Author Archives: JC
XRX has just posted the brochure for Stitches Midwest—and it looks like it’ll be a fabulous event! The schedule is packed with lots of new classes. And I’m looking forward to the Opening Day Spotlight: Gwen Bortner, Laura Bryant, and Anna Walden will discuss “Building on the Bias” in an Entrelac Design Challenge. The hiccups? […]
Lately I’ve been playing around with lace edgings. Here’s a favorite: Normally, you’d see it charted like so: The right edge of the chart is straight and the left edge zig-zags, like the edging itself. Yet this chart distorts the “leaf” motif within the edging. And the zig-zag edge is a little exaggerated. Here’s another […]
Over the past few years, I’ve drawn a lot of charts: for tech editing clients, for my own patterns, and just for my own use. My tool of choice is Illustrator—nice, sharp, vector graphics and complete control over every aspect of the charts, from colors and fonts and line widths to the actual chart symbols. […]
Here’s a swatch of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha, in Thistle Leaf pattern from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker, before and after blocking: Isn’t the transformation amazing? From lumpy, misshapen, and obscured to crisp and bright. And now, instead of curling up into a ball, the fabric wants to drape: Ya […]
My most recent FO isn’t much to look at: it’s just a simple hat, in k2, p2 rib, in a rather drab shade of brown. Oh, but to touch it! Soft, lightweight, and incredibly warm, the hat’s made of qiviut. What prompted me to dive into my dwindling stash of fingering-weight qiviut? A friend going […]
Like many knitters, I’m on a yarn diet. It’s not that I have a huge stash, but it manages to grow faster than I can knit it. And I don’t really have room for a huge stash. Usually, I’m good about sticking to the yarn diet. I’m strong. I can walk past pretty yarn without […]
Now what?
By JC | March 17, 2010
Last fall, I was surprised and pleased when Mona of Dye Dreams asked if I’d like to design a sock for their sock club. Choice of yarn base? Choice of nearly solid colorway? Sure, sign me up! Fast forward to Stitches West, where I had a delightful meeting with Mona and Stephanie, and walked away […]
Well, after a series of fits and starts, here I am in blogland. Why am I blogging? Partly to practice writing. Like anything else, I hear it gets easier with practice. And with the blog I hope I’ll feel a little freer than when writing class handouts and the like, where clarity and brevity are […]