Wednesday, December 18, 2019

TWO Types of Gauge

The new aran has progressed to the point where it has a body and two sleeves.


Everything has been wet blocked so that I can get an accurate read on length. This turns out to be especially important after my discovery that while the teal Galway has a similar stitch gauge to the pale grey Lark (shown above), its row gauge is anything but the same. Ten baby cables in Lark = only 8 in Galway. I truly did not expect that. If you've been thinking about knitting this, don't worry; I am writing the pattern so that it refers to lengths in inches, not rows.
Today I got the tree up and decorated.


Yes, it's a fake tree. We have family members with allergies and asthma and really, no one wants to deal with those over the holidays. This tree is only three years old, but I'm happy to say that we kept our first one going for 27 years. If you'd like to enjoy a fun arts and crafts activity, those stars are part of our collection of dough ornaments, recipe here. Store them in a dry place, and they'll last for decades!

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Cabling Away

Who would think that spending most of one's knitting time following a cable chart would seem relaxing? Not me, usually. But somehow, working away at my handwritten chart for the second time through (see here for the results of the first iteration) is turning out to be just that. I think it has to do with not having to work out anything chart-related this time around. I still have to pay attention to length, because this version is not for me, but for Isabel, who is sitting on the other side of the continent, not available at any moment for a size check.


I love this colour! It's such an antidote to the darkness and snowiness outside.


Less than two weeks away from the solstice, and I'm counting until the days start to get longer again...

Monday, December 2, 2019

"Free", But Not a Free-for-All

About a year ago I decided to make all my Ravelry designs free. Today, I spent all morning and afternoon adding this little blurb at the bottom of the first page of each pattern (previously I had merely put a copyright warning on the last page):

Copyright Elizabeth McCarten (fill in year)
This pattern is for personal use only. Patterns and items made from this pattern cannot be sold for profit.

Especially at this time of the year, when craft shows abound, I feel a need to remind knitters, and shop owners too, that just because a particular pattern is free does not mean there are no legal rules regarding what can be done with it. A huge amount of work goes into producing quality patterns. All designs are governed by the rules of "intellectual property". Please respect the hard work that designers do. Even when a pattern is free, remember that you are not allowed to make a profit from its use, whether by kitting it up with yarn to sell in your shop, or selling finished pieces at your local craft fair. If you plan to use one of my patterns as part of a kit to sell yarn, write to me first for permission. Even if you plan to use a pattern for charity sales, please have the courtesy to do the same. Many of you have already done this, and I thank you.

With that out of the way, here's where I'm at in the knitting of Isabel's "Hedgewood".


I am reminded of EZ's statement that all aran knitting is really just fancy ribbing. It's why this looks like nothing much pre-blocking. I'll probably go for another inch before I wet block to check for size. It'll look more impressive then.

And finally, there's nothing like the first major snowfall to put you into a holiday mood. I passed this mountain ash loaded with berries while walking home from the grocery shop.



At least we can enjoy the first week of winter (while we dread the long months to come -- sigh!)