Sock Summit - Day Four and Departure

The last day of Sock Summit was a whirlwind. Packing up and trying to find all sorts of nooks and crannies in my luggage to put the goodies I purchased at the Sock Summit Market. I started two socks on one circular and got about two inches into each before realizing I had made a mistake and had to unknit a row on one of them. Hmm. Not sure how to do that on one circular without confusing myself so I put each sock on its own long circular and am Magic Looping it after all. The process seems much easier than when I was trying it on my gansey several weeks ago. Candace took a picture of me and my starter socks at the Oregon Convention Center. I am making them as a gift and plan to take them along on an upcoming European trip. Wouldn't it be fun to have photographs of their progress taken at picturesque locations? Makes me smile to think of it. We checked out of the hotel and took one last trot around the market before heading to the Luminary Panel session. It was entertaining, enlightening, humorous and sometimes revealing. I especially loved comments from Meg Swanson and Barbara Walker. Two extremely talented, accomplished women who just don't take themselves too seriously even though they have every right to be full of themselves... I am so attracted to their style! We had to dash out before cake was served for the celebration of the 99th birthday of Elizabeth Zimmerman to catch the train back to Seattle. All in all, a wonderful event and memorable 4 days!

Sock Summit - Day Three and the Market!

Day 3 of Sock Summit seemed to be the day for sensory overload. I took a beaded baby booties class in the morning which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. I really like the beaded booties pattern and look forward to working on them in the future when I have time to concentrate on the casting on at the toe technique. Thankfully some friends provided some helpful pointers and web links to learn more which should set me on track to be able to complete the project. Beads combined with fiber - it can't get much better than that! Naomi and Arlene filled me on the Barbara Walker lecture which sounded absolutely fascinating. After lunch, we browsed the market and then headed back to the hotel for an evening of relaxing and knitting on socks and some Nihon Vogue projects. We had a long discussion about teaching and learning and what makes a good teacher versus someone who may not be clued in to a student's needs or how to change their teaching style to better reach their students. It made us appreciate Jean Wong and her patient, thorough style even more. Her experience as well as that of someone like Lucy Neatby who are able to connect with their students and know how to respond to questions for a variety of situations makes their classes so worthwhile. I realize that experience and deep knowledge of the subject as well as time in the classroom with students, entails them to troubleshoot and handle questions in a way that less experienced teachers are not. That can make a world of difference for the students. I have especially enjoyed spending time with my friends as well as getting to know other knitters who have come from near and far to attend the Sock Summit.
The market has been quite remarkable as well as a chance to knit on the world's largest sock, peruse the sock museum and look at the the winners of the Dye for Glory contest.
Some of my favorite vendors and products have been:

Good to Be Girl - Darling knitting project bags and stitch markers
Signature Arts Needle Arts - Customizable needles to die for... and save for!
Paradise Fibers - Friendly, service oriented store based in Spokane, WA who carries a large variety of goods
Della Q - Organization pouches for needles and projects
Jennie the Potter - Sheep and knitting motifs on pottery
Acorn Street Shop - Long established yarn store based in Seattle
Kitchen Sink Dyeworks - Hand Painted Yarn
Jenkins Woodworking - Amazing Turkish spindles
Webs - Bagged yarn at great prices
Skacel - Extremely popular circular needles
Miss Babs Hand-Dyed Yarns and Fiber - Hand Dyed Yarn from Tennessee
Fiber Optic - Hand Painted Yarn
Itty Bitty Witty Knitties - Whimsical Cards and paper goods
Liberty's Yarn - Hand Dyed
Close Knit Friends - Unique scissors and stitch markers

Sock Summit - Day Two: Busy Busy Busy

My schedule for Day Two at Sock Summit included a Spindle Spinning Basics class and I was anxious to turn my little bag of roving into twisted yarn...I enjoyed the experience but recognize that I will have to spend some time practicing the techniques in order to produce anything other than lumpy string! The day at Sock Summit began at 7 am to get tickets to participate in an attempt to break the previous world record for the most knitters in one location, knitting f0r 15 minutes with 2 needles. Two needles. Not circulars and not 2 DPN's of a 4 DPN project! The previous record was most recently set in Australia by 256 knitters. After the record was handily set, Naomi, Candace, Ellen and I had lunch and then met up with some students from the Year One Nihon Vogue class - Jan, Leslie and Donna. It is always a special time when we get together and I enjoy each of them so much. I look forward to more instances of getting together with them in the coming months. It is always interesting to hear about the projects they are working on and what their inspirations for design are. They are all so talented! Naomi got a set of Signature needles as a present for her upcoming birthday. Arlene had purchased a set earlier this week. I am deliriously happy with the set I purchased in March and although more expensive than not, I consider it an investment into tools of extraordinary quality and workmanship. We have had fun shopping at the Sock Summit market and our many bags of roving, yarn, books, spinning tools and knitting accessories proves it! We went out to dinner at a restaurant that served spicy Cajun food and a variety of Mac and Cheese entries. More than the food, a highlight was the elaborate foil containers for "to-go" leftovers. We exited with silver lilies, a rose, tulips, a duck and a squirrel in hand. They made me smile.

