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Newsletter - May 2013
Welcome!
In From the Prime Minister’s Desk, Julia writes about colour, an appropriate theme for the ‘bursting into colour’ month of May. Find insight into your reactions to designs. Is your aversion or love perfectly logical and explainable or is it a reaction to the colour? Do you remember learning about your ‘lizard brain’ years ago? Without us being conscious of it, it can drive our choices in ways that aren't necessarily the best for us. Read and learn from Julia and you’ll be happier with your projects. Designer in lace Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting is our Designer of the Month and our Collection for the Month is mittens, a surprising project for May endorsed decades ago by Elizabeth Zimmermann.
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As always, let us know what you think of this issue. Email me, Gayle Clow, at newsletter.editor@patternfish.com and send any other questions about Patternfish to Phil at support@patternfish.com Follow us on ... |
Prime Minister's Choices
Your assignment: to play with these designs in terms of colour. Really try and do something out of your comfort zone. Some use variegated yarns, some require other solid choices. Extra credit given for using colours you've never used before, or those you haven't really cared for in the past. Because it's warmer weather, I tried to pick smaller or lighter-weight projects.
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This is one of my all-time favorites for combining two sock/sport/fingering weight variegates. Just pick a lighter value and a darker value, and see where they take you. It's a mosaic pattern, so not even fair isle; you slip stitches, and never work with more than one colour per round. |
This one's easy. If you normally wear neutrals, make it in a bright-- or the opposite. As a summer sweater design, it's just beautiful-- so flattering. Try Classic Elite's new Mesa cotton or Solstice instead of the Interlude, making sure to get gauge. |
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This brand-new PDF is a superb vehicle for any DK colourway at all. It's worked in one seamless piece from left to the right front, and shaped with wrapped short rows; mostly st st with some garter ridging. So the striping would all be vertical, there's no sewing, and you only need 770 - 1430y (700-1300m). You can knit from this for the rest of your life. |
Silverman has the nautical flag for "Storm Warning" featured as the intarsia element on the front of these dynamic kids' sweaters, but make it your own by playing with the colours-- she gives you lots of choices about where to put them. |
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Look! No sewing, and offered in both worsted and fingering weights, this is a great little gift piece. Try challenging yourself here by using a colourway that wouldn't normally appeal to you (in a worsted, that would be quick), and you'll probably surprise yourself by liking the outcome a whole lot. |
A monumental classic of a variegated sock pattern, with endless possibilities for mood and expression. Do make sure there's some value contrast between the solid colour and the variegate. Or do them in two solids if you're just after the pure drama of it without the mystery. Whatever; it'll stun you. |
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This pattern has three lovely designs that cry out to be in other colours. I personally am crazy about the pullover on the far left, and am dying to try it in a hemp or linen DK-- one of those fibres that soften and drape better with each wash. If you use the Louet Euroflax Sport or hempforknitting's allhemp6 or allhemp6LUX, machine washing is a requirement. |
Sometimes the design is photographed in a colour that doesn't show it off well enough. I made this gansey-style shawl-collared cardigan in a bright red for my new first-cousin-twice-removed Wynn, and it looked fantastic (she said modestly). Great for boys and girls alike. Note from the editor: No need for modesty; I’ve seen it. It’s great. |
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As small projects go (tiny yardage!), this is a piece whose elegance and ease just stuns the onlooker. Absolutely ideal for any soft variegate-- or solid-- for yourself or as a gift; you'll knit it over and over again just to see how it plays out in various colourways. |
Remember when everyone was making those two-colourway circular scarves? This could be the matching hat, but offers a much faster result. One ball each of most worsted/Aran-weight colour-shifting yarns and you're in your own magical kingdom. And it's really nice and warm too. |
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Editor's Choices
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This little cowl, Geometry in Motion, from Lindsay Lewchuk at Eco Chic Knits, is not only a pretty knit, it’s also an instructive lesson in designing with lace. When you change the orientation of a lace pattern, the look and feel of it changes dramatically. Forthe knit-in-the- round cowl, the lace pattern is knit from the bottom up and shows that way when worn. For the buttoned cowl, the lace pattern is knit flat and shows sideways when the cowl is being worn. Go to the pattern page and check out the lightshow for photos of each. The lace patterns are both written and charted. It would be an interesting experiment to make both cowls in the same yarn and see how the gauge changes as it’s usually tighter in the round. You’ll then have made a gift as well as advanced your knitting knowledge. |
I love the curve-enhancing effect of this pretty shell named Valerie from Louet, as well as the cables, the simple lace effect at the hem, and the close fit at the underarms. The pattern includes beads. You don't need to follow the pattern, but rather place them where you want attention. Beads gracing the lace triangles would emphasize curves and the waist, while those on the cables would lengthen the body. |
