Indie Gift-A-Long 2017

It's time once again for the Indie Gift-A-Long, an annual coordinated sale and KAL by indie designers. As always, you can save 25% on any patterns in the GAL with promo code giftalong2017 through 11:59pm EST on 11/28. Of course I have a selection of designs available in the sale:

But enough about me--you already know I exist, because you're here! The GAL is all about community: designers supporting designers, knitters supporting indie designers, and so on. Here are some of my favorite GAL picks that I'm contemplating adding to my queue.

Knit Me With Your Best Shot by Mary Annarella. I had the pleasure of trying this sample on at a trunk show and it was gorgeously flattering. I am definitely feeling pullovers more than cardigans this year (forever cold club!) and I think this classic style would work well in my wardrobe. However, I don't think I have any stash suitable for this and I'm trying to use up a good chunk of my stash before I buy any new sweater quantities.

Rib Run by Jennifer Dassau. This simple cable and ribbed hat is super appealing to me. I already have an extensive hat collection, but there's always room for one more, right? Most of my hats are worked in hand-dyed yarns, and this looks like a good excuse to play with a beautiful solid color.

Calentito by Kristen Jancuk. These adorbale slipper socks have been in my queue since the day they were released, so I'm definitely snapping this one up! I have quite the stash of sock yarn and some partial skeins, both of which will be perfect to use up in several pairs of Calentitos. 

Wheatly Socks by Kerri Blumer. Can you tell that I really, really need to knit more socks? I would love to have an overflowing handmade sock drawer, and a long-term goal of mine has been to work on knitting more socks! I love this simple textural stitch pattern, it would be perfect for some subtle semi-solid skeins I have.

I'd love to hear what you're stocking up on during the Indie GAL and what project you're planning to cast on first!

My Fall 2017 Making List

If you missed the concept and explanation of my Making List, you can check out my first post for more details. Essentially, it's a way for me to focus my energies on the projects that are most important to me and feel less scattered/overwhelmed about my making.

The following items from my original Making List have been completed or cast on:

1. Saturday Matinee Socks - finished
2. Rainbow Leyburn Socks - finished, but as a different pair of socks that I started!
3. Lopi Pullover - cast on
4. Fen Dress - finished
5. Watson Bra - finished
6. Wiksten Tank 2 - failed, but attempted before throwing in the towel!

I also practiced my spinning with some fiber from my stash.

Since my priorities are shifting with the seasonal change, along with my current break from design work, I've updated my Making List to reflect my focus for fall. 

WIPS

1. Lopi Pullover
2. Fibre Co Stripey Raglan - this is a carryover WIP from the first list
3. Charlemont Thermal - another carryover

Stripey Raglan vs Lopi Pullover

I am hibernating my Miss Babs Cardigan design WIP for now, since it's not grabbing my attention. But it's there when I want it!

CAST ON

1. Bonnie Banks Shawl for my mom, in Blue Moon BFL Sport
2. Speckled Space Socks, using one of my stash sock yarns
3. Impromptu - but only after finishing at least one garment from the WIP list!

SPIN

1. White British Wool - I destashed the yarn I was planning on using for the Brookdale Vest, which was originally in my last CO list. I'm hoping to spin this into a Brookdale-suitable yarn!
2. Spun Right Round Merino
3. Malabrigo Nube

SEW

1. 2nd Watson Bra
2. Flannel shirt for Mark
3. Serger projects, if I can get over my fears and teach myself how to use my serger!

In addition to my original Making List 'rules', I have added these two for fall:

1. Cast on for new items after finishing the previous object in that category. IE, finish a garment before casting on a new one; finish a portable accessory before casting on a new one. Same principle for starting spinning and sewing projects. 
2. Use stash for everything possible. In this case, I had to purchase a second skein of BFL Sport for my mom's shawl (to go with one from my stash), and I'll need to buy fabric for Mark's flannel shirt. But everything else I have stashed!

A Tale of Two Socks

Last post, I told you about my making list and the projects on it. Here's to my first FO from that list, the Saturday Matinee Socks!

I started these last summer and was about halfway through the first sock...so while it obviously took me a long time to get BACK to this project, once I buckled down I was able to crank them out pretty quickly. I don't consider myself a huge sock knitter, though I like all the pairs I've made so far. Mostly I have other things I want to make more! But I'm totally a convert to shortie ankle-style socks now, getting rid of the leg made such a difference in being able to finish these before I got bored.

