The Sweetness knit-along is finally over. Thanks to everyone who participated over in the Ravelry forums, and congrats to the dedicated knitters who completed their KAL projects by the final deadline! All participants who completed their sweaters in time will get the Knit Darling pattern of their choice. I'll reach out personally via Ravelry to arrange the prizes.

The grand prize winner is TeaKnitPurl, who will also receive a signed copy of my Winsome Knits collection and some fabulous yarn from my gigantic stash.

Below are some pictures of the completed sweaters from the KAL to inspire you.

If you're still working on your project, I hope you'll continue posting in the forum. There's also been some chatter of starting another knit-along, perhaps for the Rook Pullover or Rockling Cardigan, so please chime in if you're interested in something like that.

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated! I had so much fun leading my first KAL, and can hardly wait to start another one.

Sweetness KAL'ers, you're almost there! By now, you should have finished the yoke, body, and one of the sleeves. I hope you're having as much fun as I am!

Your mission for Part 6: Finish knitting your sweater by Monday, November 17. This is my birthday, and seeing your finished sweaters is the best gift I can think of!

I've been working on my Sweetness KAL sweater while on my Graphic Knits Book Tour through the Pacific Northwest. My husband and I rented an RV, and we're having a blast! My job as the navagator has been pretty demanding, but I've managed to squeeze in a little knitting time here and there.

If you've followed along with the KAL schedule, you only have the second sleeve, weaving in ends, and blocking left to do. If you're rusty on your “finishing" skills, here are a couple videos that I made a while back explaining how I do it.

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I finished my sweater a little early so I could display it at a book signing event I did at Knit-Purl in Portland, Oregon. It was really down to the wire and I didn't finish until the night before the event. It pretty much rained the whole time we were in Portland, and the sweater just didn't dry out in time. I actually had to employ a blow dryer in order to finish drying the sweater minutes before we left for the event!

I'm delighted to see participation has really picked up over on the Ravelry thread. Here are a few progress pics from the group:

We're in the home stretch now, and I'm cheering everyone on! I've seen some truly amazing progress so far. Remember, to win the prize, you need to finish your sweater and post a picture on the Sweetness KAL Ravelry thread by midnight on November 17, 2014. You can do it!

The Liwi Top was the 13th pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits. When I began in late April, 2013 I was really getting in the groove of writing my book, and relaxed a little about my "knitting schedule".

For the first half of the Graphic Knits patterns, I made a calendar to help me figure out my design pace. I had six months to finish half the book, or to put it another way, 180 days to create patterns and samples for 6 garments and 4 accessories. I figured I had about 24 days to design/knit each of the garments, and 8 days for each of the accessories.

This schedule was frightening, to say the least! Somehow I pulled it off for the first half, so I was confident I could do it again. I was so confident that I didn't even make a schedule for the second half. I just picked up whichever design sketch I felt like, and got to work at my usual pace. Also, I had come to realize that it's impractical to work on only one thing at a time, and working on several projects at once could be much more efficient.

When I began working on Liwi, I was still finishing Orly, and had already begun swatching for the next three patterns (Danae, Trilogy, and Sweetness). Even with all that multitasking, the pattern and sample only took about 3 weeks to complete.

This is the sketch I made for my book proposal. You might notice that the shoulder detail with the buttons looks a little different from the sample. I had planned all along to close the shoulders with a row of buttons on either side. When I finished knitting the sample, I pinned the shoulders into place with three sewing pins and slipped it on to see what I had wrought.

Of course sewing pins rarely stay-put in a hand knitted garment, and instantly one of the pins fell to the floor. My pointy freckled shoulder poked right through the gap in the middle of one of the shoulders. There was something delightful about the 'cut-out' effect this created so I decided to alter the design. If this isn't exactly your style, you could sew the shoulders shut as I had originally intended.

This was one of the few designs in the book that I had picked a yarn for before I began. I did a lot of my yarn research at my LYS, La Casita, and always had my eye on the delicious strawberry colored balls of Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK they had there. The yarn was really great to work with and was perfect for this tailored design. I loved how the stitches came out so smoothly and mesh looked so crisp.