Sock Summit - Day One, Let the fun begin!

Sock Summit Day One has already beat expectations. I was in an all day class taught by Melissa Morgan-Oakes on knitting two socks on one circular needle. We didn't quite get to finishing the socks with kitchener stitch but I hope to have learned enough to tackle a pair of socks on one long circular needle... on my own! Class attendees had the special privilege of going to the Marketplace early - there were over 150 vendors showcasing the most exquisite selection of hand painted yarns, spinning and fiber materials, knitting accessories, needles and more. The market is worthy of a entire blog entry so watch for it soon! The Opening Reception provided an introduction to the esteemed instructors and a humorous narrative of how Sock Summit came to be - from a wild concept to full blown, successful implementation. An especially memorable moment for me was soon after the event began. When we had arrived at the convention center, Candace noticed a sign on the door that Assistive Listening Devices were available. I have an unexplained, profound hearing loss that began a number of years ago (well into adulthood) that continues to worsen. I struggle with the impact of it each and every day. On a whim, I decided to ask the convention center staff if I could use such a device during the Opening Reception event... they brought over a small pocket size amplifier and headset that had been tuned into the microphone system that the presenters were using. OMG. OMG. OMG. I was astonished at how well I could hear the speakers! Every single word was crystal clear and understandable. I haven't experienced that in 8 years! I burst into tears as I was overtaken with sheer joy in terms of feeling that I was included and could be a full and engaged participant in what was going on around me. That feeling had been lost for so long and it was overwhelming to get it back, even if for a short duration. Oh my goodness... I looked back at my friends and they were wiping tears from their eyes and cheeks. They are all so very, very dear to me and I love them all.

Candace and I had the honor of meeting the very gracious Barbara Walker. She is the author of the widely regarded Treasury of Knitting Patterns (Blue, Red, Yellow and Green books) that are the indispensable cornerstone of any knitter's library. She is beyond amazing and has the utmost respect of knitters worldwide - not just for her accomplishments, but for the body of work in knitting and other pursuits that she has shared with all of us. We also had a fun conversation with the always kind, genuine, and colorful Lucy Neatby. Her DVD's on knitting techniques are superb and extremely well done. Meg Swanson and Lucy are the best of the best at using technology to teach and communicate.

Sock Summit - Arrival

Sock Summit 2009 is the first conference dedicated to handknit socks. Yes, socks. The historical, interesting, creative, practical object that I didn't think I could call myself a knitter until I knew how to knit a pair. Socks can be knit in many ways and using various types of needles and methods. The expression of creativity using the sock as a canvas is unlimited. A gift of hand knit socks is something to be treasured. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Tina Newton have put together an astounding venue of vendors, teachers and students and I am so grateful to be a part of it. People have traveled from distant parts of the globe to teach and to learn. Naomi and Ellen drove down on Wednesday morning because they were working as volunteers and had to be in Portland by noon. Candace, Arlene and I took the Amtrak Cascades train and had 3 lovely hours to knit, chat, and enjoy beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery before arriving in Portland. On the train, we met Hayden, a very sweet service dog trained by Summit Assistance Dogs. My dear friend Scottie does a lot of volunteer work with that group and trains service dogs for them.Upon our arrival in Portland, we walked to the convention center from our hotel, the Crowne Plaza to pick up our registration packets. The convention center is quite impressive: eco-friendly, convenient location and well organized. We are ready... Let the fun begin!

