Fudge Friday: Distractions
We’re back to Fudge Fridays where I confess my knitting mess ups.
This design was a take on an artist’s smock. I loved this little cardigan. It had three buttons up top and flared open. On the back was a pleat with an “artist’s palette” with 10 different colors of yarn, knit in intarsia.
I designed the cardi for Knit.1 magazine, a funky little publication now out of print, to be knit in pieces from the bottom up. I was on a tight deadline (as always), but had written the pattern. I started with the back. The pleat was dead center of the back and as it went up to the neck, stitches were decreased on each side (in black).
I confess, I was watching a baseball game (my team, the Yankees - I was born in the Bronx) and my husband was talking to me. I shouldn’t have been anywhere near anyone for the set up, at least, but…you guessed it: I miscalculated and the pleat wasn’t centered.
It wouldn’t have been that bad if I only had to take out the cast on, but I was at the underarm before I realized it!
ALL THAT RIPPING IN 10 DIFFERENT COLORS! I was so upset that I had wasted all that time and now the deadline was even tighter. But, in the end, it turned out perfectly. It’s still one of my favorite pieces.
Lesson: Pay attention to the set up!
The Pleat Back Smock pattern is available from the Vogue Knitting store here.
Yarn Choice - Part I, Color
As you’ve probably discovered through personal knitting, the choice of yarn can make or break a design. But the color, too, has a definite impact.
#13 Side Lace Vest from Noro Knitting Magazine, Issue 16
Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about this design. I love the simplicity of the knitting: two rectangles with some simple lace and ribbing. I love the fact that it laces up the sides, making it easy to wear and versatile enough layer in any season. I like that the back is slightly longer than the front. It’s great for beginner lace knitters.
But what I wish is that it were in a solid, not a gradient, as I had envisioned. Don’t get me wrong, I really adore Noro’s yarns and they are known for their fantastic gradients, but this one would really shine in a solid.
Original swatch for Side Lace Vest
Original submission sketch
So why isn’t it a solid? When you work with a publication, you rarely get a choice of the yarn and rarer still do you get a choice of color. In over 60 instances of working with books or magazines, I can count on less than one hand when I was given that option.
I still love it, though, and intend to make one soon.