I regret blog silence for the past several weeks, January's been a busy knitting month. Submissions to hoped for publications, and my routine monthly self-published piece have taken all attention. And as I await word about the former, for now a word about the latter – Emily, my January offering.
Dear Emily has certainly taken many forms along the way. The fact of her being a vest is the only vestige (smile) of her original self. She started as an idea for garter stitch, in the manner of Mary and Elsie. I am smitten with the silent shaping that this stitch allows. I made garter swatches in Quince's owl, then chickadee, and finally settled on lark as my desired thickness for this chilly weather piece. Then, with deadlines looming, she took a back seat to submission planning that had me scouring my idea stash. By the time I returned to her, rib stitches had seduced me and she was transformed. I do like when this happens, when one thought leads to another. My husband Peter re-collages his artwork, my writer pal Bev erases, cuts and pastes, and I reknit. Emily got shorter, a bit slimmer, and shaping stitches were reconsidered. And although I thought about making her work as she was, I knew I was on the right track when the decision to start over with new-found knowledge was a relief rather than a burden.
I'm wrapping up pattern writing now, checking my math, and will be taking pictures over the weekend. (Thank you Pete for this preview!) With luck my January offering will launch by February 3rd. Close enough :).