Welcome to Part 3 of the Sweetness knit-along! If you're just joining us now, don't worry because there's still plenty of time to catch up. We began knitting our sweaters in Part 2 at the to top of the collar, and worked the yoke almost to the underarms of our sweaters.

Here's some progress pics from our Ravelry Group:

Lookin' great ladies! I just love seeing progress pictures. I think it's so inspiring. Please keep them coming. I can see we've had a TON of readers on the thread, which is so cool! If you haven't already, please come by the thread and say hi.

Your mission for Part 3: Finish the yoke and get started on the body of your sweater. Try to knit at least ¼ of the body before next Friday, Oct. 17th. We're picking up the pace a little, so get those needles working ladies!

If you're like me, you'll have so much fun that you'll whizz right through this!

Part 3 has a mixture of techniques, most of which we already discussed in Part 2. You will finish the color work section and do the last increase row for the yoke. After a short section of plain knitting, you will separate the body from the sleeves. Then you will begin waist shaping.

I remember being very confused about the “dividing" step when I made my first top-down seamless sweater. I think we designers take for granted that knitters will just blindly follow our directions, but if you're anything like me, you want to know what the heck is going on before you get started. With this in mind, I made a before/after diagram showing how the yoke is divided into sleeves and body. If this is your first top-down yoke sweater, you might find this helpful.

I don't think I'm alone when I say that I hate counting stitches. Counting to anything over 50 is basically torture, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the yoke has a good-bit more than 50 stitches to count! Of course, I try to cut corners wherever I can, and I found a pretty nifty place to do that in Part 3 that I'd love to share with you.

After the final increase row, you should really count the stitches to make sure you didn't make a mistake somewhere. Before you do all that counting, read ahead in the pattern a little. You will see that after this final increase row, you knit an inch or two straight, then separate the sleeves from the body. The separating process also involves a lot of counting, but since the stitch count hasn't changed, you can combine these two steps.

Here's the trick: When you're counting after the increase row, use the numbers from the dividing row, and place a marker between each section. This way, when it's time to separate, you simply knit to the markers and skip all that counting.

Whenever I knit from a pattern, I always look for things like this to make it go a little more smoothly. Little short cuts like that can really add up. Like when I add a new ball of yarn, I will knit with a double strand for about 6 stitches so I don't have to work so hard to weave-in those ends later. Do you have any tricks like that to help speed up the process?

The next section (Part 4) has the most stitches, so I encourage you to work ahead this week if you can.

Wherever you are in your project, I would love to see your progress pictures over in the Ravelry Forum. It's a great place to ask questions and get tips from other knitters, or just tell everyone how much fun you're having!

Check back next Friday, October, 17 for the fourth installment: The Body!

The Bowerbird Wrap was the sixth pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

After finishing Finch, I began feeling a little more in control of my book schedule. I was only 2 patterns behind now, and starting to get an inkling about what I could do to fix my Rook design.

When I sat down to write this pattern Christmas was just around the corner. I had a much-needed one-week vacation planned to visit family in Oklahoma for the holidays. The consummate planner, I looked through my design proposal and found a few things that would be great vacation knitting, and this scarf was at the top of my list.

Here's the sketch I did for my design proposal:

I wrote the pattern and wound up all the yarn weeks before I had to leave, and felt so smug about that. It was all packaged up in my suitcase like a little present from Santa, just waiting for Christmas morning.

Vacation knitting should be something like a little present, don't you think? I enjoyed the anticipation of a deliciously easy scarf after the demanding knitting schedule I had subjected myself to. Bowerbird was the perfect project to keep in my bag and mindlessly work away on while chatting with family by the Christmas tree.

At this point, I was getting really good at strategically planning my projects for the book. I say this was pattern number 6, but the lines are really pretty blurry on that. I actually had about 3 patterns in progress at all times.

To maximize my time I tried to have at least one design in the swatching phase, one in the pattern-writing phase, and another one in the sample-knitting phase. After the sample was done, I liked to completely finish the pattern, doing my final tech editing and schematics before beginning a new project.

One of my greatest delights was to print out a finished pattern, fold up the garment straight off the blocking board, and put it all in a nicely labeled package inside my ever-growing “Finished Box".

This sounds kind of regimented, but it didn't feel that way to me. At first I thought I needed some kind of grand strategic vision, but the process quickly evolved into something way more organic.

