How A Challenging Project Changed My Approach To Knit Design and Publishing

I never thought I’d cut my teeth on short row sleeve caps by writing a short row sleeve cap. I always figured that I’d knit one eventually following someone else’s sweater pattern. Okay, let’s back up a little.

A few months ago, a cosplayer friend of mine commissioned me to make the three-legged baby romper from the end of 1991’s Addams Family movie. I loved this movie when it came out and I still regularly watch it. So, of course I was all in when she asked me about knitting it. When I went digging around for a pattern, I found people selling reproductions of the piece, but no patterns. That didn’t frighten me off though. If anything, designing a pattern from something I’ve enjoyed for so long made it a fun challenge. One that’s taken me far longer than expected, but I’m happy with the results. There’s just a bit more of a second sleeve to knit before the whole thing gets a soak and the final finishing touches.

For most of the pattern writing and knitting, the plan was to knit the romper and mail it off. That’d be the end of it. The Bearded One had other ideas, and has been pushing me to release the pattern. I brushed him off in the beginning, but I think I will publish the pattern. Not sure quite when yet, though With Wool Express subscribers will be the first to know.

For as long as I’ve been designing knitting patterns (both free and paid), the question of whether anyone else would knit the pattern was one of the first I’d ask. Designing and writing and laying out a knitting pattern, so that people can understand it is no small amount of work. If I was going to put the effort into publishing a pattern, I didn’t want to put my time towards something that would fall flat or be ignored. I have notebooks filled with ideas that never got beyond a few notes and a half-hearted swatch because I didn’t think anyone else would want to knit them. To be fair, those notebooks are also full of ideas that I fell out of love with along with a few nuggets that keep nagging at me years later.

Now that I have a young kiddo and far less free time than I did when I published my first pattern in 2009, my thoughts have changed. I have far less time to be weighed down by my own self doubt, anxiety, and endless questions. I have to commit what time I do have for deep, focused work to the stuff that I want to do. Even if that thing is a knitting pattern that’s not going to take the world by storm. So, I will be publishing the pattern for this three-legged Addams Family romper and whatever pattern idea consumes my brain next. Solving knitting puzzles with yarn is part of what grounds me and makes me happy, so I’ll continue to knit on and share my patterns. Not all of them will be as geeky as this romper, but they’ll be fun and varied.

IT'S A TRAP!

Totally couldn’t help myself. Plus, the whole “It’s a trap!” thing is an internet mandated requirement whenever Admiral Ackbar is involved. Also, go watch the Admiral Ackbar cereal skit. I’ll wait. 

Every so often, “Your tongues cannot repel flavor of that magnitude!” floats through my mind and I can’t stop laughing. Whose tongue would be able withstand a combination of marshmallows and imitation crab meat, after all? Silliness aside, it’s time to get down to the serious business of knitting a Star Wars alien admiral.

Pattern: Admiral Ackbar Sock Monkey by Carbonscoring

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes - Persimmon Heather, Cloud, Coal, Silver, and Turmeric

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) DPN’s

Dates: Oct 9 - 25, 2012

@Ravelry

Ackbar was knit as a gift and I really, really wanted to keep him for myself. He’s giant, floppy, cuddly, and has such a great face. I’m going to have to knit an Ackbar clone just for me once all that pesky holiday knitting is out of the way. He can guard my desk and warn me of traps. 

The pattern description says that the knitting will be a “cake walk” if you’ve ever knit socks before and it’s true. Since the pattern is adapted from a sock monkey, the head and mouth are sock toes and the the butt is a heel flap and gusset. The knitting was pretty easy and mostly stockinette. You just have to obsessively count the rows and be prepared to spend some time sewing up the face. You can find a full list of my mods on Ravelry.

Gotta love a Mon Calamarian man in uniform.

Hitchhiker

How can I resist a pattern that’s a giant, geeky sci-fi reference? Long story short, I can’t. Hitchhiker had been in my queue for the longest time but, once I decided to cast on, there was no stopping me. I grabbed my needles, wound 2 skeins of Malabrigo Sock, and got started. Once the setup rows clicked in my head, the knitting was smooth sailing. I stuck the shawl in my purse and brought it along on car trips, running errands, and out to lunch. Hitchhiking indeed. Unfortunately, those days came to end when I had to wrap the shawl twice around my arm so I could walk around the mall and knit it at the same time. 

Once freed my purse, Hitchhiker was relegated to movie knitting, hanging out at parties, and occasional trips to knit night. I put it down for a month or two because the row after row after row of garter stitch and the occasional bind off just wasn’t holding my interest. Our intrepid wooly hero was saved when I was overcome by the urge to empty out my WIP bin. After too many movies and tv shows to count, Hitchhiker was finished and ready to answer the question about the universe and everything else. 

Sci-fi reference aside, another reason I cast on for Hitchhiker was because I wanted a pattern that would use up 2 skeins of Malabrigo sock and that could easily be made larger. Check and double check. Since I wanted to get the most out of the yarn and spare myself from ripping out, I started measuring how many grams of yarn were used per tooth. From the 48th to the 54th tooth, the teeth used 6g each with the 55th, 56th, and 57th teeth using 7g each. There were 2g left after binding off the last tooth. The kitchen scale has turned out to be one the best knitting tools I’ve ever bought. Full technical details on Ravelry.

All finished, the Hitchhiker has turned out to be exactly what I wanted. It’s cushy, warm, and big enough to wrap around my shoulders several times. Draped over my shoulders, the tails hang down past my knees. Can’t wait to bring this out during the Fall and Winter. Oh, and its 57 teeth aside, Hitchhiker knows that the answer to the universe and everything else is definitely 42.

Pattern: Summer and an Elder God

Summer started off with a bang and I mean that quite literally. Thunderstorms have been rolling through since Wednesday. Loud, obnoxious thunderstorms that wait just long enough for things to dry out before dumping more rain. The cat has not been pleased but my garden could not be happier. As for me, I’m welcoming Summer in my own way with mai tai’s and truffles. This is a combination I heartily recommend.

Last weekend I was celebrating a different kind of beginning: a new baby. The parents are good friends of mine and also happen to be the creative force behind UndertakingFX, a special effects, makeup, and general source of awesome. One of their latest products is the Cthulu Plaque. They gave the Bearded One and I one as a gift and it is amazing. Now if only we could find the right place to hang it. We’ve already ruled out the bedroom. It's going somewhere we can enjoy it all day long. Anyway, since the two of them are H. P. Lovecraft fans I couldn’t stop myself from adding a little Cthulu into the mix for the baby shower.

Cthulu Rising | download | @ravelry

~50 - 55 yds worsted weight cotton per cloth | US 6 (4mm) needles

gauge: 5 sts/in | 7” by 7” square

Shown in: Lily Sugar’n Cream - Sage Green &

Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted - Golden Heather

This set of 2 different washcloths knits up pretty quickly. The first shows off the Elder God in all his cute, yet horrible glory. The second depicts R’lyeh if R’lyeh were made of knits and purls and had lots of columns/windows. Who knows, it just might.

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