I’m having problems with my computer at home, so I decided I was just going to have to use the Google Documents thing to make a .pdf file of the pattern. Enh, it’s okay. I’d rather have used a different font, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Anyway, here it is! download “I Do Not Drink . . . Wine!” now!

I feel like I should say something about the rejection letter from Knitty.

I’ve sent out a story to a few magazines, and received a few rejection letters. I understand — I really do — that a lot of magazines out there don’t have huge editorial staffs, but a form rejection letter still really stings. It’s like the magazine is saying, not only do we not think your writing is up to our standards, but we don’t even think it’s worth inserting your name and the title of your work into a mail-merge document. The more personalized the rejection letter is, the easier it is to accept (especially when they put in something positive about your work), and the more likely I am to consider that magazine again if I have something else I think is worthy of publication.

Amy Singer gives good rejection. (Yeah, yeah, that sounds weird and bad but sometimes I can’t help myself.) If I come up with something else that I think will be appropriate for Knitty, I’ll happily send it their way (and try very hard to remember just how long it takes to hear back, because even though they tell you in the submission guidelines how long it will be, you don’t realize just how long that is until you’ve still got two months to wait).

This is a pattern I submitted to Knitty for the Winter 2009 issue, but they decided not to include it. So instead, I’m going to put it in a .pdf file available for free on Ravelry, as well as listing it here.

I Do Not Drink . . . Wine!
(pattern and photos by sosoclever knits!)

I think those charms that you put on the stem of a wineglass so you can tell yours from someone else’s are really neat. Of course, I don’t use them, because I don’t drink wine. I generally drink pop. The problem of being able to tell drinks apart still exists, though. Imagine, you have six women over for a night of knitting, and they all drink the same diet cola. Or, in the excitement at your Superbowl party, no one can tell whose beer is whose. Whatever shall you do?

Knit up a bunch of can cozies in different colors and patterns, that’s what!

These cozies do extra duty, too. The fabric is flexible enough to use them to clean off the tops of cans before opening them, and absorbent enough that you don’t really need a coaster. Then, after they’ve cleaned off the tops of enough cans and absorbed enough condensation, you just toss them in the wash with your towels, and they’re ready to go again.

And if you really want to use the wineglass charms, just add the optional hanging loop, and you’ve got someplace to put one!

Note: the cozy will likely stretch a little with use. After washing, it will shrink back to its proper size. It may even be a little smaller, but it will stretch!

SIZE
One size fits 12-ounce cans and most 12 to 20-ounce bottles

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Circumference: approx 8.5 inches
Length: from beginning, approx 5.5 inches; from turning row, approx 4.5 inches

MATERIALS
Lily Sugar ‘N Cream [100% cotton; 120 yd/109 m per 71 g skein]; color: shown in #19173 Spring Meadows (discontinued), #00026 Light Blue, #00004 Ecru, #01742 Hot Blue, #00003 Cream; 1 skein

Alternate yarn: Coats and Clark Crème de la Crème [100% cotton; 126 yd/115 m per 71 g skein]; color: #0750 Fuschia; 1 skein

2 sets 16 to 24 inch US #7/4.5mm circular needles (or size necessary to obtain gauge) and
2 sets 16 to 24 inch US #5/3.75mm circular needles (or 2 sizes smaller than needles used to obtain gauge)

(I use the two circular needle method for knitting in the round, but you can also use one set of each size in long circulars to use the Magic Loop method, or one set of double-point needles in each size.)

Notions required:
Size F5 crochet hook (optional)
Tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

GAUGE
20 sts/26 rows = 4″ in stockinette stitch with size 7 needles

PATTERN NOTES
This is a very forgiving pattern. Gauge does not have to be exact, but should be close.

One skein of Sugar ‘N Cream will make three to four cozies.

This pattern is a very simple introduction to knitting in the round, but it can easily be converted to flat knitting, also.

