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August 22, 2007
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Is anyone still there? The past few weeks have been extremely busy, and the end is still far beyond the field of my focus, but you'll be glad to hear that, as the verse reads, I am as yet unbowed. Still, the feeling is definitely that I need some help, especially having been quite badly let down. And if I have learned anything about knitters over these last few years it is that you are kind, generous, and want to help.
So this is a call for test knitters. Before you jump off your seat to volunteer, please read the below: You are amazing! Thank you so much for every single offer of help! I can see I will have far more willing friends than pieces that need knitting, so let me give some thought to the best way of allocating knits to knitters. And if I may, I'll hold onto the details of everyone who's offered, because even if I'm not able to utilise your skills this time around I'm bound to want to in future.
I will pay you (no princely sum, but the equivalent for the size of project to what I would pay my usual knitters here in the UK), acknowledge your contribution, and give you (at my expense) a copy of the book when it is published. You will not be able to choose the colour or size of the project you knit, you will not be able to keep the project you knit. We will discuss what size of commitment you would be able to take on.
In return I will expect you to:
* Meet a mutually agreed deadline including allowing sufficient time for carriage
* Be party to a non-disclosure agreement
* Keep me informed of your progress
* Feed back on the pattern, including asking me if anything is unclear or starts to 'look wrong', rather than ploughing on regardless
* Be confident in your knitting skills.
There may be more, but that will do for now. If you leave me a comment below saying 'I'm interested', I'll get in touch to find out more. Or feel free to email me, if you have the address (I'm sure most of you do, all these years and I still haven't got around to putting a mailto link on the site).
Also, if you're still reading and still feeling helpful, I don't suppose you know of a good source for reasonably attractive and also reasonably cheap fabric tote bags, of the type suitable for keeping knitting projects in? Someone with more time and love for her sewing machine than I would whip up a half dozen of her own. At the moment I lack even time to knit a pair of booties for my dear burgeoning baby, my little loaf, so I must throw money at the problem instead, and rely on that other someone's industriousness. I tried 'etsy' but the search results were too huge and unwieldy: a personal recommendation would be far preferable, if you have one.
My dears, thank you for your patience and for being here with open hearts when I can be.
Posted by Anna at 04:12 PM | Comments (175)
August 02, 2007
Marla pattern
To fit size: 32 (34: 36: 38: 40: 44: 48: 52) inches
Finished size: 32 (34: 36: 38: 40: 44: 48: 52) inches
A sweet summer sweater designed to show off the beauty of hand-painted yarns, with a contrast cotton trim and envelope neckline.
Suitable for hand-painted 4ply (fingering) weight wool, with 100% cotton trim. Show in
yarn A: Koigu KPPPM 100% merino in P1573 50gm (160m [175 yards]) 5 (6: 6: 7: 7: 8: 8: 9) skeins
yarn B: Rowan 4-ply Cotton in 153 Cream 50gm (170m [186 yards]) 1 (1: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 3) balls
Gauge:After blocking, 28 sts and 44 rows on 3mm needles in garter stripe pattern (6 rows st st, 6 rows garter st) with yarn A to 10 cm (4 inches)
Skills: Knit and purl stitches, knitting in the round, ribbing, short rows, increases, decreases, picking up stitches
£3.50 - you will be sent a link to download the pattern as an electronic (pdf) file, approx 0.43Mb
For more photos, see my previous entry here.
Posted by Anna at 09:50 AM | Comments (13)
August 01, 2007
Justinthyme
First of all, thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the last post. I definitely won't be modelling any more non-maternity designs for the next few months, but you all made me feel very happy about the photo shoot for Marla. The pattern for that one should be up tomorrow or the next day.
Now to the substance of this post:
I don't know about you, but the deadline for this round of Sockapalooza crept up on me. I knew the deadline was August but hadn't quite appreciated that it was the second of August. Which is effectively the end of July.
Luckily, both socks had been finished for a while and just needed the ends sewn in, a quick block, and a card to accompany them.
Truly, if my sock pal finds anything not to love about these socks I will despair. Cookie's Twisted Flower pattern is so beautiful, and my own Regia silk socks are bearing up quite well to wear and laundering. They're more lovely on but I found the contortions required to take a snap were beyond me, so I hope my sock pal will show a picture of them being modelled.
I can't wait to receive the pair from my own sockpal, who has been quite a tease with false email addresses and clues to the yarn she's using - my appetite is definitely whet. And for the third time, immense thanks to Alison for managing this behemoth.
So that's one item struck through on the 'to do' list. Next? Finish six projects plus intros for next book deadline in two weeks. If you're looking for me, that's where I'll be.
Posted by Anna at 08:50 PM | Comments (14)