Go Ahead; You Know You Want To...
It's finally almost here, Gentle Readers: The beginning of our first-ever and long-awaited Mystery Knitalong! Starting on Monday at 12:00 Noon PST, Everyone who has purchased the pattern for "Flight Path" on Ravelry will receive a pattern update which will allow you to download the first Clue.
Devoted and loyal readers that you are, I know most of you have already bought your pattern. But in case any of you were on the fence, or putting it off until a little closer to the KAL, the time has come! And if you've already joined, why not ask a friend to come along with you? Is there someone you know who would like to try out stranded colorwork for the first time, perhaps with your help? How about a knitting friend far away who'd like to do this project together "with" you? Do you belong to any groups on Ravelry that you think would like knowing about our little party? Help me get the word out! If you get friend to join between now and the beginning of the KAL, send me a message on Ravelry and I'll send you a surprise...And remember, I have friends at certain *cough-Abstract-cough* yarn companies, so when I say "surprise", I mean a really GOOD surprise...
It might be the only time I've ever said this: I can't wait for Monday!
Queen Sleeves, Part Deux
When last we visited our Queen Bee's previously-conjoined sleeves, they were knitted, steeked, washed and blocked. Which really makes them just pieces. Today, I'm going to show you how I make them into finished sleeves. By the way, all of this information is also contained in my book, The New Stranded Colorwork, which I hope you will consider adding to your collection, if you haven't already.
I start by working from the wrong side. Beginning with the hem facing at the cuff, I butt the edges together, and sew them with matching yarn.
Then I turn the sleeve to the right side, and sew the outside of the cuff hem the same way; butting the edges together.
Next I change yarn colors (OCD much?). I decided to use a double strand here, because this yarn is very softly spun. A more firmly-twisted yarn would only require one strand. This is just a regular old mattress stitch. I work maybe six or eight stitches at a time, loosely, like the laces on a corset. Then I pull them up snugly. You can see that I'm matching the rows of knitting, one by one.
Here's the finished seam, from the outside. Notice how the pattern doesn't "match", because of the increases which shape the sleeve. This is the case to some degree with every handmade stranded colorwork sleeve, but it can't be seen when the garment is being worn. Observe, also, that the stitches at the top of the sleeve (brown) are all still live; held by a strand of cotton waste yarn. This will be important later.
And here's what happens on the wrong side. The edges of the steek lie down flat, nicely away from each other. This hasn't been pressed or anything; it just happens all by itself when you sew the seam. I think it's so sexy when knitting behaves like that. I could leave the seam just like this, because the yarn I'm using here would full at the cut edges with washing and wearing. But in the case of yarn that won't do that (superwash, silk, etc.) or a knitter who doesn't think it's pretty enough (*cough-musthaveperfection-cough*), the next step is to cover the seam allowance.
Which I do, using a super-cute piece of bias tape (yes, the bias tape must be "super-cute", or the whole projet is ruined) that I found in the quilting department at my fabric store.
I sew it by hand, invisibly, from the wrong side, using a fine, sharp sewing needle and matching thread. The sewing needle never goes all the way through to the front side of the knitting in this step, like working a fine hem. I always use beeswax or thread conditioner when I do this, to keep the thread from knotting.
Remember all those live stitches still at the top of the sleeve? Now I finally deal with them. I put them onto a 16" circular needle, and pull out the waste yarn holder. Then I knit a facing. The facing is going to cover up the cut steek edges from the armhole slot, after the sleeve is sewn into the body. To give the sleeve enough ease for the wearer to raise her arms, the facing is worked with increases at the beginning and end of every round. See the little miter? I work six or seven rounds of facing, then bind off with a needle two sizes larger, to keep the edge stretchier. The facing is worked in reverse stockinette so that its knit side is showing once the sleeves are set. I don't like purling, so I turn the sleeve inside-out and knit the facing, rather than purling these rounds. And in case you are wondering, you can knit facings in any color you want, because it will never be seen from the right side. It would be a great place to hide a secret message, or your name and the date, if you wanted to knit (or embroider) them in. I told my children when they were small that if they saw contrasting colors on the insides of their sweaters, it was my secret code for telling them "I Love You".
And that's all there is to it. See the little gusset in the facing at the underarm? Now you can tell how that keeps the armpit seam from pulling out of the sweater.
Is this a lot of finishing? Some people think so. I really enjoy doing it, so I'm not bothered. But even if I were, I think I would still choose to do it this way. The knitting is SO much faster than with one-at-a-time sleeves that I still save time.
Tune in for the next phase, time when I relate how I fell prey to the Goddess of Gauge (who is totally a Mean Bitch), and what I did to save myself.
Intrigue! Espionage! Drama!