Contentment - Captivating Crochet Collar Completed

The crocheted collar was a delightful Nihon Vogue Year 2 project because it didn't take much time. The pattern was 16 rows of a collar shown in the Year 2 course book. Once Candace and Jean explained the difference to me of when you "go in the stitch" and when you "go in the loop" I was hooked. Get it? Crochet hook? Ok. I know. Pretty corny. It's late and I am tired.
Back to my collar story... I started the project with worsted weight wool and a size G hook. Big mistake. Because I was leaving for Anchorage the next day, Arlene was kind enough to give me some beautiful pale seafoam green silk yarn to crochet the collar with. I followed her lead with a size 2.0 mm hook. That made a huge difference in ease of getting into a rhythm with the pattern and easily looping through the yarn. We had crocheted a swatch in class to calculate gauge. Jean explained how we would adjust the number of repeats to fit whatever garment we would be crocheting a collar for. I needed a final pattern that was 4x the number of repeats in the swatch. A few of us from class are planning to wear black shirts and our collars for a photo op at our next Nihon Vogue class! That is probably the only real use it will get because I have no idea what I will ever do with an adult size, crocheted lace collar!


Naomi had been in lovely Copenhagen during class and she missed the lesson, so a few of us quickly reviewed the crochet project with her. In no time she was off and running. Her trepidation quickly evaporated when she realized that the crocheted collar would not get the best of her by any means.
I am happily content because the project was a fun learning experience and I am anticipating future possibilities of using the learnings from this project elsewhere. One recent Japanese crochet book purchase from Kinokuniya bookstore has me salivating over two of the many crochet designs in the book. Booties in a Mary Jane shoe style with embroidered flowers on the toe cap of each. I haven't embroidered since I was a child, however, I can remember my grandmother teaching me and I would like to make French knot flower centers once again in memory of her! The beautiful baby's dress in the book was the reason I purchased the book. It has multiple graceful, lacy stitches, beautiful scalloped edgings and pearl buttons. After studying the pattern repeatedly, I was too intimidated to think I would ever successfully understand how to do it much less complete it. With the learnings for crochet that I have gained in this last Nihon Vogue project, I may have mustered up enough confidence to give the baby dress a try after all... someday


Book ISBN978-4-02-190405-9

Saved by Micro Knitting!

Not sure if this is an example of what not to do, but at least it serves to demonstrate the golden rule of checking over one's knitting work not just frequently but thoroughly. I thought I was following this rule with the gansey but when I actually looked over my work for errors, I was doing it too way quickly, convincing myself there weren't any errors, and not "seeing the trees for the forest" (*smile*). As I got closer to the neck shaping and shoulders, I realized with absolute horror that I had an unforgivable error. Many, many, many rows previously. 48 to be exact. 24 knitting hours ago. When had that happened? Was it when the dog was wanting to be let out? When I ran downstairs to get a Skinny Cow ice cream treat? Midway through an engrossing television program? It was an error I knew would drive me bonkers and deep down, I knew that if I left it as is, I would always notice ONLY those offending stitches every time I looked at the sweater. I debated ripping out entire rows, one by one, all the way down. Given the investment of amount of hours I would lose by doing just that, I mulled over trying to rip out the minimum number of stitches down in a segment to the offending mistake and then trying to knit back up within those 2 stitches, row by row. Fear told me I am "clumsy" at those sort of knitting manipulations. Optimism asked "what would I have to lose?" I figured if it didn't work out in the end, then last resort would be to rip out a good portion of the front of the sweater afterwards and reknit the entire top 1/3 of the sweater. I was willing to try any tactic to avoid having to do that. I am not familiar enough with lace type stitches to easily recognize what they should look like after each step. Because the error included some lace movements such as K2TOG, YO and the companion YO, S1, K1, PSSO, I knit a template of each pattern sequence and subsequent wrong side purl rows in light colored, bulky yarn. That way I was able to refer to this knitted "template" of what success would look like at each step in order to properly manipulate my crochet hook, size one-er's, and trusty-toothpick- turned-cable-needle. I attached orange markers on each row that was a K2TOG, YO and green markers on each row that warranted a YO, S1, K1, PSSO. Each wrong side row was absent a marker as things were getting quite crowded in such a confined space... onwards and upwards! I'm sure this type of recovery is easy for everyone else but I am rather tickled with myself as the end result is pretty darn good. After blocking it will be almost perfect. Time to put my needles down and do a happy dance!

Let's call it a Gansey summer!

