As I mentioned in my last post, I have a number of works in progress. They all suit a current attention span or mood. Do I feel like paying attention to the pattern? Do I love seeing a particular color pop up? Do I need something I can pick up and put down quickly? Yes on all accounts. I don’t have a book in progress, as the last one I picked up from the library will be going back without being finished. I’m still striking out there. This morning though I did read Are You My Mother to my son. I forgot how cute this book is and that the baby bird walks right by his mother in the beginning!
Pairing nicely with that vintage book cover, is my progress so far on the Shock Star Slouch KAL. This KAL is taking place on Instagram and my yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Cosmic Wonder Dust. It has my spirit-animal-yarn-color (teal) in it with other favorite colors splattered about. That phrase, about the spirit animal colors has stuck with me since listening to Stephen West talk about it on the Stash Local podcast. (BTW, nice podcast. Give it a listen! I used to knit with Sonia at SnB before she was an awesome yarn shop owner.) Also in the photo is my Loopy Academy Sophmore year texture project, a Cool Clavicle Cover, in Western Sky Knits Dino Dudes. That’s been my go-to project for school pick up. It’s very much Flintstones and Scooby-Doo colors, a touch outside my usual choice, but I’m digging it.
This is about all I can show you of my current sample knit. It’s in a lovely merino-silk yarn, with a cable and lace pattern, eventually will be a sweater. I started the front and back pieces at the same time, so the ribbing section for each is done and exactly the same size. I have gone back to working one side at a time because it felt a little faster to me. I have been asked how do you get into sample knitting? Well, I can tell you it has been a bit of a long and winding road. Way back when I went to a regular knitting group, one of the gals designed for a yarn company and she let us know that the company needed samples knit. They paid in yarn and it was a good gig. I kept an eye on Ravelry and spotted posts by other yarn companies putting out the call for sample knitters. I said yes to a lot of things, I tried a few test knits for independent designers, and I’ve also been burned by a few projects – either I wasn’t compensated or the designer let me flounder when something wasn’t working right. Live and learn. I always met deadlines, maintained communication with the company or designer, and take pride in my work – so yes, I swatch and don’t take shortcuts I might be likely to take if I was just knitting something on my own for me.
Looking forward to linking up again!
I love the cable pattern on your sample knit – beautiful.
Thanks for sharing about your Spirit Animal color! {and the podcast shout out}