Last fall, I was blessed and lucky enough to be invited to design an exclusive pattern and class for the Madrona Winter Retreat. It was one of those hurry-up-in-time-for-registration projects, so I had to bang out a representative sample for the design in time to post in the Madrona Catalog. You might remember seeing it:
It's a sweet little mitten, with the promise of a matching beret (which I made later, when the time presented itself). The mitten photo was posted on my blog, and in the Madrona catalog, with the hopes that potential students would say to themselves "Yes! I would like to make that little mitten, and the beret (which I cannot yet see!) to match!"
And all was well throughout the land. I made the matching beret (twice, actually, if you want to know, because the first one just wasn't good enough). Then last week, on the very day that I was going to photograph it for the Madrona catalog, guess what happened?
Sorting through the mail, I absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of a national yarn and knitting catalog I receive, and there it was: A pattern for entrelac gauntlet mittens, with a matching beret! Right there, in that catalog, whose circulation is about a billion knitters. Would you believe it? That Major Yarn Company and I had the exact same idea for a matching set of entrelac accessories! Apparently on the exact same day! That has to be the explanation, because I know that company well, and they have been very supportive of me and my work. They are good people, some of whom even read my blog. They would never, even by accident, filch a design from me, because that would be despicable. Nope. Coincidence, it is.
Well, what could I do? It was obvious that I should go ahead and post my beret photos. The Madrona catalog promised a beret. I had created a beret. And that had been my plan all along.
But I didn't. I did something else instead. Because I am an agile, creative, one-woman show, the Mary Scott Huff Hand Knitter machine kicked into overdrive and outsmarted the Big Fat Yarn Company. I turned on a dime, and then changed gears, from Beret to Cloche: 
This looks great on everyone who tried it on at Knit Nite. Four people asked me about it while I was out shopping. You're gonna love it - I know, because I do. The flower is actually a pin that you can wear on the hat, move to your coat lapel, or give to a friend. Big Fun, Gentle Readers.
You can buy the kit for this (hat, mittens and pin set) two ways:
1. Sign up for my class HERE and learn to make it (still some seats left)!
2. Pick one up at the Abstract Fiber booth at the Madrona Retreat
Remember, it's an exclusive, so those are the only ways to get it for now.
I'm really happy I shifted gears. I bet you will be, too.
I Made the English Teacher Choose
Okay, I'll admit it: I'm totally overwhelmed. Your contest entries were touching, profound, hilarious and heartbreaking. They knocked my (handknit) socks off. I laughed, I cried, I marveled at your genius. I am totally unqualified to pick a winner from the 85 perfect slices of knitting pie that you posted.
And thank goodness, I don't have to.
See, at my house, when there is a job that I just CAN'T do (pickle jar opening, toxic chemical management, disposal of anything the cat has dismembered) I call in the benchwarmer: Rough, Tough, Mr. Huff. And this time, he's actually more qualified for the job than I, having been licensed by the state we live in to teach writing to people. Well, to teenagers, who I'm told are similar to people. So without further ado, I'm handing the mike over to Phillip, the blog's reluctant hero:
"Hello...is this thing on? Testing one, two, three."
Let me first thank you all for your submissions. They truly are a joy to read, and provide a welcome respite from 180 "The Lottery" essays I've been reading (If I cause any Middle/High School flashbacks by mentioning Shirley Jackson's creepy "The Lottery", well, it's just one more service this English teacher provides).
My main criteria for determining the winner was a vivid story. As you all now know, compressing the beginning, middle and end into six words is no mean feat, and everybody did a fantastic job. I worked my way down to ten, and then re-read. Drank whiskey. Re-read some more. Then I made my choice.
If it were up to me, I'd give all of you prizes, but The Mrs. says there is only one prize to award, no matter how many times I ask her (See how I put it all back on her? It's a skill).
This memoir tells the most vivid story: "Pattern chewed to poop. Dog lived." By Chris.
The image of that bad dog and his plight really resonated with me, which may or may not have been influenced by a certain husband who accidentally threw out some wool fleece a little while back.
I really enjoyed this opportunity to share all of your knitting memoirs. And in the spirit of the contest, here's mine:
Six words speak volumes. Thank you.
From Mary: Congratulations to Chris, and to all of you who took the time to distill and share your pivotal experiences. Gentle Readers, as ever, I am humble in your company.
6 Words, 1 Prize (With Yarn!)
Gentle Readers, A Benevolent Blog Angel, who prefers to remain anonymous, has gifted us with a prize!
This generous soul has donated a Flight Path Mystery KAL pattern and Kit (in the recipient's choice of colorway) to the winner of today's contest!
