10,328

I was going to write a long post about being strapped into a rollercoaster of woah and longing for days of meh. I had it all worked out in my head, but once I had written it down, my brilliant metaphors seemed significantly less brilliant and more .. belaboured. And as we all know that belaboured prose is one of the cardinal sins, I will quietly forget that blog post I composed in my head this morning over breakfast. Life is rushing past me at the moment and I find it difficult to catch my breath. I remember that feeling from my university days when I found a rich seam of information to mine and just lost myself in the library. It is so tempting to just step into that slipstream of excitement, fascination and intense, hard work - but these days I have some very good reasons as to why I cannot quite allow myself this. Back at university I would end up with ulcers - these days my body has other acute reactions that I should very much like to avoid (not that I am very good at avoiding them - as I am typing this, I have a very distinct headache brewing). It is just difficult to remember to say no to exciting opportunities - especially when I am having so much fun.

A fellow freelance knitting person recommended Asana to me the other day and it has already given me so much. It is a time and task management tool that is geared towards small teams, but works really well for this one-woman venture too. I have slotted in all my to-do tasks and I can already see where things are potentially clashing and how I can push one task into another time slot.So useful: I might even end up with some spare time on hands at some point!

I have already begun plotting what I would like to do with potential spare time: I'd like to whip up a few sewing projects, I'd like to finish my Acer cardigan in time for winter, I'd like to see some friends, and I'd like to read some proper books. My partner gave me a Kindle for our anniversary and while I have been using it a lot for nefarious knitting purposes, I have also devoured a lot of bad regency romances (which in itself is a sure sign of me being stressed).

(What? You think me plotting activities for my spare time is a sign of impending doom? I think you might be right. Ahem.)

Forthcoming:

+ if you have signed up to the Karie Bookish Knits/Old Maiden Aunt yarn club, the yarn parcels are under way and the first pattern will land in your inbox this Friday around noon UK time. This means I can finally blog about a Finished Object - that very thought thrills me no end!

+ I will be part of the "Reviving Woollen Traditions" Public Study Day at Glasgow's The Lighthouse Design Centre on October 18. This Public Study Day forms part of a Glasgow University research project and although the day is open to the public, I believe the organisers still would like you to sign up. It looks ace and I am looking forward to meeting a lot of online friends who are also participating.

Finally: 10,328? Ah. The number of stitches I knitted on Sunday. In laceweight. Doing lace. My wrists and shoulders are still aching.

at midnight.. and beyond

I am writing about "at midnight.." at the eleventh hour and the irony is not lost on me.

"at midnight.." is the name of the Old Maiden Aunt/Karie Bookish collaboration I may have mentioned before. It is a three months yarn club still open for sign-ups but at time of writing there are only a few spaces still left. It is my own fault for not mentioning it here before now - I have been so busy with work and life that blogging just did not happened.

"at midnight.." is inspired by the mood and era of the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Both Lilith and I are avid readers - and we both happen to love classic British mystery novels. I set out to design three accessories that drew upon late Victoriana but would still be very wearable today - and I ended up with three designs are that very feminine, elegant and subtle. The picture above shows you some of the props I have gathered for the photo shoot we are having later this month: it is going to be lavish, sumptuous and mysterious. I am really looking forward to hearing what people think - I have had a blast designing for this club and Lilith has come up with some really beautiful, decadent colours.

".. a Victorian heroine trapped in an Edinburgh close at the turn of midnight whilst footsteps come ever closer.." was one of the many small clues we sent back and forth between us. Yes, we had a lot of fun plotting this one!

If you are unlucky enough not to get into the yarn club, the patterns will be made available in an e-book in 2013. I originally thought I'd reknit the patterns in commercial yarn, but as I am really running short on knitting time these days I am not so sure I'll be able to do that.

Phew.

I did find time to design and knit a one-off shawl this summer, but I forgot to take any photos before I gifted it. Ironic, huh?

My darling friend, Paula, had a big birthday this past week. I started plotting her birthday present earlier this year and spent ages searching the net for the perfect yarn. I wanted something semi-solid, something blue-grey-purple and I wanted it to be British.

Juno Fibre arts came up trumps with their amazing "Belle" 4ply which is a mix of alpaca and BFL. The colourway was called "Breathe" - a subtle pastel mix of pale blues and purples with an undertone of grey. I really like working with the yarn - though I should warn you about it shedding - and it was really fun to work with a colourway so different to my usual tastes. Sometimes it's good to push your boundaries!

