knit and tonic

Behind the Scenes

I always wonder what goes into designing a garment.

For me, it's all about knitting something for myself and up- or down-sizing it. Of course, I've learned to study the charts and I've realized that arms and body lengths don't always go up in increments matching the increments for the bust, but generally speaking, most of the time I don't know what the heck I'm up to.

And I figure, shoot, if you've got big new ones and skinny arms--and you can knit--you won't be calling me inept if your sleeves fit a bit loosely.

Beyond all the charts and stuff, though, I've been wondering why designing knitwear is so rigid? Is it just me? Am I too loose-y goose-y?

Kinda like when I have a recipe I make over and over. HWWV will make dinner once in awhile and want to make my recipe and then when he asks me how long it needs to stay in the oven, I'll say, "Until it's done."

Or, if he asks me how much salt to add, I say, "Taste it. Does it need any?"

So I'm feeling weird lately. I'm feeling like maybe, in my patterns, I leave too much to the knitter. That maybe my telling you to try something on as you go is too much to ask; so I'm worrying.

But if I didn't ask you to do that, would you end up, in the end, with a sweater that doesn't fit? And isn't making a successful modification so your garment fits you "just right" a joy?

But anyway. Behind the scenes stuff. This is one of the photos HWWV took when we stopped at a winery on our way home from the Bay Area this past weekend.

If you look closely, you'll see Girlfriend handing her auntie a diaper (while auntie is trying hard to stand stick straight like I asked her to).

*Yeah, you got it right: Girlfriend still isn't potty trained*

BTW: The design team over at the Garter Belt started a team blog. You can find it here.

Running from the Fashion Police

Yeah, I already heard the news about the poncho.

But what do you do if you find a nifty pattern and you have the perfect hemp yarn for it? What do you do if the hemp is in a fantastic shade of avocado and you have a little Lucky Brand camisole that would work perfectly?

I don't know. Sometimes I wish the fashion police would allow an infraction every once in awhile. I also wish that my personal style would somehow overshadow the norms of the day, kind of like Jackie-O. She wore those huge sunglasses well after they looked cool on your everyday housefrau.

Plus, no one ever told Julia Child to stop the perming action. (Come to think of it, I don't think anyone told grandma to stop the perming action, either. I guess if she did, the hair would lay all over the place and then she'd have to go to the parlor more often and have someone tease the stuff to death.)

Okay. So that's a bad example. I suppose I'd rather be known for something sensational and classic like a Chanel jacket. I don't think I'd want to go down in history as a poncho-wearing middle-aged woman who has a heck of a time getting her gray hair to look a reasonable shade of blonde.

Still. I want to knit this poncho. And it's not like it's one of the triangular types. There isn't any fringe, and the instructions say I can put in a picot edging just in case I want to wear it "slung low on the hips" as a cover-up. (Oh, I think I must have lost my mind. But it's in hemp! I love the hemp!)

Speaking of cover-ups. I added a link on the right sidebar to a freebie the Design Team at the Garter Belt put together. Wendy gave us a stitch pattern and we made up three individual patterns for wraps. I think it's pretty cool and the stitch pattern is beautiful on both sides of the fabric, so it is perfect for any kind of wrap you can think of. You could probably even make a poncho, heh heh.

BTW: The yarn at the top is from kpixie. It's some new Japanese cotton and I can't wait to test it out. I'm thinking of combining it with some Allhemp3 for a little lacy top for Girlfriend. I'll use the Herbs cotton for some trim. The hand-dyed sock yarn over here is from Mama-E (C*Eye*Ber Fiber). She asked me what Girlfriend's colors were, and this is what she sent. I love it and am searching for the perfect item to make...but something she won't grow out of right away. Maybe do a felted item?

complaints, trains and automobiles

it's all about the green even when you want to catch the 11:32 a.m. train on a Friday and wait and wait for your romantic, but fun and long (and you can drink wine) train experience for an extra hour or two.

then, it finally arrives late and you discover the wine is twelve bucks and what's up with that.

and all the delays. and all the carnival shawl motifs that have to be done. the misti alpaca in a fab green is in your bag, too, "just in case," so you opt for that, instead. in no time flat, (after maybe eleven hours of train travel and enduring a guy at the table in front of you in the lounge car who is so disgusted with the delays that he is doing leg lifts in his booth and singing broadway tunes) you finish a wonderful, soft scarf. of course, the Train Boss decided to show a naked movie at the same time in the Lounge Car but oh well, girlfriend was facing the "wrong" way and we needed to play some cards to pass the time.