The yarn has different colors twisted into it, giving it a slight heather effect which I love. The heather effect makes this design a little more casual, but if you used a solid with a bit of sheen this could really be a dressy piece. I also think it would be very cool to use two different contrasting colors of lace weight yarn held together for more of an interesting marled effect. What yarn would you use?

The Orly Cardigan was the 12th pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

I began working on Orly shortly after the "half-deadline" for my book. I was six months in, and had six months to go. I had made so many sacrifices to hit that deadline, and felt like I had really accomplished something.

When I began six months before, I had no idea how to tackle a project of this magnitude–I mean whoa, twenty patterns in one year?! I was a little crazy to agree to that. But I was infinitely more prepared for the second half and felt confident I could meet my final deadline. The slate had been wiped clean, and it was time to think strategically about my knitting schedule.

Orly was at the top of my list to include in the book. Knitted at a fairly fine gauge, and with a very tailored fit, I knew this project would be pretty time consuming. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I finally felt like time was on my side, so I settled-in with a box set of Sex In The City, and cast on for Orly.

Everything went smoothly with the design, and I was very happy with the result. I thought the cardigan fit so beautifully, and even suggested it as a contender for the front cover.

Months later, when I finally saw photos of this cardigan on a model, my heart sank. While the girl is very beautiful, I thought she was so thin that it made the cardigan look bad. I knew how great it could look, and thought, "No one would want to knit this."

Like a total diva, I demanded a re-shoot, but unfortunately there wasn't a budget for that. Of course looking back, it's clear that I was being a WAY over-dramatic. The photos actually look pretty good.

Even so, if I could go back and do it all over, I would have requested the addition of a model with some curves just to show off this beautiful design the way it was intended.

Even if I'm not 100% happy with every photo, I still love how Orly came out. The main design element is the bold offset stripe patterning. To achieve this effect, I constructed the body in two pieces which are sewn together right down the center of the back.

The three-quarter length sleeves are worked seamlessly in the round from the top-down, so the knitter can easily try on the cardigan to test for appropriate length.

One of my favorite details is the reverse stockinette border. It's worked from picked up stitches all around the edge, then sewn into place for a crisp and tailored finished look.

Here's a swatch I made to test out this border. I show it from the wrong side so you can see how neatly the edging turns out.

I wanted the look of a knitted-on icord edge, but when I tested it out I didn't like how the icord seemed to be sitting on top of the fabric, and the backside was really ugly (in my opinion). I tried a number of different techniques, before I settled on this one.

This technique definitely reveals my seamstress background. I love using binding to finish the edges of things in my sewing, and if this technique had a name, I would probably call it “reverse knitted binding". The natural backward curl of the fabric elegantly encases the bumpy selvage, resulting in a beautiful, smooth line on all the edges. It's just so pretty to me. I'm in love all over again!

What I love is that there's something ambiguous about the reverse stockinette texture. The horizontal grain of the reverse stockinette fabric transitions so beautifully to the vertical grain of the attached icord tie

I chose a wonderful Quince yarn called Finch for this design. It perfectly compliments the tailored look of this cardigan because of its soft smooth finish and the beautiful stockinette fabric that it produces. I had a hard time picking colors because the palette seems to be made just for me!

Orly is definitely one of my favorite sweaters in the book, and I hope you like it too. For more info about the design, visit the pattern page here.

The Tanager Shrug was the 11th pattern that I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits. I was contractually obligated to produce 20 patterns for the book, so this meant that I was officially over the hump. Yay!

I knew Tanager would be a challenging shape to design, but I had a huge head start. It was the only design that I worked on before I got my book deal. In fact, I came up with this idea about 2 years before and never dreamed I would see it on the pages of very own book someday.