When it was time to work on something new, I would pick-up whichever design from my proposal that I liked most that day, do it whenever I felt like it, and use whatever colors were speaking to me. It sounds a little disorganized, but this is how I managed to stay excited about a 2+ year book project! My only real scheduled thing was my publisher's imposed goal to finish half the designs in the first 6 months–my “half-deadline," then finish the last half of the designs by the end of the year.

I dragged out my Bowerbird project until my “half-deadline" date got very, very close. I really enjoyed having a hassle-free super-relaxing project around, so I didn't rush through it. Sure, the 1x1 rib was tiresome at first, but by the time I reached the first stripe, I didn't even think about it. It was as easy as working stockinette. The intermittent cable cross rows and color changes kept it just interesting enough to keep me moving forward.

I also had a lot of fun figuring out how to make those quirky little twisted-cord fring-ies! I included detailed instructions for this weird cord/fringe technique at the end of the pattern. I keep thinking of other things that I would love to add this kind of cord to. Maybe I'll use it as a tie on an earflap-hat, or a fringed edging on a boxy top. And FYI girls, I've been seeing a ton of fringe in the trend forecasting presentations see at my day-job. Just sayin'…

While working on this project, the Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn became one of my new favorites. I loved it so much that I even ordered more of it for my Tanager Shrug design (in the second half of my book). Later, I used the leftovers from both samples to create my Brewster Pullover design. The texture is so soft, shimmery and almost weightless. And the gorgeous colors really seem glow, somehow.

Bowerbird was a pure delight from start to finish! For more information about the design, check out the pattern page here.

The Finch Cardigan was the fifth pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits. I sat down to write this pattern on my thirtieth birthday. Though I was still fresh off the heels of my demoralizing Rook Pullover disaster, and dreadfully behind on my book schedule, I found myself feeling focused and determined to make forward progress. On the cusp of a new era in my life, I felt empowered with a renewed sense of purpose.

I was so glad that I ordered a chunky fast-knitting yarn for this design because it gave me a much-needed opportunity to catch up on my schedule.

Sometimes my design concepts seem to arrive on my sketchpad fully formed and ready to go. Finch was definitely one of those designs. The one-piece cuff-to-cuff construction was something I knew I wanted from the beginning. Here's the sketch I did for my book proposal.

I envisioned a beautiful smooth unbroken line that flowed elegantly across the shoulders. I thought a sideways knitted fabric would be so pretty. I always love to design things that are knitted in odd directions, so this guy was right up my ally.

I challenged myself to make Finch stylish and well fitting but also make it easy enough for an advanced beginner. The idea was pretty straightforward, but I had a little trouble working out the fit. I knitted it halfway and tried it on, but it wasn't really working. The silhouette wasn't even close to what I had envisioned.

It was clear that I would have to scrap everything and start over. I was still a little gun shy from my dreadful experience with Rook, so I decided to make a miniature version for my little wooden design assistant, Gertrude Pine.

Making miniatures is something that I do sometimes to work out unusual construction ideas. Gertie is a nice scale because it only takes an hour or so to knit her a tiny sweater. In this case, I sewed a mini mockup of Finch using some jersey that I had lying around.

I made a couple mini versions to try out all my ideas. Somewhere in that process I figured out that inverted bust darts could work wonders for this simple shape. The darts curve the fronts upward and do great things to flatter feminine shapes.

With my new plan, I ripped out everything I had knitted so far and started over. The new design was everything I hoped it would be. That smooth line across the shoulders turned out so pretty. I can't even look at it without smiling!

I also spent a little extra time to write an in-depth sidebar for this pattern that explains how to sew all different kinds of seams using the mattress stitch. My editor ended up moving this section to the glossary in the back. So if you're knitting Finch and you have questions, be sure to look for that.

If you want to see some more of that lovely mattress stitching in action, check out my video entitled "The Mattress Stitch: Sewing For Knitters". I think mastering this fundamental seaming technique is very important for knitters at every level, so I really wanted to include something about it in my book.

I'm so happy with the result of this pattern. I hope you'll pick up a copy of Graphic Knits and try it out for yourself. For more information about the design, check out the pattern page here.

We all know Tanis Gray. Even if you don't know her name, you've probably seen her work in countless knitting magazines and books spanning the last decade or so. I'm so excited because Tanis has agreed to join me here on Knit Darling to answer some questions about herself and her new book, 3 Skeins or Less: Fresh Knitted Accessories.

