I’ve been busy this weekend, working up two patterns I’ve had off the needles for some time. “Meadowlark” will be released next weekend, but “Foxhollow” – shown above – will be out either tonight or tomorrow.

What do you think?

UPDATED – Pattern now available! Go get it! ravelry.com/patterns/library/foxhollow

This morning, I woke up at 5am to let the dogs out. Instead of going back to bed, and maybe getting another restless hour of sleep, I sat in the dining room with my computer and finished the last touches on this pattern.

I’ve been overloaded these past few weeks. My job is thrilling me – but it’s also consuming a lot of my thoughts in the hours I normally spend knitting or designing. Time to blog? Non-existent. And yet, I wanted to knit my mom something for her birthday on August 27th. Several years ago, I’d gifted her a Charlotte’s Web, and she’s always exclaimed over the colors and how it looks over a plain black coat.

So when this birthday rolled around – her first without dad in 40 years – I wanted to craft something really special. My lack of time has made it just a wee bit late… but more on that in a bit.

Contorno is a shawl/wrap/scarf that uses 3 colorways of Koigu, and short rows to shape the ripple edging into a curving kind of crescent. It can be scrunched around your neck, or wrapped over your shoulders.

The thing I loved about this design was how the handpaints play so well together. The yarns do coordinate, but so often with Koigu, it’s fun to add in quite a bit of contrast. The result? A spicy, ziggy-zaggy, cacophony of colors.

Full Pattern information >

Next week, I’m going to be teaching at Vogue Knitting Live in LA! I’m flying down for just a few days; teaching on Saturday and Sunday, and then heading to Santa Barbara to teach a sold-out Cloud Chaser class on Monday. After that? I’m swinging through Chicago so I can deliver Contorno in person.

Originally, I was just going overnight. Now, I’m staying with mom through the following Saturday. While it’s going to be lovely to spend time with her, the reason isn’t so lovely. A few weeks ago, Mom was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-Cell Type Non-Hodgskins Lymphoma. It has spread to her bone marrow, so she’s classified as Stage 4. She’ll begin her first round of chemotheraphy on September 26, and I’ll be there for the days after to help out and keep her company as she goes through the first of 6 treatments.

Many people have asked what they can do. My answer? I don’t know.

My sisters over at AerysSports have started up several Light The Night groups to walk for Lymphoma and Leukemia research. Consider joining the Aerys team on a walk. I’m incredibly honoured that they’d organize this to support Mom and our family.

Right now I’m trying to process this news, and attempt to understand how life can be so cruel to hit us with this new challenge, so soon after losing Dad.

Lymphoma – even stage 4 – is treatable, and often responds very well to chemo. Still, there are no guarantees, and it’s going to be a tough 5 months, if not more.

Will giving my mom this design help make things easier? Probably not. But it can’t hurt for her to have a new reminder of my constant love.

I swear I cast on about seventeen times for this ‘simple’ project. Remember yesterday, when I said that I only write down what I need to get started?

It’s true. However, the flip side of the coin is that the first few inches of knitting act like a swatch, and so, often get frogged.

What got me stuck yesterday was the ripple shape. My first pattern attempt would have made one peak and two valleys; not intense enough of a design. My second? The peaks and valleys were too far apart and the border band was too wide. I then somehow forgot how to count when adding up the stitches I’d need for the provisional cast on – twice. On the last attempt? I got it right.

(In the meantime, I tried three different needle sizes, ultimately ending up with a US 6 / 4.0mm. Slightly smaller than I’d predicted before beginning.)

I settled on a ripple pattern with 2 peaks and 3 valleys, and couldn’t be happier how it’s turning out.

As planned, I’m switching colours every RS row, alternating between the three colours of Koigu. The extra yardage I get to work with is worth the slight pain of untangling the balls as I knit. 525 yards will get me much further than 350!

Take a look at the sketch in the top photograph. That’s the shape I’m going for, more or less. The ripple band you see here is actually the bottom part of the wrap. The provisional cast on starts at the center of the bottom. It’s worked like a scarf even for a bit, but then needs some kind of shaping to help turn the corner of the crescent.

