miriam, oh miriam

Back on Miriam...so sorry for the delay! It's been a long week and I have lots of excuses (had to put a cat down, gave away my bunny love boy, Immie is sick again, photo shoot with the amazing Cecily....) but I won't bore you with all that.

I have an updated version of Miriam available...email me at info@quinceandco.com if you bought it already and would like a fresh copy.

Here's what is different: the row gauge and the needle size. After many swatches, I ended up with 25 stitches and 37 rows equaling four inches on a US 4, steam-blocked. So, hopefully that is an easily achievable gauge for everyone!

And I just want to point out that the gauge is not wrong on the first pattern. There is a living example of it working right here in front of me. So, if you have already started knitting with that version and aren't having any problems, then go forth!

Also, I'd like to mention (and I'm sure you all do this anyway) that it is a good idea to do to your swatch what you do to the final sweater. If you are going to wet-block your sweater, then wet-block your gauge swatch...if you're going to steam it, then steam the swatch...etc. There was one part of the story I didn't mention and that was that the swatch was washed and the final sweater was steamed. Could this be the culprit? The reason the sweater gauge was different than the target gauge? Perhaps, but we never measured before steaming, so at this point it's a guessing game. And at this point, I'd like to just look to the future and get to work on knitting my Miriam.

So...has anyone ever knit a black sweater before? I haven't, but am going to give it a whirl. I think I'll get a lot of wear out of a little black cardi. So....casting on....

A little belfast hoodie for Immie. Was supposed to be for her bday...better late than never! Still need buttons.

clementine

yum.

gauge

So, I understand there are a lot of knitter's out there having trouble with Miriam's gauge which is 6.25 sts to the inch on US 6 needles. Pam and I both swatched last week and we realized that the pattern needs to be tweaked because we both had to go way down on our needles. I have worked 2 swatches so far and got 25 sts (=4") on one swatch and 26 sts on the other--both on size US 3 needles. Pam was able to get 25 sts on US 3. So, needless to say, the pattern's needle size will be updated.

Let me give you the behind-the-scenes story. The pattern was written just about a year ago now and it took a while for me to perfect it. So the instructions didn't end up going to the knitter (the uber talented Bristol Ivy) until mid-summer. We're not sure if it was the heat/humidity of summer that made her knit tight or what, but somehow Bristol's gauge was different than my written pattern. The tech editor (the super wonderful knitter/crocheter/designer/tech editor Kristen TenDyke) ended up altering the gauge in the pattern to reflect the gauge of the knitted piece. SO, that's the scoop. Not very exciting...but now you know what I know.

So, I'm not sure why I got 2 different gauges on my 2 swatches, which were both knit with chickadee. One swatch was knit with Heathers and the other was in Leek. Maybe I was anxious and knit the second a little tighter? A slight difference in the heathers yarn? Oh, the mysteries of gauge! But, I am going to knit a third to swatch to see if I can get 6.25 sts to the inch (with yarn I will be casting on Miriam with). That's right. Anyone up for a knit-a-long? Or maybe I'll just see some of you over in the Quince & Co. group on Ravelry?

Thanks for your patience, knitters. I know this must have been frustrating for some of you. Please feel free to share your thoughts (and gauge!) in the comments section.

Pattern update very soon.

xo
c

a lesson learned

I had a little visitor today! And she was wearing her booties around my office, but apparently I need to do a better job attaching pom-poms. You can see there was still one left (out of 4), but today she took care of that for me. She'd rather eat 'em than wear 'em. Oh, babies.

clemence

So, I don't think I ever posted that I have a cowl, Clemence, in Wool People 2. Yes, I know, the cowl obsession continues (and actually, I have one more that will be released next month).

Here, Clemence is knit in lark/delft—you can't beat the stitch definition in that yarn! Need to weave in a few ends so I can photograph this baby properly.

Winter light at Q's favorite marsh.

I bought this book at Fiddlehead a while ago. Lots of girl clothing inspiration.

feather and fan stitch.
yarn: chickadee
color: petal

2012

It seems like I should have a way more interesting post after 2 holidays--but I have been taking it easy and have been putting my extra energy into giving my babe some special nurturing. Immie got really sick New Year's day (of course we were visiting with friends in Brooklyn) and so we spent a few unnerving hours at the Park Slope ER. She's on the mend THANK GOODNESS...finally crawling around the house and leaving our laps to play for a few moments at a time on her own.
I hope you all had a wonderful and more relaxing New Year's Day than me. I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to 2012! Lots of fun knits to come (I hope). And...next week is Imogen's first birthday!!