Do As I Say (Not As I Do)

I'll admit it:  I am just crazy for color-changing yarn.  There's such an air of sanctioned cheating about it.  I mean, you don't have to figure out anything at all with regard to color combinations.  It's all done for you.  But I could never be happy just complacently self-striping along.  Oh, no; not "Sassy Mc-Couldn't-we-make-this-harder-ton".  I got it into my head that what my EZPS really needed was some colorwork at the yoke.  Nothin' to it!  I'll Just (how many truly bad ideas begin with the words "I'll Just"?  I'm thinking most of them) stagger the color changes in my second strand to work the pattern, assuring that there will be enough contrast to make the motifs pop.  How'd that work out for me?

Great, actually, as long as I was only doing corrugated rib.  The hem and cuffs, being at the beginnings of things, offered a lot more control than I had in the yoke area, where I was subject to the whims of the color-change trolls:

Nowhere near enough contrast to see the motif (it's a leaf - thanks for asking).  It dawned on me after about five rounds that what I needed was an entirely different colorway of cool self-striping yarn.  But this is the really barking part:  This lesson is not new to me.  As soon as I thought about it, I remembered last Thanksgiving, when I learned this the first time.  Just about a year ago, to the day.  I was making this swell hat with Noro, when I learned that you can't just reverse the order of the striping by working from both ends of the ball because when they cross, you will be working stranded colorwork with two strands of the same color.  Did I try it anyway?  Of course.  Total denial that my tingling Bat Senses might indicate trouble ahead.  And when, at the end of the project, I asked myself "What have you learned, Dorothy?", the answer had two parts: 

1.  Stagger, rather than reverse, the stripe order of the yarns.
2.  Even better, get a totally different colorway for the second strand so you get enough contrast.

So why, I wonder, did only the first part of the lesson stick?  Stupid synapses.  Stupid Knitting Amnesia.  Oh well.  I was only a few rounds in when the epiphany struck (again).  I could easily frog the stranded part and replace one of the strands with a separate colorway.  But (and here's where my control-freak nature rears its ugly head) the hem and cuffs are already worked in the main colorway.  For the design to make sense to me, the second colorway needs to be used at the hem, cuffs, neckline, front bands and yoke.  Otherwise it looks like I just changed my mind midstream.  Which I sort of did, but don't want to be reminded of it every time I see the sweater.

So I'm Hosed.  Notice how I always fall out of love with my projects somewhere near their completion?  Yeah, well, it appears to be that time again.  {I'm not even supposed to be working on this right now.  If you'll remember, I sent the Frog Prince to Time Out for less egregious crimes.  Come to think of it, I don't really remember what Froggy's doing time for, exactly.}  So I have decided to push through the wall and complete the EZPS, which means that every time the yarn colors get too close, I'll break and graft one or both to get better contrast.  So far, in the yoke area I have broken and grafted three times.  Which blows.  So while I had hopes of publishing this design at some point, I like you all too much to do it.  Instead, I'll just give you the following  vague  instructions, open for interpretation: 

Make this sweater using EZPS, and working 6 steek sts at the center front to make it a cardigan.  But don't be a dumbass like me:  Choose TWO colorways and use one for the edge trims and colorwork, and the other for the main body. 

In other words, Do As I Say, Not As I Do. 

And good luck with that.
 

When Knitters Take Over The World

It was a dark and stormy night...

Really, it was dark and stormy.  It was raining so hard that I literally could not see out of the car windows well enough to read the numbers on the buildings.  I abandoned the car in the first open space I found in the general vicinity of the place I thought I was supposed to be.  I grabbed the rolly-trunk of book sweaters and plunged headlong into the deluge.  The sun, had I been able to see it, would almost have been down at this time, contributing to the gloom and lack of visibility.  I ran with my head down (Oregonians for some reason never have umbrellas - we just let it run down our noses) in an attempt to keep my minimal makeup from washing away.  I ducked into a doorway to try and get my bearings.  When I tilted my head up properly, my eyes landed here:

My sense of direction is exactly like my grasp of math:  Flimsy.  So to have accidentally landed directly in the middle of my own book signing was the sort of lucky break I would dare not hope for.  I so seldom find myself in the place I'm supposed to be, it's like being given a present.

And speaking of presents, the Knit Picks staff surprised me with a knitter's dream come true:  All the Colors of Palette.  I flatly cannot believe it.  What an incredible surprise.  The smallies and I wanted our picture taken with it, we were so totally blown away.  Lindsay (center) is looking at the colors with the most cunning little device - it's essentially a color-choosing kaleidescope, and it's so cool that it warrants its own post.  Stay tuned...
 

The lovely Giselle got her copy signed, and has almost decided on what to make first...

And the wee Leland, who managed not to get bored throughout the proceedings, even helped me zip up the sample bags at the end of the evening.

Delightful Kelly Petkun, and her Knit Picks team did absolutely everything in the world to make it a fun event.  No Kidding - that gang is one well-oiled machine.  If I ever need to schedule a safari, or mount an invasion, these are the people I'm going to call.  It was a precision display of crack event-planning skill.  And they even gave away yarn and needles.

Tomorrow, the wet knitters of Oregon and Southwest Washington (did I mention that winter has arrived?) can tune into AM Northwest on KATU, on which program I will be explaining the art and science of the Ugly Sweater, and demonstrating what constitutes one.  I will also have some Non-Ugly sweaters, for comparison.

And then I'm going to Lindsay's ice skating competition.  And then, perhaps a nap.
 

Old, New, Virtual Too

The Frog Prince and I are Taking A Break.

And by "Break" I mean that it's having a Time Out.  Ironically, it's almost finished.  I'm just waiting for the trim to arrive before the final steps, but I feel that I have earned some time off for good behavior (or at least tenacity), having gutted and reknit both sleeves, twice each.  By my count, that should make it a six-armed sweater.  But then I never was much for math.  Suffice to say that I (and by extension, you, Gentle Readers) are due for a break from that particular drama.  I promise this hurts me more than the Frog Prince; I'm doing it for its own good. 

By way of distraction, I offer this:

Here are two sleeves being worked at the same time.  I'm doing this so that my groovy self-striping yarn will match on both sleeves.  When they are finished, I'll cut them apart and sew seams before uniting them with the body.  This is my first-ever Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage Sweater.  EZPS is so elegant and brilliant - no wonder everybody loves it so.  I thought I'd give it a whirl as a ramp-up to my next design, which features none other than the beautiful Toots LeBlanc yarn.  The Toots project will feature a circular yoke, which I haven't made many of.  What better way to practice than on this dreamy Paint Box?  It's color #4, "Borealis".  Did I mention I got it for free <insert gloating noises here>? My LYS has a punch card program, and the day this went on sale, I found that my punch card was also full = Instant Yarn Binge.  Total Gratification:  Free yarn to make something just for fun and with no deadline.  "Work" doesn't get any better than that.  And in case you are wondering, NO, I do NOT wish to be reminded that I had to spend seven thousand dollars to fill that LYS punch card.  And neither does my husband, lest he be sent to Time Out, too.

And speaking of "Work" (still can't always bring myself to call it a a job) this week's stop on my book tour is a Virtual one: Click Here to hear a fun interview, in which I go on (and on) about what would make a person write a knitting book about colorwork.