You can substitute just about any rib pattern, so long as you can fit it to 40 stitches, or close to it. If you have a pattern that needs one more or fewer stitches (e.g. a multiple of three stitches, or a multiple of twelve stitches plus five), increase or decrease as necessary in the “turning round.” Also, you’ll only have about 30 rounds after the turning round. Any patterns longer than will need to be modified to fit.

Keep in mind that the patterns in stitch dictionaries are often written as if you will be knitting flat. They’re also often framed by selvedge stitches, and you’ll probably want to drop any extra stitches (e.g. instead of “multiple of five stitches plus two,” you’d only work the “multiple of five stitches”).

Rib pattern suggestions:

1×1 Rib (over even number of stitches) (Spring Meadows cozy)
Every round: ** k1, p1** to end.
Repeat to desired length

Holey Rib (multiple of four stitches) (Light Blue cozy)
R1 – 2: ** k1, p1** to end
R3: **k1, yo, k2tog, p1** to end
R4: ** k1, p1** to end
Repeat rounds 1-4 to desired length

Zig Zag Rib (multiple of five stitches) (modified from Nikki Epstein’s Knitting on the Edge) (Ecru cozy)
R1, 3, 5: **k1, p2tog, p1, m1, k1** to end
R2 and all even rounds: k every stitch
R7, 9, 11: **k1, m1, p2tog, p1, k1** to end
Repeat rounds 1-12 to desired length

Puff Rib (multiple of three stitches) (adapted from Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns) (Hot Blue cozy)
On turning round, purl last two stitches together
R1: **p1, yo, k1, yo, p1** to end
R2-3: **p1, k3, p1** to end
R4: **p1, k3tog, p1** to end
Repeat rounds 1-4 to desired length

Lace Rib (multiple of five stitches) (adapted from Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns) (Cream cozy)
R1, 3: **k3, p2** to end
R2: **k1, yo, ssk, p2** to end
R4: **k2tog, yo, k1, p2** to end
Repeat rounds 1-4 to desired length

Twisted Rib (over even number of stitches) (Fuschia cozy)
Every round: **k1tbl, p1** to end

PATTERN
On size 5 needles, CO 10 sts (long tail CO is fine). Join, pm.

R1: **k1, p1** to end.
R2: **kfb** to end (20 sts)
R3: **k1, p1** to end.
R4: **kfb** to end (40 sts)
R5: **k1, p1** to end.

Continue in 1X1 rib until piece measures 1 inch.

Next round (turning round): P to end.

Switch to larger needles, and work in desired rib pattern until piece measures 4.5 inches. BO.

FINISHING
Optional: before breaking yarn, with crochet hook, chain 12 stitches and join to body to make loop for hanging.

Weave in ends.

I Do Not Drink . . . Wine! by sosoclever knits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

(Crossposted from my LiveJournal.)

I am designing a dress for Thing One. She really liked the sundresses I made for Little Cat Z this summer, and kept saying things like, “I wish I had a dress like that.” Subtlety isn’t her strong suit.

The dress will have a knitted bodice and a woven fabric skirt. My original plan was to have the bodice close in the back with buttons. Now I’m thinking that might not be the best way to go. I’m thinking a zipper on the side would be better. I’m not very trusting when it comes to knitted buttonholes actually holding the buttons. This isn’t so bad when it’s on a four-year-old who’s home most of the time, but if sixth grader is wearing a dress that won’t stay shut . . . that’s a problem. Also, if it’s on the side, it would be easier for her to get on and off by herself. I think buttons on the side would be worse than on the back, because she’d be brushing against them all the time, making it more likely they’d come undone, and also it could be pretty annoying to feel the lumps from the buttons there.

Of course, I’m kind of thinking this might not be a bad pattern to try to sell, too, if it works. So while I would have little problem putting in a double-lapped zipper on the skirt and bodice (I’ve been sewing about as long as I’ve been knitting), I don’t know how other knitters would feel about that. And I’d have to be really good at explaining it in my directions, too.

To top it all off, I’m at least a third of the way done knitting the bodice, with the back buttons in mind, and I’d have to rip out most of it to do it with the zipper in the side.