Et voila!

No, that’s no optical illusion. The band is laid flat on my front deck to show how the short rows are turning the corner. I couldn’t be happier how this part has worked out. I was initially worried that, by working a single colour only for each short row section, it would disrupt the striping pattern.

As it turns out, I didn’t need to worry. It looks just fine.

From the looks of this picture, I need about 3 more short row segments so that the live sts will naturally sit at the proper angle for picking up along the edge of the band. The sts will then go on holders so I can work the other side.

This morning, as with most weekend mornings, I got up early to attempt to get caught up with emails and responsibilities, with responses and projects. I’m working on three ‘secret’ designs right now; one for a book, one for a yarn company, and one for myself. I can’t photograph them, or talk about them, despite how much I’m happy with the results and the process.

This morning, while writing up some pattern instructions and charts, I had a New Idea for something to knit. My mom’s birthday is coming up (no, she doesn’t read this), and I wanted to make her something new for fall. Years ago, when the Kogiu Charlotte’s Web project was quite the thing, I’d gifted her one. She loved the colours, the texture, and the warmth. I loved knitting it; switching from colourway to colourway, enjoying the unexpected combinations.

But, I’ve been there, and done that. Twice. And yet, my stash has so many single skeins of the Painter’s Palette Merino.

So I got to thinking. I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile of another short row shaped shawl, but with a simple ripple pattern that can showcase Koigu’s impressionistic colors.

Why don’t I blog the design process? Start to finish?

Process
Here’s the start of almost any project. I write out a pseudo-pattern.

In the programming world, it’s common to use what’s called “pseudo-code” to work through a bit of logic or a part of the program before the programmer gets sucked into the nitty-gritty of syntax and formatting. I use the same practice for my pattern design.

In this case, I’ve written out my two row garter stitch ripple pattern, just to give me a place to start.

The sketch is part of the pseudo-pattern. I document the intended shape, and add in directional arrows and lines to give me an idea of how the stitches will work.

And yes, for an accessory, I nearly always do this before worrying about gauge or exact needle size. It lets me start knitting while the idea is fresh; a key part of the second point I want to make.

Play

Although I do occasionally write out a large portion of the pattern ahead of time, I prefer to just give myself enough to start with. Keeping things open and loose invites me to play with the pattern, the yarn, and the concept. And it also keeps it fun.

This design job isn’t really a ‘job’ in the conventional sense of the word. It’s how I pour my love for the craft into something that I can share with others. And yet, it’s sometimes easy for these kinds of ‘hobby industries’ to become obligations.

For me, combining the Play with the Process ensures this can’t happen. My patterns have to be fun to knit, or I’m not going to finish them. (And you probably won’t either.) This is one reason I incorporate directional twists and turns into many of my designs, or just change up the stitch pattern before it gets to be tedious.

Keeping things loose in the beginning sometimes means I have to start over a few times. In this case, the ripple pattern I’ve written may be too wide, or too narrow. It may not be ripply enough. It may be too ripply. I’ll find out within a few inches whether or not it’s as I imagined. If not? Back to the notebook.

So, for this wrap, I’m getting ready to cast on this afternoon.

Tomorrow? I’ll show you how it’s going as I begin to work the edging.

Catherine wins a free class at Vogue Knitting Live, this fall in September!

Congratulations, Catherine!

18. Catherine Says:
July 11th, 2011 at 10:40 am
That pass would be such a thrill. Noro intrigues me and we have enjoyed our developing relationship for a few years now. Best of knitting etc. to you and the attendees. xo

It’s TNNA Day, and I’m thrilled to be able to announce this new pattern. “Asking for Roses” is a shawl with a crescent shape, knit with short rows and just enough lace to keep things exciting.

You know by now that I have a lovely relationship with the folks at Lorna’s Laces. When they let me know they’d be introducing a new series of tonally dyed colourways, I knew I had to get my hands on whatever I could, as soon as possible.

