How To Explain...

I spent the better part of the weekend right here in this chair bent over the computer working on the knitting book. When I wasn't sitting at the computer I was working on a bit of knitting trying to take something step-by-step in order to explain it. I remember when Mark was working on his book he said that, even though he worked on his lobster boat every day, when it came time to sit down and write what he did, he had no idea how to explain it. He would drive down to Pirates Lane, row out to his boat, and do what he did a hundred times every single day but watch the process step-by-step. He said he had no idea how many steps went in to hauling the traps on board, cleaning them out, re-baiting them and setting them back.

Knitting is a world away from lobster-fishing but I am going through the same thing. Even though I have been writing things down and photographing my work as I go along, there is still so much to explain.

The book has grown --- I knew it would. I want to do something a little different with this book. It is more about knitting theory than just an instruction book. I want to encourage people to be creative with patterns and fibers, to experiment, and, above all, to have fun. So, rather than give hard-and-fast directions, I want to tell you what the thinking was behind these creations, too. The directions will be there of course, but with lots of room for each individual knitter's creativity.

Back when I was in the corporate world I worked for several years for a fiber optics manufacturer. One of my jobs was to illustrate fiber optic components for catalogs and proposals. Yesterday, while working on the book, I realized I needed to do the same thing for the shawls. So I spent the better part of the day drawing diagrams and making illustrations like I did for fiber optic components but this time for shawls. It was quite a learning experience! I hadn't realized that I thought like an engineer when I was plotting a shawl.

I made four diagrams --- one for center-seamed, triangular shawls; one for rectangular shawls that have a center lace panel and then three lace sections knit around the perimeter; one for a long rectangular shawl with lace borders; and one for constructing a cocoon from a rectangular lace shawl. It was actually fascinating to do. I learned stuff even after all these years of designing knitted shawls. When I showed the diagrams to my friend Maureen she got very excited. Maureen is a crocheter and sometimes feels a little left out of our group of knitters. But, she said, after looking at my diagrams, she understood how to duplicate the general effect in crochet. She could use her own lace patterns with my diagrams.

As I sort though the pictures of my work I have taken over the last several years, I am realizing how much I have learned and how much I want to pass on in the book. This is exciting. All these years I've resisted writing a knitting book because I thought my combined handicaps of knitting with my yarn in my left hand, not being able to read written-out instructions, and being a large-sized knitter were prohibitive to the usefulness of such a project but, as I work on it, I realize it has given me a different perspective that might be useful to others.

Right now the book has five sections: My Knitting Autobiography & Process; The Mermaid Shawl; Emily's Shawl (left); Scarves, Stoles & Wraps; and The Cocoon. I am considering adding a section on Knitting on the Bias. I have a ways to go, but it is quite an adventure. I am approaching it like I used to approach instruction manuals for fiber optic systems --- only with knitting. Cool.

I also finished my breathtaking lace shrug, too. It is GORGEOUS! I knit it with a double strand of laceweight cashmere/silk in the most beautiful shade of yellow. I even found three exquisite Czech glass buttons to finish it. I was looking at all the photos I have of my lace bedjackets and thought that might be my next knitting book adventure --- Lace Bedjackets & Shrugs. In the future ---way, way in the future.

Thanks for reading.