Hoppy Birthday to Me

I got to spend last weekend with the knitters, spinners and weavers of the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival.

Yep; the Easter Bunny yarnbombed us!  How cute is that?

And just as I was about to launch into a discussion about blocking, the entire class from next door came in to sing Happy Birthday to me!  They even gave me a handspun necklace.  That's their adorable teacher, to the right of me, Sarah Anderson.  If you ever get the chance to take a class with Sarah, don't miss it!

And I *may* have found a little something irresistible in the marketplace.  It's Bubinga and Maple, medium-sized at 2 3/8".  Spins like a dream.  How often do you get to shop for your own birthday present at a fiber festival, after all?  About as often as your birthday lands on Easter Sunday, I'm thinking.

I'm off to Minneapolis this weekend, to teach at Steven Be Fiberfest, and the Minnesota Knitting Guild Yarnover.  Can't wait to see you, Knitters of a thousand lakes! 

And when I get back next week, Big News about our Cunning Plan...

And The Winner Is...

Thank you, thank you, Gentle Readers! Your input is always spot on.  I *may* have spent the last two days down the Ravelry Rabbithole.  Every time I'd tell myself to get back to work, another comment would come in and I'd drop everything to go explore that suggestion.  Not a bad way to spend time, you understand...

I was delighted to find how often your favorites and mine are the same.  Each time one of you reported in on something you're making, I'd look it up and think "Oh I always meant to make one of those!".  Great minds think alike, no doubt.

Here's the project I decided on:

This is (one version of) Janet Szabo's Follow the Leader Aran Knitalong ("FLAK").  See it HERE.  Rather than a regular knitting pattern, it's a series of 8 lessons for how to knit your own traditional Aran, from the top down.  You can make a cardigan or pullover, any neckline you want, and substitute any stitch patterns you like.  You can work it flat or in the round, seamlessly or in pieces.  The only constants are: top-down construction, shoulder straps, peasant sleeves, and cables that more or less get along (compatible row-repeats).  This has just the right appeal for me: I get to make and learn from my own design decisions, but still follow steps mapped out by a pro.  I've taken Janet's classes and own her books, but I never explored the FLAK until now.  For a really well-spent day hour or two, hop on over to Ravelry and have a gander at the 147 FLAK projects there.  Guaranteed mind blow.

And now, A Cunning Plan:

I noticed in Janet's Ravelry group that there hasn't been a knitalong of this pattern in quite a little while.  Are any among you interested in staging a revival with me?  Send a comment, along with your desired beginning date if you have one, won't you?  I can't think of a better way to learn than by sharing the process with my favorite knitters:  YOU!

School Me, Please?

In order to justify all the spinning I've been doing (as if!), I've decided to actually knit a sweater.  Or possibly two (Did I mention, lotsa Cormo?).  I think it wants to be a deeply-textured, cabled Aran.  Something uber-traditional, with a wide center panel, and shoulder straps...maybe a turtleneck...

And then I realized that I have never knitted a real live Aran sweater.  Sweaters with cables, sure, but never what I would consider the the real deal.  I've bought books, been to classes, queued patterns, and never once actually done the deed.  Not sure why not, but there it is.  Knitting is always full of things we've never done before, thank God.

So it seems to me that a bit of practice is in order.  I'm going to take the unusual step of knitting somebody else's pattern, before I strike out to design my own.  But which one?  I'm having trouble narrowing it down.

Here's a beauty by Marie Wallin.   I do love me some knots and crosses.  And that funnel-neck is super cool - I dig the way the cable sort of crawls up the sides of it.

And one by Hayfield, whose designers clearly know exactly what they are doing.  Nice, restrained use of bobbles.  This company scares me to bits because there are no charts.  Really?  What century are we in?

Or how about this one, by Friend of the Blog, Sandi Rosner?  Totally dreamy.  And the sweater's not bad, either.  Particularly that shoulder strap/sleeve situation.

What do you think makes a cabled sweater design really special?  I especially love it when the cables/elements continue into the edgings, such as in Kathy Zimmerman designs.  I also love it when the cables are positioned to enhance garment shaping, like Nora Gaughn does.  What/who are your favorites?

Aside from design specifics, what technical elements do you think make a great cabled knitting pattern?  Do you feel that charts are essential?  What designer/publisher uses the clearest symbols?  Who has the best size range?  Most intuitive instructions?

Share your opinions, won't you, Gentle Readers?  I gotta get some more know-how!