I was still in the sock groove once I finished these, so I picked up the other pair of socks on my making list, Leyburn. Spoiler alert: They are no longer Leyburns!

I really love how the slipped stitch design on the Leyburns works with yarns like this--which, by the way, I dyed myself during a dying session with the Kangaroo Dyer once! I just could. not. stand. the Leyburn stitch pattern, and as pretty as it looks, I'm no longer interested in making things when the process is unbearable. Partly for practical reasons (if I hate making it, I'm not going to make it and it will never get finished) and partly because I'm learning more and more that I need to enjoy the act of making as much as I enjoy the having of the finished object. 

Instead of continuing with a sock I didn't enjoy making, I ripped back to the toe and did a simple, toe-up vanilla stockinette sock. The pooling is kind of meh (I wasn't interested in playing around with my gauge a whole bunch to fix that) but they're cheerful and I'm happy to have settled on a pattern I can actually finish. Hopefully I can do something fun with the leftovers, like stripe it with white in a different pair to avoid the pooling. KNIT ALL THE SOCKS!

My Making List

I recently discovered The Craft Sessions and fell down the rabbit hole of her Stash Less blog post series. Ever since I stopped working at Webs, my yarn consumerism has been way down and even before I left there, I was starting to be more mindful about my stash. I've done several purges of yarn, leaving me with a full yarn cabinet (rather than an overflowing one!) of prized skeins that I'd like to work though over the next few years. Coupled with my new budget, my eye is on using what I have and working on projects I've been pondering for awhile rather than heading off into new directions.

Thus, I decided to follow her challenge of creating a Making List. I'm leaving myself free to remove items from this list if I decide it no longer appeals to me, but if I want to add new things to the making list, I need to have completed something or removed something in its place. Note that this isn't my dreaming, wishful thinking list, but rather projects that I am committed to making because I already own the materials and in the case of some, they're already in progress. Designs for self-publishing are included, but contracted third-party obligations are not.

WIPS

1. Miss Babs cardigan (design in progress)
2. Fibre Co Stripey Raglan
3. Saturday Matinee Socks--a finished FO as of Sunday night! Currently blocking.
4.  Rainbow Leyburn Socks
5. Charlemont Thermal

The cardigan will be set aside shortly as I have a sweater design I need to start working on. #2 just needs sleeves! Items 3 through 5 are long-standing WIPs, and I'm excited to close those projects out. I am definitely going to finish the Leyburn Socks, but I might change my mind on the thermal and rip it instead--need to dig that one out and take a long, hard look at it!

CAST ON

1. Brookdale Vest
2. Lopi Pullover
3. Anzula Ava Set (design idea)

I have the yarn for all three of these, and the patterns for 1 & 2 to boot!

SPIN

1. Romney fleece
2. White British wool
3. Spun Right Round fiber
4. Malabrigo Nube.

Spinning is the most long-term of the categories, and I do need to get back into my spinning groove with some practice before tackling these fibers, especially the fleece. I'll likely do some practice spins with stash fiber I have expressly set aside for that purpose. In all honest, I'm not anticipating getting to spinning until the fall, or at least until I finish my current sewing list as that is more important to me.

SEW

1. Fen Dress
2. Watson Bra
3. Wiksten Tank 2
4. Serger projects

'Serger projects' in this case refers to the stash of knit fabric I have and any possible projects I want to do with it. I've been thinking of some jogger-style pants, pajama shorts for lounging around the house, and a casual tee or two. But first I need to learn how to use my serger!

Here are my tentative rules for the near future:

1. Projects in the Making List take priority over random flights of fancy. (Exceptions: Any design obligations, duh.)
2. $50/month budget for craft supplies. For now, I see that going to patterns and notions rather than yarn or fabric since I have a good stash to work from. I can roll any unspent $ over from month-to-month if I want to save up for something bigger than $50.
3. If I'm avoiding a Making List project or not enjoying it--frog mercilessly, give away to a friend to finish, whatever, but no wasting time on things I don't love.

It may seem weird to put this much effort and structure into my hobbies, but I feel SO MUCH better for having done this. Getting my ideas out of my head and onto paper has cleared up brain space and made me decide what is actually a priority to me. I love having a good plan and I'm excited to get more crafting done the rest of this year! If you made a Making List, what would be on yours?

My Favorite FO of 2016: Tinder

This was a long-haul kind of knit, but SO WORTH IT! I started it in January 2016 and finished on December 31st. 

