Today feels like as good a day as any to jump back into blogging after a month long hiatus! I’m excited because I’ve got something fun to share. In case you couldn’t guess from the title of this post: I’ve published a new pattern and I’ve made kits for it! The pattern + kits is a direction I plan to move in more in the future. I’ve got a bunch of patterns from my collection that are just begging to be nicely kitted up (Hello Camaro and Luminosity!) and I just need to do a bit of reorganizing so I can make it happen. But, for today, here is Atari!
Cloak kit: Smoke, Mint, Cloak // Graphite Kit: Smoke, Saffron, Graphite
Ravine Kit: Chris Grey, Rocket, Ravine // Midnight Kit: Crystal, Orchid, Midnight
Spruce Kit: Retro, Chartreuse, Spruce // Chestnut Kit: Sand, Orange Blossom, Chestnut
Atari is FUN! And I mean it, from beginning to end. The hardest part - slash - the most fun part is picking the colours because there is really no wrong choice! Take a second to peruse the test knits on Ravelry and you’ll see 30 different colour combos, all gorgeous. I had a hard time breaking out of the light on top, dark on the bottom with a pop in the middle scheme for my versions but you definitely don’t have to stick to that. The sky is the limit!
The pattern is sized from baby to adult - 17.5” to 64” finished chest circumference. The fit can be whatever you want it to be. Me and my crew are wearing ours sweatshirt style - with a few inches of positive ease for a relaxed vibe but check out this project to see what it looks like without ease. Gorgeous!
Now for a little behind the scenes. All of my photos that have a white background like these are taken in my dining room with the table pushed out of the way and the painting removed from the wall. Chris stands in the kitchen and I stand against the wall and it’s the best we can do for a neutral background with decent light in our house. It works for us! But - there is definitely a sweet spot in terms of where exactly we need to be standing and at what time of day the photos can be taken. Early afternoon when the light is streaming in equally from the sliding doors in the dining room and the big window in the living room is our magic hour for this specific spot. That’s also when Willow naps. It was -20C most of last week and I wouldn’t ask my kids stand outside without jackets on to take outdoor pics in that weather. Anyways, I had to wake Willow up from her nap, pull this sweater on over her head (she’s wearing her pj shirt underneath!) wrangle the boys (one of which is very cooperative the other… less so) and hope for the best. Willow looks so dazed in the photos! And now you know why. :)
Taking photos with kids is HARD! My only advice is: embrace the chaos, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a pattern shot or FO shot featuring a child acting like a child. Funny faces and all. Also - if they aren’t feeling it, don’t make them do it. That’s all. :)
Both boys have “feature” sleeves which cracks me up! I knit the grey version first while we were out of town and I underestimated the amount of yarn that I would need for the body. I knit as much as I could and then cast off with every intention of completing the sleeve when I got home to my stash. I really wanted to work with the yarn shortage and knit some colourwork on the cuff but Rowan would have none of that! He loves the unfinished sleeve look! He’s totally committed! My mom knit the Brick sample for Micah and we opted to add a feature cuff to his sleeve and I think it’s so cute! She used the little yoke chart and it worked out perfectly. Check out this tester who did something similar when she ran short of her body colour. It’s such a cute mod and I’m seriously considering ripping out my cuffs and adding the colourwork!
I love all of these little sweaters but I have to say that Rowan’s Smoke/Saffron/Graphite version was my original vision and it’s probably my favourite. Having said that, I’ve been wanting a sweater for myself in Cloak ever since I knit Willow’s Little Luminosity Dress with this colourway and it does not disappoint! I consider myself a turquoise girl through and through, but this specific shade of blue/purple is maybe my all time favourite. That’s a bold statement but I stand by it! I painted an elaborate mural in my closet as a teen and this colour was the background. It’s the best.
And the very last thing I have to say about this pattern today is this: when designing baby to adult sized patterns I’ve always figured that people would be making matching baby/parent sweaters but recently a Raveller left a comment in our group about baby/grandmother matching sweaters and my head nearly exploded from the cuteness. I think that might be my new favourite thing.