Here's what we'll do: To enter the contest, post a comment to this post before 4PM PST tomorrow. The comment should be exactly 6 words long, and should be a memoir of your best/worst/most memorable knitting experience/pattern/person. Check out this link for inspiration on writing a 6-word memoir: CLICK HERE!
Tomorrow I'll choose the winner, and in the meantime, I can't wait to read your memoirs!
Proof, at Last
I've long felt that I could hear the yarn speaking to me:
Freshly-dyed skeins for your Flight Path Mystery KAL
And now I can prove it.
Queen Sleeves
Warning: This post contains graphic images of Sweater Cutting. Steek-Squeamish Knitters are advised to proceed with caution.
My "Swatch" for the Queen Bee cardigan is done. It grew up into two super-cute sleeves, just as I hoped it would:
Conjoined Sleeves, with steeks between
Separating the Twins
Independent Entities
Dead. Sexy. Sleeve.
That's all there is to it. I'll sew the underarm seams from the right side, with matching yarn and mattress stitch. This will allow me to match the pattern perfectly at the seam {insert OCD remark here}. Then I'll cover the "seam allowance" on the inside with bias tape or ribbon. And the best part of all? Not weaving in A SINGLE YARN TAIL. That's right. They'll all be secured by the steek, neatly trimmed, and hidden on the WS by the seam binding. Which means that I could have changed colors in this sleeve on every single row, and never had to weave any ends in. Sassy Much?
Say it with me now: Stranded Colorwork Is Not Hard!
Mystery KAL Kits, and a Not Very Helpful Hint
In case you didn't get around to checking Ravelry this weekend, I'm delighted to tell you that the Mystery Knitalong kits are ready for order!
If you click the obnoxiously-glowing button on the sidebar here, you'll be taken to the Abstract Fiber website where you can buy them for - are you ready?- $15.00 each! I don't know about you cats, but in my world, when I can't decide between two colorways, and then it turns out that they are SO fairly priced, why, the solution to Get Both is totally obvious.
And while I'm on about our mystery knitalong (when am I not?), I think it's time I offered you a sneak peek:
This is an extreme closeup of the sample made from Colorway 2. Notice anything unusual about this colorwork? Take your time. I'll wait.
Post your guesses, and I'll tell you when somebody figures it out. Bwaaaa Haaa Haaaa! I love this KAL game a little too much.
I think I may have a future as a benevolent knitting overlord.
Congratulations, Emily! With a close second to Audrey, whose guess was almost correct. Yes, the stitches are upside-down. But I photographed the sample right-side up. So how can that be???
Love,
Mysterious Mary
Congratulations, Susan and Ginny! You cleverly surmised that (at least the part in the photo) is worked from the top down. My Gentle Readers are all such clever Beasties. I'm gonna have to make the next one way harder...
MM
The Making of a Queen
It's no longer an empty threat, my friends: I have yarn, and I'm not afraid to use it.
What you see here is two sleeves (being worked together), which are the beginning of your long-awaited Queen Bee cardigan. 
Here's a profile shot, in which you can see one of the steeks, with a sleeve growing on either side of it. Those who have made this sweater in the baby version (The Bees Knees) will notice that I have added a skep motif to the border. That's because I decided that the original proportions of the sweater were perfect for a Smally to wear, which means they are not right for an adult. I needed to make the scale more, well, Queenly. Which feels right to me so far.
And why, you might ask, would I start with the sleeves? Because I've knit this motif before, and I've used this yarn before, but this is the first time the two have really met. It's actually my gauge swatch, in addition to being my first pass at the newly-enhanced Bee border. I wanted to make a swatch which stood some chance of becoming part of the sweater, and my steeked cardigans only contain 2 knitted pieces (that's right: a cardigan sweater made from 2 tubes: how sexy is that?). So it was either the conjoined sleeve unit, which starts out with 132 sts, or the main body tube, which begins with 336. Even I can figure out that kind of math. Sleeves it is!
And of course you will want to know what yarn this is: Blue Moon FIber Arts BFL Sport
After a whole year of working on Top Secret book projects, I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to openly tell you all about what I'm working on! I also thought it might be fun for those of you who go on to make this design, to see what I was thinking as I worked on the original. I don't know about you, but I always wonder "What were they thinking?" when I knit another designer's pattern. At least in this one case, you'll know!
And speaking of what I'm thinking, here's a word on the sizing of this piece: The nature of the big (30 sts!) motif repeat presents certain sizing constraints, but so far it looks like the sizes in the pattern will be something like (finished measurements) 40", 43", 47", and 50". If the size you've been hoping to make falls outside that range (smaller or larger), drop me a line or post a comment, won't you? This is your chance to help me get the size range right (if possible).
Can you believe it? I've been promising knitters that I would tackle this project for over two years, and it's finally happening! Bust out the honey, my Queens. It's gonna be SWEET.