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Carol Tomany’s crocheted Perfect Little Handbag is also a perfect little beginner’s crochet pattern. With the help of some basic ‘how to crochet’ instructions, a beginner could make this bag quite easily. The most difficult part of it would be finding a really gorgeous button. The handbag takes just one skein of worsted weight cotton, but you could substitute any yarn or combination of yarns in your stash as long as they are stable (not stretchy) and you get gauge. Imagine it in a different colour for a wedding. |
This pattern is brand new at Patternfish and it’s just what I’ve been thinking about, something that covers up the bits that I’d rather not have on display, but at the same time is cool. With sport weight yarn at 3 stocking stitches to the inch, it can be ready by the time the heat and humidity arrive. Note to self: buy Euroflax in a light reflecting colour! |
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I’m not much of a sock knitter, but summer socks that feel good in walking shoes are really hard to find. Make your own and there will be no lumps and bumps to create blisters and sores, plus your whole leg gets tanned on long walks. Nice to have something other than white, too. |
This charming pattern makes me itch to pick up needles; alas, there are no babies to knit for on my horizon. The cable running up the raglan sleeve emphasizes it beautifully and gives it a bit of a ‘tough guy’ look, although it is sized for preemies to age 2 and the yarn is a lightweight 4 ply. Maybe a baby will make itself known if I pick up the needles. |
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From the Prime Minister's Desk
Local Colour80% of people choose to make a pattern in the colour in which it's shown in the main photo. So said a yarn industry survey some years ago. This is a trap. We are all massively influenced by colour, whether we realize it or not. And this goes for everyone, in greater or lesser degrees. (Many designers have the colour equivalent of perfect pitch in music, and excel at this kind of test: Online Color Challenge. Personally I am a complete dud at it.) When you see a new pattern for the first time, the first thing you're likely to do is say “Wow!” or “Eeeew!” based solely on the colour(s) of the piece. It's a reflexive reaction that you're probably not even aware of, like snatching your hand back from an open flame before you've had time to think about what you're doing. If you're going to spend any substantial time knitting or crocheting, it will be very important for you to try and train your mind not to do that-- at least, if you're having a negative reaction. What matters in a pattern is not the colour shown, though it will almost always be the first thing to register in your lizard brain. The important thing (this sounds condescendingly obvious, but bear with me) is the garment itself. So, look at the ugly-coloured thing and imagine it hard in your favorite (as it may be) periwinkle. You can train your mind to do this kind of thing almost automatically, and it will dramatically improve your knitting and crocheting life. Practice. It will really work. (When I was a yarn rep, I thought that this Stylecraft pattern for 2 - 12-year-olds was absolutely fantastic, but that it wouldn't sell for me. Right on both counts. Three truly great, easy, classic designs, but the majority of people really don't like orange and brown for clothing, for kids or not, unless they are a hobbit.) One fun thing is to imagine the piece in one of the new fashion colours for the new season-- say, Fall 2013. These colour choices used to be embargoed until the last minute, but the internet trumped all that nonsense. Now you can go to the Pantone site and others to discover in advance what a season's palette is going to be. Yarn companies are probably going to offer new colours in those same ranges, so pick some favorites now. When you pick a garment, always ask yourself: do I look better in raglan sleeves than in a drop shoulder? Is there waist shaping? Do I look better in a V or crew neck? Cropped or long body? 3/4 sleeve, or little French cap sleeves? If in doubt, ask longtime friends, and tell them why you're doing it, as they won't want to offend your feelings about yourself or your current wardrobe. Ask them to speculate about what you might knit for yourself, and they should open up very interestingly. When you've decided the design itself will work for you, try enlisting the aid of a helpful LYS staffer. They are often surprisingly good at picking colours that suit you which you mightn't have thought of-- yet another reason to return often to your LYS. And if you're knitting for kids, let them pick the colour (at least-- the design, too, if you can) and USE it. Even if you can't stand it, they won't wear it otherwise, and you want it worn, don't you? Ask me how I know. A bit of trivia: why are pieces for adults rarely shown in white? Because there are three colours that always sell across all yarn ranges: black, cream, and white. No need to advertise their availability further-- just promote the new colours for the season. One Skein/Stash BustersHere are Fiddlestick’s One Ball Scarves, a crocheted hat from Christine Guest, and Kate Atherley’s baby bonnet. |
Designer of the Month: Dorothy Siemens
