Inflection

I am delighted to introduce Inflection, recently published in Knitty.

Originally, it was named Caterpillar because of it's resemblance to the children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Ultimately, Inflection seemed more in line with how everyone is naming their patterns these days.  Named for the mathematical definition of the point at which a curved line changes from concave to convex, Inflection is a lovely curved scarf that can sometimes look like a shawlette. It can be worked with any weight yarn or needle, but the pattern is written for laceweight yarn which adds a terrific lightness to scarf.

Ruched short rows create dense gussets that curve the scarf in one direction or another. Bi-directional gussets and wedges of these gussets can be varied to create different shapes and lengths. I have been playing with rushed gussets for a while, originally hoping to put them in a skirt.  However, I am delighted with how this turned out and hope to get a lot more people knitting it because of it's size.  I am also hoping some folks get creative and make different shapes with the paper wedge method I included in the instructions.  Can't wait to see what people share on Ravelry.  I like to imagine a long randomly curving scarf emulating an aerial photo of a large winding river.

Another great experience with a popular online publisher, but I must say I was jinxed when it came to photography.  Knitty requires you to supply your own photos and my nemesis was the wind.  Scarves and wind don't go together very well.  Insert curse words here.  You will notice three models in the pattern itself because I took pictures at the Outer Banks of North Carolina as well as here in Georgia.  I should have expected it to be windy on the coast.  Then back here in Georgia I found a lovely spot to re-shoot the pictures and ended up with another windy outing.  Fortunately, the editors at Knitty were able to make something out of all my pictures.

WINDY

We moved away from the water and still had wind.

Arranged the scarf differently and got lucky on a shot.

We Got Crafty

I absolutely fell in love with this idea when I found it on Pinterest.  My whole family, including my husband, has loved doing it, and every time we have a rainy day, we pull out the supplies and get started.  We plan on giving them as Christmas gifts as wall hangings and coasters. 

The supplies are simple: Inexpensive white glazed tiles from your favorite home improvement store, Adirondack Inks from a craft store which are a little pricey but go a long way, and some type of clear water based finish are all you need. 

I will link you to a website with all the info you need because I don't want to take credit for someone else's idea. However, before you leave me let me tell you how hard it has been to clear coat and protect these precious pieces of artwork. Once you have read her post make sure you skim through all the comments about finishing. Because the inks are alcohol based you must finish these art tiles with a water based clear coat. Well, silly me thought brushing on water based polypropylene would be the best approach (this was before I read all the comments).  The inks are so delicate that the brush scratched and/or moved the ink in the direction of the brush. I tried pouring it on, and though this worked best, it still "pocked" some of the most vibrant colors or made them run in the direction I tilted the tile to get the best coverage. My boys are still mad at me for messing up some of their pieces and my husband won't let me near his work at all. There are spray alternatives out there, but I haven't found one in a local store yet.  If you read the comments in the site I was working from, there were issues there. Once I find a spray to use I imagine it will take many very thin coats sprayed from very far away.

One other comments is to remind you to stay light with the ink.  My young boys just loved these inks and used way to much which is apparent by the over abundance of brown and black on these tiles.  However, My favorite one ended up being my son's blackish tile near the top right of the picture above.  Go figure.

So here is the link to the website that inspired me and has led to some terrific family time.

Artsyville by Aimee