I just cannot believe I did not remember to take a photo - I shall have to show you later. I will say one thing: working on this shawl back in May/June certainly paved the way for some of my designs coming your way later this year. I learned a lot about going outside my comfort zone and trying out something new.

What's next? Well, I am currently knitting something using a very popular yarn - a design which you will get to see in print(!) early next year.. again in a colourway completely outside my comfort zone. I am also trying to knit a few rows on my Bute cardigan here and there - and then I am also working away on my Doggerland collection when I find time to breathe. I need more hours in the day.

Or sample knitters.

Hmmm.

Bute. Now in Progress.

Today I was a bit tired and this is what I did whilst recharging my batteries.

Whoops.

Not part of my tight knitting schedule, but so very enjoyable and meditative.

Still adjusting to very un-Karie colours, but I think it really works.

(Also, I have an abundance of teal tops in my wardrobe).

Onwards!

Finally some knitting on my blog! This is my swatch for Bute - the lovely cardigan from Rowan magazine 52.

I have completely changed the colour scheme - more on which in a second - but this swatch is all the Bute I am going to knit right now. It will be my reward knit for meeting all the deadlines I have looming over my head. Carrot time!

What deadlines?

As you may know I am doing the Old Maiden Aunt Autumn yarn club. I am currently knitting the last sample, then the patterns go out to be tech-edited and I'll be doing a photo shoot mid-September. I am busy also doing work for a well-known UK knitting magazine which has a tight deadline. I am caught in a perfect storm of fun patten writing and sample knitting. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am just pleased that all the last months' hard work will slowly be trickling its way out to the general public, so you don't all think I am been a complete slacker. As I keep saying: "I am still knitting - honestly!" and now I'll be able to prove it!

(And I know people are going to be asking about the Doggerland collection. I am also working on the second sample for that right now, so expect something to happen relatively soon - of course 'relatively soon' now means something completely different in my vocabulary than in yours, but Doggerland is very much a part of all this hard work. In fact, I just solved a rather nagging design problem the other day).

Bute will be my reward for all this hard work. It is going to be a real treat to sit down with somebody else's pattern and just relax into the knitting rather than always constantly think which is what I am doing when I knit my own samples and swatches.

So, yes, I changed the colours of Bute and I am going to tweak them a tiny bit more. Here is how I went about changing the colourscheme.

• I took the original colours and arranged them on a table so I could really look at them
• I assigned each colour a value: "the pale base colour" - "the dark base colour" - "the zingy contrast" - "the highlighter" etc.
• Essentially I tried to imagine the given colours in greyscale.
• I also tried to figure out what function they have within the colour scheme.
• Then I decided what I wanted from my colour scheme. The original Bute was very earthy and warm. I wanted a cool tone with hints of frost.
• Then I set about going "this is the pale base tone. It is a warm camel colour. What would be a cool, pale base tone?" and that's when I decided to use the Clay colour as the basis. I was aided a tiny bit by Rowan having done another version of Bute although I eventually deviated hugely from that colour scheme too.
• The hardest bits were using the "highlighter" and "zingy contrast" - for the highlighter, I actually ended up using a cool pink ("Peony") although I am not a pink person. The design just calls for a sharp colour to just add interest here and there - and the pink will bring out the purples and fuchsia undertones in other colour colours. It is all about looking at how the colours relate to each other in the design.

My last tweak will be to swap the teal and the dark purple in the swatch. I was really tired last night when I knitted the swatch and I forgot my original plan. Still, it looks really nice and I cannot wait to get started.

And that, my friend, is just a handful of deadlines away. Off to knit some more. I swear I look forward to unveiling all of these sekrit things.

Careful With Words

Twitter sometimes gets a reputation for being Celebrity Central, but I frequently manage to have interesting conversations with people despite the 140-character cut-off.

Yesterday we discussed women's self-image and societal pressure to emphasise external over internal qualities. We covered a lot of ground: eating disorders, women's self-enforced ignorance as a feminist issue (Ellie's line and it's a great one), patriarchal/matriarchal gender politics and much more. Mooncalf pointed out that we should not conflate ignorance with body obsession. Miss M. wrote eloquently about how body image and a need to take control could collide. Later same night I logged back into Twitter to find a whole other discussion about women's bodies was taking place. It was a discussion I found downright scary by its very ignorance of how women's bodies actually work.

I think it is time to quietly take back that whole discussion about women's rights and women's bodies. I really enjoyed the thoughtful discussion I had on Twitter with other women (and one man) but I think we should be having that discussion off-line too. It is not a call to arms - I am not the militant sort - but it is a plea that we keep having these discussions, we keep having them in public and that we keep challenging everyday sexism. Odd how it can still be a revelation to some that women are people too.