Tinder has been one of my dream wardrobe pieces since it first came out. I stashed the yarn for it back in...2012 I think? It's Valley Yarns Greenwich, which was a limited edition run of 2-ply wool. It's a little too heavy for this design but I forced that round peg into a square hole! By purposely knitting it at a different gauge, that is. You can read more about that from my post when I started the project.

So as a knitting designer, why knit other people's patterns? Certainly I have enough of my own work I could focus on. Andrea Rangel calls this 'professional development' and she is SPOT. ON. Jared Flood packed lots of tricks into this that I would have never thought of on my own, like seaming the raglan seams with a half-stitch seam allowance so you wind up with a single stockinette stitch delineating those lines. I also like to see how other people write and layout their patterns.

I continued to follow the sage advice of Karen Templer and made damn sure everything was to my satisfaction with this baby. That included such fun as seaming the sides twice, when I didn't like my first go at it, and unseaming the raglan seams to reknit the sleeve caps with a different rate of decreases when they pulled too much across my shoulders the first time. It was maddening but utterly, completely, worth it. 

I love this sweater. I think I've worn it at least once a week since finishing it, which is really noteworthy for me. The combination of this, plus my EmSweWeMo experiment has made me so much more aware of what I'll actually wear. There are several pieces I planned to keep that now I think I'll offer up in a future sweater auction because clearly I need more easy going long cardigans in my life. GAME CHANGER.

Two Unexpected FOs

In the midst of my crazy work schedule, I somehow managed to carve out the time to finish two entirely selfish projects!

First up is Laurus by Dianna Walla, a most excellent colorwork hat. I was tapped to do a Valley Yarns Colrain review video at work (well, I was asked what yarn I would want to review and I chose Colrain) and needed to have a Colrain project on the needles for it. I wanted something simple that I could bang out fast and that used 2 or more colors to show off a fun color pairing. I'm obsessed with this sienna, clay, orangey-red color. It's the same I used in my Kitsunetsuki Cardigan sample! A pop of blue gave it just the right contrast. I'm getting a New England collegiate preppy vibe from this, though don't ask me why! These colors will be right at home in my fall wardrobe though, and Colrain is always a pleasure to work with.

And I finally finished a stagnant spinning project! Two events dovetailed to inspire me to get back to my wheel. The first was that while shooting the Colrain video at my house, Lindsey was looking at my stash and well, made me feel a little bashful about all that I have, especially the often-forgotten fiber. The second was that last weekend was the annual Webs Tent Sale. Saturday is the one day everyone is required to work, and it's also the day that local farmers and artists sell their wares in the parking lot as part of the Fleece Market. Did I want to buy fiber at the Fleece Market? Yes. Have I spun the fleece or the batt I bought at last year's Fleece Market? .....No! Before I can start spinning that fleece, I needed to clear my bobbin and this was half-spun.

It's a Frabjous Fibers Three Feet of Sheep pack, 70% BFL/30% Tussah Silk in the limited edition colorway Autumn Leaves. Originally I split all the bumps in half planning to do a 2-ply gradient spin, but a) got lazy when I finished the first half and b) forgot what order I had spun them in. Oops. So I called it as-is, and I have about 732 yards of a fingering to laceweight yarn here (mostly thinner, but some parts are fingering weight thickness.) I've been enjoying knitting with singles yarn lately anyway, and I think I'll experiment with the second half the fiber. Maybe learn to Navajo ply or something! I'm really excited to see how this knits up, but I'm forcing myself to finish some existing projects first before I can cast on...

Yarn Porn: Chester Farms Pride of the Flock

One of the many perks of working in a yarn store is we all put our destashes up for grabs in the kitchen, which is how I wound up yesterday with 9 skeins of this:

Oh HELL yes! That beauty is Chester Farms Pride of the Flock. According to Ravelry it's discontinued, and Chester Farms rebranded to Cestari. It's made in the United States which is an extra bonus! I'm finding as time goes on, I am appreciating more and more these natural, woolly, old school yarns. Of course I still love me some hand dyed superwash, but this type of yarn just FEELS like sheep. I like sheep.

The label only gives the weight of the skeins, but if Ravelry's database is correct I have 1890 yards to play with in color Dark Opal. I'm thinking a gorgeous cabled textural oversized sweater from Brooklyn Tweed. Going clockwise from top left: Cordova, Larus, Stonecutter & Ondawa.

