New release: Succulent Wrap

While designing this new wrap, I named it “Devana”, which is a nod to Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. I saw the lace as a bunch of arrows, shooting in all directions. But when I saw the official name, the “Succulent Wrap”, in knitscene Summer 2020, I thought, “PERFECT!” It really does resemble a succulent plant in both the lace I chose and the color chosen by the editors. The photographer (Caleb Young) really worked his magic, too. That’s my favorite part of designing for publications: the photos! Honestly, that part is probably the hardest for me to accomplish on my own, so to see professional styling and photography of the piece I worked so hard to make is the bessssst!

I know we’re all still on lockdown, but if you can get your hands on this issue, it’s full of summer breeziness and fantasies of warmer days and, fingers crossed, time with our family and friends.

What deadlines?

COVID-19 is here. Not in my house (that we know of) but it’s in all 50 states and we are in lockdown here in California. A lot of knitters would say “Yaaaaaas, all knitting all the time!!” By “a lot of knitters,” I mean me before I had kids. Me now? “Well…there goes my knitting time.” Having two young boys home 24/7 in the middle of a school year is a challenge! Granted, a healthy family and world is worth it, but yikes!

I was fortunate to only have one hard deadline to meet (although what even ARE deadlines now?). Thanks to the kind and efficient folks at Interweave, I had waaaayyyy more time than necessary to complete it; but it was a struggle to get it off my plate with the holidays and then the pandemic. I’m happy to announce that the project is DONE and sent off and beautiful and I’m happy with it! I’m also thrilled to follow that up with the fact that the two self-published designs are also newly released. WOO!

Introducing….

Bradwen: Picture it. Sicily, 1922. I mean, San Diego…2020. Two parent friends watch their boys play soccer and discuss the recent chill. How dare Southern California have “chill” that isn’t just the regional attitude? Annnnnyhoo, parent 1 says “My kid doesn’t even have a winter hat!” Parent 2 says “I can make him one!” Thus, Bradwen was born. This cabled beanie was made for Bradley and Owen. It’s so easy to memorize and knit, isn’t too boring for the knitter, and isn’t too decorative for the picky dresser. It’s a go-to pattern for me now!

Hypanthium: Picture it. A knitting convention marketplace. A designer browses alone and meets a LOVELY vendor named Marcia of Busy Stix (SUPPORT HER!). She sets her up with some skeins of Bella Hand Dyed Yarn and says “go nuts!” Well, that designer did! Hypanthium is for knitters like me who like to have multiple things going on at the same time. It is a triangle shawl that is made of two lace triangles with a floral colorwork panel in the center. The color work reminded me of the hypanthium of a flower, which (as far as I can tell) is the cup-like receptacle that holds the ovary. I mean…I kinda love that. And I super love how this shawl came out!

SO, back to business. Now my only “deadlines” are proposal deadlines, which I don’t necessarily have to do. For now, it’s all about being a teacher/doctor/playmate/chef to my boys and being some of those things to my husband, too, haha. It’s time to be nice to ourselves and others and settle into this groove for the long haul. That may mean fewer proposals out the door, but that’s life!

Much love to you all and stay healthy!!

"Ascension" feminist sweater pattern

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The midterms. Oh, lordy. The 2018 midterm elections had our country in a near constant state of panic. But not to fear! (Well…there’s still plenty that needs fixing, but I digress.) The result was a huge wave of women being elected to Congress. Such a big wave, in fact, that it was an historic sweep with 116 women being sworn in this month.

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I was inspired by this turn of events and looked to create a color work pattern that featured a feminine symbol in a sort of communal, supportive layout. I originally wanted to create something subtle based off this graphic I saw on a BBC article (at left), like a repetitive pattern whose origins weren’t immediately apparent, but were surprising and impactful upon further study. It didn’t QUITE turn out like that, but I am very happy with this more explicit yoke design. The women are standing side by side, holding hands, encircling the wearer’s shoulders in a protective halo. I named it “Ascension” due to the women ascending to positions of power.

One of the pitfalls in any kind of identity politics is the idea that it is exclusive or leaves out a particular group. This certainly crossed my mind. Not everyone who identifies as female wears a skirt or dress, for example (I almost never wear a skirt or dress). And there are certainly males who like to wear skirts or dresses or kilts even. I also wanted to avoid any suggestion of racial designation, so the entire person is filled in with a checkerboard appearance and does not feature hair at all. All in all, for the purposes of keeping the knitting itself coherent and simple, I chose to give the human figure a symbolic look so it is recognizably female. Any message beyond celebrating the number of women recently sworn into the new Congress is unintentional but I’m happy to field concerns if you have any.

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Now, to get back to the knitting itself, “Ascension” is a top-down, seamless yoke pullover using fingering weight yarn and stranded colorwork. The body is increased to a roomy width, falls to a trendy cropped length, and has a slightly longer back using short rows. A coordinating band of colorwork and simple ribbing finishes this versatile and eye-catching garment. It is very flattering, too! I enjoyed wearing the prototype which fell between a M and L size, with the bit of extra weight that I “collected” this year, LOL. And my sister and niece, who have a leaner frame, loved wearing the S size and looked amazing!

The yarn I used was Bella Hand Dyed Yarn, Mendocino fingering weight, 100% superwash merino wool. I was lucky to pick some up for the prototype when I visited Vogue Knitting Live: San Francisco back in September. It was so beautiful! The dyer, Marcia, is lovely and fun and agreed to partner with me on this project. The blues are right up my alley, being both spring-like and fresh but also reminiscent of the ocean here in San Diego. I love her choices, the way the yarn worked up, and all the potential combinations in her arsenal!

You can see the sample and Marcia (and maybe me!) in person at Stitches West 2019 at the end of February in Santa Clara, CA. It will be featured at the Bella Hand Dyed Yarn booth and will also be walking the runway at the Stitches fashion show! I think Marcia may have even included it in a Stitches Scavenger Hunt. Come check out the kits and combos (and conversation!) over at Bella or, if you live in the Lafayette, CA area, the Busy Stix shop prior to the event. Enjoy and tag your WIP #ascensionsweater on social media!