Tuesday 24 May 2016

Simple Knitting

After I knitted my cardigan, the feedback I got was that it was beautiful but some of my friends found the idea of knitting a cardigan quite daunting.  They requested that I make something more simple that they could knit for themselves.  

I thought about this and remember how I began knitting and how I made scarves.  I found scarves allowed me to experiment with different textures and designs without having to worry about tension and blocking.  I used to have a large collection of hand knitted scarves, but gradually over time, some of them have been donated to charity and gifted to friends.  I remember one Autumn, I made four scarves as Christmas presents to some of my closest friends.  However, I wanted to design something a little different from just a plain scarf, so I decided upon a cowl.

I wanted a cowl with texture.  Originally, I was going to do a mock cable cowl but upon research, there was several already out there with that same idea.  In the end, I did something that I made up on the spot, the includes a moss stitch and a basket weave.

This was the end result:


I'm quite pleased with this and the pattern is available to purchase here.  I hope that people will buy, especially those that requested something more simple and manageable.  I think it is pretty and versatile for someone with some experience with knitting.

I will put it up for a competition at some point as well.

Sunday 15 May 2016

Changes and a Cardigan

One of my great ambitions (ha!) this year was to bite the bullet and actually design and publish a knitting pattern myself.  However, when I was working full-time and then some, progress was slow and I found it took way longer than I ever anticipated.  For a time, I thought it wouldn't happen and then something amazing happened.  I quit my job.

It was liberating after months and months of being stressed, anxious and deeply depressed.  Yes, I still have a long way to go, I need to think about my future and what happens next and how I can move forward but I'm out of such an unhealthy environment that I could actually focus on my passion of finishing my cardigan and writing up the pattern.  I've had some interest in it and really, I would like to generate more.

This is the final project:



I was in a cold classroom for the winter, there was only heat from the computers and the students.  At the start of the day, it would be freezing but it would gradually warm as the day progressed.  However, when you have like 8 billion emails to answer in a 10 minute gap before meeting and your day of teaching actually beginning, it isn't the best start to the day.  Of course, I never finished this in time to show it off at work...I was gone when that happened.
The link to buy my pattern is here. It is also available on Etsy.

I hope it generates more interest.  It is really a lovely cardigan.  You don't have to be advanced knitter to knit but have some experience with knit, purl, yarn over needles, slip stitches and decreases.  If you can do that, yes, you can do that.  It is an oversized cardigan deliberately to keep you warm and cosy.  Enjoy!