The Hoodie is Published

Thank goodness. I have never worked so hard on a pattern. But, I learned some valuable lessons in pattern writing. Sometimes it’s better to forfeit an drab of esthetics in return for ease of construction as long as the concept isn’t destroyed. By adding one inch to each size I would have saved hours of writing. It’s too complex to explain here….I doubt it would be of interest anyway. Suffice it to say that I am deliriously happy it is off my plate. I think I’ll have a cocktail.

BTW….the pattern is available at Hookerbear Creations. I thought you’d never ask!

A long, long time ago in a land far, far away…

 

 

 

I have no particular reason for including this photo other than it is of a place of great significance in my life and I have spent many blissful hours crocheting while soaking in that scenery. If any one of you recognizes that view, let me know. We need to talk.

 

I went for my SSI medical evaluation yesterday. How this doctor is able to come to any judgments or recommendations regarding my condition, given that he did practically NOTHING resembling an examination, is way beyond me. I’ll just have to place my faith in the system and move forward with the assumption that my claim will be denied and I will be forced to appeal. Sigh.

 

On a more hopeful note, all the sections of the hoodie have been proofed and the pattern should be available for purchase no later than Tuesday. Just in time. All my shoes have holes in them and it’s pouring rain out here and has been for a few days. Noah, built the ark, NOW!

 

I’ll be spending the rest of the day resizing the hoodie in women’s plus sizes. After that, next on the agenda is men’s sizes, if the demand is there. How about it, folks? Any interest in men’s sizes?

Who is that man?

I recently did a podcast interview for a fellow Ravelry person, Marly. The topic was men who crochet and designing crochet apparel for men. I won’t give away the details here; you’ll have to listen to it at knitthing.mypodcast.com

I have no idea how I cam to assume such a pronounced Eastern accent. One year in New York/New Jersey and 2 years in DC, over 30 years ago, throw in my early childhood in Louisiana and Texas, and now I talk funny? Who knew? No wonder folks are incredulous when I state that I’m a California native.

It just goes to show you: you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Why didn’t somebody tell me!!!!

We have a winner in the “Translate that Title” contest.  Thank you, Melissa. That title reads, in English, “The pattern for the sweater with a hood is complete’. Your prize, a copy of the pattern, will be sent as soon as it is finalized. Congrats and thanks. Don’t forget to send me your email address to peter@hooker-bear.com

I just wanted to have fun with the announcement. Yes, folks, after almost 6 months is the works, the hoodie pattern is complete and will be finalized in just a few days. I have never worked so hard on an single pattern. It was a whole lot easier stitching the little devil. I have to find a way to make this process easier on me.

Le Pattern pour le chandail avec une cagoule est complète!

Don’t you just love those online translators? First person to accurately translate the above title gets a little gift. This title is actually announcing major news from Hookerbear Creations. Any takers?

Winner, prize and translation of text in my next blog posting.

TB or not TB…That is Congestion!

I know, I know. Bad pun. Probably medically inaccurate, to boot. So sue me. I’m in one of those moods. One of those moods which overtake me when I’m thoroughly exhausted and trying to carry on long after my body has surrendered. I am spending so much time organizing and not enough time crocheting. I doubt the little crochet group I lead (with Cay) really understand how much time and energy is required to keep this enterprise afloat. Oh well. I complain too much.

I sent out the new cabled scarf for swatching to a couple folks. I know, and freely admit, that I am a tight crocheter (get your minds out of the gutter! :D) So, when writing a pattern, I always compensate by one hook size smaller as a suggestion to obtain gauge. Likewise, when working someone else’s pattern, I automatically increase the suggested hook size by one. 99% of the time, I am smack on gauge. But I am fascinated by the vast difference in hook size required by some folks to obtain gauge. As tight as I am, it seems others are even looser. Indeed, one of my testers needed a C hook for a pattern I wrote with an F hook suggestion. Wow! That’s loose. But, whatever floats your boat. I just felt sorry for her having to use a C hook on worsted weight. I can barely manage a G with that weight.

And that, folks, is what makes the world go around!

Chorus Last Stand

I’ve been wondering whether I made the right decision in returning to the chorus after the extended LOA. In my 25 years of association with the chorus, this is really the first time I have actually considered leaving. It’s not exciting for me anymore; it’s not as rewarding as it should be. I feel that I am on the periphery because of my financial limitations. Everthing costs a lot. I can’t go to the choral festival because I just don’t have the funds; even if scholarship covered plane and hotel, there is no way I can afford restaurant food for 10 days. It’s probably just as well. I doubt my asthma would behave in that gawdawful weather. Miami in July! Who was smoking what to come up with that idea?

