Twist (and Shout)!

Seeing how the next issue of Twist is about to come out, I thought it was time to blog about one of my designs that I've been promising to write about - Victoria - from the premiere issue of the Twist Collective. The online magazine is the brainchild of four wonderful fiber folks - Kate Gilbert, Irene Vandervoot, Julia Farwell-Clay, and Mary Jackson. That's a lot of talent there and I am so impatient to see what future issues will have in store for us. Patterns are sold individually in downloadable pdf form and the business model makes it a truly collaborative and creative endeavor between the designers and the Twist team. I'm really honored and excited to be a part of the first issue and hope that I'll be lucky enough to make more appearances in the future.

For Victoria, I was aiming to create an ultra feminine cardigan with a casual feel. Picot edgings give it a girlish whimsy and the high necked collar makes it a little formal. Small, bead buttons (chosen by Kate) also give it a dressed up vibe. Yet, when unbuttoned, the cardigan can be very casual. Unfortunately, the Twist team was interrupted during their photo shoot and had to scrap plans to photograph it opened (they blogged about it here).

From that post, here's a picture of it unbuttoned:


This is one of the few designs I've done where I didn't knit the sample myself. Terri, of KnittingTheBlues, did a fantastic job knitting it for me. When I design, I tinker quite a bit on the fly and she was patient enough to ride through the bumpiness that results from that tinkering. I think she reknit the front bands three times to make sure it looked just right. She sent me a picture of it when she was almost finished:

The deep rich, tonal color of that Shibui Merino Kid yarn is so lovely. I had a skein of it to swatch with and I just adored how the modified seed stitch picked up the subtle color variations.

I can't wait to get this sweater. I think it's making the rounds with the other projects from the premiere issue.

Rhinebeck

Yesterday, I dragged my ever patient husband to knitter's mecca - otherwise known as Rhinebeck. It was my first time going to Rhinebeck, or to any yarn festival for that matter, and I admit I was a little overwhelmed. We gave a ride to Julia and Sandra ; and once there, we met up with Stephanie, Yarnmonster Jess, FigandPlum Jess, Lisa, Virginia, Cathy, Katy, Carrie, and Nancy. Unfortunately, I'm suffering from some sort of food allergy that's made me break out in hives so I wasn't really up for touching yarn and fiber. Fortunately, that meant that I managed to leave Rhinebeck without a single purchase. I think if I had felt better, I could have done some damage because there was a lot of gorgeous fiber there - oh well, there's always next year, right? Many Ravelers have already put up their purchases on their Stash page today (you guys are so fast!); so at least I'm able to shop vicariously through them. Instead, my husband and I went to the animal tents and saw a 4 day old baby lamb:



and all types of alpacas including Be-Bop here:



It was also a lot of fun to play name the knit since many festival-goers broke out their best handknits for the chilly autumn weather. I saw a lot of Tangled Yokes (including Jess' and Lisa's gorgeous versions), Wisterias, Clapotis, Central Park Hoodies, etc, etc.

I also saw my first design in the wild - the Apres Surf Hoodie that Julia of Knitterly Things made. She told me that there was someone wearing the Riding to Avalon Hoodie, but I didn't see her :(.

We also stopped briefly at the Ravelry party which was packed with knitters and looked to be very lively. All in all a very overwhelming, but fun day!

Interweave Holiday preview is up

...And it contains my first baby pattern.

Here is a picture from the magazine:


Isn't that baby adorable? I love how his wispy red hair coordinates with the cheerful colors of the cardigan.

And here it is on an equally adorable baby:


The model is my friends Hickory and Steven's new baby boy. I made this cardigan for him back in July in some more manly colors of Rowan Wool Cotton.

Wool cotton is one of my favorite yarns to knit with. It's soft and comfortable on the hands and it comes in a great array of colors.

The cardigan was a lot of fun to knit and design. I always love how satisfying baby knits are. The scarf is tubular and is a simple mosaic pattern. For ease of use, it's attached to the neck of the cardigan. The body of the cardigan is done in one piece to minimize uncomfortable seams for baby and the sleeves are done in the round up to the modified drop shoulder sleeve cap. You can have fun with the embroidery and buttons. For the embroidery, I chose simple circles in the scarf accent colors, but get creative if you want.

I love the attached scarf shape. When I get fixated on something, I can get a little obsessed. You'll see what I mean in a few weeks! :)

I definitely am backlogged on a few posts. I keep meaning to (and I will) write about the Riding to Avalon Hoodie, the Far Afield Vest, and Victoria.

And for those of you in the NYC area, I'll be giving a workshop at Knitty City focusing on my designs. More information can be found on their class page. It starts Oct 23 and runs every other Thursday 3 times from 6 to 8 pm. This is my first time teaching a knitting class (though I've taught physics recitation sections to undergrads when I was a grad student) and the format will be mini lessons on techniques used in my patterns, driven of course by request.