Nawhawhamo?
While most knitters are gearing up for Shannon's NaKniSweMo, I'm planning for NaNoWriMo again. I pulled out a win last year due to some great self-discipline and a healthy amount of planning both on my own and with the boyf. Also things like a new laptop without distracting crap on it and limited time to write helped.
This year, I don't have a job and my laptop is full of crap but I'm hopeful. The only trouble is, I can't remember what I was knitting last year. I know I allowed myself knitting time based on writing time but I can't remember what I was knitting, exactly. I blogged about the entire process on my other blog, but I didn't mention what I was knitting, not even once. Socks though. I know I'll be working on socks this year. And a sweater.
I'm working on a design for my Designing Your Perfect Sweater class at Serenity Knits and I think I'm swatching too much. Is there such a thing? Let's round up the culprits.
1. Standard stockinette stitch swatch to check for drape, stitch definition, etc. I later added an i-cord border in some charcoal handspun that I may or may not employ.
2. Cable swatch to determine how they look on the yarn. Bad.
3. Mock cable swatch to see how that looks with the yarn. Possible yoke candidate, top down. Bad.
4. Cobblestone-like bottom up garter stitch swatch. Decent.
5. Ribbed yoke, top down. Passable. Isn't finished and I'm working on reversing the shaping.
The class involves using a computer to spit out a pattern, which I have balked at. That's not really teaching you how to design your own sweater. That's teaching you how to take measurements, and then follow directions that someone else has given you. A real sweater design involves calculators and a spread of all of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books and no less than three issues of Interweave Knits for reference. And, maybe, counting stitches on pictures on the computer because that particular issue of Knitter's Magazine is no longer in print and not available for backorder.
But, every sweater is born differently. Yours might come fully formed out of a computer program. Mine come from pencil scribbles and haphazard diagrams.
Anyway, that's all you're going to be seeing of the sweater, because I have grand hopes of it turning out well and being submission material somewhere. It's not just a sweater, it's a swing coat.
I hope.
This year, I don't have a job and my laptop is full of crap but I'm hopeful. The only trouble is, I can't remember what I was knitting last year. I know I allowed myself knitting time based on writing time but I can't remember what I was knitting, exactly. I blogged about the entire process on my other blog, but I didn't mention what I was knitting, not even once. Socks though. I know I'll be working on socks this year. And a sweater.
I'm working on a design for my Designing Your Perfect Sweater class at Serenity Knits and I think I'm swatching too much. Is there such a thing? Let's round up the culprits.
1. Standard stockinette stitch swatch to check for drape, stitch definition, etc. I later added an i-cord border in some charcoal handspun that I may or may not employ.
2. Cable swatch to determine how they look on the yarn. Bad.
3. Mock cable swatch to see how that looks with the yarn. Possible yoke candidate, top down. Bad.
4. Cobblestone-like bottom up garter stitch swatch. Decent.
5. Ribbed yoke, top down. Passable. Isn't finished and I'm working on reversing the shaping.
The class involves using a computer to spit out a pattern, which I have balked at. That's not really teaching you how to design your own sweater. That's teaching you how to take measurements, and then follow directions that someone else has given you. A real sweater design involves calculators and a spread of all of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books and no less than three issues of Interweave Knits for reference. And, maybe, counting stitches on pictures on the computer because that particular issue of Knitter's Magazine is no longer in print and not available for backorder.
But, every sweater is born differently. Yours might come fully formed out of a computer program. Mine come from pencil scribbles and haphazard diagrams.
Anyway, that's all you're going to be seeing of the sweater, because I have grand hopes of it turning out well and being submission material somewhere. It's not just a sweater, it's a swing coat.
I hope.
posted by Janis at 5:30 PM
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