Fall sweater goals! Just got to finish my Tinder before I can allow myself to cast on for another selfish sweater project aka professional development.

Hat Addict

Did you ever read this book as a kid, Caps for Sale?

Hats are like potato chips...or M&Ms...or other easily poppable snack foods. They're quick to knit, low-commitment, and a satisfying way to try a technique, style or color you don't want to commit to in a sweater. My coworkers and I were talking recently about how many hats we have. No matter how many we knit, there are still more hat patterns in our queue! I decided to photograph my hat collection today and I felt like the man in the illustration above when I pulled them out of their drawer.

This & successive photos taken with my Nikon D3200

I decided to take things one step further and lay them out in order from oldest to newest, starting at the top row and moving from left to right. Let's meet the gang!

Top Row, L to R

• Gretel by Ysolda Teague in Malabrigo Worsted: Ysolda was one of the first designers I found online once I learned how to knit, and Malabrigo was the first 'cult' yarn I'd ever read about. I hadn't discovered any local yarn stores at that point, so I ordered it from the internet not realizing how the hand-dyed color would look knit up. I was also too lazy to block it over a plate for a beret shape like Ysolda suggests, so it's a sad, awkward beanie instead.
• Grace Lace Beret by Loop Knits in Adrienne Vittadini Martina (I think): I found this yarn in the warehouse at Webs. Like Gretel, I failed to block it properly so it's a weird and unflattering shape.
• Acorns by Melissa LaBarre in Madelinetosh Vintage: I made this right after I started working at Webs. Melissa worked there at the time and I remember being awestruck that I knew a famous designer! She gifted me this pattern which I thought was so cool of her. This was at the beginning of my Madelinetosh craze. I had just bought enough Tosh DK & Tosh Vintage for two sweater projects but wanted a smaller Tosh project right away. I purposely didn't block it because I love the nubbly texture.
• Brambles Beret by Amanda Muscha in Berroco Ultra Alpaca held with Rowan Kidsilk Haze: I started noticing my coworkers knitting 'normal' yarns held together with Kidsilk Haze and I loved the soft halo effect. I chose my favorite shade of pea green!

First Middle Row, L to R

• Ida's Kitchen by Kirsten Kapur in Madelinetosh Sport: I had started to get really into Ravelry at this point, and joined a Madelinetosh group. We wound up doing a swap for this hat where each person bought a skein of sport, broke it up into mini skeins and sent it to other people in the group. I got to try all kinds of colors I had never seen in person before!
• Little Whiskers Hat by Kirsten Hipsky in Valley Yarns Greenwich: My very first pompom :) This hat got famous in the Sh*t Knitters Say video!
• Free Cecily Hat by Emma Welford in Cascade 220 Sport: Ah, the beginnings of my design career. I was so proud of myself for making up my own cable panel for that hat.
• Striated by Emma Welford in Malabrigo Chunky: Another early design. This was the first pattern that I worked with Lindsey on (my current & forever, ride or die photographer), and the first time I did my own pattern layout. I've tweaked my layout style a little since then but it's still the same basic format!

Second Middle Row, L to R

• Wolfbait by Alex Tinsley in Schachenmayr Bravo Big Color: Free yarn, free pattern, enough said. Alex looked SO COOL in her hat photos but I looked SO DUMB wearing this myself, so I don't actually wear it.
• Rhinebeck Bus Hat in Berroco Lodge: I knit this on the bus to Rhinebeck one year and made the pattern up as I went. I wear this one a ton, even though it's plain. The color goes with a lot of my wardrobe and the amount of slouch is perfect.
• Goshen by Amanda Keep Williams in Berroco Brio: Technically I did not knit this exact hat. My best friend Kerry and I did a hat swap. She knit this Goshen for me, and I knit her Goshen in the colorway of choice, then we swapped! But since I don't have a photo of her hat, this is the closest we're going to get.
• Tamborim by Emma Welford in Gynx Merino DK: From my yarn & pattern club collaboration with Gynx Yarns. I love Laura's yarns, they're so great to work with. My only regret on this one is that I didn't do a bigger pompom. Maybe some day I will make a new one for it!

