Design Process

Showstopper

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Personal, Random, on 4 May 2006 - 4:03pm

I was going to call this post "Naked Gardening."   My almost-three-year-old "helped" me do some planting this morning and, since I froze my ass off last night at my other son's baseball game, in 50-degree wind and drizzle, I got us both up in fleece and boots and headed out...to find that it was probably 80 degrees in the sun.  Chucked the fleece right away, and after an hour or so, the kid stripped off everything else.  I shot a few pics of him with (garden) hose in hand, but later, while trying to erase one, I accidentally hit "erase all."  Oh well.  I probably don't want to post anything that could get me accused of purveying internet porn, anyway--no matter how innocent the flash of bare buttocks might be. So.  I'm not sure why this photo is so gray--I'm mystified as to why the camera sometimes sees things so differently than the human eye--but I didn't think it worth Photoshopping for the hue, when the detail is really what I'm interested in.  After the nice comments on my last post, I got inspired to sew one of the raglan seams just for the heluvit, and gosh, I think it looks pretty cool.  And when I held it up to myself (calling the main piece the front, for the moment)--well, it will take a bit of maneuvering to get a photo, seeing as there's no back and no other sleeve, but...this one could be a showstopper. 

2 Comments

Better late than never

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Random, on 28 April 2006 - 3:31pm

Fall is my favorite season, hands down, but if spring in New England had more days like today, where the sapphire hue of the sky is more September than April, and a slight breeze is stirring the bloom-laden branches of the weeping cherries...plus, I realized that very young leaves range in color from yellow to chartreuse to burgundy, which is not so different from...the range of leaf colors in the fall!  A detail I probably should have noted at some point during the last several decades I've spent on the planet, but hey.  Better late than never. Also BLTN:  this photo of a rejected Chinese Lace sleeve prototype.  I knit it weeks ago and tossed it in a pile with all my other Chinese Lace flotsam; I'm surprised by how intriguing it appears in the picture, but trust me, it's not so good on the arm.  I tried an eyelet rib to transition between the lace and stockinette, and then I tried making all of the sleeve increases just above the rib, to give the sleeve a full shape above the elbow--well, I think that look works better with a handkerchief-weight cotton or linen, or an organza, than with knitted fabric.  Also visible is the decreases I tried working into the lace pattern (the panel that comes to a point just left of center) to create a bell shaped cuff.  Not terrible, but I can do better; in fact, I'm thinking that if I can really do the decreases nicely, Chinese Lace would make a cool hat.

0 Comments

Really early or really late

Posted in Beaufort hat, Design Process, Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton, on 27 April 2006 - 1:09pm

I would imagine that a hat is one of the last things on the average knitter's mind right now; it's a gorgeous spring day, and my thoughts are certainly turning to, if not knit bikinis (never!), then sleeveless, short sleeves, lace--that sort of thing.   Well, this hat is kind of lacy, anyway; I've decided I like lace patterns for hats because they get stretched on the wearer's head and display the stitches nicely.  As simple as this little number looks, it has gone through a number of alterations; I added the ribbed edging so it grips the head better (although I'm also working on a version that has no ribbing), and I re-worked the crown decreases probably a half-dozen times.  I think what I've ended up with carries the pattern nicely to the top.  I used the "spiral" pattern I found here.  The yarn is Jo Sharp's Desert Garden Aran Cotton, color "Solstice".  I like this yarn a lot; it's an aran weight blend of cotton (65%) and microfiber (35%), and springy and soft to work with.  When I finish the version without ribs (and in which I tried using SSKs instead of k2togs), in Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran "Merlot", I'll post both patterns gratis (the only real work involved was figuring out the decreases, which I take a geeky pleasure in doing anyway).     

0 Comments

Lace & ribs?

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, on 23 April 2006 - 10:53am

Picture_090_edited Here is the latest version of Chinese Lace; I've decided to try a wide rib that aligns with the lace pattern repeat.  This is looking much more sculptural than it will after blocking, but after my last WIP wet-block

1 Comment

Good News/Bad News

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Inspiration, Knitty, Stitch Dictionary, Unbloggable, on 7 April 2006 - 2:57pm

Although I've been knitting furiously for the past week, little or none of it has been bloggable (bad news).  However, by next week, I should have 2 or 3 completed pattern submissions to send off to knitty in time for the deadline for their July issue (good news).  My limited experience with submissions for publication, whether print or online, has been that rejections are to be expected (bad news).  I've heard that knitty's editor, Amy Singer, at least lets you know quickly whether your pattern will be used (good news), and if NOT (bad news), then I will be posting those patterns here on my blog, instead (good news). I haven't given up on Chinese Lace, and the other day I was flipping through the yellowing pages of 1500 Patterns, a softcover "Knitting Encyclopedia" from Mon Tricot that I've had for about 20 years, when I found this.  Look familiar?  Aside from using k2togs instead of SSKs, it is a block of four pattern lines from Chinese Lace, and that lovely diagonal has me thinking I might resurrect this idea--or at least the mock wrap part of it, combined with C.L. sleeves.

