Colour-Block Sweater

Believe it or not, I've got knitting to blog about. Quite a lot of it, actually; this is just the first sweater. I'll be blogging other finished projects in the next few days.



I actually finished this sweater last fall, and have worn the hell out of it (I'm sure you can see pilling in the photos). I'm not sure why it took me so long to photograph it. It's knit from Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool, one of my very favourite yarns; this is the third sweater I've knit from it so far.



I could not have made this sweater with a straight face; it was a stash-busting project, something to knit for fun and wear around the house. It languished for a long time, at one point I put it aside with only one sleeve to go. I wasn’t sure if I would ever finish it. I thought it was laughably (if pleasingly) ugly.



Then I showed it to my friend Tara, who looked at it with a straight face and thought it was gorgeous. After getting her fresh perspective on it I picked it up again and finished it, and now I love it and wear it frequently.



I planned the shape of the sweater, but made up the colour pattern as I went along. The finishing was incredibly intense. After a false start or two, I came up with a labour-intensive seaming technique to give me the coloured seams I wanted. I tried several different collar solutions before deciding on the I-Cord-trimmed version I used. For weaving in ends, I split each strand into two plies and wove them in in separate directions using a sharp needle. There’s one point in the sweater where I had tried knitting the ends in as I went, but it wasn’t a very satisfactory result; it seems I’ve become very uptight about finishing details!



Considering that I usually knit sweaters in the round using one colour of yarn, this was quite a departure. It was a lot of fun though, and I want to do it again. I'm thinking of writing a pattern to sell that's made in a similar way: worked in pieces with an intarsia pattern and coloured seams. It won't be random blocks like this because holy crap, what a nightmare that would be to chart and size. I'm still rolling ideas for it around in my head.

Book Deal!!!

This is my friend Leanne and I, right after we signed the contract yesterday to write our first book! Have a gander at our call for submissions:

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Are you a knitter or crochetier? Do you design (or want to design) unusual pieces of street art out of yarn?

If so, you should design a pattern for Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti, to be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in fall 2009.

A DIY guide to the art of yarn graffiti and a history of hand-crafted textile street art, Yarn-Bombing will feature patterns such as street-smart disguises, useful wearable tools like gloves and tool belts, street art such as knit car cozies, bike covers and headlight toques, and outdoor installations such as crochet shawls for leafy trees. The sky’s the limit as long as it’s knit or crocheted! Projects should be fun, colorful and a little bit wacky.

Designers are asked to submit a sketch and detailed description of their project, along with a brief bio, by the submission deadline of May 15, 2008.

There is no entry fee, and you are encouraged to submit multiple designs. Please include your complete contact information (email and mailing addresses) with your submission. Hard-copy submissions will not be returned unless an SASE or International Mailing Coupon is provided.

Digital sketches (under 2MB) can be emailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com, or hard copy sketches can be mailed to:
Leanne Prain
203-884 Bute Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 1Y5

You will be notified via email if your design has been selected for publication. Selected designs will need to be knit or crocheted by their designers over the months of June-August, and mailed to the publisher for photography and editing by August 30, 2008. Patterns and any accompanying diagrams must be mailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com by the same date. Designers who are chosen to participate will receive the yarn necessary to complete their project, an honorarium, a free copy of the book, and credit for taking part in the book.

For more information, please visit Arsenal Pulp Press (arsenalpulp.com) or the Yarn Bombing Blog (yarnbombing.com).
If you have any questions or concerns regarding submissions, please contact Leanne (leanne@yarnbombing.com) or Mandy (mandy@yarnbombing.com)
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I am so excited!!

Necklace Prose

I've really been enjoying writing the short descriptions for the necklaces in my Etsy jewelry shop. Here are a few; they're kind of cheesy, but they amuse me. (The listings in the shop also include information about length, materials, etc.)


Early Spring
Sure it's misty and rainy out now, but look! Buds and sprouts are already appearing. Tiny glass beads in fresh blue and green tones provide a cheery contrast to vintage lucite beads in fashionable, versatile shades of grey.
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Summer Afternoon
Sun-bleached shades of yellow warm the beads of this summery necklace. It reminds me of reading with my little sister in a tent made of bedsheets in our parents' back yard, smelling the warm grass and dozing off in the sun...
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Midnight
The darkest shades of red, green, grey, brown and black form a little bit of deepest night that you can wear all through the day.
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It's true, I'm a cheeseball. :)

A Story About A Tattoo

It turns out my new friend Colleen once worked at a coffee shop in Calgary that I used to go to when I was in college. About 13 years ago I saw this tattoo on her arm, picked myself up off the floor and asked her about it. I have never forgotten the tattoo, it has remained one of my favourites of all time. What a surprise it was to catch a glimpse of it when we were thrifting a few weeks ago, and to realize that the legendary tattoo in my memory belonged to this new person in my life!

Zak and the Sky Sock

Zak posted this photo in his photo stream today. He's in Montreal for a conference right now, and he just completed this little sock. It's a Sky Sock from Cat Bordhi's amazing book New Pathways for Sock Knitters, adapted for a different gauge; he knit it in Sweet Georgia sock yarn.
I love this photo so much. The sock is cute, but the knitter is cuter. And he's coming home tomorrow. :)

Necklace Obsession

I recently put some new necklaces up in my other Etsy shop. I've been making a different type of necklace lately; instead of stringing a bunch of beads together on wire, I string each bead separately on its own piece of wire, then link them all together with rings. This type of necklace is more time-consuming to put together, but I've been so obsessed with them that I'm getting faster!



When I first started making this type of necklace, I did some with keys; lately I've been making them without. I'm curious: what do you think? Do the keys make them more effective, or are they just distracting? I'm really enjoying the effect of the beads on their own, but a bunch of exciting keys that I bought on eBay just arrived...



I'd really love to hear any thoughts on the necklaces in my shop. I'm still having a lot of fun learning this new medium, experimenting with new ideas, shapes and colours.

Rachael and Susie Patterns (Finally) Available for Sale!

Well folks, I'm sorry it took so long, but the patterns for the Rachael and Susie Neckwarmers are now available for sale in my Yarnageddon Etsy shop! Please let me know what you think.



I'm really happy with these designs. I had to make one of each for myself, and I wear both of them a lot. The Susie (at the top) is knit in the last bit of precious Manos del Uruguay that Amy gave me for my birthday a few years ago. The Rachael is knit in the delicious and sadly discontinued Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky. There are so many great yarn options for these patterns, they're proving to be real stashbusters. I just finished a Rachael for my Mom in scrumptious Kathmandu Aran Tweed, I'll post a photo after I choose buttons for it!