What to do with leftovers?....yarn that is....

When you have a goodly amount of yarn left from a project what do you do? Here are some of the things I have been known to do....see if some of them sound familiar....

• Leave them in the bottom of the project bag to see if they will go away.
• Put them in another bag with other left over balls of yarn to "organize" them.
• Swatch for other projects of similar yarn weight.
• Look for scrap projects that require lots of yarn.
• Make minis and swap for temperature or hexi-puff blankets
• Any of a number of other ideas.

When I finished Canova Beach, I had approximately 50 g of the color Lagoon left from Arrowhead Fibers and I hated to let it languish in my project bag. While knitting Canova Beach, I had to decide how big to make the neck opening, so with advice from a few others I decided to make up a sample neck.

After casting on the smallest amount of stitches I thought would work, I discovered I would need more stitches, so I continued and came up with the right amount of stitches.

I kept the sample neck around for reference, while I finished knitting  the Canova Beach sample and discovered that the stitch pattern really appealed to me. I thought at some point I would use it again.

Little did I know, that it would be sooner than I originally thought. While Canova Beach was being blocked, I cast on and started playing around with the stitch pattern again.  The result is a great little cowl in the same Sea Oats stitch pattern used in Canova Beach.

Sea Oats Serenade is now in testing. The cowl has an interesting little eyelet pattern at the beginning and end to remind us of the fencing that protects the sea oats on the dunes. The sea oats, themselves protected in Florida, are protecting our dunes from erosion from wind and water. They sway on top of the dunes as the breezes blow up the beach, singing their sweet and ancient song.

 Keep an eye out here for future updates about its progress down the test knitting trail. I'll be posting more here about it later...

Canova Beach is in testing....

Canova Beach, one of my local beaches, is like most others. It constantly renews itself, as the waves bring the sand in and take it out again. The wind sculpts the dunes, while the sea oats and other vegetation keep it all from eroding away. This circle is infinite and always.

Translated into knitting, Canova Beach is a long capelet, knitted in the round with lace, cables and texture stitches calling to mind waves, drifting sand dunes and the sea oats that hold them fast, despite the action of wind and water. The stitch patterns are straight forward and easy to remember, which makes it a pleasing knit for adventurous beginners, but enough of a challenge to keep more experienced knitters engaged.

I recently had my pattern tech edited by Frauke Urban of Urban Yarning, who did a wonderful job. She's a non-native speaker of English and looked at my pattern with both the eyes of a tech editor and a consumer of knitting patterns.  She was very encouraging and made some great suggestions, which helped the look of the patterns. 

I put up a call for testing and had lots of wonderful applicants, but I was giving preference to people who were willing to purchase their yarn for the test from my partner in this venture, Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers. We have several great testers in the US and two in Europe (Germany and Italy).

Canova Beach should be out in late May, as I gave extra time to my testers in Europe due to the shipping time for the yarn. I have included a picture below for your viewing pleasure. It is on my dress form Bertha Rose, which was named for my husband's maternal grandmother and my paternal grandmother. It seemed fitting to give her a name, since she is earning her keep as my model some of the time.

I will have a real model for my pattern photos, as I recruited my niece for that job when she was in town. You'll have to wait a bit longer before I start using those shots. You can follow along on Instagram where I am @kraziknitz, to see progress photos from the various test knitters or you can join my group on Ravelry, KraziKnitz Designs for future test knitting opportunities, KALs or other events.

Canova Beach

First Collaboration with an Indie Dyer! Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers

I'm currently working with an indie yarn dyer, Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers. She's a relatively new dyer and we were connected by another designer, Mary E. Rose. Mary thought we might make good collaboration partners since we were both relatively new.
I had to wait until I was done with my Knotions pattern, but we connected. Once I was done, we spoke and I looked at her colorways. I found three colors that inspired me and came up with a design idea.
I worked up a swatch for what I had in mind and sent photos. She liked my idea and sent me the yarn.
I have been documenting the progress of the design on Instagram. The design is now complete and I start the next step in the process.
Writing the pattern, creating chart and schematics are next on the list before I send it off to the technical editor. A tech editor checks it for accuracy and consistency in a variety of areas, before it can be sent to test knitters.
I will be putting up a call for test knitters very soon. You can see progress shots on Instagram, but I have included a few here. If you would like to see more of Arrowhead Fibers offerings, you can find her at www.instagram.com/ArrowheadFibers.

Silver Fox, Lagoon and Stormy Seas