It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since my last post. I felt like I was going to just fly through things — but there have been so many distractions and I have not gotten as far as I’d like. Of the 3 pieces I showed last month, one is finished (but it was finished then too), one is about 2/3 finished, and one is with a sample knitter, progress as yet unknown.
One thing I have progressed on is in planning for the new book’s “magnum opus” — a full-size double-knit lace shawl done in a pattern I’ve charted from scratch. Granted, the inspiration came from one of the Barbara Walker treasuries, but I figured out that I really needed the pattern to be upside-down from the way it was charted, which is not a trivial thing to do in lace. Then I needed to enlarge it — so I just recharted it from scratch. I am still learning about lace design, so the pattern isn’t that sophisticated — but I hope you’ll enjoy the results. I’d like to thank Anna Dalvi for putting me on the right path. Once the prototypes are done and the charts are ready, this is also going to a sample knitter. I definitely don’t have time to knit this one myself!
For those who are interested, the yarn for the shawl is Galler Yarns Prime Alpaca. The colors shown above are not what it’s going to be done in — I am awaiting color cards for a final selection but the rather odd combination is what I had on hand to play/plan with.
The next pattern I need to work on is another necktie in BWC Sexy (also going to a sample knitter) and a pair of mittens which I’ll do myself. I’m also throwing around the idea of a 3-color shawlette but I need to flesh out the color pattern for it first.
Next weekend I am off to teach at Stitches Midwest and in September it’ll be Stitches Texas. I’ve got a tentative gig teaching at Westport Yarns in CT in October — stay tuned for more on that later. And for you California and Colorado folks, I’ll be back in Santa Clara at Stitches West and Loveland at the Interweave Yarn Fest in 2016. More dates to come, I’m sure.