This color immediately jumped out at me as a must knit. Called “The Skyway”, it reminded me of deeply planted vines in a shady yard.

It took me awhile to figure out what to do with it. I mean, the yarn is just gorgeous and sometimes it takes a bit of mental marinating to determine what it wants to be.

I decided on a crescent shawl shaped with short rows because I wanted a vine-like effect when worn. I didn’t want the more standard shawl shape that hangs down to the waist (or longer). Rather, I wanted something that could hug the shoulders, or be worn more scrunched up around the neck.

And I wanted to use just 400 yards.

To me, 400 yards is kind of the magical number in my stash. I have lots of 2 balls of this, 2 balls of that. Sock yarn often comes in giant 400 yard hanks too. Not that I have much of that. Ahem.

400 yards is also exactly 2 skeins of Shepherd Sport. Personally, I think this is an under-appreciated yarn from Lorna’s Laces. It’s buttery soft, machine washable, and holds up so well to wear. It’s also the perfect gauge for accessories like this; thin enough to drape but just a wee bit thicker than sock yarn, allowing the knitting to go wonderfully fast. (Seriously, if you haven’t yet tried it out, what are you waiting for?)

The name of the shawl has a story too. I generally cast off and have a name already in mind, almost as if the project names itself.

But for this one, and maybe because the idea had been so strong, I felt it was nameless.

Last week, I was interviewed by Lee Ann Dalton from Vogue Knitting for a future column. We got to talking about the new project, and I sent her some early photos. Her first reaction was to point out the two paths; the shawl has a lower lace border and a top eyelet and icord edge, and to her, it looked like Robert Frost’s poem about two paths diverging in the woods.

I loved it.

You know I’m a writer. And a reader. And so the literary link would be appropriate.

But the construction just doesn’t lend itself to the ‘two paths diverging’ metaphor. After all, the shawl begins with the cast on at the lower lace edge, then works itself up in short rows before working the final top edging.

I began looking through Robert Frost’s body of work on Wikipedia. It didn’t take long to find what I needed.

The title “Asking for Roses” stuck in my head. Have you read the poem? If not, go read it now. I’ll wait.

Are you back?

Good.

I hadn’t read this poem before, but I felt immediately that it was the right aesthetic for this design. To me, the shawl feels like overgrown vines on an abandoned house, like the one in the poem. It also feels like something Mary could wear on the romantic walk that led her there.

I hope you enjoy this one. It’s a fun summer project; not too involved, not too dull.

Of course, you can see all the details – and far more photos – on the Pattern Page.

The pattern is available in both written and charted formats, and is $5.00 US for PDF download.

Some of the time, it’s extremely important to pick up the “right” number of stitches.

For example, when working the front panels of Cloud Chaser, one must pick up an exact number along the sides of the back, or the fabric won’t be the right size, and in the right pattern.

You should be able to see from the arrows in the above photograph, how the back is knit from the hem upwards, and the front is knit from a picked up edge sideways.

In this case, you’ll absolutely need to make your best efforts to picking up the number of stitches specified.

When Working With Exact Numbers…
Let’s pretend that you need to pick up 80 stitches. One easy way to do this is to use scrap yarn (or safety pins or removable stitch markers) to split the fabric into quarters. Fold the edge where you’ll be picking up in half to mark the center, then in halves again to mark each of the quarters. When picking up stitches, your goal will be to make sure 20 fit into each of those quarters.

But here’s a hint. “Exact” doesn’t have to be perfect after the first row. Let’s say you finish picking up stitches and discover you’ve only got 78. For most patterns, it’s 100% fine to just increase on the following row, as long as you’re sure to do it evenly. In the case mentioned before, you could either choose to increase one at either end, or do something like work 25 sts, increase #1, work 28 sts, increase #2, work 25 sts.

What if Stitch Counts Aren’t Exact?