As my friend Donna would say "A herd of turtles moves faster" than the progress on my gansey sweater (Project 5 of 9 for Year Two, Nihon Vogue). It is painfully slow, but tiny stitch by tiny stitch, the garment is turning into something I hope will be treasured for years to come. On size one needles (2.25 mm or 2.5mm - I have seen them sold by the same vendor in either measurement), it takes me nearly half an hour to essentially knit a single round or a row on each side for front and back. Even my smallest cable needle was too large to use so I raided the pantry and resorted to using toothpicks as "the just right circumference" cable needles. Can you believe it? 270 rows from the bottom edge to the top of the shoulder calculates to 135 hours of knitting from cast on to shoulders. That estimate assumes NO errors! Add in time for ripping out, fixing mistakes and figuring out pattern design, then you get an idea of what a significant investment of time and energy this project is turning out to be. I'm fretting about it as I imagine losing an entire summer due to this sweater. Right now I estimate at least 28 hours left until I am able to 3 needle bind off the shoulders together. I've spent my fair share of time fixing mis-crossed cables, adding a forgotten yarn over and re-aligning seed stitches. With each row taking so long to complete, I have become adept at what I call "micro-knitting". Rather than ripping out row after row to get to the source of the problem, I'll go the section where the mistake is and rip back down just that section width of stitches until I get to the row where the mistake originated. Then, using extra needles (and sometimes toothpicks in this case!), stitch markers, and a crochet hook, I'll knit whatever pattern I need within that segment all the way back up to the last row completed. So far so good, but definitely not advised to be done late at night when one is already tired of knitting and just plain tired. Our next Nihon Vogue class is July 18 and 19th so there is an optimistic 50/50 chance the gansey will be ready. Inspiration for the gansey sweater came from Design 3 in the Japanese Guernsey and Aran sweater book. I am using the same center cable but substituted lace bordered rope and claw cables rather than using the existing wave cables. Since I needed 7 rather than 5 motifs to provide the length of sweater required, I designed an anchor, a lace pattern and a tree of life to augment the existing assortment of Design 3 motifs such as sailboat, lace diamond and starfish. The single size sweaters in the Japanese books are made for very petite models and I, ummm, certainly don't fit within their sizing parameters! In order to get the marriage band to fit the width of the sweater for me, I redesigned the arrow length and width to get the number of stitches I needed. For the main body, I adjusted the width of the side pattern between the last cable and the side seams. I did a channel island cast on and garter welt. The garter welt keeps flipping up just as Karen Campbell warned me about, so I will have to block the heck out of it to get it to eventually lay flat. I added my "JMB" initials from an alphabet template in Beth Brown-Reinsel's book. Too late for me, but I also found impressive lettering patterns (Gothic, Codex, Germanic, Danish, Irish Half-uncial) in a book by Nancy Spies called "Here Be Wyverns". After the cast on, the sweater was knit in the round to the underarm gussets. The gussets were created by adding stitches adjacent to a center purl stitch on each side seam. That gusset section is then held on a stitch holder or waste yarn for a later time. The front and back of the sweater is then worked flat separately. This is the stage I am at now. I still have to finish the front and back up to the shoulder seams, incorporating the neck shaping. Once the shoulders are joined, the sleeves will be picked up and worked down from the shoulder. The other half of the gusset will be added while working the sleeve. For the neckline ribbing, I plan to do a mock turtleneck with a button placket but don't have that process clear in my mind yet. I also have to figure out how to reverse the cables and patterns I am using on the sweater body for the sleeves since they are worked from the bottom up on the sweater body but will be worked from the top down on the sleeves. Lastly, I need to determine what cuff ribbing and cast off I want to do that will complement the channel island cast and whatever neck treatment I decide on. Lots of thinking to do. Lots more knitting to do!

Alice Starmore Book Shark

Those of us who knit have long been aware of a truly exceptional knitwear designer, Alice Starmore from Scotland. Her exquisite books offer breathtaking color combinations and illuminating insight into the inspiration behind her designs - whether it be nature, history or a geographic journey. Being in the midst of Nihon Vogue, Year Two - her design process from inspiration to finished product is what I find most fascinating and can't seem to get enough of. For reasons that are complex and somewhat of a mystery to me, almost all of her books are out of print. Many of her books were out of print before I began knitting 6 years ago. Prior to the resurgence in knitting the last 5-10 years, I suspect there may not have been as much of a market for traditional knitting books in contrast to books or patterns which focused on fast, glitzy, bulky yarn projects such as scarves. As such, Alice Starmore books are exceedingly difficult to come by for less than a king's ransom at an online auction site. A few years ago, I purchased two copies of "Tudor Roses" and "The Celtic Collection" at publishers prices at my local yarn store - I gave an extra copy of each to Scottie because I was so enamored with the books. Scottie, (who has been knitting for over 30 years) had never heard of Alice Starmore - can you imagine?). I hope Scottie is as fond of the books as I am, because I try not to think of how much yarn I could now buy with the price those books are currently selling for! I also purchased "Fishermen's Sweaters". Surprisingly, all those books are now out of print too. I paid a chunk of change for a used copy of "Stillwater" online but that is the the only time I have given into the temptation of online resellers. I did order a delicious book by Alice's daughter, Jade from their Virtual Yarns website in the UK which sells books, yarns and gorgeous kits. Many of the kits use patterns from the original books and I see myself treating myself with a kit once Nihon Vogue is over. My local library used to have a few copies of Alice Starmore books but as the demand for them went up, so did the offering price. Then the books started disappearing from library shelves because an unscrupulous person would steal the book for themselves or to sell online at a significant profit. That is why I am less than amused when I see online listings for these treasured books that mention library stamp or markings on them. Unfortunately, the books I really covet:

