XO Cardigan from Folk Vests, by Cheryl Oberle.  Modified for Os only, as I didn’t want to be a walking Tic-Tac-Toe board.

Sunflower Tam from Knitting Nature, by Nora Gaughan.

I don’t speak French or German or Portuguese, but that obstacle hasn’t prevented my one-off knitting pattern from being translated into other languages.  Many thanks to other knitters around the world, for now this simple little pattern is multi-lingual.  You can find the various links posted below…

Original ENGLISH language Tudora, as published by http://knitty.com.

You can find FRENCH Tudora here.  Many thanks to Canadian knitter Carole D’s efforts in making the translation and to Helene for posting the instructions on her blog.

To request a GERMAN translation of Tudora click here.  Thanks to Strumpfbina for her work!

The PORTUGUESE Tudora translation can be found here.  My appreciation to Renata for it!

I’ve been taking a ‘walk down memory lane’ these days.  Looking back at early blog posts can be side-splittingly funny…which of course is less about the actual quality of the writing and more about being a right daft ol’ simpleton.  What fun, though, to take a look at the knit-related posts.  A great record of projects completed and sometimes forgotten, or more simply a reminder of an unexpected great photo.

The quintessential high point in my knitting years would no doubt be the published one-off design…Tudora.  You’ve no idea how thrilled I am when people tell me how much they enjoy knitting it and will knit more than one!  And to know that over 1,100 people have knit it while over 1,700 more have it in their Ravelry queue gives me goose bumps…really. So, I hope you’ll indulge this brief retrospective of Tudora’s original post and French language followup…

Tudora (originally published 6 Dec 2007)
If everyone has one bit of inspiration waiting to be set loose, then this would be mine.

In a brief moment of clarity, I could see the design. After that, an endless stream of prototypes. Then deciphering cryptic notes on bits of paper. Can’t imagine doing anything three-dimensional…
But it’s done and it’s published and I’m happy.

You can find the Knitty.com pattern here.

Warning: Shameless Ireland Promotion Ahead

The coolest thing about doing this was the opportunity to promote Irish wool. Say what you will about other new-to-the-market tweeds, but Kilcarra’s an original and simply the best. I get mine from Friends-Warren-And-Jenny at Craftspun Yarns in Co. Kildare. And lest I forget, many thanks to Mandy, who works with Knitty, for her technical editing wizardry.

So, what d’ya think the family are getting for Christmas?

Postscript for Neck Preferences:

I happen to like things close and tight around my neck. Baggy necklines? Not for me…nope. But the thought has occurred to me that not everyone likes that same degree of firmness around their windpipe…perhaps giving them noose nightmares and I wouldn’t want to feel responsible, so…

If you use 5mm/US8 needles (the recommended needle size for aran weight yarn), you will gain a few extra inches in the length and then make it as tight or as loose as you desire with the button placement.

Whew, I feel better now.

The French Connection (originally published 28 Jan 2008)

“Est-ce possible d’avoir la traduction en français du modèle Tudora ?”

I’ve received this enquiry a few times, but embarrasingly, not being a French speaker and equally embarrassing having a wee bit of former phobia about the French language, it’s then doubly exciting and kind of ironic that there’s now a French version of the Tudora knitting pattern. And because of my ineptitude with French, you’ll be pleased to know that I had nothing to do with the translation.

Many thanks to Canadian-Knitter-Carole D.’s efforts in making the translation and to Blogger-Helene for posting the instructions on her blog. You can find French Tudora here.

‘They could not but hold her cheap on finding that she had but two sashes, and had never learnt French.’ —Mansfield Park, Volume 1, Chapter 2

Worthy Charity Postscript Ahead:

Speaking of Tudora, Knitter-Laurie is in the process of creating Tudoras to sell on her Esty shop, Crafty for the Cure, to raise funds for breast cancer research. Well done and all the best in your efforts for that cause!

Little did I know that my innocent desire for the postponement of spring would result in 5 inches of snow in Alabama, call off school in Washington, DC and generally wreak havoc on the eastern seaboard.  Ah the power of the written word!

Good news is…I’m wearing my newly knitted winter woolly socks today.

Don’t hate me, but could we postpone spring for just a bit?  Following distractions and diversions and complications, I’ve finally completed the great-for-dead-of-winter-extra-thick-and-wooly-generic-cabled-knee-socks but my perpetually cold tootsies are sweating at the mere thought of them right now.

So, if we can’t postpone spring, would you begrudge me an early cold snap later in the year?

Here was the final result…

Perhaps it’s a gender thing.  Husband-Will…he’s purposeful, intentional.  Me?  I need data…input…information…opinions.  And then there are those times when there’s no clear ‘best’ option and it comes down to preference.  Such is the case here.

