Design #1
Wow, here it is April 1, and I'm actually doing what I said I would! Of course, I didn't have to do much work beyond photography, but these days even that's a stretch...
Without further ado, here's the first design for you to choose from (for those of you just joining us, I'm going to let my readers pick a design for me to work through with y'all - there will be three more to come throughout the month).
This design was submitted last winter to Classic Elite (it's swatched in their lovely Wool Bam Boo yarn) but didn't make the cut. I know it can use some tweaks, but I like the general idea - I just need to figure out how to make it work. Here are a couple close-ups of the stitch patterns. First, the bottom band, which would be worked horizontally:
I really love the loopy look of this butterfly cable. Next, the neckline:
This is a simple braided cable, worked perpendicular to the edge of the neckline and finished with attached i-cord along the other edge.
I came up with this sketch when working up a bunch of design ideas for the Classic Elite call for submissions in Fall 2006. I wanted to do something cabley with the Wool Bam Boo since it shows cables so well and I found the butterfly cable in the Vogue cable stitch dictionary. I did some playing around with graph paper and came up with the version that you see in the photo above. Since this is a pretty complicated band, I opted for a simple stockinette body trimmed at neck and cuffs with a small braided cable.
A few questions that we'd need to answer if we decided to go forward with this design:
1. Pullover or cardigan? I have it sketched as a raglan, but I don't necessarily love the boxy shape. It might be more flattering on more people as a more structured jacket with some waist shaping.
2. What length? The horizonal band around the bottom poses some interesting problems for those of us who have, um, wider dimensions below the waist. How can we incorporate the cabled band without making us larger gals look even bigger?
3. What yarn should we use? The Wool Bam Boo is a light dk-weight and worked wonderfully for the swatch, but I just got a bunch of lovely Lorna's Laces Green Line DK that's calling my name. I need to swatch it up and see if the slight variations in the yarn from the hand dying obscure the cables at all.
I've wanted to get this design worked up for a long time now, so maybe this is my opportunity! We'll see what you all think when you see the other three ideas.
I'm also pondering what to do with the pattern once it's done. I'm thinking I will sell it with net proceeds going to charity, like with the Karen's Sugar-Free Socks. I think that this particular design would be a great breast cancer research fundraiser (probably because I swatched it in pink) but I'll be asking for your input as to what the cause should be as well.
Now for the obligatory cute kid pictures - first is one I forgot to post after Easter of the little monsters and their haul from the Easter bunny.
The day before Easter, I asked the kids if they were going to eat candy until they barfed. After explaining to Sydney what "barf" means (I can't believe she didn't already learn that one from her little friends at school), she shrieked and said "no way"! Owen, on the other hand, seemed to take that as an endorsement of the idea. Guess who spent Monday morning spilling his guts?
Owen seems to spend most of his days spreading messes from one end of the house to the other. The other day, I was sitting at my computer in the dining room and things were unusually silent in the kitchen. I asked Owen what he was doing, and he said, very innocently, "nothing!" I didn't want to get up, so I decided to take him at his word. A few minutes later, I heard a strange squishing noise and decided I'd better go see what was happening. Here's what I found:
This is Owen, hiding under the kitchen table and emptying a jar of peanut butter by the handful. Little turkey! I had to laugh because it was either laugh or wring his little neck. He is such a troublemaker!!!
Without further ado, here's the first design for you to choose from (for those of you just joining us, I'm going to let my readers pick a design for me to work through with y'all - there will be three more to come throughout the month).
This design was submitted last winter to Classic Elite (it's swatched in their lovely Wool Bam Boo yarn) but didn't make the cut. I know it can use some tweaks, but I like the general idea - I just need to figure out how to make it work. Here are a couple close-ups of the stitch patterns. First, the bottom band, which would be worked horizontally:
I really love the loopy look of this butterfly cable. Next, the neckline:
This is a simple braided cable, worked perpendicular to the edge of the neckline and finished with attached i-cord along the other edge.