I first sketched this out when I was hot on the heels of my first hit design, the Delancey Cardigan. I was a little obsessed with the triangular “center spine" shawl shape as a device to make interesting diagonal stripes inside a garment. I can hardly believe I just typed that–top 10 geekiest things to admit. I was really into it though. I could not stop thinking about directional knitting, and that's when this design made it's way into the pages of my sketchbook–way back in the spring of 2011.

This is precisely why I save all my sketches. This design fit perfectly into the theme of Graphic Knits. I was really excited to work on it again. I actually knitted most of a sample two years before, but put it aside for whatever reason. I started over when I made this for the book because I wanted to tweak a few things, but the experience making the first one was still hugely valuable.

The piece starts out as a triangle that grows out from the top center of the back. You could definitely keep knitting and knitting if you wanted to turn this into a shawl. To make this into a shrug I needed kind of a crazy winged octagon shape, which I achieved using increases and decreases on the edges.

The shape is really interesting, but my favorite thing about this design is definitely the eyelet transition between the color-changes. When you look up close, you can see the marvelous texture this adds to the stripes.

This was the second design in the book that I used Malabrigo's Silky Merino yarn for. I'm such a huge fan of this yarn! It's so soft and light, and has a really beautiful sheen from the silk content. The colors have wonderful depth and a slight variegation due to the kettle dye technique that they use.

For more information about this design, check out the pattern page here.

Welcome to Part 5 of the Sweetness Knit Along! Last week we finished the body, which is a huge accomplishment! Pat yourself on the back, lady! Now all that's left are the sleeves.

If you're like me, you're about 30 hours into your project. I don't usually keep track of my knitting time, but I thought it would be interesting to do just once. It's amazing how all that time adds up–1 hour here, 45 minutes there. I love knitting to relax, so looking at my time sheet I'm wondering why I'm not more relaxed!

This week, we are going to finish one of those sleeves. The pattern is written for 3/4 length sleeves, but since it's worked from the top-down, it will be very easy for you to adjust the length. I've been really into 3/4 length sleeves for a sweater lately. I love to wear sweaters like this layered over a button-down shirt, because the cuffs poke out from the short sweater sleeves. I also think the 3/4 length sleeves help to make it more of a 3 seasons garment.

The trickiest part of this section is at the very beginning. To start the sleeve you will transfer the held stitches from one side of the yoke onto a set of dpn's. Then you will pick up some stitches from the underarm, knit across the held stitches, then pick up some more stitches from the underarm. The rest of the sleeve is pretty straightforward. You will work regular decrease rows to taper the sleeve toward the cuff, then there is a short section of ribbing similar to the lower edge of the body. Like I suggested for Part 4, I encourage you to try the Kitchener Bind-off here, but a loose 1x1 rib will work just fine too.

As always, if you want to join in on the KAL fun, visit the Ravelry thread and say hi! Even if you're just starting, I would still love to see your progress pictures.

Check back next Friday, November 7 for the sixth installment: Sleeve #2 and Finishing!

The Barbet Turtleneck was the 10th pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

When I started working on this pattern, I only had about 2 ½ weeks before my “half-deadline". This was a little terrifying because if I truly wanted to turn-in half of my book, I needed one more full sized garment to round out the group (6 garments + 4 accessories). Barbet was a strategic choice because I had a good chance of finishing it in time.

I remember casting-on during the 2013 Super-bowl kick-off, and by the end of the game I had finished that lovely waffle rib turtleneck collar. When my Wednesday night knitting group met a few days later, I was finishing up the body. By the following weekend I was weaving in ends and blocking. All in, I wrote the pattern and knitted the sample in about 13 days–my all-time record.

I included Barbet in my proposal because I wanted to make the book accessible to as many knitters as possible. I really loved the idea of strategic color blocking for a flattering effect on a simple garment. This is a sweater that I would love to have in my own wardrobe, and it just happens to also be a great first-time sweater-knitter project.

Looking at my proposal sketch, you might notice that the finished design diverged a bit from my original vision. When I started working on this design, I actually only had color-blocked elements on the arms.

