2018 was a big year for sweaters for me. I released two brand new sweater designs and had another sweater in the I Like Knitting October 2018 issue and another in the Knit Now January 2018 issue. I also went back to two of my earliest sweater patterns and completely reworked the patterns with a new technical editor with edits and updates for 2018. Then at the end of the year rights started to revert back to me from magazine publications so I reworked and formatted one sweater to rerelease as a self-published design. That’s a lot of sweaters! So it’s a good time to start taking a quick look at some of my sweater designs. This post contains design inspiration and details about the first row of patterns in the collage: Azura, Knit Night Sweater, Kenia Ariana and Route 66! Next week I’ll continue with a look at the sweater designs in the second row.
Azura was originally published in 2016 and is one of the sweaters I reworked with edits and updates for 2018. The inspiration for this sweater came from store-bought sweater I noticed another taekwondo mom wearing as we waited on the side of the mats during classes. I kept sneaking glances and sketching bits of it each time I saw her wear it until I finally just asked if she minded if I took a few pictures of her wearing it. It always surprises me how willing complete strangers are to help out when I explain why I want the picture – asking if I need a picture of the back too or showing me some small design feature that they love and wishing me luck with the design process. Sometimes those captured design inspirations go directly to the designing board and sometimes they go into a folder on my desktop named “Design Ideas (people I accosted to take pictures)” . This one went straight to design.
Azura combines a center front cable with matching textured panels on the body and sleeve edging for casual elegance. Perfect for chilly fall evenings, coffee on the outdoor patio and crisp morning walks. Azura is worked top down with a center front cable panel and simple stockinette on the rest of the body. Written in 7 sizes. Includes waist and hip shaping for a flattering fit. Cable is charted and written. The sample garment is a size L and used every last bit of Cascade 220 in the color 7818 Blue Velvet.
The Knit Night Sweater is a new sweater design released in November 2018. The inspiration for this design came from a sweater one of the ladies wore to Knit Night. This was on my second time joining the group and I didn’t know any of the ladies at this group well. So instead of walking in and having them know I was a knitwear designer, I had simply walked in said hello and sat down to knit on the first night. So then when a very nice found at Goodwill store-bought sweater walked in, it felt weird on the second night to announce that I was a knitwear designer and start taking pictures. It wouldn’t take long before someone made the connection but they hadn’t yet. So instead of asking a fellow knitter if she would mind, I kept trying not to be obvious while I took note of a handful of details and sketched the basic ideas that caught my attention on the back of the knitting pattern I was working on for the evening. That means with no photos the design itself went pretty far off in left-field from the original inspiration. But that’s just fine.
The Knit Night Sweater features purl bands on wide sleeves, positive ease, subtle waist and hip shaping for flattering fit and a split garter stitch hem. As a basic top-down seamless raglan, it is simple enough to work on even during the lively fun of knit night. Written in 7 sizes. Sample knit in Valley Yarns Colrain (50% Merino wool, 50% Tencel) color Navajo Red.
Kenia was originally published in 2012. Then reworked with added sizes, edits and updates in 2016. Kenia was one of my earliest published designs. And I still love this one. I’ve found over the years that one downside to being a knitwear designer is that I don’t feel like I can wear my sweater samples (just in case they are needed as actual garment samples for shows). But as I’m working up this sweater round-up I’m reminded how much I love this one. And since it is up at 4 stitches per inch in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (a yarn I absolutely love!) and doesn’t have long sleeves to work, I’m pulling this one out of storage as soon as I finish typing this so I can start wearing it. It is perfect for an added warm layer over my preferred long-sleeve cotton tees and more importantly it is definitely worth reworking this pattern if I somehow snag it beyond repair.
Kenai is a warm tee intended to layer over basic long sleeves when you need extra warmth but not a whole sweater, written in 7 sizes. This design is a simple top down seamless raglan with a deep v-neck, waist and hip shaping, tunic length and two front pockets. The name Kenai (pronounced KEE-nie) comes from the Kenai Pennisula in Alaska we visited in the summer of 2011.
The inspiration for this one didn’t come from a design I saw out in the wild. Instead it evolved into a layering piece I wanted to wear. I was new to designing in 2011-2012 as I was writing this pattern. So I learned as I went. I learned how to make the v-neck from reading and re-reading and re-reading again Barbara Walker’s Knitting From the Top and designed modified front pockets along the same lines as another design I’d knit (since I had two small boys at the time and always, always, always needed that space to carry around little found things or kleenex). I didn’t want long sleeves on this one because it felt like I was always elbow-deep in dishes or laundry at the time. And I found I really liked being done with the sweater that much sooner. And this may have been the first time that I wrote a design with the waist and then hip shaping that I use for almost all of my top-down designs since this about the time when my favorite store-bought sweater died and I measured it myopically as I deconstructed it to be able to replicate the shaping. I very rarely use another shaping for my designs because I feel this one is very flattering for so many different body types.
Ariana is one of my brand new releases in 2018 (published in March 2018). Ariana is a simple top-down seamless raglan with mock cable edging on the body, sleeves and neck. No cables or cable needle! Ariana also features that subtle waist and hip shaping for flattering fit that I just mentioned. And a split hem. This was my first sweater written with a split hem and I find I really like it. The Knit Night Sweater mentioned above also has a split hem and the Winter Hiking Sweater that is almost ready for test knitting does too.
I’ve worn this sweater one a couple of times sitting on the patio watching the younger boy learn to ski. It is lovely and warm! Design inspiration for this one came from “wall of inspiration”. Just to the side of my desk I’ve taken over the entire wall and started glue dotting cut out bits of paper to the wall. I love being able to glance over to see colors, cables, mass marketed sweaters, sketches, sticky notes, Pantone color swatches and all the bits and bobbles that were in my head that I managed to get up on the wall before I forgot about them. That wall is going to need some serious work if I ever take down all the glue dots. But that is problem for some other time.
And last but not least for this post, Route 66! Route 66 was published in May 2016 and combines a center front chevron panel, ¾ length sleeves and a cowl neck for chic casual comfort. Perfect for cafes, concerts in the park and roadside markets. Route 66 is worked top down with a center front wedge-shaped textured panel and simple stockinette on the rest of the body. The design inspiration for this one came from a Anthropologie sweater. I saw a sweater with a cowl neck and big, bold center front chevrons and I could immediately see that sweater in any of the great photos from the 1950s onward along the side of the road on Route 66.
The front panel uses simple knits and purls with no cabled stitches. Written in 6 sizes. The center panel directions are both written and charted for the first quarter of the body for initial set-up and orientation. Rounds 31-130 continue down the body as instructed working from the charts for the center panel with no further written cable directions.
Next week I’ll pick up where I left off and finish talking about the 2nd Row of the sweater collage at the very beginning of this post.
