Playing Around

Click me for a closer view.

Although I've been absent from the blog, I've been accomplishing a lot in my absence. Looking back on my aspirations from earlier this year, I'm proud to say that I've done pretty well. I wanted to work more on my own designs rather than answering the siren call of commercial patterns, keep a realistic number of projects on the needles, and balance my life out by reading more and exercising more regularly. In the months since I first "aspired," I've designed seven new pieces, three freebies and four that will be published, read several great books (I highly recommend The Life of Pi and The Kite Runner), and run a half-marathon (slowly, but the next one can be faster, right?). Three of the designs that I completed this weekend are going to be in an upcoming book that a friend is working on. I can't tell you what an amazing experience it is to really put your nose to the grindstone and finish such an endeavour. My hat goes off to Harlot and the girls over at MDK - I can't imagine what it must feel like to finish an entire book. All I can say is that if you've been making modifications for a while and dreaming of designing - go for it! It's a very rewarding experience once all the math and ripping is behind you.

Still, I haven't been all work (yes, even knitting is work if there is a deadline - trust me!). Even when I'm cramming to finish something and working crazy hours I have to cheat every once in a while and play around with something that I don't have to work on. Hence, the cables you see above.

A few months ago my best friend and I met in Charlottesville for a half-marathon (a word to the wise: if the race is called "bad to the bone" or some other scarily descriptive name, it may well be a good idea to avoid it and instead opt for the "flat as hell" race the following weekend). I was supposed to work on one of my submissions while we were there - cabin in the mountains, best friend who knits, hours of productivity, right? But she mentioned that she would like to make the cable-eight top in Interweave Knits in a finer gauge. And the fabulous LYS we visited had Tahki Cotton Classic in a lovely leaf green (por moi) and light orange (for her). So it really had to be done.

We sat around under the covers in our cute little cabin (it was still cold then and we had run over 13 miles, so staying under the covers the next morning sounded like a great idea), and re-gauged the pattern. It was very fun, and the swatch that I made (above) turned out beautifully. Most of all, it was fun to do with a friend.

Even better, we learned some things. Usually, if I make modifications to a pattern I usually feel they make the piece better, or at least better for me. This time the result was simply different. I love what we came up with using a new gauge, but I also had a really fun time "rediscovering" why the designer did what she did.

Originally, I thought that the piece was a bit bulky, and I thought it would look better at a smaller gauge. I also thought that it would be more flattering if it draped, rather than stretching as it is designed. The thing is that the large gauge really does give the cables a much more dramatic look (our version is lovely, but more subdued) and the stretch that is incorporated opens the cables and gives them the figure-eight look that they have (ours have nice drape but the shape is elongated). It was very fun to walk in the designer's footsteps and learn a little about the design.

Anyway, that was my playtime, and just as I aspire to design work, I also aspire to this kind of play. Anyone else have a similar experience during their playtime?