Daydreams and Timelines

Thanks to the wonder of living in the time and place that I do, I am writing this post on a plane to San Francisco. Tomorrow Jackie and I will be doing a whirlwind yarn store tour (yay, CustomFit LYS!)…

…and here, on this plane, I’m daydreaming about my Knit-A-Long sweater. I have a couple of swatches here with me, and I’m trying hard to listen to them about what they want to be. Here’s the current best guess:

photo

Though my ideas, here, require another swatch – so nothing’s final yet. This is one of my favorite bits of the process of making clothes, this daydreaming. Thinking, and feeling my fabric, and trying on a bunch of stuff from my closet while holding my swatch in my mind.

What do I want to wear? What does this little swatch want to be when it grows up?

I encourage you to give it a try, too. These questions are going to be at the forefront of the Knit-A-Long this week, and they’re your chance to truly understand and predict what your sweater will be, at the end.

We’ll talk fabric, and sketches, and clothes. These estimates might be a little rough due to the travel, but we intend to talk fabric on Tuesday, and translating your fabric into clothing on Friday. (Jackie will be authoring some of the posts here, starting with this Knit-A-Long, which I’m very excited about.)

Over the weekend, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of pattern choices.

And though it’s absolutely okay if your own timeline doesn’t work out this way, we’ll probably be ready to make our pattern choices and start our sweaters some time next week.

There’s no need to “officially” sign up–this is an open Knit-A-Long–but if you want to join in the discussion, comments here, on the Ravelry thread, or pinning on Pinterest are all great ways to do so. (If you want to pin directly to the Pinterest board, email us with the subject “Pinterest Knit-A-Long” and your Pinterest name, and we’ll invite you!)

I can’t wait to hear about your own swatches and fabric. Happy knitting!

9 thoughts on “Daydreams and Timelines

  1. You’re coming to the SF Bay area this week? Where? I can’t find any details on your website!

    1. It was just a super-quick trip to help our Bay Area flagship LYS-es get CustomFit up and running in their stores, actually! So no classes or anything. Sorry about that!

  2. I am excited to participate in this KAL – my first. I’ve had yarn for a pattern I want to knit for a few months, and reading your blog last week inspired me to participate in this KAL I purchased your book “Knit to Flatter”
    and I’m optomistic that I can alter my pattern to fit me and still have the details that make the pattern appealing to me.

    PS I tried to pin my pattern, but can’t get the pin it button to install. I’ll try the Ravelry thread.

  3. Curious as to what app you’re using for the drawing? If you don’t mind sharing.

    1. I don’t mind sharing at all! I use Sketchbook Pro on the iPad for all of my design sketches.

  4. Just wondering if you mind telling me which drawing app you are using. Looks like it has a bit of everything. Thanks.

  5. Darn it! I have to work tomorrow, or I would totally be staking out A Verb For Keeping Warm! Enjoy your visit to the Bay Area, and come back soon when you can stay longer.

  6. I would love to join this KAL but will probably just watch-along given the number of projects I currently have going. But I have a question…is that an ipad in your photo and if so, what are you using for your design sketches?

  7. Just wanted to add my thanks for choosing A Verb For Keeping Warm as one of your Custom Fit cohorts. I was at the knitting group there a few days ago and learned that they will be rolling out the program in January, so that helped me to make my decision to join the KAL after I’m done with my holiday knitting. Until then, I’ll be playing with yarn, knitting the occasional swatch, and scouring your Pinterest page and other resources for my inspiration. I’m going to start 2014 by designing more of my own clothes!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TweetShare