Before I am accosted by all my nearest and dearest, it’s not for me!! Sorry folks, I know you would have enjoyed a good ‘ol “Told you so!” at my expense, but it’s not to be. My stance on reproduction is just that, my stance, and it certainly doesn’t stifle any enjoyment in watching my friends rise to the challenge and meeting the fresh new little people they bring into the world.

I had lunch with a dear expectant friend last week and couldn’t resist showing her this baby present in progress! I hope it didn’t take away from the future presentation when it’s complete and blocked and wrapped all pretty-like; I couldn’t help myself - I love gifts that I’m so excited about I can hardly wait to present them! I picked these colors (bet you can’t guess which!) especially with my friend and her soon-to-be little baby girl in mind and have been so excited to see her reaction. I told you colors come in chunks around here, whether or not I consciously plan it that way.

Purple & Green - of course!

Though you can’t tell much from the picture - I was focused on capturing the color (still not quite true) and not the WIP itself - this is the Drops striped baby cardi, aka “b14-27″, available free here. I love this cardigan - I’m enjoying watching it grow from side to side rather than up and down as I’m accustomed to, and the way that the short row stripes shape the body and yoke. I also love all the terrific creative color and striping combos that other knitters have done.  It was a toss-up as to whether I would knit this or EZ’s famous February baby sweater (Ravelry links), but this one won out by a hair. I wanted to strike just the right balance between sweet and functional - with parents like hers, I think this is going to be one well-rounded little girl and I couldn’t see her in a too-pink color or too-precious style (not that there is anything wrong with either of those things, my pink-loving friends! This combination just seemed better suited for this particular baby).

The knitting is moving much more slowly than I had hoped, mostly due to the color changes. I decided that as much as I loved this design, I wasn’t sure I could handle weaving in all those ends and had to find another alternative. Enter the back join! Cool trick. My only regret is that it does interrupt the enjoyable flow of garter stitch - but when I circle around to the other side and have only two ends to weave in, I sense that it will have been very worthwhile. For some strange reason I actually enjoy seaming, but weaving in ends gives me fits. The sweater is about 50% complete with just over two weeks til D-Day, provided of course that she’s an obedient child - so give or take a little! In other words, I’d better get moving if it’s going to have a chance of fitting her.

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Now playing: The Avett Brothers - Tear Down the House
via FoxyTunes

And feeling much more like myself after a couple days in the mountains.

Being in the woods make me happy! We stayed in a cabin outside of the Boone area and met up with some friends on Saturday to hike Grandfather Mountain. Not too many scenery pictures as we got a lot of rain (but it sure didn’t ruin our time!) - There are a few more on Flickr, but here are a couple:

Tad says it’s time to put the camera away - we could hear the rain coming towards us! Thank goodness for rain gear!

Since it’s Tuesday though, and it’s been awhile since I’ve posted for Messy Tuesday…. How about some Messy Boots?

These don’t have too many miles on them yet - I can’t wait until they’re old & beat up with the memories of this and lots of other hikes and camping trips scratched onto the toes and sides!

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Now playing: Patty Griffin - No Bad News
via FoxyTunes

I think that Summer Sky needs a re-knit. Or a test-knitter at the very least. Maybe both.

I was really pleased with the original sweater.  But the written pattern was backed into based on that sweater, which was just a top-down, knit-till-it-fits kind of thing. And the sizing was based off that and basic raglan percentages, which as some others smart knitters have discussed, don’t always work for real women’s bodies. The original schematic was very basic and did not give many measurements. So now, a year later, I’m trying to work through all the measurements of my own size and all the others based on stitch counts that don’t necessarily fit real proportions as well as they should, and since the sample has grown a bit with wear (important to note in for the original sample yarn - Reynold’s Soft Linen) it’s a good reference only when counting stitches. And working backwards? It’s no fun.

There’s also this:

That bunching right there has always bothered me. Thing is, now I know how to fix it. And now as I’m learning more about build and sizing, I think I can improve the pattern from those aspects as well. If I take that action on paper however, it means that the re-written sweater may not knit up exactly like the one in the pictures. The main design elements of the linen stitch insets and borders would remain the same of course, but the raglan lines would be a little different, and placed differently for the different sizes. And there’s the additional tweaking and such required for the math to make sense and tie out. All this before we even get to the detailed stitch counts, actual writing, charts, etc.

Maybe I shouldn’t be admitting this publicly, but… I am new at this and I have a lot to learn. I don’t say that as any excuse, just a statement of fact. I want to handle this the best way that I can and I’m thinking I can’t change the pattern this much without re-working the sample. Which will take more time. I had hoped to have the pattern complete and up for sale by this time. It’s been a bit frustrating - my own tiny knitted albatross - especially when I have swatches and sketches for new things that I’m dying to work on. The question is - Will the excitement and happiness of working on a new idea outweigh the discouragement of knowing this one could have been handled better? Of course I already have my answer.

I’ll be back to working on this next week - no promises on timeframe, but with some taxing work deadlines finally out of the way, an upcoming long weekend in the woods to recharge, and some sample yarn arriving shortly after my return, I expect there may be some progress soon.

So there’s my long overdue Summer Sky update! I’ve sent out many copies of the free version and will continue to make it available until the new pattern becomes available - thank you for your understanding and patience.

And if you’re here in the states and are off this weekend, have fun and be safe - see you next week!

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Now playing: Brandi Carlile - Have You Ever
via FoxyTunes