Of course, there’s the CGOA conference at the end of July. Can’t do that either. To be honest, at this point in my life and in this budding career in design, crochet does take precedence in my life. Attending the New Hampshire conference would really do a lot for networking and simple name recognition. Maybe next year. Next year.

It seems everything I want to do is pushed to next year which never comes. I’m tired of pinching pennies.

Resistance is Futile!

It is becoming clearer and clearer that I soon no longer will be able to resist the pull of knitting. I suppose my greatest reluctance to learning knit is my fear that it will draw too much time from crochet which is, of course, my bread and butter these days. But I can see so much that can be done in combining the two arts in designing apparel. And, despite the best efforts of so many of us in the field, crochet remains the ugly step-child in the mind of publishers. Much of crochet’s unfortunate reputation lies at the foot of those hideous afghans of dubious color combinations and sweaters so hot and heavy they could double as bun warmers. I want to have both worlds. I just need to find the time.

The comment I have heard most in reaction to my Gatsby Sweater is, “Gee, that looks knitted. Are you sure it’s crochet?” or it’s cousin “That has to be knitted. You can’t crochet a sweater like that”. I’m not sure whether or not to be complimented. I didn’t set out to produce a sweater that looks knitted. My goal was to crochet a sweater. Am I to read in these reactions that somehow the sweater is “better’ because it looks knitted? Would it be inferior if it appeared to obviously be crocheted?

So I guess I get myself over to Article Pract to take Stefan’s knitting class. I thought about teaching myself, as I did crochet, but I don’t think I have the patience any more. Getting older is robbing me of time.

The Cable Caper Concludes

My search for a cable in odd-numbered stitches is over. It’s funny. I posted on a couple of the Yahoo groups asking for help in finding a 5 or 7 stitch cable. The scarf pattern I am writing must have an odd number of stitches because the partiular fringe I want to use only works with odd numbers and the rest of the pattern is in multiples of 2. Mind you, I stated specifically that I needed a 5 or 7 stitch cable. (There is a commonly used 3 stitch cable, but that is too small. The swatch I sent to the publisher, and was approved for publication, had a 6 stitch cable…3 just wouldn’t substitute well.) 95% of the responses I received insisted that there was no such animal as an odd-numbered stitch cable and that I should redesign to use a cable of even-numbered stitches. I don’t know why I bother to ask for help, sometimes. I should just take the time to plow ahead to solve my own problems satisfactorily.

Since the 6 stitch cable I had been using skipped 2,crossed over 2, and finished with 2,why couldn’t I design a cable that skipped 3 ,crossed over 3 and finshed with 3 stitches. I don’t need my calculator to tell me that such a cable is comprised of 9 stitches, an ODD number. A bit bigger than I want, but I can compensate elsewhere.

Well, easier said than done. I first experimented with dtr, but that put the remaining stitch pattern out of whack. I use an x-stitch sequence on either side of the cable and the row was just too uneven. Long story, short: EXTENDED STITCHES to the rescue. Problem solved. Stay tuned for further adventures of the LONE HOOKER! (Now, I can never find Tonto when I need him).

That @+*#)&%^*% Hoodie

I spent 5 hours today working on the hoodie pattern. This has been a nightmare. I finished the actual garment in October, if memory serves me right. Because of the intricacies of the neck and hood, the sizing is driving me crazy. Of course, it doesnt help that the hoodie I crocheted was for a man, and I decided to complete the women’s sizes first, therefore it was necessary to reverse button holes and over lap etc etc etc. I think my head is going to explode. The good news: the back is complete and proofed and ready to go. Once the front is done (tomorrow, I hope), I only have the sleeves to size and I don’t envision that being a great problem. I’m going to try to keep the hood size constant, though changing it shouldn’t be a problem since the vast majority of the hood is worked in simple double crochet. I need to close my eyes.

Fingering Ruana (gawd, that sounds dirty!)

I’ve decided to enter the design contest at CGOA. I’m going to redesign the ruana using fingering weight yarn. I got a great deal on 100% wool at KnitPicks.com The color is fog, a rather nice medium grey (thanks for the suggestion, Cay). The going is slow because 1) This is REALLY fine yarn and 2) I want it to be perfect. I was at first somewhat fearful that I hadn’t bought enough (I have no desire to go through that nightmare again), but it seems that I was judicious in my purchase and will have plenty. No mismatched dye lots this time. I also need to allot some time to work on the scarf for the mag publication. I need to contact the publisher about the contract. I’m not going to spend the time to design and stitch without that written guarantee.

I am spending entirely too much time on Ravelry. It would be great if somehow I could generate some business from my pattern entries there, but I sense that these folks just aren’t in the buying mode. That’s OK. It’s still good to network and communicate with other fiber artists.

I wish I could get up the energy to finish writing the hoodie pattern. It’s over 2 months now that I am stuck in the same place. This week for sure. I need the money! 🙂