Well, the promise to post more about Alexandria went from “later today” to “later two weeks from now”…one of the hazards of a full time job I guess (especially one that requires travel to Virginia 4 days out of the week for the foreseeable future).

1. Alexandria, photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta, 2. Alexandria, shoulder detail, photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta 3. Alexandria, front neck detail; photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta, 4. Alexandria, sleeve detail; photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta,

I’m super excited about this pattern. After stubbornly resisting for years, I decided to try my hand at making a nearly seamless sweater. Knit from the bottom up in one piece, then separated at the armholes for the fronts and back, the only seam this sweater has is the 3-needle BO at the shoulders. The sleeves are picked up directly from the armhole and short rows are worked to shape the set in sleeve cap before the remainder of the sleeve is worked down to the cuff in the round. Like several other designs of mine, Alexandria was done in conjunction with the wonderful folks at One Planet Yarn and Fiber, who donated the lustrous Woolie Silk 3 ply the sweater requires and on whose website you can find the kit.

The path to the cardigan started out a little rocky. Originally, I was going to work this in the DK/Sport weight Sheep Shop 3. But after working up a swatch and knitting halfway up to the armholes, the company abruptly closed up shop, and we were forced to find an alternative. The Woolie Silk is a little heavier gauged than the Sheep Shop 3, but some quick swatching confirmed it would still be possible to work the rather large texture and eyelet motif and not have it swallow up the entire sweater. I had used the Woolie Silk in my Varese Hoodie and loved it. It’s a subtly dyed yarn, available in nearly solids (for those who like their yarn color conservative like me) and in more variegated palettes. But best of all, I love how the Woolie Silk, with its 30% silk content, really glows while at the same time retaining all the wonderful properties of wool.

I started working on the Woolie Silk version of this cardigan while visiting Gudrun in October. The fabulous Ysolda also happened to be visiting and both she and Gudrun were absolute lifesavers when it came to figuring out the collar.

In my head, I wanted a cardigan with wide bands that flowed into a generous scoop neck. The focus of the sweater would be on that dramatic band and collar (and cuffs); with the rest of the body in plain Stockinette. But I hadn’t thought through exactly how I would ensure the collar wouldn’t be too floppy. Obviously, I couldn’t just pick up sts for the collar and knit straight to the width desired and then bind off. Since the lower edge of the collar would have a much greater circumference than the topmost edge, decreases had to be worked somehow. Ysolda and Gudrun suggested mimicking the decreases you’d make for a yoked sweater (a garment I’ve never attempted before and therefore was a little leery of). But they were so clear with their description of how yoked sweaters generally worked as well as some specific suggestions pertaining to the stitch pattern I was using; that when I got home, it just took a little bit of geometry before a plan was hatched.

The other little wrinkle that happened around this time was that my model, the lovely Jess, became pregnant and I wasn’t sure when she’d be up for modeling for me again. I had grown so reliant on her and her husband’s unfailingly excellent photography and modeling (at one point, I was even thinking of roping Vitaly into modeling a men’s design for me); that her sudden unavailability left me in a slight panic.

Several emails later, Parikha was kind enough to agree to model and photograph my knits for me; and from the results, I think it’s quite evident that I really lucked out big time. I’ve long been an admirer of Parikha’s photos on her blog and her flickr stream. She has a keen eye, a talent for composition, and as a knitter, she really knows how to photograph knits to show them off to their best advantage. Plus, she’s a rocking stylist. Just look at the gorgeous photos of her completed Demi or Central Park Hoodie, the latter piece inspiring Eunny Jang to tap her for a modeling gig in the Summer 2008 issue of Interweave Knits.

I’ll leave you with a few more of Parikha’s wonderful photos. Used here with her permission.

1. Alexandria; photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta, 2. photo copyright Parikha and Hemal Mehta

Because not everyone likes both hats and mittens, I’ve decided to release them separately. If you’d like to purchase both patterns, I’m also offering a set option, where you can purchase the set for a 25% discount off the price of the individual patterns.

The Cayuga Set:

Photos by Jessica and Vitaly Fomin

Yarn: Classic Elite Kumara, 85% extra fine merino/15% baby camel, 50 grams, 128 yards.
Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette
Yardage: 384 yards or 3 skeins to 512 yards or 4 skeins.
Sizes: Hat circumference 16.5 (18, 20, 22)”; Mittens circumference 6.75 (7.5, 8.5)”

Purchase through Ravelry ($7.00):

Or purchase through e-junkie ($7.00):

The Cayuga Hat

Photos by Jessica and Vitaly Fomin

Yarn: Classic Elite Kumara, 85% extra fine merino/15% baby camel, 50 grams, 128 yards.
Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette
Yardage: 256 yards or 2 skeins.
Sizes: Hat circumference 16.5 (18, 20, 22)” for head circumference of 18 (20, 22, 24)”.

Purchase through Ravelry ($4.00):

Or purchase through e-junkie ($4.00):

The Cayuga Mittens:

Photos by Jessica and Vitaly Fomin

Yarn: Classic Elite Kumara, 85% extra fine merino/15% baby camel, 50 grams, 128 yards.
Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette
Yardage: 256 yards or 2 skeins.
Sizes: Mittens circumference 6.75 (7.5, 8.5)”

Purchase through Ravelry ($5.50):

Or purchase through e-junkie ($5.50):

For more photos of the hat and mittens, visit my independent design set on Flickr.

Ten years ago, Maurizio and I started dating while we were first years in grad school at Cornell. Although I was instantly interested in him when I met him in September, it took a few more weeks before he could convince me that he was interested in me.

To celebrate the occasion, Maurizio took Monday off and we spent an extended weekend in Ithaca.

Visits to Ithaca always include a visit to my favorite yarn shop, Knitting Etc. And although I’m no longer local, it will always be my LYS. While I was there, I got some yummy (and new to me) Prism Merino Mia yarn for a baby sweater for a friend that’s due in a few months and a gorgeous card made by Hickory’s sister (they’re an artistic family!):

Hickory and I talked about knitting, designing, and life. I got a kick out of seeing a sample of my Varese Hoodie (made by Suzeann). This photo of Hickory and my sweater was taken a few visits ago:

I met up with Laura and we chatted about the state of the knit design industry, our current projects, and dreams of future projects while chowing down on her delicious pumpkin and ginger bread and coffee. She showed me her studio space which occupies an entire room; and yet somehow manages to stay neat.

Maurizio and I even snuck in a mini-photo shoot of my newest indie design – the Cayuga hat and mittens – with Cayuga Lake at Stewart Park in the background. I hope to have the patterns out in the next couple of weeks.

My favorite part of designing is thinking up a design; then challenging myself to work out the kinks to realize it in knitted form; then actually knitting up the sample. The pattern writing, while fun, can sometimes be a frustrating experience – especially if I foolishly let too much time elapse between the knitting and the writing…which is the case here.