Criosanna: a tale of a transatlantic cardigan

Ok, people, I've finally done it now. I have finally reformatted Criosanna to my template and released it to Ravelry.

This sweater was designed in 2009 and presented to Jamieson & Smith for use in their pattern collections. There were some issues with the written pattern (hey, I was new!) and the garment was mailed back to me to fix. When things were sorted out, it was returned across the Atlantic.

After a bit, J&S emailed to ask permission to send the pattern (and the sweater) to a leading British knitting magazine. Boy, howdy!

Time went by...and I never heard from the magazine.

By now it was 2011 and my husband and I were in Shetland for the Tall Ships race. While visiting J&S, I asked about the sweater. Apparently, the magazine was going through a reorganization and communications were a bit spotty. The J&S sales manager suggested I try to contact the editor myself....maybe I would have better luck.

On our return to the states, I did just that. The new editor was familiar with the sweater...which apparently was sitting in her office with no identification tags. She wanted to use it for the new magazine. Boy...hmmmm...ok.

Time went by...and I never heard anything else from the magazine...

...until another editor emailed.

It seems the reorganized magazine didn't make it...and another publisher had bought them out. This new editor had inherited the sweater in the transition...and wanted it for the August 2012 edition. hmmmmm...ok.

Criosanna appeared in the August issue of Knitwise in 2012. Woo-hoo!

After the designated exclusivity time, the rights were returned to me...and in May of 2013...so was the sweater!

Now things get crazy on this end....that same month we moved to North Carolina. September 2013, we purchased a new home. October 2013, we closed on our old house in Atlanta.

So...finally...a little over a year later...I have gotten my act together to reformat Criosanna to my pattern template...and here it is!

Whew! It has been a long ride...but done...and done.

Varian

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Wearing a Rock Wall Around Your Neck

As mentioned in the last few posts, I have been looking at inspiration from the past as a way to rekindle my enthusiasm for pattern design in the present.

Most recently, a trip to Shetland has come to mind. A trip that became the subject of a magazine article for the first issue of Knit Edge Magazine in which I took inspiration from trip photos to create swatches for later garments.

Below are more of the photos and the swatches they inspired. Shetland, incidentally, is the collective name of a hundred islands in the North Sea between the mainland of Scotland and Norway.

First is a bit of whimsy. Puffins are odd looking birds. They are prevalent along the coasts of Shetland and have become a common theme in the tourist shops on the main island...mostly because they are so darned adorable!

Puffin at Hermaness on Unst

Puffin

Sheep, as you might imagine, are in abundance. We were lucky enough to witness one of the annual gatherings for sheering. A sight that has been seen on the islands for hundreds of years.

Sheep sheering gathering on Unst

This swatch was the start of Wilkins, a classic pullover created with 9 natural shades of Jamieson & Smith 2 ply yarn. (The completed sweater included a tough of red...just because I like red.)

Wilkins

The swatch from the last inspiration photo was the design the folks at Knit End selected to be made up into a pattern and included with the article. Thus the Mousa Lichen Cowl was born.

Wall with lichen on Mousa

Mousa Lichen

Mousa Lichen Cowl from Knit Edge

So there you have it ...from inspiration to pattern. A rock wall covered with lichen on the small island of Mousa to a swatch with nine shades of yarn to the Mousa Lichen Cowl pattern.                    

What you do think? Can you see any of the other swatches from this post or the last becoming garments? Let me know. I'm looking for inspiration.

Varian
brandonknittingdesigns.com
Ravelry: varianbrandon

A Picture is Worth...

While we are on the subject of inspiration....a few years ago, I finally got my sweet husband interested in a trip to Shetland...a return trip for me, first time for him. It took the European Tall Ships anchored in Lerwick harbor to get him there, but we made it.

Lerwick Harbour with Tall Ships

The topic of our trip came up later in a conversation with Shannon Okey (Cooperative Press) and before I knew it, I had agreed to write an article for the first issue of Knit Edge. Shannon's good.

What in the world could I write for a knitting magazine about Shetland that hadn't been covered before? I had wonderful memories...and hundreds of sightseeing/tourist type photographs...as opposed to knitting and fiber photos.

I came up with the concept of taking the reader along with us on our tour....and using a few of the photographs as the inspiration for swatches using Jamieson & Smith, Shetland 2ply yarn. The article was entitled "Shetland by the Colors" and here are some of the swatches and their inspiration...

St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian swatch

Sandbar

Sandbar swatch

Wildflowers at Hermaness

Wildflowers

Next time: More inspiration photos and swatches. I figured a picture is worth a swatch or two..or three...or four. (I had a good time with this project!) The article also included a pattern designed from one of the swatches. I'll include a link next time.

Varian
brandonknittingdesigns.com
Ravelry: varianbrandon

Renewed Inspiration

I have been reminded recently of why I started designing and the events that influenced my love of color, pattern, and yarn…a reminder that has sparked the return to a past trip to the islands of Scotland.

You see, several years ago, a freelance job resulted in a reasonable sum of money burning a hole in my pocket. I decided to take a trip and selected a tour organized by the Rowan Yarn Company. At that time in my life, I had only picked up my knitting sporadically. I had always loved knitting and thought a trip like this would be fun. 

There were several tours to select from…each going to different locations with different instructors (two each) on different dates. I chose my tour from the dates I was available, not knowing much about any of the instructors.

First stop was Shetland, a group of wonderfully remote islands off the north coast of Scotland.

The group consisted of eighteen individuals, if I remember correctly, from all over the US. Included was a child advocate lawyer, a botanist working in South America, a writer who would become an editor of Interweave Knits, and a music legend’s mom.

Our first instructor (and incredible designer) was Kaffe Fassett who was accompanied by his assistant, Brandon Mably, who would become a designer in his own right.

Kaffe and Brandon were introduced...and we all trooped into the very posh, four star, dining room for our evening meal. The restaurant seated us in an alcove a little distance from the local diners. Diners who thought they were going to have a nice quiet, four star meal on a Saturday night.

For some reason, either because of European ideas of fashionably late dinners or American ignorance of fashionably late dinners, the meal seemed to take an eternity to be served. We entertained ourselves with dinner table chatter. Somehow the conversation turned to the memories evoked by certain songs. That led to at first timid, then raucous, renditions of whatever song was suggested. Did I mention that the wine was not on the same timetable as the food?

The turning point was a version of the title song from Oklahoma! delivered at theater level volume by eighteen Americans who were having a really good time!

My recollection is that the food arrived rather quickly after that.

Kaffe’s workshop was fabulous, as you might expect. Colorful yarn was dumped on the floor and we all scrambled to find just the right shade to make our masterpiece for the master.

Knowing nothing at the time about Intarsia, my swatch embarrassingly fell completely apart. Kaffe was gracious enough to say something complementary about it…as he did for everyone.

Kaffe later branched out to designing fabrics for quilting among other glorious things. Brandon followed suit and both men are known these days as the Color Guys.

A few years ago, I ran into both of the “guys” on their “return to knitting” tour. They didn't remember me…I really didn't expect them to…but they did remember the dinner in Shetland.

Note how Kaffe addressed his autograph in my copy of his book…

Kaffe's use of color... and just the way he talked about color... was an inspiration to me. Would that I could have a fraction of his talent.

Note: These pictures were taken long before the use of digital photography...or at least before I had any access to a digital camera.