Raveneli

I am working on a design that I think approaches the elegant genius of the classic Baby Surprise. A bold claim, I know, but I can honestly say that nothing I've knitted of late (that was designed by someone other than me) has captured my interest like this. It is by a local designer who has become a friend named Jeanne Abel. (So yes, I am biased, but this gush is completely from my knitting teacher and designer point of view.) Many of her designs, especially the most recent ones, focus on really nifty and imaginative architecture. She has managed to put into action a lot of the things I've been swatching and experimenting with over the years. It's that old principle of parallel discoveries. More power to her for bringing it all to the light though. I will happily honor her talent by buying her patterns.

This one is called Raveneli. It is a vest or jacket that starts from the outside circumference-you cast on a ribbing and work it just like the bottom of a circular sweater. But wait, there's more! With a few strokes of genius, this circle of ribbing gets turned on its side as stitches are put on hold for the back neck, then the knitting continues down from the shoulders for the fronts, underarms and the beginning of the back. They are knitted back and forth all in one fell swoop while doing beautifully sculpted shaping under the arms. All of a sudden, you're done with that and a few more stitches are put on holders. Before you know it and can really recognize it, you're working up the back! This is where I am now. I realized that I need a photo of me wearing what I have so far so you can see how cool this is. Stay tuned...Just think, all your outside edges are done and finished! All that remains is the back, some careful joining and an armhole finish.

A vest, you say? Why yes, and quite a clever one. Here is the whole thing viewed with the full outside circumference spread out. Back Neck stitches are at the top on a spare needle and the front and bottoms of the armholes are on the holders at the sides. The bit that's left on the long needle curving round the center opening will become the back. Whew! The funnest part is that it is bulky-3 strands of dk weight yarn ( I'm using Lucy Neatby's Celestial Bluefaced Leicester in African Violet) and knits up in a flash on big fat needles. This one has already kept me up late because I can't wait to see what comes next.
Here it is folded in half so you can begin to imagine how it might fit on the body. Compare it with the pictures of the finished jacket on Jeanne's website. I will try to get someone to take a photo of it on my body tomorrow. It might be done by then though, because I'm pretty anxious to start working on it again. Do I sound just silly with excitement? For this sometimes jaded knitter who has gotten a little frustrated with the sameness of a lot of the patterns out there, this one has me psyched! It is everything I love about knitting: Organic shaping, great instructions, and a unique design based on sound knitting principles. It requires skill to execute, but mostly it requires imagination. Any knitter can muster enough of that to make something as delightful as this.