I decided to add the color-blocked section to the body kind-of on the fly. Of course there was much hemming-and-hawing about where the divide should be, but I eventually settled on the natural waistline, to cut the body at its narrowest point.

This was the first design in my book that deviated from the proposal. Something about this emboldened me, and I went on to include a number of very different deigns as I worked on the second half of my book, but you'll just have to wait to hear about that later!

Finishing Barbet felt like a huge accomplishment because it meant I was half-done writing my book. 6 months before when I signed my contract, I had serious doubts that I could make this insane deadline, and even thought I might need to quit my job to get it all done (as if that was an option). I had no idea what I was doing! I did it though, and with a few days to spare.

I packed up a surprisingly small box with 6 months worth of hard fought triumphs, sent it off to Colorado, and poured myself a nice stiff drink. There wasn't much time to revel in my achievements though, because I still had a very long hard haul ahead before I would be done!

For more information about this design, check out the pattern page here.

Congrats KAL'ers; you're about half done with your sweaters! By now, you should have something that sort of resembles a garment. If you like cap-sleeved crop tops, you could just stop now, but winter is coming and that urge to show off your six-pack abs will surely wane with the dropping temperatures. Just sayin'

Your mission for Part 4: Finish the body by Friday, Oct 24th. There are probably more stitches to be knitted in Part 4 than any other part, but it should go quickly because it's all plain stockinette with only a bit of shaping every once in a while.

The lower edge of the sweater is finished with a little 1x1 rib. To keep the sweater wearable, I recommend using a very elastic bind-off when you finish this off. You could very loosely bind-off in rib stitch, which honestly works great for a lower edging, OR you try something a little more advanced.

A popular bind-off for 1x1 rib is called the Tubular Bind-off. It's very pretty, but for some reason it think it's a little tricky to work. It seems to work great sometimes, but if the stitches are too tight on the needle or the yarn is too nubby or brittle, the tubular bind-off can be almost impossible to work. This is really frustrating to me.

After MUCH research, I found the Kitchener Bind-of. Now, I know people hate doing the Kitchener Stitch, but in my opinion, people need to stop being babies (sorry if you're a baby, but come on!). Sure there are lots of steps, sure you have to pay attention to what you're doing, but there is no substitute for the beautiful result. You need to learn it, or at least get comfortable with following the directions for it, if you ever want to advance beyond the beginner level. If you need help, Laura Nelkin has a wonderful post about it here, complete with a printable cheat sheet that you can glue to an index card and put in your knitting bag.

Anyway, back to the Kitchener BO. The results of this technique look identical to the tubular bind-off, which is to say it looks beautiful. I wrote all the steps out in my Graphic Knits book on page 123, but I'll quickly explain it here too. Basically, with a spare circular needle, slip all the purl stitches onto one needle, and all the knit stitches onto the other needle, and then preform the Kitchener stitch over these stitches.

I think the Kitchener bind-off wins over the Tubular bind-off because it works with any kind of yarn at any gauge. Plus, I already knew the Kitchener Stitch, so I avoid following the finicky directions for tubular bind-off.

Do you have a favorite bind-off for ribbing? Maybe you want to defend the honor of the Tubular BO? Please fee free to let it all out in the comments section below.

As always, if you want to join in on the KAL fun, visit the Ravelry thread and say hi! Even if you're just starting, I would still love to see your progress pictures. One of our participants already finished her sweater (in an astonishing two weeks), so it's still possible to catch up!

Check back next Friday, October 25 for the fifth installment: Sleeve #1.

The Woodstar Hat and Mitts were the 8th and 9th patterns that I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

Designing these was a very special treat for me. I have such strong and perhaps perplexing love for creating and knitting geometric Fair Isle charts. I had been looking forward to this design for months, and saved it to do over my annual trip home to Oklahoma for the holidays.

Some people like to read a book, other people like to take a nap, but for me, knitting complicated Fair Isle is my favorite thing to do on an airplane. Any time I'm going to take an airplane somewhere, I start daydreaming about colorful, intricate, Fair Isle motifs.

