This is my first post but I've been working on my project while following yours. I wanted to be able to show what I've done and not just tell.

First, I have to admit my lace-envy. I have a difficult time with my technique and it has to be a really important item to force me to take off each loop and twist it back on the needle. So, to compensate, I mastered colorwork. I've chosen to use Tahki Cotton Classic because of its strength and rainbow of options. I chose six pastels, kind of like jelly beans, for spring (not to mention this is what my LYS had in stock).

This was first pattern, done as I was housebound during a nor'easter. It must have been the Kaffee Fassett book I was reading and the snow making me think I could bang this out.

I don't have a problem with bobbins, there were 10 per row. I do have a problem with not making progress. This took a week of free time - for 10 rows?! It would take 100+ hours for this, so I gave up and regrouped.

So I kept the basic design of squares while doing the modular thing. I love this technique. I'd much rather get two completed squares out of 30 minutes than just one row. I think I'll get the same feel of the interlocking squares, especially when there's a lot of stuff in the bag and the weight pulls the squares into diamonds.

I'm not sure how the bottom will work out when all the points are turned inward. I'll deal with that when I get there. I think on the top I'll let the points fall outward for a jester hat effect. Maybe some beadwork on the points........

A belated introduction

My name is Sachi and I'm here to learn.

I'm a knitter and a spinner. I've played with dyeing and I've created simple knits. I have yet to design a garment of any significant size, mainly because I personally am of fairly significant size. As a larger woman, who has yet to learn much in the way of patience, creating a sweater that fits me and having it end in less-than-perfection is far too much to bear at the moment. Not only that, but the thought of having to rip something of that huge size is just so daunting that it makes me want to take a nap.

But I'm learning patience and the concept of math/gauge/ease/fit are starting to take a proper hold in my mind. My first sweater of my own design is getting closer every day. I look forward to absorbing information and inspiration from all you lovely folks here at the Create Along. While I may not have much to contribute to this group in the way of new and exciting design for quite some time, I thank you in advance for sharing your creativity with the world.

I've received my shipment of Denim and sat down with my stitch pattern books for hours... and hours... I've been sketching madly for several days and, after narrowing my project down to three sketches, I've decided on a tank with some dragon-scaley-type design. Oh boy. I'm in for a ride, I think.

My mind has only recently been able to absorb fully the concept of gauge swatch shrinking or blooming making my work-in-progress larger than my finished object will be. In fact, my mind has not fully wrapped around that concept, now that I think of it. I swatched, I washed, I dried. I did not, however, measure the unwashed swatch which will be yet another thing to add to my list of "lessons learned" as I work my way through this project. You see, had I measured my unwashed swatch, I would have an awful lot more confidence in my project, now only one pattern-repeat deep in progress.

While my finished project must fit a 44" in bust, my waist certainly does not require such a size. However, as I was scribbling down notes and calculating stitch counts, I understood that, unless I'm inserting a button band, I'll need to be able to pull the tank OVER a 44" bust. As I plan to knit this tank in two pieces, I figured I'd need at least a 20" - 22" piece; half the finished size. I calculated. I cast on. I knitted. I freaked out.

This WIP is at least 35" wide, relaxed. I need a new mantra to chant as I knit to help me fight the urge to rip; something to remind me to trust my swatch.

"Om... Understand the swatch... Om... become the swatch... Om... be the swatch... "

It's not working.

Liz K's Introduction

It has taken me some time to clear out some projects in the queue, but I have begun my design project for the Create-Along. I have been so inspired by this idea and by the incredible ideas bouncing around here!

I am definitely growing into designing. I tend to be more of a radical modifier of patterns than creating something completely from scratch, switching out a neckline, totally changing an edging treatment, or combining two patterns into one garment. In previous attempts at design, I have gotten bogged down in math calculations and picky details, so I have learned to get projects on the needles and design from there.

Using the CAL's limitations, and my own desire to knit from stash, I am making a lacy camisole/tank for my 6 year old daughter, to wear as a layering piece over other cotton tanks, knit with Denim. I have lots of smallish quantities of leftover cottons in my stash, and love the idea of coming up with a sort of tank-template for her, with the idea of switching out lace patterns, bodice shapes or strap treatments as the inspiration hits. You know, design something to radically modify!

I began with my Stitch Pattern-A-Day Calendar, and quickly settled on using Fishtail Lace as the main design element. The big question was choosing a needle size, since I wanted the tank to be lacy enough for her under-tank to peek out of the holes without having that macrame plant holder look. This is always an added challenge in Denim, since the fabric can change quite drastically once washed. In anticipation of copious swatching, I purchased an extra ball of Rowan Denim and started with a US8 needle, knitted a swatch, then washed and dried it.





The plan is to knit several repeats of the lace for the bottom of the tank, and then transition into a mostly stockinette bodice, with two lace panels that will then transition into i-cord straps.



Miraculously, I was pleased with the fabric it created, and am ready to begin knitting on the actual piece. It may be a week or so before I make any further progress on the piece, as I am furiously trying to finish my wool Central Park Hoodie before the weather gets too warm to wear it!

Not exactly x-posted at Crossroad Knits.

Intro

I'm still waiting for my yarn to arrive (Cotton Classic in pewter), but figured I'd introduce myself in the meantime. My name is Stephanie and I'm a writer/editor living in Brooklyn. I have a craft and food blog here.

My design process tends to be very product-driven. A lot of the time when I knit other people's patterns, it's because they look like fun to knit or I just really like the look of the thing. But when I start from scratch it's usually because I have something specific (sometimes, like now, very specific) in mind that I want to add to my wardrobe.

For this project, I'm going to make a cardigan. I wear them all the time but my handknit sweaters are overwhelmingly pullovers and don't get worn as much as my storebought cardigans. No good. I tend to wear solid colors, mostly black, grey, blues and purples, and I want a gorgeous cardigan I could throw on over a lot of what I wear normally. The pewter color of Cotton Classic should work with just about everything. I'm a lot more attracted to texture than color and I like projects that mix textures in an unexpected way.

I have a clear mental picture of a cardigan with a lace body and sleeves and a round yoke with graduated cables. The yoke decreases will be done in the cables themselves (probably 8 to 4 to 2 stitches, but I'll see how the numbers work out). I'm thinking that I'll use some kind of decorative braid to separate the sections—the kind you see on fancy-pants mittens—though I might just end up throwing in a garter ridge or two instead. I even have a clear mental picture of the lace pattern I want to use: not too open, enough of a vertical line to be harmonious with the cables, complicated enough to be an interesting foil for the solid yoke. I'm also thinking about having some cables at the wrists before starting the lace to balance it out visually. At this point, I think that I'll probably knit in pieces up to the armholes so I can block the lace well and have the structure of seams, but join them when I get to the yoke and do it in one piece. And I definitely want buttons.

I'll do a sketch that I'll post soon, but I don't draw well at all and really just use them as schematics so I have all of the measurements set ahead of time.

I'm really looking forward to being a part of this and seeing what everyone else is working on. I love the workshop-y nature of a CreateAlong—what a great idea!