Alexis (AW): I'm so glad to have you here on my blog. Thanks for stopping by!
Tanis (TG): Thank you for having me! :)

AW: Besides the lovely Momentum Mittens, which you designed yourself (pictured on the cover), what are some of your favorite designs from the book?
TG: So difficult to answer as I love them all! I love the color of Heather Zoppetti's stunning lace stole, the texture of Faina Goberstein's cropped top, the asymmetry of Judy Marples' shawl and the clever side panel in Sauniell Connally's tank top. I curate the collection to try and cover a lot of techniques and silhouettes so that each project has something about it that makes it special and interesting to knit.

AW: Your book has a lot of texture rich designs. What do you like most about this kind of knitting?
TG: Knitting is an investment not only in materials, but in time (something we never seem to have enough of!). When I knit, I want it to be interesting and a fun experience and to worth the time invested in making it. I want to enjoy each stitch and at the end have a beautiful, textured, fun-to-knit garment I can wear. Knitting is such a tactile experience and this takes it a step further by making it wearable art.

AW: The yarn used throughout 3 Skeins Or Less is particularly beautiful. As the former Yarn Editor over at Soho Publishing, you must have some very strong opinions about yarn. What were some of your favorites from the book? Can you tell me a little about the process of picking the yarn for so many projects?
TG: I have VERY strong opinions about yarn! Each yarn in this book was picked to not only show off the finished garment and to help it reach its maximum potential, but to be a joy to knit with. Certain yarns look good for certain garments (weight, texture, ply, fiber, etc) but that's only half of the equation. Color plays a huge role in yarn choice for me and I'm a big fan of hand dyed and indie yarns. I was the Yarn Editor for 4 years and during that time we did about 30 books and 20 magazines a year, with me choosing the yarns for all of those. I got pretty good at being able to visualize how a garment will look in a particular yarn and that training is an asset when putting together a collection for a book. An interesting thing about putting together a book is you also have to look at all the yarns as a whole, rather than project-by-project. Green is my favorite color, so I know I have to be mindful of not having too much green in a book. Yes, there are 25 projects in the book, but it also has to look cohesive as a collection.

AW: You've put out an unbelievable 3 books in a little more than a year, and still managed to contribute designs to a few other titles. Many of these projects must have overlapped. I can't imagine that you get much sleep! What is it like to juggle all these projects at once? What's next for you?
TG: I usually have 2 books going on at once, a constant stream of freelance, I just opened at Etsy shop selling handmade sewn knitting project bags, I teach frequently at my LYS and I have a 3-year old son I chase after all day, so yes, I'm a busy lady! I've always been really good at time management and I don't need a lot of sleep. I like to work at night once everyone is asleep and it's quiet and dark (my husband calls me a vampire!). I'll work into the wee hours then crash for a few hours and do it all again the next day. I always had a problem sitting still, so I'm happiest when I'm busy and creating. I'm working on the next book with Interweave and getting ready to go film my 3rd season of Knitting Daily in a couple of weeks. My teaching schedule gets crazy as it gets colder, so I'm at my LYS quite a bit lately as well.

AW: How does editing a magazine compare to editing a book like this? Do you like one more than the other?
TG: Both have positives and negatives and both are completely different experiences. I like that a book tends to stick around longer than a magazine and that it's more of a time investment. When you're in publishing you're always looking ahead to the next deadline and it's a little like being a hamster on a wheel. Working on books allows me to work with whom I want to, have a lot of control over the aesthetic and be more involved. When it's a book like Knitting Architecture, there's also a lot of research and writing, which I love!

AW: You are a very prolific designer having produced 350+ designs in your career. Where do you look for inspiration to keep producing at this unbelievable level?
TG: Living in Washington DC means there is no shortage of inspiration. It's a city so rich with art, architecture, interesting people, ideas and promise. Having a young child makes you look at things differently and my son has definitely influenced my work. My mom is a painter and took me to museums all the time while growing up in Boston. I do the same with my son. Art, music, history - these are all such important aspects to all of our lives.

It was a delight talking to Tanis, and I hope you'll check out her new book, 3 Skeins or Less: Fresh Knitted Accessories.

The Danio Hat was the fourth pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits. I took a break from working on my (then) disastrous Rook Pullover pattern to write this one, because I really needed a fun and easy project for my mental health!

