How This All Began

I have been knitting for a long time. I actually taught myself to crochet when I was pregnant with my first child. I wanted to make these really cute little booties and so I got a book and learned how. It was 15 years later when I went into a fabric store in Florida to get some supplies. On display was a vest that was knitted from 1/2-inch strips of fabric. The results were stunning and I wanted to make one for myself. So I found a clerk and she explained that a class was being held the following evening to teach the pattern for making the vest. "Did I know how to knit?", she asked. I answered that I did not but knew a friend who could teach me. I bought the supplies and signed up for the class. So I left the store, found my friend and she showed me how to cast on and how to knit. Excited I went to the class eager to make the vest. Everyone had prepared their fabric into the required strips. We cast on the number of stitches we determined after taking our measurements and using a little formula for calculations. The pattern used a stockinette stitch, which didn't mean a thing to me. I knit the required stitches from the cast on row onto the second size 10 needle. When I was finished with my first row, I asked the instructor what I was to do next. She explained that I was to take the empty needle and purl the stitches that I had previously knit. "What are purl stitches?", I asked. She slowly looked at me and questioned my ability to knit, which was a requirement for taking the class. I explained that I had learned to knit but wasn't told I needed to know how to purl, too. Everyone laughed. Me, I was confused. The instructor showed me how to purl and I have been knitting (and purling) ever since. The vest was beautiful and I made several of them.

It was during the summer of 2010 that the idea of designing first occurred to me. Steve had selected a pattern a year before from a shop in Louisville, KY (Sophia's Fine Yarn Shoppe - www.SophiesFineYarn.com) and I purchased some gorgeous Louisa Harding Greek Silk & Wool yarn to knit it. The pattern was the Round-Cabled Cardigan by Helen Hamann - http://www.facebook.com/HelenHamannDesigns. I spent one month knitting this design. At one point, I couldn't quite figure out what Helen was trying to do, so I contacted her and she explained the technique to me. When I finished the cardigan, I was pleased but also aware that I had just knitted a very complicated, advanced pattern. If I can do this, maybe I can design my own patterns.

Round-Cabled Cardigan by Helen Hamann

I had been thinking of different ways that I might make a pattern while I was knitting a project. I began to capture those ideas on paper. Then several weeks later I visited another yarn shop and asked questions of the gal who helped customers with their knitting issues/problems. She had designed several shawl patterns and she gave me several suggestions based on her own experiences. I began collecting all my new-found data into a folder and started purchasing some resources that she had suggested and that I saw in Knit Picks  catalog - www.knitpicks.com.

Finally this time last year, I decided to venture forth with a scarf of my own design. It was a scary thought to me because I didn't trust my own ability to make it happen. I call the pattern "Lattice Stained Glass". What makes the scarf unusual is my use of intarsia to form the pattern. I used bobbins to carry the 100% cotton by Peaches & Creme (www.peaches-creme.com) and by Sugar 'n Cream (www.sugarncream.com). I used one of my purchases (a program called Stitches & Motif Maker - www.software4knitting.com) to chart my stitches in the different colors. It didn't take very long to make the scarf and when it was done, I was pleased. I had made something that I had created without the help of someone's pattern. I was a designer. I had begun a new venture for myself.

Lattice Stained Glass Scarf

I began studying stitches and continued making notes of designs that I wanted to make some day. But as the year progressed and Christmas approached, my time was devoted to making all the projects that were to become the gifts I would send to family and friends. So, I promised myself that I would begin in earnest at designing patterns in January 2012. So the time is now and this marks the beginning of the journey started a few years ago.

Now back to the designing project...
I finished the front of the Shell. I didn't want to use a bind-off to shape the shoulders because I don't like the jagged, stair-step effect, which is so difficult to seam and look nice. So I chose to use short rows. It took me three attempts to work out the technique. Before I began I ran a different color yarn through the beginning row to tink back to if needed. It was a good thing I did because I tinked back three times before getting the results I wanted. The first time was a disaster. I went to the computer and watched a tutorial on short row shoulder shaping. I picked up the work again and gave it a second try. The shaping was beautiful but I did it backwards. I had knit the short rows on the wrong side of each side. So I tore out the stitches and reversed the pattern. Voila. The shoulders were shaped just the way I wanted them to be. Here are the directions...


SHOULDER SHAPING
Using short rows, shape shoulders at shoulder edge as follows:

Right Side of Neck
ROW 172 (Right Side): Knit.
ROW173: p14, tWrap (see below) next stitch, turn, k to end.
ROW 174: p7, tWrap next stitch, turn, k to end.
ROW 175: p across all stitches, picking up wraps.
ROW 176: Bind off all stitches

Left Side of Neck
ROW 172 (Right Side): k14, tWrap next stitch, turn, p to end.
ROW 173: k7, tWrap next stitch, turn, p to end.
ROW 174: k across all stitches, picking up wraps.
ROW 175: Bind off all stitches.

Directions for tWrap [which means to wrap a stitch and turn and go back in the other direction]:
Slip next stitch, with yarn in front if last stitch worked was a knit (or in back if it was a purl), bring yarn to back (or front). Return the slipped stitched to the left needle.

That's it for tonight. I am tired of typing. Chat with you again another time.

Teresa, the wishful knitter signing off.