Farmer's Market Cardigan Photo

Good Afternoon!

Bit by bit, I am getting things accomplished, but so much to do.  But here is one success story that I really must share.

Last year one of my students asked me to help her knit up a sweater.  It's design was really beautiful and it was in the Interweave Knits magazine Fall 2009, by Connie Chang Chinchio.  The design was confusing to my student and she asked me if I could break it down into more understandable sections for her.

That being completed, she cast on and began knitting.  Having reached the armhole section, even the re - write was more than she could handle.  She turned the sweater over to me with a huge amount of yarn and asked me to finish it and it is now February of this year. 

Now a problem cropped up, her gauge was slightly erratic, and I wasn't sure that I could match it.  So, knowing there was plenty of yarn, I began fresh, ( I wish I had kept a yarn label to tell you what it was, but it was beautiful).  One month later, I brought the finished sweater back to class and presented it to her. 

She was ecstatic, it fit perfectly and the color complimented her hair and complexion.  My student is away helping with her new grand baby so she lent me the sweater for a photograph.  The photographer, by the way, is Matt Yerkes matt@yerkesphoto.com and he also built my website for me http://youandmeknit.com.   The model is my daughter Jessica.

I do believe she will be modeling all my wearable art!

I also added this to the Knitting Daily Galleries for Reader Photos. 

Time to get this published and on to other things.  Have a great rest of your day and..

 Happy Knitting!

Sock Pattern Submission

Good Morning,

While catching up on a couple of blogs that I subscribe to, I came across yesterday's Knitting Daily Blog.  My mail is usually in such huge quantities, that I scan quickly through to see if it is content that I need to re - read later.  Well, this issue really caught my eye during the quick scan mode.  It seems that Interweave's eMag, Sockupied, is looking for submissions for issues in 2013.

Well, as you can imagine, I had to stop, back up, and read this more closely.  Once I had digested the information, my mind is just buzzing.  Can I make a submission?  Of course you can.  Oh, I don't know if I can do that.  Why not, you very nearly have your sport sock pattern complete.  Oh, I don't know.....

Back and forth, this conversation is going on, do I or don't I.  Reason and good sense has won.  I sent the email to receive the submission form.  What on earth do I have to lose anyway.  Here is an opportunity to have a pattern published! 

Just this morning early, I was reading about pattern submissions in my Knitting for Profit eBook by Liz Raad.  The eBook outlined the steps and some links to accomplish this very thing, and here it is again in my Google Reader.  Twice in one day this information has been presented, so I'd best not ignore it.  Experience has taught me that these prompts are limited and are only offered for a short time. 

So, the next step on my to do list today, pull the sock pattern out of my documents list, and edit it.  The photography work has been done already.  Then it's just a matter of sending the PDF pattern to my photographer/web designer, Matt for the final insertion of the photo. 

It is a cool, rainy day and we really  need it.  It has been raining like this all night and supposed to continue throughout the day.  I wish I could share this with other parts of the country that are so parched right now. 

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Knitting!

Sweater Pattern in Bite Sized Pieces

Good Morning,

Another great day!  Hope where you are you are enjoying this slightly cooler weather.

Spent some time with my photographer, Matt, this morning.  He was taking some pictures of a sweater I knit in late winter for one of my students and the Scribble Lace Cowl.  The Scribble Lace Cowl will be ready in a few days if anyone is would like to try it.  I had mentioned in an earlier blog that I will share it with any who are interested. 

Back to the sweater.  This design was in Interweave Knits Fall 2009 issue.  It is called Farmer's Market Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio.  Sandy, my student,  had put the sweater on her "to knit" list soon after purchasing the magazine.  I think it remained on her "to knit" list due to the fact that she wasn't sure about knitting the pattern.

Anyway, months later, she was shopping at one of her LYSs and found a great sale on a couple of bags of yarn.  When she came to the next knitting class, Sandy brought the magazine and a ball of the yarn with her.  I told her that she would most likely get a good result with this yarn, but a gauge swatch was a must.  She was still quite nervous about knitting this sweater, not feeling quite up to the task. 

The following week, she came back to class with a gauge swatch, and a perfectly matching gauge, but still very nervous.  I'm sure it had to do with the fact that there was a great deal of shaping in the form of vertical darts both front and back plus the usual shaping that a fitted cardigan has.  There were several "at the same times" in the pattern and it was that, I felt, that made her hesitate, as well as a more intricate collar and top of pocket.

I offered to rewrite the pattern out for her to follow easily.   The pattern was broken down into manageable bite sized pieces with all of the shaping mapped out, numbered and bulleted for repeats and rows. All Sandy had to do was just check off the rows and repeats as she knit them.

Some weeks later, she brought the sweater back to class and asked me to finish it for her.  I felt badly that she didn't want to finish it herself, but knowing her as I do, it would just sit there, unfinished and doomed to the eternal closet.  On closer inspection, I noticed some gauge changes, probably due to her anxiety levels at the time, and I was fearful of being unable to match her gauge.

Without telling her right away, I began the sweater from scratch.  Fortunately, she had plenty of yarn to do this with.  Within a  month, I had finished and blocked her new sweater.  I had done a little tweaking, as I do with all patterns that I knit, just can't help myself, and the sweater looked as if it might have been designed for her.  The fit was beautiful, and she has received many compliments.  Connie's sweater design was a hit with all of Sandy's friends. 

The point of my story is, don't be afraid of what looks to be a complicated pattern.  Take the time to pull it apart.  Rewrite by hand, or copy the page and pull it apart, enlarge it, do whatever it takes to work through whatever areas in a pattern are causing you stress.  The first step is just to check your gauge and then cast on.  So many times it is just getting started that is so daunting.  I'm sure Sandy might have been able to finish, if she was able to sit with me the whole time, but she does a fair amount of traveling preventing that.

So, take a deep breath, a little attention to details, and cast on those stitches.  Take your time.  You have no race to win.  If it takes you a month, two months, no matter, just whittle away at those stitches and rows.  I will share the photo with you as soon as Matt does the editing.  Since it is an Interweave Pattern, I will also submit it to Knitting Daily.  I will let you know if it is accepted and posted on their website.

Happy Knitting!