I'm outside today even though it's not quite warm enough. The sun is shining which is such a change from the other day. You're right Jo-anne, I have some time before summer comes to get my sweater finished.

We finally got our usual April snow storm. So now that that's over with it's officially spring.

 To celebrate I'm knitting a new testknit.

A new scarf designed by Mary Hobbs. It starts at the point and works up. It's my first time doing it this way and I like it. Mary knit the matching shawl so I'm making the smaller version scarf. Just right for this time of year.
And my sweater for summer has reached another milestone, the bottom lace border. Lovely, lovely to knit with big double yo's.

Don't you love double YO's!

-Deb

I thought at the end of the last post that I was half way along on my summer sweater but . . . NO. I find myself in that great middle distance where you are looking at the horizon and the long road running towards it and even though you are moving along the road the horizon never seems to get any closer. Don't get me wrong, I love knitting sweaters. I love wearing sweaters. I love knitting sweaters even better than working on small projects which finish quickly. I'm busy paying attention, working the increases, so it's not boredom. But there is this long, long middle section before I get to the horizon where I know there is a slope down which my sweater will roll without effort to the finish. I wish! I don't find finishing up easy either but at least I can see the finish line. You would think that every time I start a new sweater I would know this is coming but I'm still surprised when it arrives. It does not deter me, obviously, because I always start another sweater. Maybe it's the satisfaction of overcoming the middle and hanging on to the end that does it.

So all of that is to say that my sweater looks the same as the last post, only a little longer.
-Deb

My summer sweater is coming along. I added 8 extra stitches on each of the Fronts to accomodate my bust. But then I was wondering where to get rid of those extra stitches.

I decided to knit straight until I was past the largest part of my bosom for a start. Then I worked double decreases at each underarm (on the Front only) every 1/2" until the Front had the same number of stitches as the Back. It worked a charm and fits really well, at least as far as I can tell with several circular needles stuck in it. Now I have started to work the A-line of the body, a pair of increases at each side seam Marker. You can't see that yet but in a couple of inches it will show some shaping.

I can't believe it but it's not even summer yet and I have it half done. Wow.

-Deb

Teens & Tweens

While Deb and I are working on the editing I thought I'd let you see the cover! It's a family affair, the girl on the left is Thomasin, daughter of Sophy, our Shipping Goddess and accessories designer. Michaela, top right, is the daughter of our photographer, Leanne, along with her girlfriend. The middle boy is Oscar, Sophy's nephew. The boy at the bottom right, is Leanne's son, Chris! 

The cover and inside colour pages went to the printer today and fingers crossed I got it all right. We actually print on two different presses - the colour pages on a huge offset printer that prints a gazillion pages a minute and the inside pattern pages on a smaller digital printer.


OK, now back to editing as Sophy found some changes I need to make!


- Lynda

OK, so this is my idea. We usually measure our busts and get the number of inches and then we pick a size from our pattern. But what I want is a nice fitting summer top with buttons down the front which do not gap. Which really means that I need more material in the front than the back, in essence I need the idea of a bust dart.

So I measured my bust, 37" around, then I measured right underneath for my underbust which measures 34". Which means my back measures half of that, around 17", leaving 20" across the Front. I'm adding in 1 1/2" of ease in the Back so it's going to measure 18 1/2" and then I'm adding in the same ease on the Front, for 21 1/2" and I will end up with a 40" sweater around my bust which is what I like. No gaps, no pulling in the Front and room to move but a better looking Back as I'm walking away.

At this stage it still looks like this.

Except it's a little bit longer. I've reached the number of stitches I need for my Back and also coincidentally the exact number of stitches I need for my sleeves. I have no idea yet whether this would also work out for every other size but it would be great if it did. So now I am going to continue working down to my desired yoke depth and increase only on the Fronts. That will give me the extra fabric on the Front that I need. I'm quite curious to see if this works out. Only 16 rows to go.

-Deb

Still editing. One more week and the new Teen booklet goes to the printers. I've been editing and taking care of other business: teaching a Top Down class, the end of the curling season, raking leaves, rehearsing with a band. General stuff mostly to keep myself from getting too anxious about the editing. Panic sets in at this stage for me because after this it's out there and who knows what will happen.

I recently read a book which says that you should start a new project before the old one is done. This keeps your momentum up and pushes you forward past the ending of the current project. So I have started several new projects. One is a sock book, another is some more single pattern leaflets which I will tell you about when I have some photos taken, and this new Top Down.

It's a square-necked, short sleeved cardigan which I am going to have done for the summer. This sits really well on the shoulders.

And the back is also dropped. The sleeves are large at the shoulders to get the drop in the Front and Back so I am almost at the full sleeve width already. That's what's making this interesting. I'm going to start playing with different neck treatments and see what happens. And I get a new sweater out of it too. Bonus!

-Deb

Just checking my teaching schedule and going over my class notes. I'm teaching a Top Down knitting class at the Unwind Yarn House in Newmarket, Ontario on Sunday March 28 2-5pm. We're going to do a teddy bear sized Top Down sweater based on the Baby V booklet. We're going to work several different kinds of increases and add in some tips for making adjustments for Fit, in case the knitters might some day do a top down for someone more discerning than a teddy bear. I love talking about how to make them fit better. There is so much you can do to make the sweater you really want to make.

Then I am teaching at class called  2 at a Time  over 3 Saturdays in April (April 10, 17 & 24) with the Simcoe County Arts and Crafts Associations at the Simcoe County Museum in Midhurst . We are tackling knitting 2 mittlets at the same time. Once we get past the cast on we should fly through these fingerless mitts and get started on some socks. We will also be doing cabling without a cable needle. There is still space available for a variety of classes offered at the Museum, spinning is the one I would love to take sometime.

These are mittens I knit at Christmas which worked really well working both at the same time.

-Deb