New Pattern!

I haven’t yet blogged about my trip to London in May and the fabulous Chelsea Flower Show. And I haven’t blogged about my vacation in the south of France in late August/early September. I will get to those in good time. But first I will talk about recent knitting-related stuff.

My latest published pattern is the Terrigal Trio of Tops. It's published in the September 2011 issue of Yarn magazine. This Australian based magazine can be found at JoAnne's and other craft related stores. After one year, it will be available on Ravelry.com.

It’s a simple tank top that comes with a surprise – there are 3 different ways to wear it.
First: is a classic fitted tank top with a deep V neck. Great for summer weekends or going out at night, it lets you show a little cleavage.
Second: perhaps you want to wear the same top for work but find the V neck a bit much? Add a matching lacy insert which snaps or buttons in, and you’re covered up for the office. The lace can peek out when you’re wearing a jacket or cardigan over the tank.
Want more? Make another triangle in jaunty stripes and you’ve got a third sporty look, accented with bright silver buttons.
When the cooler weather comes, wear it as a vest with a crisp white shirt underneath. That’s version number 4!
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The design was inspired by the look of 17th century ladies’ dresses. At night they showed a deep décolletage, and by day they tucked a bit of lace over their shoulders and in the neckline, to make it a more modest day dress.
The design is done in stockinette stitch with occasional purl stitches for texture, and has waist shaping for a smooth silhouette. An attached I-cord is used for the edging along the neck and armholes. The buttonholes are cleverly hidden by the I-cord. Alternatively snaps can be used to attach the lacy insert. The hem is finished with a tiny ruffle. These design elements result in a clean modern look with texture interest.

I hope you like this design!

Story of a Sweater – Water Lilies

It all started with winning a raffle. My LYS (KnitCulture) was having an open house, customer appreciation event, and at the event I won a raffle prize. It was 2 balls of Classic Elite Firefly yarn, in a pale pink, along with a pattern booklet. Firefly is a warm-weather yarn made of rayon and linen. It has a lovely texture and a pretty luster.

I loved the yarn, but the color was too pale for my complexion. So I put it aside, with some vague thoughts of dyeing it one day.

A few months later, another great LYS (Unwind) was having their anniversary party, and amazingly enough, I won another raffle. (I know! What are the odds?) And it was Firefly again! This time 2 balls of yellow-lime-green and 2 of soft blue. Once again: lime green – great color, but not for me. (Heck, I have green paint on my walls – I’m not anti-green! It just doesn’t look good on me!)

So, for those keeping score, I now owned 2 balls of pink, 2 of blue and 2 of green. And only the blue looked good next to my face. But I really wanted to knit with this yarn.

The solution came to me – STRIPES! Not just any stripes, but the kind designed to flatter: wider at the yoke, skinny ones in the middle. I could place the most flattering color near my face. Add some interesting colored welts at the lower borders, and I-cords used to drape the hem into soft folds. The design helps to camouflage an imperfect tummy area. (Now you're looking at my tummy, aren't you?)

I chose an easy top-down tunic shape, fresh and cool for the summer. It is knit in the round, with some uncomplicated texture stitches to show off the glow of the Firefly yarn. After swatching a few ideas, I settled on 2 rows of seed stitch, 2 rows of stockinette stitch. Easy-peasy! It gave me the kind of “crunchy” look I was searching for. The stitches are simple enough to keep this an easy knit.

I had started knitting it for myself and was really enjoying the yarn when I had the brainstorm to contact Classic Elite Yarns to see if they’d be interested in using it. Well – they were!
I finished knitting the sweater, wrote up the pattern and sent them both off to CEY. The rest, as they say, is history.

The pattern is being featured on the CEY website and their Web-Letter this week, and is on Ravelry too. See:
http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/WebLetter/199/Issue199.php

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/firefly-water-lilies-top
If you like the sweater, feel free to choose your own favorite colors.

By the way, I think it would be great in one solid color too. I look forward to seeing many versions of this on Ravelry (my id on Rav is Goodstuff).

The model wears it well, too, don't you think?
I almost forgot to add: I named it Water Lilies because the pastel colors reminded me of Monet’s paintings of water lilies. These pictures are among my favorites. And a few years ago I had the opportunity to visit Monet’s gardens at Giverny and see them in person. Gorgeous!

Here is one of the Monet paintings, as well as a photo of the actual garden.