grandma was good on her 90th. i was surprised when she mistook me for one of The Triplets (we have triplets in our family...of course, they're in their late 60's now, but what the heck). I did take off my new glasses and she figured it all out, though. and then i reminded her that she was the one who taught me to knit and that knitting is almost the best thing that ever happened to me. she giggled and said she couldn't remember to cast off. but she did say she remembered a sweater that she made for herman, my grandpa, whose name wasn't really herman and we called him that anyway; he was the one who sculpted all the nudes. she said that so many people told her how nice it was even though she "fiddled" with the neckline, and no one guessed it was homemade. i told her she must have escaped that boyfriend/husband sweater curse and wouldn't you know, at 90, she nodded at me and said, "woudn'tcha know we were married forever, anyway?"

long story short, and probably my least favorite saying ("long story short") the train was delayed by four hours today and we--HWWV, my sister, girlfriend, and i--decided it wasn't worth all the twelve-dollar wine in the world, the naked movies or a misplaced French guy doing leg lifts in the booth next to you in the lounge car. it just wasn't worth it, after all.

so, thank you Hertz Rental Cars. And thank you to beautiful California. I always say we want to move away but then you make me fall in love with you again. Don't you know your slopes and trees and grape leaves look like the green that's in my heart these days? (...even though that Carnival Shawl is weighing heavy on my mind?)

Trains, the Carnival Shawl and Sexy Knitters

Well, we're off to see my grandma this weekend and we're taking the train. That's nine whole hours of trainride. That seems long, but I figure I can use the time to finish the Carnival Shawl motifs. Actually, I had no intention to finish that thing until I absolutely had to, but if I only have 8 more of the motifs to do, why not crank them out while gazing out at the coast of California?

I might as well try the ol' Pavlovian Response Trick, too and see if I come back from the long haul loving the Carnival Shawl Motif action. Sounds like a crap shoot, but did you know that on trains you can drink wine?

I figure you start with a long ride up the coast on a sunny day, add a few sips of wine and a bit of the nasty shawl and that nasty shawl won't be as nasty.

Something's been heavy on my mind for awhile. It's the Somewhat Cowl. I've been watching the gals over at the Sexy Knitter's Club work on it and a bunch of them are trying it on as they go and having to shorten the raglan length so it fits as snugly as they want it to.

When I designed it, I followed a standardized chart for raglan depths and I'm thinking that whoever that standard was meant for wasn't your basic, everyday sexy knitter.

The good thing is, a blogging friend who happens to be knitting it up in one of the larger sizes has had some recommendations, including shortening the raglan depth (thank you, Jody!). So, take a look at my sidebar, Pattern FAQ's, and see that I have new recommended raglan measurements for those of you who want their Somewhat Cowl to fit a bit tighter. After the weekend, I'll update the pattern and make sure that whoever wants it can get a copy. If I decide that the raglan depth and just a couple other things change, I'll offer an addendum.

Other news, When the new Knitty comes out, you'll have to visit their Covet Central section and click on the Garter Belt link. Us gals over at the Garter Belt have gotten together and worked up a one-stitch, three-ways to make a .... freebie. And yes, you get to see my behind, but what else in the world could I do to one-up my Flash Your Stash shot? (Just make sure you are wearing your beer goggles when you look at the pic.)

BTW: That up top? That's the Alchemy bamboo yarn that I got the other day. I've been trying to figure out what to do with it. The stitch is loosely based on one I saw in a Barbara Walker Stitch book. I don't want to make a scarf, but something along those lines would be nice.

Up to the Surface for a Breath

I tell you what: I don't know the first thing about making fashion predictions.

And even though I was probably the first girl to wear a maternity dress to class in seventh grade back during the days when seventh-graders normally didn't get pregnant, I am about 80 percent positive I'm the last gal to know what is hot and what is not.

Just know I belted the thing. And I didn't know it was a maternity dress until my mom nearly fainted when she spotted me in the get-up after school. (It was from a hand-me-down pile and I just thought it needed a belt, that's all.)

I used to know all that fashion stuff, I really did. But then the Mom Thing happened, and the mind went elsewhere. Instead, I turned my attention to diapers and baby lotions and stain-lifters and such. The good old things like margarita mixers and nail hardeners and the the latest slang somehow escaped me, and then poof! Five years, five years of fashion opportunities or feeling like being in the fold slipped by and I wonder how the heck I ever made it through.

I just met my friend who is 20 years my senior for coffee and we wondered together why the heck that cute checker at the grocery store doesn't realize that the conversation we just had with him was our biggest attempt at flirtation we've had in years. In our minds, we're yucking it up, but he just looks at us with bright eyes meant only for a mother.

And it isn't all about fashion, either. It's just that fashion seems to be partitioned, and it sort of labels you. It is there, over there, over that line over there. It is for someone other than how I am feeling at the moment, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Oh getting older. Losing it. Gaining other things that aren't valued by the masses. Inside, you know you haven't really changed all that much. You even see the same fresh person when you look in the mirror, but somehow everyone else seems to know the score.