So, what’d y’all think?

The forementioned pile of projects on my plate:

The Purse
Hallowig for bibliogrrl, who is shaving her head for Gilda’s Closet in Chicago.
Shirt for Thing Two (almost finished, just needs buttonholes and buttons)
“Chain mail” tunic for Thing One’s Hallowe’en costume
Swordfish fin for Thing Two’s Hallowe’en costume
Trick-or-treat bag for Little Cat Z (thinking about doing a tutorial on how to make one, too)
Dress for Thing One (designing it for her)
Dress for Little Cat Z (based on dress for Thing One, but with different yarn and a much smaller size, seeing how well the pattern can be altered)
Cropped cardigan for me (heavily modifying Ravelry pattern Sweet Little Nothing)
Ripping out first Sweet Little Nothing and finding something else I can make with that yarn (maybe The Amanda Hat)
A skirt for Grace
A skirt for me
A skirt pattern I came up with the other day that may or may not work (although I don’t even have fabric for this, so it probably shouldn’t be listed here)
Finish the super secret felting project (needs I-cord still) and figure out what the heck I’m doing with it

I think that’s far more projects than I really need to have going all at once. Hopefully by the end of this weekend, I’ll have the first three done (although if the first Hallowig works well, I might make more, but we’ll see).

I have now made two Summerlin dresses, and two Two Summer Sundresses (pattern available on Ravelry). Both patterns are free, and are very similar: a simple knitted bodice and a gathered woven fabric skirt. There are definitely differences, though.

First off, Summerlin is much better written. The two sisters who make up Kathryn Ivy have been knitting for a while, and that shows in the pattern instructions. Natalie Larson, the designer for Two Summer Sundress, had only been knitting for a year when she wrote hers. Two Summer isn’t hard to follow, it’s just not as polished, and the sewing instructions are seriously lacking. I do a lot of sewing, so I didn’t need them (and if I did, I could have just substituted the instructions from Summerlin), but for someone who isn’t a seamstress, they might be confusing.

I don’t think backwards-loop looks as bad as some people do, but I do think it’s unwieldy for such a large number of stitches. Other than that, the waistband is stable. It lies flat, and provides a good strong place for attaching the skirt.

The straps, however, stretch. Badly. I need to take pictures of the first dress I did (which was, admittedly, in a bad yarn for this project). It’s cotton, and garter stitch. They’re going to stretch. I hoped they wouldn’t stretch quite so much as they did (even in the better yarn for this project). Combined with the v-neck, the dress was more revealing than I would care to wear, as an adult, and was far too mature for the little girls (ages 1 — 5) intended to wear it. I tied a ribbon around the straps in the back to keep it from falling down so much in the front. Another problem with the straps is that, while they don’t curl at the edges, they do fold in half lengthwise (row 1, k; row 2, k2, p1, k2). That line of knit stitches down the center kills them. Sewing grosgrain ribbon to the back of the straps stops both the stretching, and the folding, but is not part of the original pattern.

The instructions for sewing the skirt are really good. One thing I recommend (and this goes for Two Summer, also), is to sew the basting (long) stitches that you use for gathering in two segments, each covering half of the upper edge of the skirt. Then, divide the skirt and bodice into four even sections, and gather the fabric one section at a time and match it to the bodice. That way you know you have it divided evenly, and you aren’t trying to pull the thread through the entire upper edge of the skirt.

I hate yarnover buttonholes. They are just too stretchy and not neat-looking enough for me. I’m not real crazy about doing loops for buttons, either, so I don’t know which I really prefer. With the Two Summers I’ve made, I stopped the ribbon backing before the buttonholes (on both the straps and the waistband), because I thought it would be a pain to try to line up buttonholes sewn into the ribbon with the yarnovers. If I make another, I’m going to try doing just that, and probably at least tack them together. It will look better (to me, at least), and the ribbon won’t stretch the way the yarnover will, so the buttons should stay buttoned better. I think shank buttons are better (for either dress, really) than sew-through buttons. On Two Summer, the buttonholes are really too thick for a 1/2″ sew-through button.

