Knititude

Sideways Aran Wrap, Vogue Knitting Fall 2008

How sweet it is to have my first pattern published in Vogue Knitting magazine!  I'm certainly keeping good company, with my #30 Aran wrap alongside Mary Lynn Patrick's #29 cabled jacket in VK's "English Garden" story.  A pause while I say "Aahh," and bask in the moment I've been waiting for since I first learned my design was accepted, more than nine months ago (photo at left courtesy of Soho Publishing). 

Ah, yes.  Dare I admit a few thorny details which are marring my rosy day?  First, the prickliest:  the text on the photo page states, "...the sleeves are worked separately and sewn in."  Um, NO THEY'RE NOT!  At first I thought the editors had radically altered my original pattern, but no, the pattern still calls for the sleeve stitches to be picked up around the armhole and then worked down to the cuff.  Maybe this is my inner neurotic designer speaking, but that seems like a fairly important bit of information regarding the sweater construction.  It's also a fun way to work the sleeve (secondo me) and nicely maintains the continuity of the cables across the back and down the sleeve.  Another cool thing about the design is that the front edge (which is really the top edge) cable is reversible, meaning it can be folded back and still looks like, well, the right side instead of the wrong side of the fabric--something which is not mentioned.  And finally, I guess I never really noticed this before, but with only one photo of each design, it's not possible to get a good idea of how it looks from various angles, which I think is a problem for anything with an unusual construction or special detailing on the back or the sleeves.  After considering this, I thought to myself, "At least knitters can look at the schematic and get a better idea of the construction,"-- but again, no, there is no schematic for my design.  So, if you look carefully at the 2nd photo, at least it gives a good idea of the construction:  you work the upper part side to side, binding off stitches and then casting on again to form the armholes; pick up stitches around the armholes and knit down to the cuff for the sleeves; and then pick up stitches along the lower edge and knit down to form the wide vertical ribbed hem.  Simple?  Maybe not.  Fun?  Yes.  (But be warned, it is the size of a lap blanket, and quite heavy if worked in the suggested alpaca yarn.)

And now, please indulge me as I post a few more photos; the top of my son's head managed to find its way into the last one.

Wyvern Wrap V2

From pattern introduction:

Don’t worry, no wyverns were harmed to create this jacket!  Instead, the “Dragon Skin” pattern from Barbara Walker’s 2nd Treasury of Knitting Patterns embellishes a simple wrap with a tie closure.  The fronts (including sleeves and front edging) are worked from hem to shoulders, then joined with cast-on stitches at the back of the neck, and from there, back plus sleeves are worked in one piece to the hem.  Finishing:  edge the back neck, seam sides and underarms, and add ties and snap (for the inner wrap edge) at the waist.  The kimono-style sleeves do not taper, so directions for Dramatic (full-length or longer), Practical (just above wrist length) and ¾-length sleeves are included.  (Recommended:  Practical or 3/4-length, unless you have strong diva-like tendencies.)  Measured ease is standard (2-4”), but may seem greater when worn, due to the wrap style; those who prefer a more fitted look may want to make one size smaller than usual.  Length is just above the hip (though length from waist to hem is easily altered), and side decreases and increases gently shape the waist.

Difficulty is intermediate; skills include chart reading, casting on mid-row, modified I-cord ties, and keeping accurate track of row #s.

Sizes/Garment Measurements
                  XS     S     M     L     1X    2X    3X
Bust/hips    32     36    40    44    48    52    56 inches
                  81     91   102   112  122  132   142 cm
Waist         29     33    37    41    45    49     53 inches
                  74     84   94    104  114   124   135 cm
Length        21     22   22    22.5   23    23    23 inches
                  53     56   56    57     58     58    58 cm
Sleeve circ  15   16.5  16.5  18    19.5  19.5  21 inches
                  38    42    42    46     50     50    53 cm
Sleeve length (from body side seam, not necessarily from underarm):
Dramatic     18    19    18    19.5  18.5  19.5  18.5 inches
                  46    48    46    50     47     50     47 cm
Practical     13.5  15   14    15     14     15     14 inches
                  34    38    36    38     36     38     36 cm
3/4 length     9     11   10    11     10      11    10 inches
                  23    28    25    28     25     28     25 cm
Shown in Size S with Practical Sleeves and with 3” ease at bust.

Gauge
24 sts and 32 rows = 4” in Dragon Skin patt st; count rows along 2-st strip of st st between panels of “scales.”  Check gauge on blocked swatch.

Yarn
DK-weight yarn (approx 22 sts/28 rows to 4” in st st on U.S. Size 6 (4 mm) needles).  With Dramatic sleeves:  1500 [1800, 1800, 2100, 2250, 2400, 2550] yds.  With Practical sleeves:  1350 [1650, 1650, 1950, 2100, 2250, 2250] yds.  With 3/4-length sleeves:  1200 [1500, 1500, 1800, 1950, 2100, 2100] yds.  Pictured in RYC Silk Wool DK (50% merino wool, 50% silk; 109 yds [100 m]/50 gm), color #SH 305 Clay.