But yarn. There's yarn. Yarn doesn't usually fool you. It's pretty easy to tell what will make you happy and what won't. It doesn't matter what it costs. Sometimes its the cheaper stuff that works just the way you want it to for the project. Sometimes it'll cost you dearly, and you choose the wrong application and blame it on the yarn. Other times, it's all about just buying it, full stop.

And I wonder why there are people who wonder why we buy all that yarn. I wonder why people wonder why we will buy a simple garment from a second-hand store and unravel it...for the yarn.

There's something about the yarn. About its promise. Yarn is young. Yarn is young whether it is recycled or brand new or from an old sheep. It is all about what it could be, what it was, and what it will be again. Dye it. Redye it. Knit it and then unravel it...

Top picture: Austermann Step with Aloe (at 18 bucks a pop, it better have more than aloe), Louet Sales Gems Opal in Pink Panther from lanasdelibelula.com, and Mama-E's C'Eye'Ber'Fiber Sock Yarn in Puppy Momma. Next picture: Euroflax Worsted Linen in Barberry Green and a cone of sport weight linen, both from lanasdelibelula.com; one ball of Alchemy bamboo; and Allhemp3 in Avocado from kpixie.com. Last Picture: Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton in Espresso from kpixie.com.

I'm thinking none of these will let me down. Apart from maybe the Austermann Sock Yarn. What's up with the price? Eighteen bucks? Eighteen bucks for a bit of aloe? Sheesh. I could get that in my backyard...

Boys Like That

There's nothing worse than a boy who whizzes past you and asks, over his shoulder, "Has anyone told you how beautiful you look today?" And when you say, "No..." he says, "Oh..."

There's nothing worse when he happens to be the boy you like and he's wearing nifty skates with shiny yellow wheels and looping around you right before Couple's Skate and you're certain he's going to ask you to join him when the time comes.

There's nothing worse when he goes and gets an ice cream one-half second before Couple's Skate is announced and hangs with his friends, instead. And when you settle for a skate with a lesser-flame, he sends you a wink from across the rink, a wink that unsettles your soul.

It's a good thing I didn't marry a boy like that.

Well this is my completed Green Gable. I love, love, love it. I surprised myself with the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. Even though the way the skein is wound sort of irritated me, the yarn itself is surprisingly resilient and the color is nice. The fit of the top is great and the only change I made--which was a minor one--was to add about an inch in length. I noticed, when I was steaming the living heck out of it with my steamer thing--that it grew a little bit more, so who knows how much was added between my fiddling and the steaming.

Thanks for all the comments about my Flash Your Stash photo. Although it was my idea, HWWV did it all. He even arranged the yarn, lugged a huge ladder up and down the stairs, and managed not to unravel anything or step on the Koigu or mush the Lorna's too much.

HWWV, he's such a pro, he didn't even drool.

Fad-Classic

I think I say this in the pattern notes, but the green part?  That's the fad part. Because, let's be real, there's no way that color green could sustain us for even a half-season. But for now, it is sensational. Honestly. It is simply great. (I even bought a fabulous green purse the other day. I'm using it as much as possible, because, well, you know, before I know it, POOF! Bye bye green. Hello purple! Hello yellow!...and so on.)

The classic part has to do with the vest. The vest has been with us for as long as the years will reveal and there are so many ways you can wear one. If you're cold, wear it under something like a nice linen jacket. If you're not, wear it over a t-shirt like the way I'm wearing mine. Or, go ahead and wear a camisole underneath. I designed it so your undergarment straps will be hidden.

The stitch pattern hints of "crochet," but it isn't. It is a simple, four-row/round repeat. Plus, the vest is knit from the top down, and in the round, so there are no seams. There aren't even any seams on the tops of the shoulders!

Difficulty:
Fad-Classic is perfect for an intermediate knitter. If you're an adventurous beginner who knows how to knit in the round and follow and incorporate a stitch pattern, go for it.

Sizes:
32(34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [1x, 2x, 3x]

Finished Sizes:
32(34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [46, 50, 54] inches

Gauge:
20 stitches to 4 inches in Pattern Stitch on US Size 6 Needles

Materials:
Tahki Cotton Classic (100% Mercerized Cotton; 50 gms=108 yds.) 5(5, 6, 7, 7, 7) [8, 8, 8] hanks
US Size 6 (4.25mm) Circular Needles
US Size 4 (3.5mm) Circular Needles

Click on the button below to buy a copy. It will be sent to you in a zipped PDF file via email. Thanks!

$5.50

 

Oh, Yarn.

Just a few of my favorites...(flash your stash, friends.)