Browsing Tag

knit

Knitting

Knitting: Finstrikket by Helga Isager

October 16, 2014

I have a “Project Inspiration” board on Pinterest that I’ve been building for awhile now and kept noticing these gorgeous patterns by Helga Isager. I did some digging and ordered one of her books, Finstrikket. I received it in the mail yesterday and have barely put it down since. You would not believe how incredibly beautiful the patterns in this book are. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this enamored with a collection. Aside from the patterns, the photography is breathtaking. Ethereal women and children modeling the knitted garments, broken up by photos of tender scenery and macro shots of fiber. It is written completely in Danish, but I’m determined to translate it to English…I’m a quarter way through my first pattern translation and getting anxious to cast on.

If you’re not familiar with the talents of Helga, you should become acquainted very soon. 🙂

Knitting

Finished objects: Fort sweater for David

September 28, 2014

Earlier this year I knit my first adult sweater, which happened to be only the second thing I’d ever knit for myself. It was quite the project and precedented by much anxious anticipation. Well, I just finished my second sweater and this one was for my incredibly patient and deserving husband, David. He made sure I had time to work on this project too, entertaining Coltrane on more than one occasion. This is his first hand knit and he can’t believe how well it fits or how good it feels. I’ll give Brooklyn Tweed at least part of the credit for that. This pattern, Fort by Jared Flood is incredibly thorough and the design so well executed. David’s new phrase is “every time I wear this it feels like a thousand little hugs from you”. Pretty special.

This sweater project was part of two KAL’s (knit-alongs) one started by Annie Rowden and Karen Templer, deemed the #knittingforhimalong and the other “Summer Sweater KAL” started by Very Shannon. This, along with David’s excitement was enough motivation to keep momentum. It’s been a lot of fun to keep up with all the projects other folks have knit as a part of the KAL’s.

And so it’s come to my attention that I am now a full-time sweater knitter. All the sweaters, all the time. I’ve since started two others, which I’ll be sharing here shortly. It’s a serious addiction, encouraged by incredible fiber and new exciting patterns.

Here are some photos David and I took tonight. As lovely as they are, don’t be fooled, these were not taken in some ethereal backwoods in the celebration of Fall. No, they were taken at the dog park across the street from our apartment, in downtown SF in 70 degree weather. With a grumpy toddler strapped to my back and waning daylight. And that red cup? It’s whiskey. Peace.

jared flood fort sweater david yousling

jared flood fort sweater david yousling

jared flood fort sweater david yousling

jared flood fort sweater david yousling

Knitting

New Knitting Pattern: Winston the Walrus

September 3, 2014
winston the walrus

A lot of very exciting things have been happening these past few months, one of which I’ll share now, the rest I’ll share over the coming weeks. This past week I released my very first knitting pattern, Winston the Walrus as a part of a new collaborative brand Little Woolens, created by myself and Annie Rowden (more to come on this later). I am over the moon about this, as in my own little world it’s quite the feat. Despite this particular pattern being small and simple, the process of writing it was quite involved. I am such a newbie at this, that my recount of the process will amuse some, but hopefully those who haven’t yet written a pattern or have just begun will find it as encouragement!

winston the walrus

I first started on Winston last Fall as an idea for a gift. I couldn’t find any cute little Walrus patterns so I sat down, sketched out what I imagined he would look like and then got the graph paper out. I essentially made a chart, showing increases and decreases, where the face would be sewn and so on. This chicken scratch chart was a perfect starting point. I knew I wanted him knit in the round, but with a sort of flat-like body…with a front and a back, and fins sewn to either side. So I cast-on and took notes as I went along, writing the instructions round by round. In my over-confident mind I thought “Well, I’m pretty much done”. Wrong, so wrong. Hah!

Poor little Winston sat in my project bag for several months. Annie and I began building Little Woolens and soon realized that Winston would be a perfect fit for our first pattern release. I began knitting another Winston, this time following my previously documented instructions, making edits along the way. I sent Annie the “pattern” to review. She has been doing this far longer than I and was more than gracious as she helped edit the pattern and taught me as we went along. So many important details and thought go into writing patterns.

After the numerous edits, I hired a tech editor to review the pattern. Before this experience I hadn’t been familiar with tech editing. It’s invaluable and I have come to believe that for anyone serious about writing knitting patterns, they should make the investment. It’s reasonably priced and a quick google search will tell you everything you need to know about hiring a tech editor.

Another valuable step in the pattern writing process is test knitting. Test knitters come in all shapes and sizes as do the specific needs for them. Because of the general simplicity of this pattern, I opened it up to anyone who was willing to test and announced it on my Instagram. I had several volunteers and sent them the pattern along with a basic questionnaire about how the pattern worked for them, etc. The response was really great and the test knitting process found a few things that needed further clarifying in the pattern. Aside from the obvious testing of the pattern, test knitters help build community and generate excitement around your design.

Annie and I worked on a template for our Little Woolens patterns and after taking updated photos the pattern was officially done. I worked to setup my Ravelry designer page and we released him last week to much encouragement!

You can find the pattern here.

Right now we’re working on several other patterns for the upcoming launch of Little Woolens. Stay tuned for more exciting updates and thank you to all who helped and encouraged, you’re amazing!

Here are a few Winston’s people have been working on…

tolt yarn and wool winston the walrus

home sweet homestead winston the walrus

 

little bobbins winston the walrus

 

NeigedeLouAnge winston the walrus

 

by annie claire winston the walrus

 

From top-bottom: @toltyarnandwool / @homesweethomestead / @littlebobbins / @NeigedeLouAnge / @byannieclaire