chinaberry Pullover. I have been working on this pattern for the last few weeks. As usual, it takes me almost as long to write the pattern as it does to knit it.

The original design idea started out as a sleeveless pullover in linen or silk and it may still become that, but I wanted something a little more versatile for the fall (when the oppressive heat of June/July '10 will be just a memory). I wanted to try it on, but it is closing in on 100 degrees in the Northeast today. I just can't.

I also want to have this test-knit before the pattern goes public. This is the Medium (36"), but I would like to have it checked for accuracy in the other sizes (33, 39, 42 and 44"). I am going to use a Ravelry group that I heard about through another designer. The issue is -- I will be away this coming week with spotty internet service. Do I just go for it or do I wait until I come back? I'm a little apprehensive....