I came up with this sketch when working up a bunch of design ideas for the Classic Elite call for submissions in Fall 2006. I wanted to do something cabley with the Wool Bam Boo since it shows cables so well and I found the butterfly cable in the Vogue cable stitch dictionary. I did some playing around with graph paper and came up with the version that you see in the photo above. Since this is a pretty complicated band, I opted for a simple stockinette body trimmed at neck and cuffs with a small braided cable.
A few questions that we'd need to answer if we decided to go forward with this design:
1. Pullover or cardigan? I have it sketched as a raglan, but I don't necessarily love the boxy shape. It might be more flattering on more people as a more structured jacket with some waist shaping.
2. What length? The horizonal band around the bottom poses some interesting problems for those of us who have, um, wider dimensions below the waist. How can we incorporate the cabled band without making us larger gals look even bigger?
3. What yarn should we use? The Wool Bam Boo is a light dk-weight and worked wonderfully for the swatch, but I just got a bunch of lovely Lorna's Laces Green Line DK that's calling my name. I need to swatch it up and see if the slight variations in the yarn from the hand dying obscure the cables at all.
I've wanted to get this design worked up for a long time now, so maybe this is my opportunity! We'll see what you all think when you see the other three ideas.
I'm also pondering what to do with the pattern once it's done. I'm thinking I will sell it with net proceeds going to charity, like with the Karen's Sugar-Free Socks. I think that this particular design would be a great breast cancer research fundraiser (probably because I swatched it in pink) but I'll be asking for your input as to what the cause should be as well.
Now for the obligatory cute kid pictures - first is one I forgot to post after Easter of the little monsters and their haul from the Easter bunny.
The day before Easter, I asked the kids if they were going to eat candy until they barfed. After explaining to Sydney what "barf" means (I can't believe she didn't already learn that one from her little friends at school), she shrieked and said "no way"! Owen, on the other hand, seemed to take that as an endorsement of the idea. Guess who spent Monday morning spilling his guts?
Owen seems to spend most of his days spreading messes from one end of the house to the other. The other day, I was sitting at my computer in the dining room and things were unusually silent in the kitchen. I asked Owen what he was doing, and he said, very innocently, "nothing!" I didn't want to get up, so I decided to take him at his word. A few minutes later, I heard a strange squishing noise and decided I'd better go see what was happening. Here's what I found:
This is Owen, hiding under the kitchen table and emptying a jar of peanut butter by the handful. Little turkey! I had to laugh because it was either laugh or wring his little neck. He is such a troublemaker!!!
posted by knittinmom at 11:06 AM
6 Comments:
Get rid of the sleeves and make it a tank. With bamboo, it wouldn't be too heavy for spring/summer wear, right?
I think it would work well as a shaped cardigan the hits at high-to-mid hip, above the widest part. I also think it would look great with a hood (I love that cable around the neck and would like it around a hood). But I probably wouldn't do a cardigan in bamboo because of the drape and stretch factor. It might end up looking sort of shapeless.
I think Sprite's idea of a tank would work better with bamboo.
You're such a good mom. You made sure he got his protein.
I like the raglan cardigan idea. Bands for the fronts would take care of the stretch factor.
I would agree on the bamboo, heavy for a sweater with this much cabling. Love it though. Just love it. I like the idea of a cardigan long or short version. What about creating a cardigan with the cable you have on the bottom, but running it up both side of cardigan, use frogs to close. Add some slight shaping, possibly a twisted rib for the bottom. My take, wool vs. bamboo. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Just FYI for those of you commenting on the bamboo - I totally agree for 100% bamboo, but the CEY Wool Bam Boo is mostly wool with a little bamboo thrown in for shine. It doesn't have the same "droop factor" as yarns with a higher percentage of bamboo.
oh wow--our sons are indeed the same child...i went to the bathroom (2 minutes) and came out to A with handfuls of peanut butter--and it all ended up in his hair.
Cute monkeys they are!
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