It’s been on my mind to post, as I know it’s been over a month. Time flies when you’re dealing with a lot!
I have 4 samples done for the next design series (2 hats, 1 tam, and 1 sweater), with a minimum of 6 more to knit. I’m at that point in the design process where I need to work on the pattern notes and begin getting it all written up.
Every designer surely has their own way of approaching the process. I tend to swatch, make basic notes, make working charts, then begin knitting, adding to the notes as I go. Before beginning further samples, I usually need to pause, as I like to then get much of the pattern written up, and the charts finalized. Formatting, editing, and proofing continue for quite awhile, whilst I knit up further samples, until I feel the pattern presents all the necessary info as clearly and as organized as possible. Then, there are the photos to take and edit, then get the whole shebang uploaded to 4 sites, then do the minimal marketing I do.
And therein lies my current situation. I’m at that pause phase in the process, where I need to get all the details written up, but I can’t get to it right now. Hubby’s health has thrown us yet more painful curve balls (the poor guy is falling apart at the seams), that began mid-November. Two months later, the issues are still unresolved, so it’s been stressful, looking after him, and taking up the slack, doing his chores as well as mine, and now I also have the taxes to prep for the accountant. He does what little he can, but his pain and unsteadiness is very limiting.
Like many, if not most, women I have a lot of responsibilities, leaving not as much calm creative time as I would definitely prefer, esp. at my age! Although I’ll be 66 in a few months, I don’t think of myself as old and ready to retire to a rocking chair! I take very good care of this body, as it’s the only one there is!, but this, too, takes time and mindful effort, from waking to bedtime.
All this notwithstanding, I still need to knit, especially in the evening, after dinner and my shower, whilst I de-stress. And right now, the simpler the better. So, I pulled out a simple garter stitch shawl with built-in I-cord that I began months ago, then tucked into a drawer whilst I knit on design samples.
I’ve pulled out 4 stitch dictionaries to find the right edging, but the person I will be giving it to loved the bobble and sawtooth edging on the adaptation I knit of Susan Mills’ ‘Highland Fling’, so I may use it again on this shawl.
Unlike most scarves I’ve seen that begin at one skinny end, which then increases to a wider middle, then decreases down to the other skinny end, this one begins at the center bottom. If one increases just one st at the beg of each row, it makes a deeper, less wide shawl, unless, of course, one keeps going. If one increases one st at *both* the beg and end of every row, it creates width more quickly.
I am using 1 strand each of a DK wt. superfine merino with a fingering wt. 100% baby alpaca, on US size 10 (6mm) ndls, so that the garter stitch isn’t too dense. A bit of drape in a shawl is a good thing!
In case you’d like to knit a similar shawl or scarf, this is how I began, inc’g just at the beg of rows:
Long Tail CO 3 sts, turn.
Row 1: (K1, M1) 2x, k1 = 5 sts, turn.
Row 2: (K1, M1)2x, yfwd, slip the last 3 sts purlwise = 7 sts, turn.
Row 3: K3 I-cord sts, M1, k1, yfwd, slip the last 3 sts purlwise = 8 sts, turn.
Row 4: K3 I-cord sts, M1, k2, yfwd, slip the last 3 sts purlwise = 9 sts, turn.
Row 5: K3 I-cord sts, M1, k3, yfwd, slip the last 3 sts purlwise = 10 sts, turn.
Continue until you have your desired width and depth, then BO in Attached I-cord.
If you have more foresight that I, CO with a long enough tail, so you can graft together the 2 I-cord edges at the tip. I would do this especially if *not* adding an edging.
I plan on then CO sts for the edging and working a perpendicular join at the end of EOR. I’ll post pics as I progress with it!
Now to go drizzle the orange icing I made onto the orange cake that I baked today, using freshly juiced and zested oranges! Good food at least takes his mind off his issues for a bit.
Onward!
Dawn
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