I’ve just put up errata for my Apple Cider Mittens. There’s an increase missing in round 8 which is the most important problem. The rest wouldn’t keep you from getting it right, they are fairly obvious mistakes.

Cuff
Rnd 10: ….. 5 groups of 5dc, 1 sc. (Not 5 sc).
Hand
Rnd 1: … ch 1, sc around bottom edge of foundation round (NOT: sc blo around, there are no back loops there)
Rnd 8 is missing an increase: …. Ending with 1 sc blo in next sc and 2 sc in last st. – 47 sts.
Consequently there’s the same problem in rnd 12 which repeats rnd 8.

I haven’t had much to say about new designs recently, have I? So, I am especially happy that Inside Crochet has just put up preview pictures of their next issue on Flickr. I designed a cabled sweater, which by the way I am really proud of. I should make one for myself.

Do you still remember my design process posts? You can read them here, here and here.

What happened next? Well, I kind of got lazy, then had a baby, then didn’t find the time to concentrate on anything more complicated than a simple pair of socks, then got sidetracked by other stuff, then got lazy again….

This is NOT the way to do it. The longer I put a design aside, the more difficult it is to get back to it. There’s a big risk of falling out of love with it altogether. So it was time to pick this up again before it ended on the design-UFO pile.

I did not work on pattern writing, sizing or sorting out details. For now I just crocheted the back piece. I still have to decide on how to handle the front neckline and the sleeves.
But for now, here’s the back blocking. Next, I’ll have to work on the fronts, chart it all out (at least in the size I am making) before I can get the hook out again. I’ll keep you posted.

The Interweave Crochet Fall Preview is up. For the first time, I have not a garment, but an accessory in it, the Apple Cider Mittens.
Here’s a picture I took before sending them off:

I edited my Kerchief Bib pattern that was, so far, only available on my old blog in a very “so here’s what I did” kind of way. Now I’ve made it into a real pattern pdf on Ravelry, kind of as a learning experience for writing knitting patterns. Here’s the link to download the free pdf on Ravelry:

download now

I also made up another 3 bibs for the occasion.

German and French versions are coming soon, too.

Picture by Marianne Cant (www.barrianne-photos.co.uk)

Finally, the Cecilia Cardigan, originally published in Yarn Forward Summer 2008, is also available as a Ravelry Download or directly here on the Blog (you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to purchase the pattern).

You can see more pics on Flickr.

Let’s make those design process posts an end of week kind of thing, ok? So, what happened this week?
Decisions were made about how to handle some of the shaping in the back and front. There was more drawing on graph paper and some swatching to see how it’ll actually work out. I started writing the pattern for the back piece. And I ordered the yarn! I have just used Rowan’s Cashsoft 4 Ply for another (magazine) project and I absolutely loved it. I already had it in mind when I was sketching the idea and swatching for stitch patterns to use.
I had started on calculating the sleeves, but then I didn’t really know what to do with them, do them in the rib pattern or in the shell pattern? I don’t know. I’ve decided to start crocheting the back before I make that decision. So, next week’s assignment is to wait for the yarn, I think I can handle that. Ah, and I could work out the front necklines as well.

Here’s a swatch testing decreasing in rib pattern:

Well, now I’ve left the design aside for so long, it’s kind of hard to get back into the swing of things. Today, that’s what I’ll be trying to do. Where was I? What was I thinking? What was I doing? Hum….

Let’s go back to the beginning. Here’s my first sketch, definite proof that the inability to draw is not an obstacle to get a pattern accepted by Interweave Crochet. So, don’t be afraid if you’re sketching is not very good, it can’t possibly be worse than mine. Obviously I’d try to get something a little bit better if I was planning on submitting this anywhere.

Now, what have I done so far? I started an Excel sheet for all my calculations. Although the basic concept is the same at the beginning of every sweater, it usually quickly turns out all over the place and totally messy to everyone who’s not in my brain.

But the thing is, I don’t have a mathematical brain at all, some of the simplest things I first have to write down on a piece of paper to make sure I don’t mix up what do divide by what before putting them into my spreadsheet.

So, I have all the main numbers for the body (not the sleeves yet). But I still have to think about how to handle decreases and increases in the pattern. And here’s the one big difference to knitting design. In knitting it is easier to get rid of 1 st at a time. In crochet, you have to take your stitch pattern into account, it must remain symmetric, it should still be centered once you’re done with your decreases and it shouldn’t look sloppy if you decrease by fractions of a pattern repeat.

This is when I get out the graph paper. Sometimes it is enough to draw out small sections of a pattern, sometimes I tape a bunch of sheets together to be able to visualize my stitch pattern within my pattern (if that makes any sense). Every time I do this, I wish I had taken the time to teach myself some sort of graphics program to do this part a little faster. So far, I have not done that, neither have I decided which one I should learn. So, pen and paper it is.
Most of that work is still to be done, but here’s how I sketched out the shoulder/neckline in one size.

Well, now I have to get down to adjusting all that to fit my pattern, decide how to work de- and increases, and start on calculating my sleeves.

This one was a tough decision. The last sweater I made for DH, was a big success and people kept asking for the pattern. That’s why I decided that his next sweater should turn into a patter. It’s very simple, but that’s what men love, don’t they? Plus, I already showed it to an online knitting magazine that would have liked to publish the pattern. And it’s in Cascade 220, available easily for most of you. But, the big ‘but’ is that I’ve been trying to write the pattern for weeks now and somehow I just can’t. The very idea of it makes me do something else every single time. I think I am just over it.

Ok, so please don’t ask me for a pattern. There isn’t one. Maybe someday there’ll be one, but I am not promising anything.

I actually added some length to the bottom of the sweater after the photo shoot. I had to cut it off and lengthen it, a real pain, but it worked, it’s hardly visible and he now absolutely loves it.

More pics here.

I am making room on my desk and in my head for new designs. I absolutely hate sitting on old things, I have to get rid of them in order to move on. This is one of the projects I didn’t love any more, it wasn’t well planned anyway, it was a design-as-you-go kind of toddler cardi, but it turned out I didn’t really know where to go with it. So to the frog pond it went.