• Aran Knitting" $294 and up
• Pacific Coast Highway $142 and up
• In The Hebridges $221 and up
• The Fair Isle Knitting Handbook- Encore coming soon!
  

are too pricey for even my *sometimes* spendthrift ways. That is why I was so delighted when searching Amazon.com recently and discovered that one of Alice's books is going to be reprinted in August. Meaning, it will be available to many and sold at a reasonable price! Certainly far less than the $999.99 some book shark was asking for the original version in the Amazon.com screen shot below! There is a Ravelry group who implores the reprinting of these books and while I would be over the moon for that to happen, I also respect the decisions Alice Starmore must make in order to run her business the way she wants to. For whatever reason the Fair Isle Knitting book or some form of it came to be offered again, I am grateful.

Quitting Knitting

I really did think about quitting knitting. Each time was brief, but it did cross my mind. Multiple times. Day and night. I asked myself "Perhaps a hobby like underwater welding would be less frustrating?" All because of the Guernsey AKA Gansey. I had started the Guernsey no less than ten times and I was frustrated beyond belief that a highly anticipated project was going absolutely NO WHERE fast. Especially with the rapidly arriving deadline to have the sweater knit to the underarm gussets by the next Nihon Vogue Year 2 class which was scheduled the end of May. I was committed to knit the entire sweater by Continental style (new learnings for me since I don't usually knit that way) as most of the sweater (to the gussets) is knit in the round. I also wanted to try the very traditional Channel Island cast on which provides a durable, double stranded picot like edge. The actual cast on isn't all that complicated although one has to pay attention to the tension and keep 3 strands of yarn from tangling together. Read about it in a book and practiced it Continental method from a video on YouTube. All set. Or so I thought. Transferring the cast on stitches from one size needle to a smaller needle to knit the garter welt was my downfall. Every now and then, one of the nearly 300 stitches would drop off and unravel itself. Yikes. I'm sure someone, somewhere, knows how to recover by using a crochet hook to replicate a cast on stitch in the middle of a Channel Island sequence but self rescue was way beyond my capabilities. I had to start all over again from the very beginning. Multiple times. Finally got past the cast on and knit a few centimeters on the welt as well as initials. Moving right along, yes, Guernsey life was good! Uh oh, my knitting fabric seemed less "dense" than what Arlene and Candace's sweaters were like. And my gauge contrasted sharply from the recommended yarn gauge and what the expert's books advised. I decided to start over as I wanted the sweater to be as much like a traditional Fisherman's sweater as possible. Went from a size 4 (3.5mm) to a size 1 (2.25 mm) needle in order to get a gauge of between 6 and 9 stitches per inch. The next two iterations towards making progress were completely wasted because my cast on was twisted once I joined the stitches in the round. Fatal knitting mistake in which there is no recovery after the initial rounds. Even though I checked and rechecked, I didn't recognize the knitting was twisting until it was too late to save it. It was bunched up on 24 inch long needles and I missed a single twist at the join. All this after investing many hours into going round and round and round on needles as narrow as toothpicks. I abandoned the 24 inch circulars, discarded the Magic Loop method (sincere apologies to fellow Nihon classmate Sarah!) and purchased a 32 inch size one lace needle. Began again. Spent a weekend with other knitters, including fellow Nihon Vogue'rs Naomi and Melinda and in disbelief realized that my sweater was noticeably wider than one that was being knit for a lucky husband. Oh geez - what now? I had erroneously taken the gauge from a swatch that had been done with a size zero needle thus the calculations were completely off. I had too many gauge swatches and had gotten them mixed up. My sweater was several inches wider than it was supposed to be. Hours and hours lost and gone for good. Discouraged but not totally defeated I started again. Careful cast on, right gauge, correct calculations, a single needle and no twists. On my way. Guernsey life is good again.