Bottom Row, L to R

• Random made-up hat in handspun from Etsy: I bought this handspun before I learned how to spin. I tried making legwarmers from it and that didn't work out. I frogged and made this hat, but I was so impatient I didn't really do a proper gauge swatch and the hat got super big when I blocked it. I need to rip this out, un-kink the yarn and give it the respect it deserves!
• Shock Star Slouch by Emma Welford in Spun Right Round Squish DK: I love this hat. One of my current favorites.
• Equal Measure (hat only) by Emma Welford in Anzula For Better or Worsted: Sensing a trend in my hat making as of late? All designs!
• Fidra by Gudrun Johnston in Valley Yarns Valley Superwash Bulky: So this was a not-on-purpose knit. We were doing a Superwash Bulky review video at work and wanted a hat to be worn in it, but there weren't any existing store samples. I volunteered to make Fidra since I secretly wanted to make it, but needed an excuse! I know, boo hoo hoo, life is hard. Forced to knit ;)

Of course, there are more hats I've knit over the years that aren't pictured. My first ever hats, hats I've given as gifts, or hats I've lost in some box somewhere and forgot about. And I know my little hat family will get bigger...there are always more hats to knit!

Gauge is Good (Or How to Properly Break the Rules)

It's my professional obligation as a designer to tell you that swatching is important because I want you to swatch. I want you to check your gauge when you knit one of my designs so your project comes out the size you want and you're a happy customer!

My work has changed my relationship with swatching. We designers have it pretty easy, in that any patterns we write are based on our own personal gauges. Once we have a fabric we like, we're golden! Let's go do some math! Knitting from other people's patterns (OPP from here on out), however, means I have to (or at least am supposed to) swatch for realsies. If my gauge doesn't match, I have to keep trying if I want to knit that pattern.

Such was the case with Tinder, my first planned OPP project of the year. I've had 11 balls of Valley Yarns Greenwich stashed away for...several years. A friend of mine on Ravelry gifted me the pattern in December 2013. You do the math!

Like a good, dutiful, knitter I started my merry swatching with a US 8 as called for in the pattern. I felt confident, and excited. Finally I would have my grey sweater I had been dreaming of! The swatch was....too big. Like 1 st PER INCH too big. I dropped down to size 7 needles and tried again. Still too big, but getting closer--16 sts over 4" vs the called-for 18 sts over 4". The fabric looked great, much better than on size 8's.

1st attempt on top, 2nd attempt on bottom

I was cranky at this point, though my troubles made sense. Shelter, the yarn called for in the pattern, is technically a worsted weight and Greenwich is technically a slightly thicker aran. Not really apples to oranges in my book....clementines to oranges?

I tried to be good and swatch once more on size 6 needles, but quit about 3 rows in when I realized I hated the knitting experience of using small-ish needles with that yarn. Ultimately, while I really really want my awesome grey sweater, I need to enjoy knitting it too!

So I wound up cheating and casting on for a smaller size than I would normally choose, because with my gauge on US 7's it will come out to be the size I want.

There is a way to do this with more certainty though, as opposed to just guessing. Don't guess, especially not with a garment!

I looked through the pattern and found the stitch counts of each piece at the bust area. I'm not going to list the actual numbers here to protect the integrity of the pattern, but for example, let's say each front was 30 sts for the smallest size and 60 sts for the back piece. Subtract 2 sts from each piece to account for seaming the sides together and picking up sts along the front for the button bands--28 and 58, respectively. 28 + 58 + 28 =114 sts. If the pattern gauge calls for say, 3 sts per inch, that would turn out to be 38" around. Add in a 1" buttonband and you've got a 39" finished bust measurement. But if your gauge is 3.5 sts per inch, you'd wind up with a 33.5" bust (32.5" body + 1" buttonband). Big difference! That's why gauge is so important.

While I would have aimed for the 34.25" size if I was on point with my gauge, with my new gauge I'm going to be following the directions for the 31.5" size. If my math is correct, I'll wind up with a 34.25" anyways, which will give me just enough ease with my 33" bust. Yay!

You can use this technique even if your gauge is on point, but maybe your personal measurements don't jive with the sizes offered. If it's a sweater worked in pieces and seamed, you can even combine pieces from different sizes to get a custom size, like following the directions for size M for the cardigan fronts and size L for the cardigan back. Some adjustments might need to be made in length-based areas, like the body length of the piece or the armhole depth, since those measurements don't always stay consistent over multiple sizes. You'll just have to make some design choices and maybe rework some increase or decrease sections to fit your new franken-garment. If you're used to modifying patterns, you have the skills to tackle this technique!