Deja Knit

I'm in the middle of not one, not two but three projects that I have knit before.

First, I started another pair of Bird in Hand mittens.  When I knit a pair for my sister last December, I knew I had to have a pair of my own.  However, since I'm really trying to focus on my professional knitting, and not spend a lot of time knitting just for fun (not that knitting my own designs isn't fun too), I decided to teach a class on the mittens.  I asked for and received Kate's blessing to use her pattern for the class (with the students purchasing their own patterns, of course), and last month I knit the first mitten as a sample to advertise the class.  I reserved knitting the second mitten for demonstrating techniques during the class.  It was in three sessions, and the final session is tomorrow.  It's going great!  We even got Betsy, the shop owner, to take the class.  I'm going to try and get a photo of everyone's mittens at the end of the class.

I'll be embarrassed to admit to the class tomorrow that I've not been modeling good homework-doing.  I want to have the thumb done for class tomorrow so that I can demo the embroidery, but there's no way I'll finish the whole thing.  My revised plan is to get past the thumb gusset, then put the hand stitches on a holder, then knit the thumb.  But even that is a bit ambitious, since I have some other non-knitting work to do today as well.

Anyway, next we have my Rapunzel sweater.  This will be the next design I publish, and I have to say, I think this is my favorite thing I've ever designed.  I knit the prototype for myself last year, and now I'm knitting a sample to photograph, which will live at A Loom with a View when I'm done with it.  Betsy picked the color, and while it's not a color that I would have chosen myself, I actually really like how the pattern looks in this shade.

Sorry for the crappy photo (actually, all my photos for this post are kinda crappy, but I took them at 11pm last night and did the best I could).

The sizes are all worked out (that's the 8 sizes I mentioned in my last post), and the pattern is partially written out.  I still have to knit another sleeve, knit the top edge, sew it all together, finish writing the pattern, photograph the sweater, get the pattern edited, and layout the pattern.  Wow, when I say it like that it sounds like a lot, but hopefully I can get it all done within a couple weeks.

The third re-knit is a version of my Artemis Stole.  I want to teach a lace class this spring, and I've finally learned my lesson that people like a project-based class (rather than just practicing the techniques), so I'm knitting up a scarf version of my stole pattern and will use that to teach lace techniques. 

I'll keep the scarf when it's done, so I'm knitting it out of lovely, soft Malabrigo Lace yarn in a favorite shade of blue.  They call it "jewel blue," but I don't think it's a jewel tone at all, it's more of a sky blue.  In fact, it's the same color I painted my bedroom as a teenager, my office when I worked at NYU, and I'm thinking of painting my current office/study in my home.  I did my best with Photoshop to approximate the color, but in reality it's a much softer color than what appears on my screen in this photo.

So... maybe after all these are done I'll actually invent something new to knit!  A girl can dream.

Comments

[Danielle]

You're busy! I really like the cables on Rapunzel. I like how I look in raglan t-necks and v-necks, but I always stayed away from any kind of necklines at the collarbone. But, I recently realized that if I wear a collared shirt underneath, I like a regular raglan sweater too. Hmmm ...

[Kat with a K]

I'm knitting something I've knit before as well, and it's driving me out of my mind. Especially because it's cotton, which I'm not crazy about. I'm having to bribe myself to actually knit it. (14 more rows and I can knit something else for the rest of the day!)

I love the Rapunzel sweater!

[Knitting Bandit]

Ughh..."Professional Knitting" sounds awful for you...I hope there is some fun in it. Rapunzel is absolutely gorgeous! It's sure to be a hit!

[Beth S.]

I see nothing wrong with revisiting patterns. I've done three Flower Baskets so far, and will probably do at least one more before I'm finished with that pattern! ;-) I like applying what I learned the first time around to make a slightly better version the next time.

The petite version of Artemis is lovely. I'm glad you're going to keep this one. :-)

[Michele]

Oh, I'm liking Rapunzel......which yarn did you use?