Look at Dorothy Siemens’s best selling pattern, her Peacock Feathers Shawl, and guess when Dorothy started knitting. From the very suggestion, you know there’s something unusual going on here, but could you have guessed this? Siemens’s sister taught her the very basics of knitting when Dorothy was 35 years old. “I came to knitting fairly late in the game,” she tells us. You think? It’s pretty remarkable that she went from not knowing anything at 34 to becoming a lace knitting design expert in short order. She was involved in some sort of needlework activity from as far back as she can remember, so the handwork skills and desire to create were there early on; but everything changed after she took a weekend workshop from Margaret Stove, the master of lace. She returned from the workshop feeling like a door had been opened in her understanding of lace knitting and told her husband, “Now I get it! It’s easy!” Siemens was unsure about the viability of a knitting pattern business focused on lace stoles and shawls because the market was small, but a cousin and friend of Sally Melville’s had the enormous good sense to bring the two together. Sally’s wise advice, “Do what you love and the rest will follow.” Fiddlesticks Knitting was born. Siemens spent the next year designing six shawls of varying shape and difficulty: Creatures of the Reef, Flirty Ruffles Shawl, Tina Shawl, Lacy Lattice Stole, Triple Mohair Triangle and the Garden Shawl. The Internet was just becoming a real player in the marketing area (is it really such a short time ago?) so she designed a website, bought yarn wholesale, and created kits. The knitting community responded to Fiddlesticks designs; Siemens mentioned her designs and website to guild pals and that led to an exciting floodgate of interest and orders. Fiddlesticks took off. Siemens patterns very close to perfect. They're written to make the process of knitting a Fiddlesticks shawl or garment easy to follow. The lace patterns are in chart form. If you are not a knitter from charts yet, one of the Fiddlesticks scarf patterns (in the One Skein section) would be a very good start. Here’s more from Dorothy… What's your design process? I begin with an idea. It could be inspired by a fashion I’ve seen, something in nature resulting in the Fern Glade and Creatures of the Reef shawls, for instance; a particular stitch (I browse through knitting stitch dictionaries and am enthralled by Japanese knitting books); or a desire for a particular garment, scarf or shawl for myself (hmmm...I could really use a new cardigan...). Then I begin swatching. I try different stitch patterns and pin them on a board. I pin various swatches together to see how the stitch patterns will look together. I always work with charts. Because of my graphic design background, I am quite visual and “see” the design much better when I work graphically, or in chart form. I knit all the samples myself. I like the control this gives me and of course, I enjoy the knitting! Once I have a sample knit, I write the pattern, do the photography, then format the pattern as closely as possible to the final state before sending the sample and pattern to a tech editor for review. This is an essential part of the process. That second set of eyes (and math skills) is priceless! Which is your favourite design? How can one choose from amongst all of one’s children? Which are your customers? favourite designs? My top shawl seller, bar none, is the Peacock Feathers Shawl followed closely by Misty Vales. My top scarf pattern is Four Seasons Scarves, and in garments, it’s Felicia Vest. It has not been lost on me that these are all lace-heavy designs. Patternfish customers favour garments more than accessories. Flora Cardigan is their Fiddlesticks favourite, followed by Luscious Vest and Beech Leaf Vest. Why are your patterns listed on Patternfish? I only recently began offering my patterns as pdf downloads and when I did, Julia Grunau, Patternfish’s fearless leader, asked me if I would list on Patternfish. It seemed like a good idea and a way to reach more knitters who might not have heard of Fiddlesticks Knitting. And it has been great! We couldn’t agree more! Here are all of Dorothy Siemens’s Fiddlesticks Knitting patterns. |
In April, we welcomed four new designers.
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Cindy Garland begins at Patternfish with Lunar Tide, an easy-to-knit shawl inspired by the moon rising over the ocean waves. The colour and texture variations look amazingly different from one another and suggest bold adaptations. |
Deborah Tomasello debuts at Patternfish with the delightful Musica Hat. Tomasello enjoys colourwork beyond any other technique and revels in designing hats and shawls in particular. The hat has coordinating fingerless mitts. |
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Katie Viren lives in Duluth. She dedicated her first pattern with Patternfish, the Duluth Suite, to that city in remembrance of a summer of rain, rain, and more rain. These four hats, in 4 sizes from child through adult, celebrate raindrops and are banded with two-colour corrugated ribbing, like a corrugated roof to keep out the rain (we hazard.) |
Michelle Krause of Leah Michelle Designs launches with her disciplined yet feminine Lacy Lady Scarf, the first in a series that includes a shawl and beret. Krause has an eye for making the most of both tonal variation yarns and just one skein of yarn. |
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Collection of the Month
It may seem odd to feature mittens in May’s Collection of the Month, but no less an expert than Elizabeth Zimmermann highly recommended it in her Knitter’s Almanac. She thought that it’s better to knit mitts in the warm months than “when the snow flies and small frozen hands beg for warmth (sob). Let’s make them in May,” she declares, “let’s take our time over them; let’s venture into new approaches and designs; let’s enjoy them.” She points out, too, the advantage of small and portable projects that are “easy to carry about outdoors, and can be made surprisingly fast.”
EZ likely would have agreed that new approaches are just waiting to be invented (or unvented as she would say), and Deb Gemmell of Cabin Fever has designed a new thumb gusset for mitts that’s easy to work and gives amazing fit and comfort. She uses it in both her Last Minute Mittlets and Ergonomic Mittens.
Gemmell's mitten has an additional innovation, a technique borrowed from Zimmermann’s daughter, Meg Swansen, for constructing the thumb, I-cord. Swansen introduced this finger-making method in her 1995 book Handknitting.
From the Ambassador's Desk
- Gayle Clow
Continuing with the colour theme in From the Prime Minister’s Desk, one of my favourite books is Deb Menz’s Color Works. Read it and learn how to work with colour and make colour work for you, in nine media. Menz demonstrates theories with swatches that are inspiring and awe-inducing. The 'works' part of the book is interactive. It's much more like play than work, and it increases colour confidence.