Secret Knitting: done!

Tonight, I finished my Heritage Silk Lace Mittens for Cascade Yarns and I couldn't be happier!  They are drying upstairs right now so I don't have much by way of photos, but I do have a couple to share. 

This was a real challenge for me.  I have never designed anything with lace before and I wasn't even sure if I could!  This pattern, like my Quilt and Cable Blanket, has been knocking around my sketch book for at least a year and I finally figured out how to get it out of my head and off my needles.  I can tell you that there were several elements of my original design that didn't make it into this one, but I love it just the same.  Originally, the inner mitten was going to be knit in lace-weight yarn.  The inner mitten and outer mitten were supposed to have matching eyelet holes, through which I was going to weave a beautiful ribbon.  In the end, I went with fingering-weight yarn for both mittens (at the suggestion of the wonderful Stacy from Cascade).  And I fought with the eyelets until I finally decided that it wasn't necessary to have holes on the inside.  In the final version, the eyelets are only on the outer lace mitten, and the ribbon is optional (final photos will include a ribbon). 

I have never worked with so many test knitters before, or designed a pattern with this many sizes.  My poor test knitters had to get the pattern in phases (inner mitten first, then outer mitten), be willing to keep photos and projects offline until I gave the go-ahead, and deal with my insecure questioning and follow-up emails, lol.  They were all fantastic.  The project also required that I create a spreadsheet to keep track of my testers, their contact info, and the sizes they were making.  I also added a tab to keep track of those testers who would like to be contacted about future projects.  How crazy does that sound?!  I need a spread sheet to keep my testers straight, lol.  That's totally surreal.

So, the pattern is speeding along the internet to Cascade, complete with a few photos that I thought might be helpful.  I'm going to look for the perfect ribbon tomorrow, and I'm gonna see if I can get some pretty photos for my Ravelry project page.  And then, I'm casting on for the first of three (hopefully...) designs for SSS2011. 

Oh, and don't be surprised if you see some uncharacteristically insightful stuff coming in the next few posts.  I've joined a fantastic e-course called Flying Lessons (button on my sidebar) thanks to my buddy Rain blogging about it, and it's been eyeopening!  Expect big things from Cambria W. Designs in the next few months!