“Perfect” stitch counts actually aren’t always necessary. Think of an armhole, for example. Does it matter if it’s worked with 40 or 44 stitches around?

No! It does not matter, as long as you follow these 2 simple rules:

1. Be sure to pick up as evenly as possible!
2. You must pick up the same number of stitches for both armholes!

In cases like this in my patterns, I often write more general instructions on how to pick up stitches rather than how many to pick up. This can be confusing, but I believe it’s far more important that a picked up armhole (or neckline) band look smooth and even than that knitters have exactly the same number of stitches as I did. This is particularly true for trims using simple stitch patterns like a 1×1 rib.

I have a simple formula that I use when picking up stitches along even edges when working with stockinette.

One stitch for every stitch and 2 stitches for every 3 rows.

Sounds confusing? It’s not.

Think about an armhole for a set in sleeve or sleeveless piece. Instructions in most cases are provided in 3 sections:

1. At the bottom, you’ve cast off stitches for the underarm.
2. Then, you might have a few rows of shaping, generally by casting off 2, or 3 stitches.
3. Finally, you work straight up and down to the shoulder.

You’ll pick up stitches into these areas by focusing on either the stitches or the rows of the existing fabric, to determine how many and where to pick up.

I like to start at the center of the underarm. This allows me to really hide my ends where they won’t show.

Does it matter if it’s the EXACT center? Not even a little bit. But it’s usually pretty straight forward to count your cast off stitches and divide by 2 to figure out a good place to start.

First, you’ll focus on the stitches of the existing fabric. Remember, you’re aiming for 1 stitch for every stitch.

Along this cast off edge (#1 above), you pick up one stitch into each stitch that was cast off.

Continue on in the same way for the shaping rows (#2 above) as long as the pattern has you decrease or cast off at the beginning of every row. Aim for one picked up stitch for every cast off or decreased stitch you see.

As soon as the pattern switches to decreasing 1 stitch at a time on every other row, or even less frequently, you’ll want to change how you’re thinking.

Now, switch to looking for the rows of the existing fabric. I like to look about one ‘column’ in from the edge so I have a very clear V in stockinette to aim for.

Here, you’ll aim for 2 stitches for every 3 rows.

To do this, pick up the first stitch in the very next row up the side of the piece. Pick up a stitch in the very next row. Then, skip a row.

Continue on in this way until you’ve reached the shoulder, or the half-way point of your task.

This, my dears, is the perfect time to write down how many stitches you’ve picked up so far. When working the second half, you’ll have a number in mind.

So. “1 for 1 and 2 for 3” is how I choose to think about it, almost every time I approach a new design.

• Why is it important to pick up at regular intervals?
  Using a pattern for picking up will help make sure your fabric lays flat, without bunching, pulling, or puckering. The last thing you want are gaping holes in your knitting. Following a regular pattern not only makes it simpler, it sets you up for a perfectly picked up edge.
• What about pattern? Don’t I have to worry about a multiple of 2, or 4 stitches for my ribbing?
  Yeah, you do. This is why this technique is really good for simple edgings that don’t have a multiple of, say, 13 stitches.

  If it’s a multiple of 2, and if you’ve worked both sides the same, you’re in luck! If not, you’ll only be off by one stitch, which is easy to make up when working the first row.

  For a multiple of 4, or a multiple of 4 + 2, it’s still not a problem to increase (or decrease) to the desired number when working the first row. Sometimes I prefer to knit one round before beginning any ribbing just to make this easiest to accomplish.

• Does it matter if you’re off by one stitch on the second half?
  Not really. Again, you’ll probably want to even things up before you begin whatever pattern you’ve got in mind.

The Key to Picking Up Stitches is GAUGE… Kind Of

Many of you may have learned that it’s appropriate to pick up 3 for every 4 rows. This concept relates to a standard ratio found in stockinette fabrics. For example, 18 sts and 24 rows to 4 inches square is actually just a ratio of 3 to 4.