Needles
U.S. Size 6 (4mm) circular needle, 40-60” long depending on size worked (total of sleeves + back = 34-65”!).  Optional:  2nd circular for working Right Front (at least 24” long); straight needles for working front and back without sleeves.  Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Notions
Stitch markers; row counter; stitch holders or waste yarn; tapestry needle; med or large snap closure.

Suggested Yarn Substitutions*
*Substitute at your own risk!
Kollage Yarns Yummy (80% bamboo, 20% merino wool; 150 yd [137 m]/70 gm).  RYC Cashsoft DK (merino wool/ microfiber/ cashmere; 142 yd [130 m]/50 gm).  Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo (wool/bamboo; 118 yds [108 m]/50 gm).

Yarn Weight
Take note of yarn weight, in this case meaning actual weight (yds/m per gm), not thickness (DK).  Sleeves are wide and will be quite heavy in a heavier yarn (compare RYC Silk Wool DK at 109 yds/50 gm to RYC Cashsoft DK at 142 yds/50 gm).  If you choose a heavier yarn, 3/4 or at most Practical sleeves are recommended.

If you have already purchased this pattern, I will be emailing you the updated version:  no need to contact me unless you don't receive it within the next 2 days.  If you are already partway through the original pattern, I do NOT recommend you switch to the newer version; the order of some instructions has been changed and could be confusing, and there are no errata in addition to those already published back in February 2008.

Click here to purchase pattern (price:  $6.50).  After payment, the pattern will be emailed to you in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

A Dragon Skin of her own

Until now,  the Wyvern pattern has been lacking photos of its own sample garment, instead substituting a photo of the Dragon Skin child's sweater-- a less-than-satisfactory alternative, I admit.  No longer!  My first attempt at hiring a test knitter has proven a success:  not only do I now have a Wyvern in Size Small, but I have several insightful suggestions for improving the clarity and knitter-friendliness of the pattern (thanks, Terry!).  Happily, I have no further errata to report, but I have already modified the pattern text slightly, and as soon as I can get some modeled photos, I will be emailing an updated version of the pattern to all those who have previously purchased it.     

Worth a thousand words

One-sleeved bolero

I'm thinking I'm done!  Just bind off, and...just kidding.  But mostly so far, so good, although I'm going to rework the sleeve cuff; I was thinking I would do a fairly snug ribbed cuff that would be best worn pushed up on the forearm, but this one is too tight and unyielding.

The color of the yarn is better represented in the second photo.  I reworked the neck four times using various edge treatments, including a twisted cable rib, but in the end I decided simpler is better.  I also blocked right after casting on stitches for the underarms, to make sure I wasn't misjudging the final gauge; if you look carefully, you can see the transition between the blocked and unblocked fabric.

Picking yarn in person

I buy the great majority of my yarn online, and to try to get an accurate idea of the color, I will often find the same yarn on several websites and compare the colors in the photos.  There can be a lot of variation!  WEBS and purlsoho.com usually have large and luscious photos of yarns (not always a guarantee of color accuracy, however).  I should probably buy a selection of color cards; at this time the only ones I have are for Louet yarns. 

Anyhoo, I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to visit one of my go-to LYSs, Elissa's Creative Warehouse in Needham, MA.  I had my orders:  one son wanted red, the other, orange.  I was thinking something like Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece:  a wool blend, relatively durable and easy to care for-- since we're talking about a designing a vest for a 5- and an 11-year-old boy.  The Cotton Fleece was there, along with many, many other choices, but this is what I ended up with:  Adrienne Vittadini "Trina", a hand- or machine-washable heavy-worsted blend of merino, microfiber and cashmere.  Certainly not the cheapest, nor the most durable yarn available; I chose this simply because I loved the colors, both the red and the orange (the colors in the photo above are pretty close to the real thing).  The red is a vibrant true red, shading neither into pink nor purple, and the orange is a deep, crisp orange, without a hint of sherbet or neon.  One of the great advantages of buying yarn face-to-face!  (Oh yes, and it's also very soft.)     

Breaking radio silence

I think this has been the longest time I've gone without posting since starting this blog.  The time just slipped away:  somewhere between leaving Italy for the summer, arriving back in the U.S., and taking care of various home- and family-related needs, suddenly, it became July.  I haven't done a great deal of knitting either, although I have made an important step in regard to my future designing and knitting (or perhaps non-knitting) life:  I've hired a test knitter.  I'm anxiously awaiting the results, but in fact there's probably no turning back:  I just want to design more things than I can possibly knit with my own two hands.

Near future plans:  by the time the kids are back in school, there are several things I want to accomplish, design-wise.  I want to write up designs for a hat or two; and for a child's vest with which I hope to kill two birds with one stone (surely there's a kinder way to express this sentiment!), namely create something personal for my two sons, for whom I've neither knit nor designed in the past almost-two-years, and create a design which will be relatively quick and fun to knit.  I want to work up various submissions including one for Twist Collective, which to me is an intriguing and exciting twist on the online knitting magazine.  I want to finish my top-down raglan sweater using Tilli Tomas Fil de la Mer, on which I am slowly progressing; I didn't take any photos of the four different neckline treatments I tried, or the three different sleeve cuff ideas I had, but next post:  photos of what still remains.