It's funny how so much sentiment can be tied up in an object. This hat was fun and easy, but the times were not!

When I sat down to write this pattern it was November, 2012. I was 3 months into writing my book and 3 patterns behind schedule. I had yet to solve my Rook Pullover problems and was having serious doubts about the feasibility of my August 2013 deadline. I felt demoralized as a designer, and frankly a little bitter about my overwhelming workload and dismal incremental progress. Not to mention my 30th birthday was only days away, which seemed to exacerbate the feeling that time was slipping through my fingers. I felt a little like life was burying me alive. Danio was exactly what I needed in that moment, quick, adorable, and best of all I only had to knit it once–a real confidence booster!

I wrote the pattern and knit the sample all in one day. The next day was the day before my birthday–the last day of my twenties and everything seemed to be whirling around me. I wore the hat to work and a stranger on the street stopped me to say, "That's a great hat!"

I nearly kissed him. My eyes filled with tears right there on that bustling windy corner of Broadway and 32nd street. I squeezed my eyes shut to fight off the emotion and opened them to a new perspective on things.

I guess the hat seemed like a metaphor at the time. All the years, all the hard work and self doubt, everything I had sacrificed–it all laid right there on the top of my head. It was such an intense feeling that I'm getting emotional writing about it now!

Getting to the point where I could so quickly produce a pattern and sample of course took many years of practice. I didn't go to school for this. I just love to do it and figured it out through much trial and error. I'm absolutely passionate about design, and being a designer is intrinsically part of who I am.

When I stumbled over my Rook pattern, it shook me to my core. I wondered about my worth as a designer. How could I have been so foolish to tackle something so ambitious with such a tight deadline?

When that man stopped me on the street, I really needed to hear something positive from the universe about my direction, and the universe delivered!

The man on the street was right; Danio is a great hat. It's simple and adorable, but has opportunity for creative flair with that cute button detail. I chose to make my own knitted covered buttons for the sample. If you're curious about how I did that, I have a knitted covered button tutorial here.

I hope if you make your own Danio hat, that you will experience all of the joy, and none of the tumult that knitting can bring! For more information about the design, check out the pattern page here.

It's time to start knitting! Last week in the knit-along, we gathered our yarn and figured out gauge, so now we're ready to begin knitting in earnest.

Your mission for Part 2: knit at least 2/3 of the yoke by Friday, October 10th (that's 2 whole weeks!)

The yoke is super fun because it has a lot of different parts to it. You begin by casting on for the ribbing at the neck with needles one or two sizes smaller than your gauge needles. Be sure you choose an elastic cast on method. I used a version of the long tail method, and that worked out just fine. After you finish the ribbing you will switch to the larger circular needles.

After I worked the ribbing on my sweater, I immediately wished I had gone down two needle sizes instead of just one. I decided not to frog it though because I was determined to just enjoy knitting the pattern. Refraining from my usual second-guessing-the-pattern routine is strangely difficult for me, but I'm starting to get used to it. I'm very glad I forged on, because the ribbing looks totally fine now!

Directly after working the collar, there is a choice to make. The pattern includes some optional directions to raise the back of the neck. If you choose not to do this, you will skip a section of short rows that cause the neckline to angle forward a bit. This looks fine, but the fit won't be quite as nice without this little detail. I only mention omitting this detail because doing so will greatly simplify the pattern for a beginner-sweater-knitter.

Of course, I encourage you to give the short-rows a try because they really add a nice touch. I even made a couple videos about short rows to help you along your way:
Knitting Short Rows: Wrap and Turn

Knitting Short Rows Part 2: Incorporating Wraps

After the short-row section, you encounter the first increase round. The yoke gets its wide conical shape from a series of 4 increase rounds, spaced periodically from the collar to the arm level.

Though the increase rounds are fairly straightforward and simple to work, I found this to be the most challenging part of the pattern. This is only because it required me to turn off the television and concentrate for a few minutes!

The increase sequences have a rhythm to them and I found myself singing the numbers aloud like a total weirdo. It helped me keep track of the pattern repeats, so I guess whatever works, right?! The repeats go something like; knit 5, make-1, knit 6, make-1, etc.… I'd sing the lower numbers in a lower voice, and the higher numbers in a higher voice. It's probably hard to know what I mean unless you try it for yourself. I only recommend trying it in private though, because it looks completely insane to anyone else!