0 Comments

Square egg

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Problems, Sleeve, on 24 March 2006 - 7:21pm

Even though I've been knitting madly for the past few days, I'm not sure any of it will be with us for long, if you know what I mean.  I lengthened the belled lace cuff, then tried an eyelet rib to transition into the upper sleeve, then tried making the upper sleeve fuller, and then gave up and went back to my

0 Comments

Sleeve me

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Sleeve, on 18 March 2006 - 11:40am

I like the belled cuff, and the stockinette is okay, I think...I hope...I tried swatching some small eyelet patterns which I thought might complement the lace, for the upper part of the sleeve, but wasn't crazy about any of them.  The lace cuff could be another inch or two longer, I think, and then this sleeve really needs something at the lace-stockinette juncture, maybe something a little ribby, with a few eyelets, or maybe even just a row or two of reverse stockinette.... The above photo would be benefit from better lighting, but it's only 20 degrees outside right now, so outdoor photography is, well, painful.  At least it's almost April; If it were only January, I'd have to seriously consider cutting the mullions out of the window to get rid of those shadow bars falling across anything I try to photograph in natural light. I mean, this is kind of ridiculous.

0 Comments

Mother of the Bride

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, Sleeve, on 16 March 2006 - 2:23pm

That's what came to mind when I looked at this sleeve, worked in a variation of Chinese Lace.  Actually, what first came to mind was Miss Havisham (also wedding-related!), but I decided that was a bit harsh.  Nothing wrong with "mother of the bride,"  and the lace is pretty--just not quite the mod look I was hoping for, at least not in this incarnation.  Such a shame--I had even worked out an increase sequence which blended into the pattern stitch quite nicely. In fact, in the photo at left, of the underside of the sleeve, you can see the increases; they form the panel which narrows to a point about midway down the sleeve, in the center.  Oh well.  I'm not going to frog this just yet; first I'll see how I like the new version I'm working on:  the lace bells more at the cuff, narrows to the elbow and then switches to stockinette.      

2 Comments

I tink, therefore I am.

Posted in Design Process, Oliver Cardigan, Original Pattern, on 9 March 2006 - 3:26pm

I thought I was clever coming up with that title, but I Googled it after it popped into my head, and am compelled to admit that someone else thought of it first.   Anyway, yesterday was a day filled with tinking, as I knit, tinked and re-knit Chinese Lace, trying to get it to

0 Comments

Indecision

Posted in Chinese Lace Pullover, Design Process, DiVe Cotone Egitto, Swatching, on 6 March 2006 - 6:02pm

I have several swatches of Chinese Lace sitting on my desk, and I can't decide which version I like most!  I've been wanting to try one of the yarns in my stash:  "di.Ve Cotone Egitto," mercerized cotton, a closeout from WEBS--such a good deal I bought three different colors.  For this project, I chose the one I'll call "pale rose."  First swatch (left):  I omitted "Chart B," the 7 stitch panel which alternates with the main panel in the original lace pattern, instead using p2 between the main panels. I think I've decided which size needle to use, at least.  The label suggests using US 6 or 7 needles, so I tried 7s, but thought the fabric looked kind of loose (or not?).  I switched to US 5s for the other swatches, which makes the leafy sections much tighter. This swatch was worked according to the original pattern directions.  Notice how the ribs seem to curb the undulating tendencies of the leafy panels?  I also experimented with a border, adapting "Chart B" for use along the top of the swatch.  I wondered how the "Chart B" repeat would look with centered decreases instead of alternating left- and right-leaning decreases, so I tried that along just the top left half of the swatch.  The centered ribs are too neat, I think; the original ribs have an organic, branchy look that goes better with the leafy panels. The color of the yarn in this photo is more peachy than it really appears (the first two photos are fairly accurate).  Notice the yarn kinking?  An especially annoying problem for me, because the bane of my summer avocation (sailboat first mate) is kinky lines ("ropes" to you landlubbers).  Luckily, I found that keeping four or five feet of yarn between needles and ball kept the kinks from taking over. For the last swatch, I used only the main panels; I wanted to see if the leafy motif would just get lost.  But, darn it, it's not bad.  It's quite pretty...true, it's on the solid side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for a sweater.  I also added a little stockinette at the top, to see how the lace might look as an accent, although I'm leaning towards an allover lace pattern at this point. Well, decisions must be made, and if they lead to ripping, then so be it.  Here again, the three candidates; I'm thinking the ribs may be too dominant in the original lace pattern... but then again, they really make the leafy panels stand out... but the other two are also lovely, in a more subtle way.... (I have made a few decisions--assuming I do go with the allover lace!-- no ribbing at hem or sleeves, minimal shaping, pullover, probably boat neck, raglan sleeves.)    

0 Comments

« first‹ previous123456789next ›last »