NaKniSweMo!

It's NaKniSweMo again! Hooray!

In English that mean's it's National Knit A Sweater In A Month (Month), whereby knitter's the world over try their darndest to knit 50,000 stitches in just 30 days. The "National" refers to the parent concept, NaWriNoMo (National Write a Novel in a Month (Month)) - an American "pastime" where every November people write 50,000 word novels in just 30 days. See the theme?!

Last year I successfully knit this sweater, a super simple in the round yoke neck jumper with a stripe of Sidar Crofter DK - a "fair isle effect" yarn.

Photo by Alex Wakeman, Model Holly

Photo by Alex Wakeman, Model Holly

I love this sweater, it's big and fun and I wear it a lot (it's also machine washable) but there were a number of problems with it that prevented me from writing up the pattern, I didn't like the way the armholes worked, and I don't think knitters really need another stockinette yoke neck jumper pattern!

This year I'm branching out. Knitting 50,000 stitches in a month isn't so much of a stretch for me, I probably do that on an average month. Instead of pushing myself to knit 100,000 (or whatever) I decided that a greater challenge would be to design, knit, write, edit, photograph and publish a new pattern within the time frame.  Eeep!

So I'm using some Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK (bought in last year's Christmas John Lewis Sale) to make Clematis, a soft, wearable pullover with pleated shoulders and scalloped hems.

Please excuse my crappy photo of my crappy sketch!

I cast on last night and have knit the first 4in/10cm of the body so far:

Yes, I know it's curling, and yes, I do have plans!

Pattern writing is going well, schematic is done too. Clematis will be available in 6 sizes, from (if I remember correctly) 28-46in/71-117cm.

If you're interested in joining in, you can sign up over at the NaKniSweMo group on Ravelry. Moderated by Shannon Okey of KnitGrrl and Cooperative Press fame there's a fantastic list of prizes donated for completers. Two lucky knitters will win the complete MichaelaKnits PDF download collection, including all patterns released prior to November 30th this year (and there's some wonders coming out this month!) So what are you waiting for, get knitting!