After the first increase round, you will move on to a section of color work. This is my favorite part! If you're rusty on your Fair Isle skills, I've created a little how-to video that will help you.

How To Knit Stranded Fair Isle

For Part 2, you should work most of the way through the second FI section by Friday Oct. 10th. We will pick up the pace for Parts 3 & 4, so if you finish early feel free to work ahead to get a little head start.

I would love to see your progress pictures over in the Raverly Forum. It's a great place to ask questions and get tips from other knitters, or just come on by to say hi!

Rook was the third pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits. I chose the lovely Blue Sky Alpacas "Alpaca Silk" yarn for this design because it comes in such a fantastic palette of colors. As soon as the yarn arrived, I could hardly wait to get started on this design.

Rook is one of my very favorite patterns in the book, but it probably gave me the most trouble design-wise. It was a little bit of a nightmare, actually. I started work on this pattern as Hurricane Sandy approached New York City in October 2012, and didn't finish until four months later at the end of February 2013. To put that in perspective, I was trying to design, and knit about 1½ to 2 new things every single month to make the seemingly impossible August 2013 deadline I had for my book.

I had a grand vision for Rook. I would invent a new shoulder construction just for this design–my very own method for a top-down seamless sweater with a simultaneous set-in sleeve cap. It's a lot of fun to knit, but boy it was a doozy to figure out!

Of course, I rarely get anything right on my first try, and this new shoulder construction was no exception. I knitted the whole body of the sweater, and half a sleeve before I realized that my original design had some serious problems. The armsyce was just too long and the top of the cap was strangely boxy. The long armsyce introduced a whole heap of other issues that I won't even bore you with.

It was clear I had to start over. I knew the concept had great potential but my time limitations were forcing me to consider scrapping the whole design. I was so sad, because I thought it was one of the very best designs in my whole book proposal.

After taking a little (two month) break from the project, I decided to give it another try. I refigured the math for the sleeve cap and got to work re-knitting the top portion of the sweater. Version 2 was everything I hoped it would be! An all around perfect fit.

Thankfully, most of the color-work in the lower portion of the sweater could be salvaged, but I would have to graft it by hand to the new top–not an easy task! And lucky you, I documented the whole thing, for your future blog reading delight.

The graft became 100% invisible after I blocked the sweater. Since the new shoulder section was shorter by a couple of inches, I was able to add a little more of that lovely Fair Isle pattern to the bottom, which made me really happy.

I think I look a little triumphant in that picture. What do you think?!

Of course making the decision to rip out weeks of work is not easy, but I've never regretted it once. It was my expectation that as I became a more experienced designer, that there would be many fewer of these kinds of harrowing experiences, but that is just not the case. In fact, I start over on things much more than I used to. I think I hold myself to an ever-higher standard, because I know that every new design can be a masterpiece. It might not look like a Rembrandt, but completing Rook was one of my proudest moments.

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

Time is almost up to back Midwestern Knits on Kickstarter! This is a book I really want to see published, so I hope you'll join the campaign to help
Allyson and Carina reach their goal.

I'm a native Oklahoman transplanted to Brooklyn. Enthusiastic cultural pride seems to be an important part of being a New Yorker, so people here are always trying to pin down my regional identity. Because it's right in the middle of the country, Oklahoma is a bit perplexing for most people to classify, including Oklahomans. Is it the South? Well, not really. True southerners don't think so anyway. Is it in the Midwest? No, not quite. Well, that leaves southwest, right? Um, definitely not!

Technically, the Sooner State is the South, but I feel a bit like a chameleon sometimes when talking to people from adjacent regions. I can identify with all of them in some way. That's why I was so excited (and a twinge prideful) when I saw my buddy Allyson's concept for a Midwest inspired collaborative collection. I love the idea, and can hardly wait to see what the impressive roster of designers come up with.

I've backed this project, and I hope you will too!

Welcome to the Knit Darling Sweetness Pullover KAL! If you missed the announcement, catch up on the details about entering to win and participation here. Part 1 is all about yarn! Your KAL assignment this week is to select yarn and figure out what needles you need to use by making some gauge swatches.

YARN SELECTION

The pattern for Sweetness was written using Tosh Sport yarn from Madelinetosh. This superwash yarn is tightly wound, very smooth and a little bit on the dense side. The result of these attributes is incredible stitch definition and a full but supple knitted fabric, which made for a really nice fit on this negative-ease sweater. While these attributes produced a very beautiful sample that looked great in photos, the sweater came out a little bit heavier than I usually prefer for everyday wear.

