Actual knitting content (gasp!)

This has been one crazy week. I’ve got two books in the works, and have been working on ordering yarns, categorizing designs and writing up basic pattern concepts so my test knitters can sign up for work, getting Stitch Cleveland’s website up and running, sending previews of my next book to the people who will write the back-cover blurbs and wow, once in a while, actually knitting!

The knitted bit you see here is one of my experiments. I had a lot of leftover Cascade Eco Wool from a different project and wanted to see if I could fix a particular sleeve issue I have with certain top-down sweaters using ribbing. Another problem I have is completing the body of a sweater but leaving the sleeves for ages. Seriously, I have at least two sweaters that are completely knit except for the sleeves, including my book tour sweater and an luscious apple green Malabrigo number. So I did the sleeves in their entirety before knitting anywhere below the bust.

I’m liking it so far, especially the overdyed Eco Wool you can’t see in this photo. There’s a deep red shade of Eco Wool (I want to say it’s 7098, but I can’t find the ball band right now). Although it’s a lovely color, it wasn’t quite right on me, so I overdyed it with an indigoish blue. The resulting multi-shaded deep plum yarn looks very cool with the grey.

Of course I had to spot this today, just as I’ve been dreaming up a painted warp idea to use with my Knitter’s Loom. Hmm. Wha I should do is develop a new class for Stitch Cleveland using the Loom and then I can excuse myself for playing…

So anyway, back to the knitting. I wanted to knit this sweater up and if it did what I thought it would, release the pattern to my readers. But a magazine indicated interest, so until I know whether or not they’re going to take it, I’m not going to reveal more for now.

However, a few things learned: if you’ve got a big bust or really athletic shoulders and top-down raglans always end up a little floppy in the sleeve on you, ribbing ribbing ribbing is the answer. Also, Eco Wool has a grain. It really does matter what direction you’re going in as you knit — the ribbing looks totally different on either side of the fabric thanks to that “grain.”

Tagged with: Knitting