Memorial Day Honorance

I had been looking forward to a 3 day weekend so that I could attempt to catch up on Nihon Vogue homework (lost cause, more on that later), to move furniture back to their proper location after having our floors refinished, to purchase a new washer and dryer (long overdue) and to wash the crystals on two surprisingly dusty chandeliers. For Memorial Day, I felt it was our duty to pay tribute to those who have died in the name of freedom. Rob, Whimsy Dog and I went to Evergreen Washelli Cemetery north of Seattle to honor fallen hero's. Hundreds of brave souls who fought valiantly in World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and Gulf Wars have been laid to rest in a beautiful and serene location. Each name represents a loved one and a life story that I can only guess at, speculate or surmise. Several Medal of Honor recipients were profiled - it was so humbling to learn details of their brave acts which led to the ultimate personal sacrifice.
Spec 4 Richard Gene Bauer was from Anchorage, Alaska and perished during the Vietnam conflict. I received a MIA bracelet with his name when I was about 13 years old and I have kept it safe ever since. I didn't have the heart to destroy it after learning of his fate, despite instructions to the contrary. Richard was born June 19, 1950 and was only 19 years old when he died on November 4, 1969 in Khanh Hoa, South Vietnam. I have taken an etching of his name (16W, Row 26) on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC every time I have been to the nation's capital. I never knew him and know nothing about him other than the few details above. For decades, I have thought of him, wonder what his life would have been had he had more years to live it, and thank him, thank him, thank him for his service to the country.

When is a guernsey not a cow?

The 5th project for Nihon Vogue Year 2 is a sweater called a "Guernsey" (British) which is also known as a "Gansey" (Scottish). Having spent many of my childhood summers far from Alaska, in northern Wisconsin, the only guernsey I had ever heard of before is the kind that produces milk! These square shaped, hardy sweaters were developed centuries ago near the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. A guernsey can be a dense knit, and is designed for hard wearing by hard working fishermen. The bottom edge is cast on in double yarn to provide added strength. The garment is knit in the round up to the underarms and then worked flat. Because they are worked in the round, the side seams are eliminated. A mock seam is provided by a single purl stitch on opposite sides of the garment above the welt. The guernsey sweater is distinctive because of the diamond shaped gussets under each arm which lends freedom of movement to the wearer. Each sleeve is worked in the round from the shoulders to the cuff and then finished with a double yarn cast off. This makes it easy for future replacement of worn out sleeves because they can be unknit (rip rip, rip) from the cuff and then re-knit back down anywhere from the upper arm through elbow to the cuff. I don't expect to be fishing quite enough to wear out the sleeves in my sweater! The front and back of the sweater is the same and historically, this fisherman's sweater was knit in 5 ply navy blue wool. Sometimes the initials or the entire first name of the wearer are worked into the garment above the welt. These letters can be a purl or seed stitch combination. A variety of neckband styles for guernsey such as ribbed, rolled, buttoned and folded can be used. There are several traditional stitch patterns for texture such as hearts, zig zags, trees, cables, seed and moss stitch as well as patterns designed by families. Many of the patterns have elements related to the sea such as stars, anchors, starfish, and diamond shapes.
In the last Nihon Vogue class, Jean explained the construction of the guernsey. We first drafted our sweaters in our 1/4 scale design notebooks and then did the full size pattern on metric drafting paper. Determining shoulder slope of either 3 or 4 cm was similar to how we had drawn up the raglan sweater, an earlier project. The guernsey sleeve extends from the shoulder point with elbow and wrist measurements added. A generous amount of ease is added to the sleeves and to the body. Gussets are added next. One half of the gusset will be worked in the round with increases and the upper half will be worked flat with decreases. I am still working out the stitch pattern design that I will use for the upper half of the sweater. My design uses a stockinette stitch for the bottom half, along with a garter welt and a channel island cast on which forms a sturdy but decorative picot edge. Seed stitch initials over 10 rows and possibly a mock turtleneck with buttons and a placket in the ribbing.
There are some excellent resources on knitting these sweaters that have such a strong heritage and compelling history:
Knitting Gansey's by Beth Brown-Reinsel
Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone by Sabine Domnick
Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys and Arans by Gladys Thompson
Thus far, I am personally familiar with two sources for the 5 ply wool used for traditional guernsey's and highly recommend them both:
British Breeds 5 ply from Two Swans Yarns in Washington state
Yorkshire Mills 5 ply from Frangipani in UK