Mauna Kea Knit-together
Gratuitous Halloween photo
I'm confident I would be a much more prolific designer if I focused solely on my own designs and ignored all the other beautiful patterns out there.
But what's the fun in that? Like a true product knitter, there's a THING I want to have at the end of a project, and that THING isn't always--or even most of the time--something of my own invention.
In fact, often times, once I'm done with one of my designs, I'm DONE with it--I've labored over it so long, I'm sick of it, and have zero interest in using it. So if I never knit other designers' patterns, I'd have a pretty sad collection of handknits indeed.
Throughout the year I've been knitting pullover designs that are not my own (Pullover #3 has just half a sleeve to go, and Pullover #4 is about 30% done), and recently HAD to add another to the list:
Photo courtesy of Space Cadet Creations
This is Mauna Kea, a knitting experience brought to you by Mel of the With Mel podcast (formerly Singlehanded Knits). Her designs first caught my eye when we were both working on the Sweet Savannah Summer Sweater design competition, and when I saw this gem, I knew I had to participate in the knit-together. I purchased the Gobsmack kit from Space Cadet Creations as a birthday gift to myself.
Photo courtesy of Space Cadet Creations
Our knit-together just started on Halloween with some swatching; we're casting-on tomorrow (well, some people are; my casting-on depends on the cooperation of 2 very uncooperative little people), and I can't wait. I've decided to do a striped version of the sweater (as in the photo), rather than a gradient, which means lots of ends to weave in, but I think it will be worth it!
I'm interested to see how this knit-together experience goes; everyone is encouraged to post photos to Instagram and Twitter (if you want to follow along, search for the #MaunaKeaWithMel and #SpaceCadetWithMel hashtags), we'll be having virtual knit nights, and all sorts of other virtual fun. It's running through December 5, so I'll be sharing updates over the next month--can I really finish a FIFTH pullover this year??