I think the waistband would be better in garter stitch, instead of mostly stockinette, or at the very least, do four rows of garter stitch, two rows of stockinette, then another four rows of garter. As it is (three rows of garter, five of stockinette, and three of garter, I think), it rolls. The ribbon backing stops it from doing that, but sewing it on is a bit of a pain because, well, it rolls. I also think it makes more sense when you cast off for the ends of the waistband to cast off 25% of the stitches, then knit to the end. On the next row, cast off 25% of the stitches purlwise, then continue with the bodice stitches. That way you don’t have to break yarn and reattach.

Another thing I did with the waistband was I cast on four extra stitches, so the buttonhole could overlap the button without the fabric of the skirt having to overlap. [So when I cast off the waistband stitches, I actually cast off (# of stitches cast on - 4) x 25%, k to end, next row cast off (# of stitches cast on - 4) x 25% + 4.]

The instructions for the decreases on the bodice say to do your ssk or k2tog right at the edges, and I prefer the way it looks doing k2, ssk, k to last four stitches, k2tog, k2. I think the edge is cleaner that way.

Then there’s the straps. According to the instructions, the straps are four sts wide. I think five would be better. There’s less chance of the ribbon showing along the edges that way. I have not successfully sewn the ribbon to the straps without the straps getting skewed. It happens a little on the waistband, too, but it’s not nearly as bad. I strongly recommend taking the sewing slow and having both sides of the strap pinned to the ribbon, although this can be a pain if the pins are long (the pins along the side you sew second might get in the way of sewing the first side). I haven’t actually tried that yet, but I think that should help.

Say hello to Fuzzyhulhu.

He's going to eat me first for this.

My mom got tired of my griping about not having a digital camera, so she got me one for an early birthday present.

My biggest reason for wanting a digital camera is that I’d like to try selling some things I’ve designed, or have plans to design, and these days it’s kind of hard to do that without pictures. It’s hard to find someplace that does good film developing for a reasonable price in a decent amount of time. And I hate feeling like I’m possibly wasting film taking crappy pictures. So, a digital camera seemed like the best way to go.

Now my problem is to decide where to submit designs.

I like Knitty. Its submission guidelines are clear and easy to follow. The guidelines say, “This is what we want from you, and this is what you’ll get in return.” It doesn’t have a set style, either. It’s a knitting magazine. The patterns they publish range from stylish to silly and useful to purely decorative. There are very few things I want to design that I think would be out of place in Knitty.

Then there’s Twist Collective. This one, I think is more of a fashion knitting magazine. The layout and patterns are much more likely to be stylish. Some things I’ve designed or plan would not be good for them. I have a couple things that are pretty utilitarian or geeky, and I don’t think Twist would be interested. Some other things would maybe be better for Twist than for Knitty. They definitely fill different niches. One thing that bothers me about Twist Collective is the submission guidelines. I kind of like the idea of patterns being sold through the magazine instead of getting a flat fee for them, but I’d like to know before I submit something what I’ll be getting. At least a ballpark idea. Twist Collective doesn’t advertise that. You have to wait until your design is accepted before you get a publication contract, which outlines the compensation structure. I don’t like not knowing what I’m getting into. It feels vaguely shady to me. And before anyone gets their skein tangled in a knot up over this, I’m not saying Twist has abusive or exploitative practices. I’m saying I can’t tell what their practices are until after a design is submitted and accepted, at which point, sure, I can say no thanks, but how much time has passed since I finished work on it? Would it be a good time to submit it elsewhere? Or will I have to sit on it for most of a year, during which time fashions will change, possibly too much for my design to be marketable? If the guidelines said, “E-mail us for our current compensation structure,” that would be great.

