Creative/Process

In an effort to wrangle more control over my online content, I'm examining my blog post tags. This has given me a chance to look hard at the content of this blog, and see the bigger picture. From the start this has been a place for me to share what I'm up to creatively. Very rarely have I posted something on here that wasn't created by me. Original content.

So this process of tag analysis led me to delete a few tags, and create a few new ones. The two primary content types are 'Craft' and 'Creative.' As you can see they branch out into their own subcategories. Blog posts are tagged with the primary tag, then the secondary tag, then the tertiary tag where applicable.

Interestingly, I realized the tag 'Graphic Design' was unnecessary. I didn't need it. As a primary tag, 'Creative' covered everything better, and the secondary tags proved to be more accurate. I guess that was weird to me since this blog started as a graphic design blog. I dunno, whatever. I'll be dropping a few others eventually, too.

This post is tagged with a new secondary tag that I've added, 'Process.' I hope that by sharing creative process with you that you may find it helpful in understanding your own content. I'm not gonna act like I'm the king of content or anything, I'm really not. I suck actually which is why I'm doing this in the first place.

Come Together

Here's another light weight knit for the springtime. People seem to dig Reflect Bravo, so I made one in charcoal. I mentioned previously that I don't have much of this color, and that got me thinking of solutions.

What I ended up doing was combining yarn recycled from two sweaters. They're both charcoal merino, but one is slightly darker than the other. As I knit this up the only discernible difference was that the combined color was lighter when viewed from afar, but that's it. The heathered nature of charcoal yarns seems to visually equalize the hue values.

So yeah, it looks pretty great. I think I'm gonna focus on these high gauge pieces for the shop during the warmer months. I'd love it if my shop was nothing but high gauge. I'll just have to work on that.

Etsy Shop Listing

Easy

It never fails to amaze me how strong these thread weight merino yarns are. I unraveled these sweaters directly from the disassembled pieces onto the swift. Typically I have to pull out a few yards, then wind the swift in a two step process, but these came apart very smoothly with minimal tension. I just attached the end, and wound away. I suppose them being in great condition helped somewhat.

The Ann Taylor was a short sleeved crew neck number in a country blue. The other was a long sleeved cardigan by David Jones Plus, the first true black I've found thus far (stoked about that). Both are 100% merino wool, and will undoubtedly be quadrupled for the Reflect Series.

Dodge the Draft

This bear coat I got from the army surplus has pretty much achieved 'go-to' status in my wardrobe. For something that costed a paltry fourteen bucks, that's quite a feat. The actual name on the tag is "Shirt, Cold Weather," but it's generally referred to as a 'bear coat' or 'bear jacket.' It's typically worn under a military parka, so the sleeves run short to accommodate layering. I wear it like a jacket though, and that draft at the sleeves makes for an uncomfortable bike ride.

So what's a knitter to do? Well, okay, you can see what I did already because of the huge pictures. The only appropriate black I could find in my stash for this was a batch of Red Heart that I bought back when I didn't know any better. But in actuality, an acrylic yarn seems appropriate considering the shirt is polyester to begin with.

As far as the knitting goes, it's really not all that complicated. I casted on 52 stitches and worked 30 rows of 2x2 ribbing, casting off with all knits so that the seam edge would be uniform enough to sew into the sleeve.

What's cool is that I can fold them inward if I want to layer over it. But the main reason for this modification was to seal the sleeves because they ride up when I'm on my bike, and I hate having to bother with gloves. Anyone who rides a bike in cold weather can appreciate sealed sleeves and warm knuckles.

Scaled Down

I rarely do any custom orders. This one is for a friend, so don't get any ideas that gridjunky is now stocking baby items, because that just aint gonna happen. My focus will always be menswear. For like… full grown men.

This is a scaled down version of Divide Bravo, adapted to hit a gauge of 8 stitches per inch. As you can see I've tripled this 100% cashmere thread weight to achieve that. What a fantastic fiber. The softness makes it the only choice for baby.



The finished piece is 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) in circumference, and 8 inches (20.4 cm) in length. It's interesting to see how perfectly scaled down this version is, compared to the original. The yarn weight, and consequently the needle size make this happen, and it's pretty straight forward, but I can't help but see the possibilities.