Decided to put one more Tudora on the Etsy site.  Yellow.  Such a bright and cheery color!  Knitting the button band demands a decision on the button and buttonhole size.  But which button shall I choose?  Can’t decide.  Time for a survey.  So here are the options in no particular order of preference.

Option 1 – Light shell to brighten it up

Option 2 -Antique option

Option 3 – Weightier with more contrast

Which would you choose?

A Bit Of This
For some reason, Tudora has struck a chord with the French speaking population.  Their naturally good taste, right?  Thankfully, Carole, a French-Canadian knitter with foresight translated the pattern ages ago, which can be found on Helene’s blog…just in case you’re French…and knit…and happened upon this blog…and can read enough English to know to click the link…for a French version of the pattern…in case you don’t read English.

Anyway, now the Germans have asked to be represented.  And they sought permission.  And they want to avoid any copyright infringements.  And they want to give full credit where it’s due.  Gotta love the Germans.  Thanks Bea!  Link to be announced…

And A Bit Of That
Etsy’s got competition.  Perhaps you already know this, especially if you live in the UK.  I stumbled across this website…folksy.com.  Cute stuff!  If you’re an Etsy reader the layout will look quite familiar.  And the name rhymes…how convenient!  Sadly, they only cater to UK-based sellers in their Beta phase, but certainly watch that space!

There was a point in time when I had grand visions of fashioning stair treads with my own two hands—knitting lengths of I-cord from recycled/leftover wool, felting the snakes, and then stitching them together in an oval coil.  Very cool idea, I thought, for our little cottage.

Pinch me.

Then I woke up, realizing that I would no doubt be approximately 89 years old with misshapen arthritic fingers before I ever got that project done.  What was I thinking?  For each of the 14 steps in our house (or is it 19…I’ve forgotten), I would need to knit no less than 3 miles of I-cord before felting it to a piece that was still long enough to wind around and hand sew.  Okay, maybe not three miles, but pretty near, I guess.

Before that truth dawned on me, though, I had a few lengths of I-cord sitting around the house, about as useful as an Oprah-watching-bonbon-eating-out-of-work-schlepper.  So, do you think one tread might be on the cutting edge of stairstep fashion?  Ehm…no, I didn’t think so.

But hey (as my dim bulb began to glimmer into feeble light), why not make itty bitty treads?  I think I have enough for a set of coasters.  Besides, the scarf wearing season is slipping by, so I’d better get smart about what to put up in the Etsy shop.

Warning:  Yes-There-Is-More-To-Life-Than-Etsy Diversion
I realize that recent thoughts have been weighted far too heavily in the direction of Etsy.  Apologies for that.  Sure, I wanna be more than a one-trick-pony and not subject you to a continual stream of self-promotion.  (And you can easily access the shop by clicking in the sidebar! Hahaha!)  But honestly, if we thought Dublin was expensive, well DC is even more so and it’s either make a go of the independent crafter circuit or I start slinging coffee at Starbucks or ringing up sales at Target or bumping off a rich relative.  So, for familial harmony…

Anyway,  here’s the finished project…Felted Coil Coasters.

And they were in the Etsy shop.  Honest.

But Very-Nice-Blog-Reader-Angie has purchased them and so they’re going into the US postal system today on their way to her house.

Well, I do have enough wool to make another set or two or three.  Guess I better get knitting.

Preface:
No, this is not Monday, although it feels like it after the holiday and inaugural hooplah, and yes, this is about knitting.  I’ll get back into the orderliness of it at some point…

It would seem an obvious certainty that I am a tortoise.  I’m not an astute businesswoman.  I’m not instinctively entrepreneurial.  So, it’s taken me a year to cop onto the opportunity that Tudora neckwarmers might sell on Etsy.  In fact, it took a slap in the proverbial face to see that there are people in the world who perhaps a) don’t knit, b) don’t know anyone who knits, and c) might therefore buy such a thing.

Duh.

So, after my struggle with some principles of the world and after a suggestion or two to ‘for-heaven’s-sake-put-some-of-your-own-on-Etsy!’, I’ve taken a break from the loom and will be loading up some Tudoras in the shop during the week.  And to be honest, I have you all to thank for it.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is no shame in slow and steady, I mean, it ultimately won the race, right?

I think I’d like a kimono-style-wrap-cardigan like this.

I like the color.
And the deep purple mohair trim.
Needs to be a bit bigger though.
And maybe lose the flowers.
But it’s not for me.
A Christmas gift for Baby Annabelle.

Pattern:  Frilled Edge Crossover Jacket
Book:  Debbie Bliss Baby Style
Main Color Yarn:  Rowan DK Soft (85% wool, 15% polyamide)
Contrast Color Yarn:  Jo Sharp Kid Mohair