For my KAL sweater, I have decided to use a different yarn from the pattern. There is always a lot to consider when substituting yarn, but that's all part of the fun, now isn't it? My #1 desire is a lighter weight sweater because I know I will wear it more.

I got some really beautiful Shi-Bui Pebble yarn from Knit-Purl in Portland, Oregon that I am going to try out held doubled. The pebble yarn is an exquisite cashmere/recycled silk/merino blend, so I think the fibers will probably bloom and fill out after blocking to make a deliciously soft light fabric.

If you're also going to substitute yarn, what do you plan to use? Let me know over in the Ravelry forums here.

Now, on to the swatch!

SWATCHING

Of course thorough swatching is one of the best ways to ensure a successful project. It's important to keep notes about every swatch you do, too, especially if you're doing a radical yarn substitution like I am.

For every swatch, I make a tag with all the pertinent info: needle size, yarn type, pre-blocking gauge and post-blocking gauge. I'm pretty meticulous with my gauge documentation because I like to know how the fabric is going to behave pre- and post-blocking. This info might be useful when I figure out how long to knit my sweater.

I had to make three gauge swatches before I got close enough to the 5 stitches per inch gauge listed in the pattern. Size 6 needles ended up working best, which was actually a little surprising to me. After blocking my third swatch, I got about 5.25 sts per inch. I want a very snug fit, so I think this will work just fine. Also, my experience with silk blends has been that they grow a little with wear.

When you're making a gauge swatch, it's very important to simulate how you will knit the actual sweater as much as possible. You might notice that my swatches look a little funny. Since this sweater is mostly worked in the round, I decided to also make my swatches in the round on circular needles. Also, it's good to knit the swatch with the exact same needles you plan to use. I've written a little about this subject before, you might remember.

There is an easy technique for this simulated circular swatch. You use circular needles to make something very similar to a gigantic icord. Cast-on normally, a knit row, then scoot the stitches to the other end of your needle. Pull out about a 6" tail, and knit to the end, leaving the strand to dangle across the piece on the backside. Continue scooting and knitting to make the swatch.

There's a good reason for making this funny swatch. Most people have a different gauge for knit stitches vs. purl stitches. The difference can add up dramatically over a large number of rows.

I wet-blocked the swatches (because that's how I plan to finish the actual sweater) and cut the strands with scissors before laying them out to dry.

If you're joining in on the KAL, come on over to the Ravelry Forum and share what kind of yarn you're using.

I'd also love to see you on Instagram. Follow me @alexiswinslow and use the hashtag #sweetnessKAL when you share your project pics.

Rockling was the second pattern I wrote for my book, Graphic Knits.

Like my Minnow Top, this is another example of a stitch pattern inspiring a garment. I actually knitted a cardigan similar to this many years ago before I began recording my patterns. I loved that sweater so much and practically wore it out. When I ran across this beautiful slipped-stitch textured pattern in one of Barbara Walker's Treasuries I knew it would be perfect for this wonderful cozy cardigan. Here's the sketch that I included in my book proposal:

I was really excited to get started on this one. I remember casting on while sitting outside in the Brooklyn Bridge Park almost exactly 2 years ago. The giant yarn cake of the freshly wound Eco+ Wool seemed like a ridiculous thing to lug around on my bike, but I love knitting outdoors!

I finished the cardigan in just a few weeks and proudly wore the sample to work the next day. My husband snapped a few pictures of me before I walked out the door in my new sweater.

I look pretty proud of myself, don't I?! I was definitely feeling good that day. Putting my second book design to bed gave me a little more confidence, for that day, at least!

I like the finished version even more than my original design sketch. I love to look back at my old sketches and compare them to the finished garments. I get a little sentimental because every change occurred for a reason, and I'm reminded of a particular challenge or insight I had along the way.

I loved this design so much, that I just couldn't wait for the sample to come back from Interweave. After I turned in my manuscript I scooped up some yarn from L & B Yarn Co and knitted another one to keep in my cubicle at work. I rarely reknit my own designs, so it was a little weird for me to experience the pattern as a reader would. Actually, it was much more relaxing without all the second-guessing of myself that usually occurs in my design process!

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