Book Countdown: Month 9

At the Craftsy Instructor Summit last weekend, there was much talk about “stories”. You know me from my work, which is really the part of my story that I felt was most interesting — the end, or the twist where it seems to end but keeps going.

I’m open to telling more of my story, but I have to do it in the right way. In a way, everything I’ve done and been and experienced up to now has shaped who I am today, but in a way I am not the same person who did and experienced all those things. It’s hard, even at my relatively young age, to look back and relive those times. Not hard emotionally, although at times it is that, but hard to remember clearly. I think by writing it down I’ll begin to remember more of it, and hopefully my older mind will make some meaning out of it where there may have been mere chance and happenstance before.

At a certain point, we’ll get to the present time, and perhaps I can keep the narrative going but I don’t want to devolve into one of those people who writes everything down as it happens and releases it to the world. You know — a blogger? Or at least, a blogger as they were in the early days of the modern web.

So for now, I’m going to stick to the present — and a bit of the future, since that’s where the Book Countdown is going.

Since my last “real” post, I’ve been a little overwhelmed. Earlier, I had 2 sample knitters bail on me, each of which lost me a month of time on their respective projects. I’m happy to say that one of the projects is complete and back in my hands and the other one is with someone who I’m certain can handle the work given previous work shown. I’ve been working hard on my last few pieces as well, and making good progress.

Month 9 Images 2

In the photo above, you can see that the final version of Ferronnerie has been completed. In the end, I decided to keep the color movement the same and have the S-shaped motifs move in a swirl toward the center. Each arm of the swirl (there are 7 in the size shown) ends (or appears to begin) with the elongated rectangle that moves, with its compatriots, into the star shape at the crown. The finishing move I did for the crown is something I have been wanting to try in entrelac for a while — and it turns out that it works really well. I expect I’ll play more with it in the future. The yarn is Quince & Co. Finch.

The second square is a snapshot of a cowl called Yingzao, which takes its name from an unlikely source: a treatise on Chinese architectural standards from the 11th century. As I charted it, the pattern reminded me of a Chinese wooden screen. The pattern is very complex but I’ve come up with an ingenious (if I do say so myself) way of simplifying it for mass consumption. The yarn is Dirty Water Dyeworks Clara. This is done by one of my loyal sample knitters.

The final square is, of course, Hexworth (or possibly Graphene?) from the other side. This piece was also done by one of my sample knitters in Bijou Basin Ranch Tibetan Dream. This scarf was pictured (in different colors) in the very first Book Countdown post.

Still to come

My huge double-knit lace shawl is the one I’m paying the most attention to. It’s called Adenyth (It’d be Adenydd, but nobody would pronounce it right), and it’s likely that it will be finished sooner than expected since, of the 4 levels of repeats I think I will only need 3 to get it as large as I want it, after blocking. If time allows, I may go for bigger and bolder, but I think my time is better spent elsewhere. The yarn is Galler Yarns’ Prime Alpaca Heathers.

I am working on a 6-color double-knit intarsia hat, but I am concerned that I may need to go down a needle size to get the fabric I really want out of it. This is too bad, but I only have a couple of inches done so it’s not the end of the world. It’s called “42 Skidoo”; it originally had a 42-pair repeat, but now that it no longer does I still like the name so I’m going to stick with it.

Finally, I discovered that my Craftsy class‘ patterns revert to my ownership after 2 years. It’s been 3, so the time is ripe for me to redesign Atyria for mass consumption (although over 10,000 people already have it from the class so that may not exactly be the right phrase). I have felt a little awkward about the way it’s charted and explained, and I’d like to see if I can do better. We’ll see.

Upcoming appearances

Just because I was at the Craftsy Instructor Summit doesn’t mean I have another Craftsy class in the works. Sorry. After talking with a bunch of people, I have some interesting ideas, and one of them isn’t even in knitting! But nothing’s been accepted (or honestly, even submitted) yet. Still, I’m teaching all over the country as usual. I just had my first Vogue Knitting Live appearance, which was excellent. I hope to be invited to their other events but nothing’s signed yet. Right now, my next appearance is next Thursday night (Feb 4th) in my own hometown! No, not Cambridge where I live, but Middlebury, VT, where I grew up. The knitting guild in the area has invited me to come and present but mostly to teach an intro workshop to a group of 40-50 people. This is more than twice my usual cap but I’m going to do my best. For those who can’t make it, keep in touch — I’m in talks to visit Vermont again in the near future to do a larger workshop series.

After that, I’ll be flying cross-country to teach at Stitches West — most of my classes there are sold out or nearly so, but if you’re up for some advanced double-knitting there are openings still available.

Then back to the East coast to hang out at FiberCamp Boston on March 12 & 13! I missed it last year due to my own scheduling oversight but this year I will be there. I’ll likely do a tasting workshop for intro to DK, but since the schedule is dynamic nothing’s set in stone yet.

At the end of March and beginning of April, I’m doing the craziest thing I’ve ever tried. I’m teaching two shows in one weekend, one in Colorado and the other in Tennessee. Interweave Yarn Fest scheduled me for Thursday and Friday only, so I’m flying there on Wednesday. On Friday night, I’ll be flying to Nashville to teach at Stitches South on Saturday and Sunday. So if you’re in either area, please think about signing up for workshops! Stitches South in particular could use some love.

Finally (on contract, anyway) on April 24th I’ll be teaching a couple of workshops at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC. I’ve got the possibility of another gig in NYC later this year so this will be 3 visits to that crazy city in a single year. I hope there’s enough interest to go around!

This has been a massive post. Clearly, I should post more often. But then I wouldn’t be knitting. More next month; stay tuned!

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