Darned my first pair of socks.   Inspired by a blog post by a fellow knitter.  Then Knitting Daily issued an e-mail on how to darn a socks which looks way harder than it actually is. 

I got a little carried away and decided to repair a pair of my son’s oldest pants that have been slated for his younger brother.  Fortunately, my youngest is still at the age he doesn’t even notice patched clothing.

And a few random photos from Pilgrim Park in Plymouth, MA where the herring are running.

I am excited to offer my first pattern for sale through Ravelry.  Just in time for spring and summer knitting, it’s a loose fitting cami that knits up quickly with a decorative accent that can be optional.   I knit this back in December and have had test knitters working on it for a few months.   So glad to be  finished with a complete project.  I learned so much that can be applied to my next designs.

As a stay at home mom I struggle with how to balance “me” with “my kids.”  How do I get that “put-together-look,” yet wear something that’s practical enough for chasing two little boys around all day long?  Designed with comfort in mind, this camisole is just snug enough to show off your figure without feeling like you have to hold in your stomach.  It dresses up a pair of jeans, but can carry off a day of errands.  Best of all for me, it has just enough coverage to allow you to bend over without worrying about showing off what’s underneath.  The decorative triangle that accomplishes this top coverage is inspired by the green mosses and lichen of wooded walks with my boys and our two australian shepherds.   I can’t resist running my fingers over these fuzzy green plants growing everywhere on the rocks and trees. 

 Worked mostly in the round with a simple lace ladder up the sides of the bodice, this summer top gets part of its name from the large amount of i-cord and applied i-cord used to trim and adorn the camisole.  The main body is a linen blend for durability and a little shine with a color close to stone, while the i-cord trim is made from a mohair silk blend that is soft and green like the moss and lichen I cannot resist touching.

Photographs by Tonya deNormand.  These pictures were taken at Onset Beach in Southeast Massachusetts in December 2009.  If you look closely you can see the goose pimples on my arms.

I have finally made a decision on what to call my new design project.  Switchback.  I actually had this name in mind when I started.  I wanted to create a switchback pattern for the upper body of a sweater. It was not to be, I couldn’t get was I was looking either because my lack if knitting knowledge or the fact that it may not be possible.  In the end, I was never happy with what I came up but decided Switchback could be appropriate for my design process considering how much I change my mind.  I go back and forth making some progress and I eventually get there.  Using a switchback on a mountainside has its place for hiking and mountain biking, and I guess it can have a place in design.   It seems like as I progress, the path never ends up where I expected, but I am getting where I need to be.  What does this say about my ability to plan and follow that plan?  Well, it’s coming.  Trust me I can be a rigorous planne.  Too rigorous, which can also thwart any creativity I have.  For now I am trying to think freely, knit swatches, and draw sketches.  In the meantime, I am also knitting a cowl with one of my stitch patterns.   I am not letting myself make “a plan” until I have the sweater drawings sketched out. 

Another milsetone in my design career.  I finally bid on and won a dress form on eBay.  I’ve been at it for a while, but was only willing to pay a certain amout.  Kept getting outbid, but finally got a used one.  It came in yesterday, and I was so excited to put it together.  The sweater I have in mind will be fitted on the upper body.  It just seems like a dress form will help when I am piecing it together and trying to get the right fit.  Not to mention the ability to step back and take a look, as opposed to hanging it on a hanger or even my own body.

Next up:  Sketches of the Sweater

I have been so unmotivated.  So busy, yet unmotivated.  Seems like life is just getting in the way of my knitting.  My two favorite things in life other than my boys, except they aren’t really “things,”  are knitting and cycling.  The cycling has morphed into other endurance hobbies like triathlon and adventure races, but needless to say this hobby is time consuming.  I have been training for three races this spring and summer, and my total hours have really ramped up.  In addition to that, my husband and I have been taking a course called Financial Peace University, which has been surprisingly time consuming.  I thought we really had our financial act together, but we have a long way to go.  Anyway, by the time kids, meals, class, homework, and training are all done, I’m just wiped out.  It’s usually late and I don’t even have the motivation to knit much of anything.  I’ve squeezed out some baby knitting out of necessity, but I can’t even get motivated about the sweater I am designing.  I had to check my last post to even remember what I want to do next…..sketch out the sweater, by the way.  Maybe by blogging about my feelings I can get rid of my guilt.  One should never feel guilty about knitting.  It’s supposed to by my relaxation therapy.  I’ll get around to it when I am motivated, and I’ll bet the design will be better because of it.

Here’s a little of what I have completed for my soon to arrive GRAND nephew Lucas:

Curve of Pursuit by Wooly Thoughts

Ribbed Far-away Baby Socks  by Amber Ward

Not the greatest picture since I took it with my mobile phone, but I decided to share something I have been thinking about for a while.  I want to share my process of designing a sweater.  Though I have already designed a camisole which I submitted to Knitty.com, it was a fairly simple design.  I want to take my sweater design up another notch.  Keeping in mind I am relatively new to knitting (4-5 years) and usually over confident in my ability to do anything I set my mind, this could be a long learning process.  To be honest, my main purpose for blogging is to get help from others.  Maybe knitters will see my posts and comment on a better way to do it.  Maybe I can actually get a few comments.  I know some people are reading because I keep blog stats, but with no comments I don’t even know if this blog appeals to anyone.   My secondary reason for blogging the whole design of a sweater is to help me get organized;  stay on top of things and keep it documented. 

As I have been knitting the swatches I have had so many questions and ideas racing through my mind.  So many things I am thinking about and want to ask other knitters.  Like when I wanted to create a right slanting cable and wondered if a pattern existed somewhere.  Right now I know two things.

 (1) I will use eco-friendly yarn

 (2) The project will be a sweater I self-publish

Other than that everything is up in the air.  For now I have knit about a dozen swatches and have five revisions on a chart for the chest section of the sweater.  I don’t have any drawings for the sweater yet because I wanted to make sure I could produce the right pattern for the chest.  Still not 100% happy with it, but I am moving forward on a cowl to test knit the chart and a ruffle I would like to put on the sweater.

Next priority:  Come up with a name for the project so I can categorize in the blog and create related titles.  Eventually I would like to have a comments contest to name the sweater.