Mission Impossible Indeed

I thought it was a cute idea to call the test knit for my new pattern 'Mission Impossible' because I was going to give my testers specific 'missions' based on their answers to a quesionnaire and the different options I needed tested. Little did I know that the process would live up to its name! My own life got crazy, and some of my testers had their own issues. The original deadline has been bumped twice and I barely met it myself :)

This is what gave me the idea for this new design - it's the beginning of Derecho.

I liked the minimalist look of a few stripes at one end, and thought it would be pretty paired with the edging I used on Merrywood.

This was the result of the merging of those two ideas:

While knitting what I called the 'Porch Shawl', I was thinking about other striping options for the center and other border options. This led to the 'Deck Shawl' -

and the 'Sailing Shawl' -

I was trying to think of a name while driving to Williamsburg to pick up my daughter. There's a huge drawbridge we cross that is a favorite spot for our family. The bridge's southern end is located at a tiny community called Jordan Point. Between all the houses on the river with porches and decks and the sailboats at the marina beside the bridge, Jordan Point seemed like a good name.

I'm still waiting to hear back from some testers on yardage, but hopefully this impossible mission will finally be completed!

A New Pattern and Some Thoughts on the Design Process

This is Derecho. I had originally named it ‘Fishbone’, but once again I changed it at the last minute. We experienced a Derecho here in Virginia last week while I was working on the 2nd knit of this pattern. I thought the lines were consistent with the definition of this type of storm – a line of sustained, straight-line winds at hurricane speeds.

I’ve had people ask how I come up with new designs, and sometimes I wonder myself, but I do have a theory. I am one of those people who immerse themselves in a new hobby. I call it serial obsession. First it was horses, then gardening, then quilting, and now knitting. For the last 10 years I have read everything I could find about knitting. I have knit All The Things (©Hyperbole and a Half). I have played with techniques and put my own spin on patterns. I have basically filled my brain with So Much Stuff and now I feel like I am reaping the benefits. All the information that I have crammed in my head has been shuffling around, grouping and re-grouping, and every now and then an idea just pops out. Three of my recent shawls – Fabergé, All the Shades of Truth, and Derecho - all seemed to come out of nowhere. Designing Fabergé was a process that took a few days, but the other two pretty much popped into my head fully formed. I just had to draw a picture and do the math. I probably spent 5 or 10 minutes on the sketch for each and worked from that. Very often one design is the starting point for another. Fabergé led to Enamored. City Block inspired All the Shades of Truth which sparked Derecho. Derecho inspired the design I am working on now. I have a long enough list of patterns I want to write to keep me busy for another year or so. Hopefully the ideas will keep coming and keep me going longer, but you never know! You have to make hay while the sun shines :)

Much thanks to my friend Vicki for helping me recover my lost post! Take that Blogger!

The final chapter of the great aunt trilogy

My grandmother had 5 sisters - Obeira, Emma, Frances, Aileen and Ardys. Her name was Della. Her brother's name was Aubrey. I was told their mother read a lot of novels hence all the cool names  :) My grandmother was born in 1889, just to give some context., Her middle name was Laura, and I am named after her. It's pretty easy to find odd-sounding names if you go back to those times, but I like that these names are different without being weird. Aileen, Ardys, and Obeira are pretty as well as being a bit unusual, so those are the names I chose for the 3 vests I designed. You know. In case you were wondering.  Today I listed the last of the trilogy on Ravelry - this is Obeira.

This is my favorite of the 3. I have worn it and the grey one I made a lot already. My daughter, who is also named after one of the aunts, has expressed interest in claiming the grey one herself. Maybe.

Timing is everything

I had the idea for my lastest design months ago, but had planned to work on it for a fall release. For some reason it demanded to be moved up in my design queue - I guess I had a craving for acres of garter stitch.
The initial inspiration was Praire style stained glass, but it reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings, and I did some research and had a name all picked out based on the name of a house he designed. I did all the math, decided on colors, ordered yarn, wrote the pattern, drew the schematic, and knit the stole. The very next day I was reading Game of Thrones and read this passage: "Black and white and grey, all the shades of truth." You can see why I felt like I had to change the name to 'All the Shades of Truth'!

Yesterday was Peter Carl Fabergé's birthday (hmm, an accent and an apostrophe look weird together...) and I wish I had known it ahead of time. I would have had a sale on my Fabergé pattern. It occured to me that it might be interesting to know when Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday was - turns out it's next Friday! When I released this latest pattern, I put it on sale through next Friday in honor of his birthday. I have to remember to check out the Google Doodle that day :)

And how often does this happen? I 'drew' this back in March on the computer -

and here's the finished item -

Pretty darn close!

The Sekrit

Back in April I got an email from an editor at Vogue Knitting. They were planning a special  Noro magazine and wanted to include a page on Lizard Ridge.

My copies came in the mail today!

Pretty cool, huh?

Committed

"...the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way." -  William Hutchinson Murray

Ever since I decided to take my design work seriously, things have been happening. An online shop started carrying my designs. People are requesting patterns. I have ideas!!! Fabergé was selected for a KAL on Ravelry as part of MadMay. I've been mentioned on a knitting podcast (twice!) A famous designer was given a Lizard Ridge afghan as a group gift and mentioned me on her blog. I got invited to do a trunk show at Stitches Mid-West. And I can't even tell you about the coolest thing yet - it's a sekrit!  All this stuff has happened in the last 2 or 3 months. How cool is that???

My latest project - people actually asked me to design more vests!

I think I will wear this a lot - it will be perfect for work this spring and summer. I can throw it over a tank or t-shirt and look a little more put-together than I usually do :)

Enamored

My new shawl is almost ready to release!


This one has beads too - hard to see but they're between the two braids.

As soon as I get this one finished up, I will be swatching for that vest I promised to work on.