Diary of a Design: Release Day!

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014 | Elanor

I’ve been cagey so far about what I’m calling my latest design – I hit upon what I think is a great name some time ago, and I didn’t want to jinx things by naming it publicly too early. I hear all sorts of stories about perfect names with no other dupes in the Ravelry database being snapped up the week before release.

I give you: Nostepinne

(and yes, I aliased it to Nostepinde too!)

Before I knit Nostepinne, on cold days I would wear an old grey jumper of my husband’s. It felt like wearing a cuddle, but it looked like a sack of potatoes. For Nostepinne, I took the best features of that jumper – the pure wool, soft grey colour, roomy ease, slightly-longer-than-usual sleeves and added other, more feminine features. The U-shaped neckline is flattering and leaves plenty of room for layering, while the elegant “Nostepinne” cables hide subtle waist shaping and create a “sweetheart” shape over the bust.

A nostepinne is a tool for winding yarn into centre-pull balls or cakes. The balls of yarn created gradually get bigger the more you twist.

The pattern is available on ravelry for £6

However, I’m also running a competition in my ravelry group to win a copy of the pattern for you and a friend. All you have to do is nominate your friend and say why you think s/he would like the Nostepinne pattern.

And sure, while you’re there, why don’t you join the group? I make sure to post all my latest news there, plus sneak peeks of what I’m up to next!

Diary of a Design: Day X

November 4, 2014 | 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.

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.

I also have half a sleeve

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

Diary of a Design: Day 3, just keep trucking

October 10, 2014October 10, 2014 | 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.

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:

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

October 9, 2014October 11, 2014 | 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.

That said, I did manage to work to the next cable on my jumper

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

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Diary of a Design: Actual Knitting, Day 1

October 8, 2014October 8, 2014 | Elanor

Well actually, I started knitting it on Friday, but decided to frog back yesterday.

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.

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!
These are just the ones I had handy!