Phew. It felt good to get that off my chest.

I will now return to my fluffy little world of trying to make stripe patterns align and figuring out why I suddenly cannot make PDF files with my word-processing programmes. Here are a few random links for your everyday perusal:

• Tilt-shift photography from the London Olympics. Cue Monty Python - except these are not tiny-scale models but actual photographs using optical trickery.
• How to teach your little brother not to hack your FB page. Youtube link. It's in Dutch but has English subtitles.
• The next Beck abum will be released by Faber & Faber. Yes, the poetry publishing house. It's a collaboration between F&F and McSweeney's - and you won't actually be able to listen to the album. It's terribly clever and very much up my 'print culture/what is a book' alley.
• If you are a knitter, you will love this: Icelandic sweater generator - complete with 'design your own colourwork yoke' and gauge checker. It's free, it's online and it's awesome. I cannot remember if I have shared it before, but it is ace. Available in English, French, Russian, Icelandic and assorted Nordic languages.

Autumn/Winter 2012 Knitting. Phew.

It is mid-August and my world is calming down considerably. Late July and early August will always be a busy time for me (this is when all the new autumn/winter yarns and patterns arrive in this part of the world) and I had additional knitting deadlines this year. Well, most of the deadlines have been met - I dreamt of stitch pattern repeats one memorable night - and I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Huzzah! (While I remember, I have started a Ravelry group called Karie Bookish Knits. I have so much in the pipeline that it makes sense to have a group. I guess. Okay, I am quite nervous about it all, but there you go. I am silly sometimes. Go join if you are interested.)

So, what have been my favourites this season launch?

Debbie Bliss is launching a Blue-Faced Leicester Aran which is very lovely with a good range of muted colours. The yarn reminds me a bit of Texere's own brand BFL Aran but the yardage is slightly different. Again, the pattern support doesn't work for my body shape but there are tonnes of excellent patterns available for aran-weight yarn already. The yarn is spun in the UK - I'd be interested in learning if the fibres are from the UK too.

I was really pleasantly surprised by Rowan Kidsilk Haze Trio which comprises of three strands of Kidsilk Haze twisted together. I think Trio is meant to replace the now discontinued Rowan Kidsilk Aura (an aran-weight version of Kidsilk Haze) but it has a much better handle and drape than Aura. Trio looked quite hairy, but once knitted it felt and looked much silkier than I expected. The RRP is quite steep, but it comes out cheaper than buying three balls of Kidsilk Haze, so there is method to the madness. The pattern support plays with Trio's drape in oversized, casual garments. My body shape doesn't lend itself to oversized, casual garments, alas, but Trio looks like the kind of yarn that I could see Kim Hargreaves going for.

Also, the new Rowan magazine is my favourite Rowan magazine in ages. I want to make pretty much everything in there: Orkney, Skye (in a modified lady version), Tobermory, Shannon, Lundy, Ruby, Addison, Harbour Bag (free to download!) and Lewis (also free!). But I am going to start out with the Bute cardigan and my colours will be slightly different. My local John Lewis has the original cardigan on display right now and although I adore its muted greens and browns,  I will be knitting my Bute in shades of grey, white, purple and teal.

Online there has been a new Twist Collective, a new Knitty, a Cookie A garment book(!), and probably a dozen other things I haven't caught because I have been busy. Knitty is strong on socks this time which is a shame as I am not a sock knitter. I adore Cookie A's Radial shrug which is all sculptural and quirky. Predictably enough, I really like Amy Christoffers' colourwork pullover for Twist as well as Elizabeth Doherty's classy Tenaya cardigan. My favourite Twist pattern, though, is the Fortune Bay pullover with its very contemporary take on a striped pullover.

Trends? Quirky colourwork (quite traditional but with contemporary tweaks); lots of stripes in all sort of contexts; we are definitely moving away from the "buttoned at top, A-line" patterns towards unusual, but fitted (or super-oversized) shapes; a lot of marled or semi-solid yarns; traditional arans are still going but again designers are offering tweaked, contemporary versions.

Phew. And I haven't even seen everything this season has to offer just yet! More yarns and patterns are due to arrive..

Are any of you starting to plan your autumn knitting yet? Or are you still working away on unfinished Ravellenic Games projects (London 2012 was fabulous - I thought - apart from the closing ceremony)? I have a few more things to finish before I can start my Bute cardigan, but it is so nice to see all the new yarns and patterns. Although I have been stressed these past few weeks, this is really my favourite time of the knitting year.