But, when working with stockinette, I’ve found that I prefer using a ratio that results in the picked up stitches being a tiny bit further apart. The ratio of 2 to 3 works – with stockinette – because stockinette fabrics tend to grow in row gauge over time. Picking up fewer stitches along the edge actually helps the fabric hold it’s shape far better, and prevents the edgings from flaring or expanding.

This may also have to do with our current approach to knitting garment design. Sweaters knit with fingering weight yarn – as was more popular pre-1960 – tend to be knit more firmly to create a more substantial and hardy fabric. The advantage of dense knits is that fabric tends to stay put over time. And so, it’s easy to pick up using the ratio of stitches to rows and ‘get away with it’.

If you’ve ever knit a traditional fair isle, with sleeves picked up from armhole steeks, you’ll recognize this. The same gauge for the body is used for the sleeves, so the ratio really should be as close as possible to prevent distortion.

However, the introduction of chunkier yarns necessitated a relatively looser gauge. A bulky sweater is one thing, but a bulky sweater knit with the firmness of a sport-weight fair-isle is much much much less fun to wear. With looser gauges comes the need to control the fabric, particularly with seamless garments. A tighter pick-up ratio works perfectly.

Some Caveats…
The “1 for 1 and 2 for 3″ rule doesn’t work with every stitch pattern. Garter, lace, and cables can create a really differently ratio-ed fabric than one worked in stockinette. If you’re not sure what will work, test it out on the side of a fully blocked swatch first. Think about how the width of the ‘new’ knitting – the part you’re picking up – needs to match the height of the ‘old’ knitting.

And whatever you do, the most most most important thing is to make sure your work looks good by picking up as evenly and consistently as possible.

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Wow, clearly I left out some rather pertinent information on that last post, since so many of you have commented or emailed to ask.

How, exactly, am I joining those panels?

Well, AnnieBee was the first to guess correctly. I am indeed picking up stitches along the sides of two panels, then joining with a three needle bind off. I’m using similar joining techniques a lot in my designs lately, and this was actually the first project where it was appropriate.

I like this because it creates a reversible fabric, although not identical on both sides. The reverse side is flat, no ridge, but it doesn’t look like a ‘wrong’ side at all. Plus, it’s fun to see the joining ridge shift colors as well.

What you see above is a new wide panel, almost half finished I have a skinny one done plus this wide one, and then I’ll put them together with the ones I’d finished before. I’m trying to be strategic with color choices when knitting, but also trying to think about how the colors work together when I join the panels.

My first three panels were all uniformly vibrant. This new one is a bit more muted, so I want to place it where it makes the most sense.

I don’t expect this project to be done any time soon, but when it is, I will be publishing the pattern so it can be recreated with your own color choices. The neat thing? ANY combo of Kureyon seems to work just fine, as long as both skeins have enough contrast with each other.

Need I mention how much I love Noro?

I started knitting this project on New Years Day in 2009. I had just moved to Toronto and was spending the holidays back in Calgary with Sandra and the dogs and cats. At the time, my stash was astoundingly large, full of yarns I’d picked up before I really knew what to do with them, and single skeins from here, there and everywhere.

Being the massive Noro lover that I am, naturally I had a ton of Kureyon. Not enough of a single color to knit a sweater, but lots of leftover bits from previous projects, and pairs of skeins of colors that I loved.

Hot off the striped scarf trend, I wanted to make something bigger. A blanket. Out of Kureyon. And I wanted to make the most of how the colors blend and shift, while being able to use up all the extra skeins and assorted colors I’d picked up over the years.

So, I started this. And feverishly knit up three big panels before abandoning it for nearly two years.

Last week I picked it up again. The bonus is that each panel is fairly portable; either 25 or 50 sts depending on the width. This makes it just as easy as knitting up scarves, and perfect for meetings, transit, and when I’m too tired to do much else.

This may not be a project I finish this year. It may linger for awhile longer. But I think it’s about the perfect thing to look at when it’s this cold and dark out.

Bright colors, a simple pattern, and the curiosity to see what develops next.

Perfect.