I cast-on for the first mitt right after I boarding the plane for my trip, and almost finished by the time we landed. I saved mitt #2 for the flight home.

The yarn I chose for this set was Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. It's deliciously warm and soft and comes in some really great colors. I knew I would love this yarn because I used it for my Op Top design years ago.

The hat is a slightly slouchy beret style, and has a really pretty 6-pointed star worked into the crown.

The mitts feature a similar motif, but also have a cute little diamond detail worked into the thumb gusset.

I probably I loved this design so much because the color and patterning reminded me of one of my favorite home decor designers, Jonathan Adler. I can't really afford anything he makes, but I love walking by the Jonathan Adler shops in NYC and daydreaming about an apartment full of white upholstery and quirky throw pillows. It just looks like heaven to me!

For more information about these designs, visit the pattern pages here:
Woodstar Mitts
Woodstar Hat

The Engle Cardigan was the seventh pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

When I began my plans for this sweater I was nearing a personal meltdown. Between my insane book project schedule, working full-time at my job, and my side gig at CharitySub.org, I was running at maximum capacity. On top of all that, somehow I got roped into hosting my first Thanksgiving. Between work and family obligations, the pressure was immense, and I really didn't want to let anyone down.

This was the point at which I discovered my absolute limit. I was emotionally and physically tapped. I had maximized every spare moment, forgotten my social calendar, and let the house go to utter ruin. There was just more work than minutes in the day. Though I found it very difficult to relinquish control, it was clear I needed to get some help if I wanted to keep my sanity.

Fortunately, my darling sweet wonderful mother is also a very talented knitter. Sympathetic to my deteriorating state, she generously offered to knit a sample for my book. I had never really used a sample knitter before, and definitely had some reservations about the idea. But it would be crazy not to take her up on the offer.

As you can imagine, this was a huge relief. I knew she wouldn't be able to finish before my "half deadline" that was fast approaching, but the sample would surely get done before my final deadline. And it was slow going indeed, but she did a truly wonderful job. When I say I couldn't have done it without her in the Acknowledgments section of my book, that is no exaggeration! My mom really saved my butt.

The way we worked together through this project is really a window into my design process. First, we looked through my book proposal to see which sweater she wanted the most. Here's the sketch from my proposal that she picked:

I handed over the yarn and she made a number of swatches for me. I picked the most attractive gauge and got to work writing the pattern. I started by making a rough schematic with measurements for all the sizes. Using the gauge swatch as my guide, I began working on the pattern one section at a time.

After Mom knitted each new section, we'd confer over a good old-fashioned home-cooked Sunday dinner (thanks Dad!). Then I would hurry home to write the next section for her. On and on, we went back and fourth like this for many months, until finally it was almost time to turn in my manuscript.

This process was fun for me because I like hanging out with my mom, but I did kind of miss the experience of knitting the garment. The design has a lot of different parts to it, which is something I think makes a pattern entertaining. It's like reading an exciting novel, with interesting twists and turns. Also, the garment is almost completely seamless, which definitely adds to the fun for me.

After my mother finished knitting the pattern, I took over for the Finishing section. Blocking this thing was a little interesting, and probably worth showing a picture:

I wrote this pattern specifically to showcase the beauty of an ombré yarn. I searched high and low for just the right yarn for this design. After weeks of research, I was a little stumped. I thought it was time to consult an expert, so I went to my favorite LYS, La Casita Yarn Shop & Café. Jen, the owner, knew exactly what I needed and suggested the wonderful Austermann Murano Lace Yarn.

This yarn is listed as a worsted weight, but feels more like a fingering or sport weight as you knit it. The fuzziness of this yarn causes it to fill out the fabric when it's knitted at a loose gauge. The result is a remarkably light airy garment with beautiful drape and flow. The fabric is so light that it's almost see-through.

The pattern includes a section about the challenges of working with ombré yarn, and gives some tips to help you along your way.

For more information about the design, check out the pattern page here.