And, of course, there’s Ravelry. With Ravelry, you don’t have to submit your patterns to anyone, you just put them up for sale (well, that’s oversimplified, but not by much). Of course, Ravelry doesn’t really advertise for you, either. It’s a marketplace, and you’re competing with every other designer to get people’s attention.

I haven’t looked much into print magazines, although I should. I like actual magazines. I like holding things that I read. The kick from having something published on paper would be great. (However, I’m not even going to think about Vogue Knitting. I’m not that fashionable, ever, and from what I’ve heard they expect you to give up your design’s first-born as far as copyright and reprint goes.)

I know there are other websites and internet magazines I can try, also, but for now, I’m limiting myself to these (plus looking into print magazines more).

Is it just me, or are the top cables with the lacy insides . . . unfortunately placed in Berroco’s free pattern, Tarte?

I should acheive digital camera ownership today. I’ll be busy taking pictures this weekend. w00t!

To be written: comparison of Summerlin and The Two Summer Sundress. I’m sure there’s more stuff I wanted to write about, but I can’t think of what.

I’ve picked up the Super Secret Project again. After the day where I played Baron Munchausen, I realized that the last piece of yarn I attached to finish off the last panel was not, in fact, wool. The room I was in when I was doing the hunt-and-splice bit doesn’t have the best light, and I pulled this fairly long bit of yarn out of my scraps bag, and it looked like the right color (natural), and I don’t have any other natural-colored scraps of the same weight, so I just figured it must be the right thing, right? And it seemed to felt together nicely, so it must have been wool!

The next time I took it out of the bag, it was pretty obvious I was wrong. The very last bit was actually white, not natural, and the last bit of the wool had kind of felted around the white (which must be the cheap acrylic stuff I used to make Thing One’s Hallowe’en costume a couple years ago). Ooops. So, I took that out and added on some of my WOTA. It’s a prototype. It doesn’t have to be pretty.

Now I’ve got my panels all put together, but I have some more work I need to do with something non-felting, and I’ve been agonizing over how to go about attaching it, and how to get it to work right, and I just couldn’t figure anything out. This morning, when I should have been getting ready to go to work, I pulled out the project, cut out a piece of scrap fabric and pinned it where the non-felted knitting is supposed to go, and just looked at it for a while. Then I did some measuring and hemming and hawing, until I finally just thought, “Short rows!” Seriously, with the exclamation point and everything.

I’m sure I’d considered short rows already, but discarded the idea as unworkable. Probably because however I was thinking of using them then would have been unworkable. But I think I’ve got it now. I’m doing a sample piece, not attached to the project, to make sure I’ve got the idea right, but once I have my numbers correct and it all looks good, it shouldn’t take long to do these last little bits and then throw it some hot water and see what happens.

I am an inveterate and veteran web-surfer. I’ve been spending far too much time following links for at least fifteen (hmm, maybe fourteen) years. Ravelry does not help this. It starts out innocently enough. I look at my friends’ activity. Of course, the only person who has any activity on there is the lovely Triskellian, so that doesn’t take me long, even on days when she has a lot of activity. So then I look at her friends’ activity. And that’s when it all starts to get out of control. I start looking at patterns people I’ve never heard of have put on their queues, and finding new yarns that I just really want to get my hands on, and new on-line magazines and . . . two hours later, my queue and favorites pages well filled (in fact, I have completely emptied my queue in a fit of pique recently and need to refill it), I’ll have gotten absolutely no paying work or knitting done.

Another thing I really like about Ravelry (and yes, as much as I might complain about wasted time, I do like surfing the ’site), that I’ve had a chance to witness a lot with all this surfing, is the comments people leave about patterns. My absolute favorites are where someone will say, “Oh, I <3 this pattern! It’s faboo! Absolutely perfect! I’m going to make it in a different color, with a different yarn, and I’m going to make the ribbing an inch longer and turn it into a cardigan and I think I’ll add a cable detail to the neckline! It’s perfect!” Okay, so I exaggerate. But not by much. And you know it’s true.

Now, let me tell you about my new favorite pattern and how I’m going to do it differently . . .