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Diary of a Design: Day X

| Elanor

I’ve forgotten what day I’m on, but things are progressing well after a crazy month. I have booked a photo shoot for next week, but I have a bit of catching up to do. My front is complete, and the front and back have both been blocked.
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When I was making the front, I decided to make the neckline wider and this had the knock-on effect of making the shoulders narrower, so I frogged back some if the back and redid the shoulders. No biggie. I pinned the pieces together with safety pins and had a little try. I’m loving it so far.

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I also have half a sleeve

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Sorry about the woeful lighting, I’m blogging this from my local swimming pool!
All that’s left to do is the other sleeve and a half, sew it up and the neckline. Getting there! Need to get cracking with my knitmas gift too, so plenty of knitting for the month!
X

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Would you like to Test Knit my Corona Beret?

Corona Beret
| Elanor

Hello! I have a new design coming out soon, and I’d really appreciate some help in the form of test knitting.

Corona Beret

This is a slouchy, textured beret in a plump 4-ply. The yarn I used is the stunning Skein Queen Blush, which is crazy soft and warm. Even if you don’t try it on this project, get some to play with, you won’t be disappointed. I fell in love with the colour in this skein when I went to Skein Queen’s Open House during the Summer. There was no way I was leaving without it, even though I’d already filled up on Jamieson’s of Shetland (which Debbie also sells). (You don’t have to use this yarn if you’re doing the test knit, you can sub in a different yarn. The tension to get is 28 sts x 38 rows per 10cm over st st).

Corona Beret

This hat is all about the texture of the star pattern. The coronal pattern under different lights and points of view, can look like a star, a crown or a flower. The texture is created just with knit and purl sts – no cabling or slip sts here!

Corona Beret

If you would like to test knit for me, just get in touch. I’m catchloops on ravelry, twitter and gmail, so drop me a line!

Test Knitting is: you get the pattern for free, but it might have mistakes in it. You agree to knit it by a certain date, tell me anything that jars you about the pattern and put up a ravelry project linked to it when it goes live. Since there’s a group of us doing it at the same time, it feels like a KAL. I update everyone with any changes along the way and help out if there are any ambiguities or techniques new to you.

Diary of a Design: Day 7, what happened there?

| Elanor

Oh dear, not much at all this weekend… I finished the back and did a row or two of the front.
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And what I’ve done here was cast in at the doctor’s surgery this morning- my youngest has ear lurgy. He’s on antibiotics now and is completely wiped out, but we’ve had a couple if all-nighters this weekend. Poor little tyke. For the record, I don’t take antibiotics lightly. Without going into the gory details, this is definitely a bacterial infection, and I’m not taking chances with his hearing.

That said, I may have had a little go at writing up a different pattern on Sunday evening…

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The yarn is 24 karat gold. (In colour)

Diary of a Design: Day 4, now we’re getting somewhere!

| Elanor

I got a fair bit done yesterday, all the cables are completed and I’m on the Rev St st bit heading for the shoulders. I’m about 3 cm from the shoulder rise. Here it is lying on top of another design, Biennial, for comparison.

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There’s more ease in this new jumper, but it won’t show till it’s blocked. The armholes are a little lower for roomier sleeves too, but otherwise the backs are quite similar shapes. I’ve used nearly 3 balls for the back so far, so it looks like the whole jumper will be 12-14 balls to make.

 

So, of course you’ve figured out by now that this design isn’t 5 days old. It started at Unwind in Brighton, actually, when I met Sonja from Blacker Yarns and got a ball of the lovely, lovely Elegance from her. I started swatching on the beach on the Sunday!

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This shade is silver, which is white with just a hint of black running through to give the grey effect. The yarn is not dyed at all and the various shades are made by spinning in the naturally coloured alpaca fibres. Corriedale fleece itself is always white and makes up 80% of the base. The addition of the alpaca makes the yarn smoother and softer. Overall it has fab bounce and I’m definitely enjoying working with it. The jumper is going to be super-warm too. So a big thank you to Blacker yarns for providing the yarn support!

The yarn I’m using is Blacker Elegance DK in Silver (pale grey). It is also available in a 4-ply weight and the natural colours are white, pale and darker grey, pale and darker brown. It sells at £6.50 per 50g ball of high-quality British yarn.
Today’s Saturday, so I’m not sure how much knitting my young family will let me do today, I’ll be sure to keep you updated tho!
Have a lovely weekend,
X e

Diary of a Design: Day 3, just keep trucking

| Elanor

Yesterday saw a few more cables added. Because these cables are graduated, every other one is .75 the number of rows of the previous one. So my sections are speeding up.
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I have about half of the back done now. You can’t tell from the pic above, but there is a change in size in the width of the piece, which will give flattering shaping to the finished item when worn.

I have to show you where I’m keeping the project and yarn when not in the hands:
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Isn’t it a lovely basket? I got it at a wedding in Ireland at the end of last month and had a divil of a time getting it on board the flight home. It was my “handbag” (I already had carry on)!

Diary of a Design: Day 2

| Elanor

Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans, or so the saying goes. My first erratum is what happened last night. (Hangs head in shame.) turns out the sleeve cap on my Abbye Cardigan wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I fixed the error in my calculations and have rewritten the pattern. When my TE has had a chance to look at it, I’ll update the pattern on rav. For now, it has been temporarily deactivated.
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That said, I did manage to work to the next cable on my jumper

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And today will see some more cables, all going well.

X e

Diary of a Design: Actual Knitting, Day 1

| Elanor

Well actually, I started knitting it on Friday, but decided to frog back yesterday.
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The photo above is what I had Tuesday night at knit club. I asked the others there their opinion and they were frank enough to point out that the cables didn’t join up well with the ribbing. To be honest, I knew the moment the question left my lips that a certain amphibian would be making an appearance. This is what I have now and I’m much happier.
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It’s got flow now, and so it’s knitting up much faster. I want sneak a row in on it all the time, whereas yesterday I kept putting it down because I was doubting it. It has meant a few extra swatches though! IMG_6127.JPG
These are just the ones I had handy!

K.I.S.S. This

K.I.S.S. Mitts
| Elanor

Keep It Stocking Stitch

I am planning a collection of very plain knitted items. The KISS collection will feature items that use stocking stitch only, except where necessary, e.g. ribbing at cuffs to prevent rolling etc.

The first pattern in the collection will be these mittens.
K.I.S.S. Mitts
The mitts are worked top-down so that you can weigh your yarn and use exactly half. They’re long, so you decide when to stop. The thumb is worked with short rows to give a pleasing shape.

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KISS patterns will be plain, to show off your art and self-striping yarns to best advantage, and so that you can add the finishing touches you want to them. KISS knits may be plain, but they won’t be boring. Each will feature an interesting technique, such as the mitts’ short-row thumb, but there won’t be any lace, cabling or colour work. And because the main stitch pattern is stocking stitch, they’re gonna be fast, fast, fast.

The KISS collection will also include a hat, jumper, cardigan and another accessory.

The KISS mitts use S Twist wool, the only yarn to be completely processed in Ireland. Found some in This Is Knit last week and had to have it for this pattern. Will write a review shortly!