Holly Lisle: Writer

The DragonScale Sweater

The DragonScale Sweater
The DragonScale Sweater

I mentioned in the WABWM Weekend Thread that I was knitting a modular sweater as one of my down-time activities. (Modular works. I can knit one diamond in about ten minutes, and tie off. Which means I cannot possibly lose my place.)

Promised I’d put up a picture of the sweater.

Here it is. It’s a WIP—missing collar, sleeves, and half of the bottom rows. But even in WIP form, it’s still interesting to look at. I like the 3-dimensional aspect of the scales.

ADDED LATER: I should mention that I designed and knit this top-down and in the round, so in this picture, the majority of the sweater is done.

image_pdfDownload as PDFimage_printPrint Page

Posted

in

, ,

by

Holly

Tags:

Comments

13 responses to “The DragonScale Sweater”

  1. melanie Avatar
    melanie

    knitting and writing! Awesome combination. Holly, your knitting style definitely reflects your teaching system. I do both–work my own patterns and follow other peoples principles (rather than patterns).

    Geraldine–I saw an article about knitting where knitters were able to solve spatial problems much more easily than non-knitters. Like designing a wrap for a bend in a pipe.

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Knitting has proven useful. I’ve applied processes from it to my writing from time to time.

      Knitting top-down-one-piece and—after the initial math—designing as I go pushes my mind in interesting directions, too. It’s always a cool exercise in problem-solving.

      I like principles. I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Zimmerman—reading her workbooks, I realized she taught the same way I do. She dissected everything down to component parts, then put the parts back together in different ways to see what new things she could create.

      And I tend to be good at spatial puzzles. 😀
      Reply ↓

      Reply
  2. Lynda Avatar
    Lynda

    I love the sweater! Even if it ends up a shawl it will keep y ou warm and surrounded in beautiful colors!
    Lynda Miller

    Reply
  3. Rinelle Grey Avatar
    Rinelle Grey

    Wow, it’s beautiful Holly. I can’t believe you can write AND knit. Can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.

    Reply
  4. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    Beautiful!

    Last year I taught myself how to knit and made a few scarves and hats. This year I think I need to get more ambitious. Maybe I’ll try a sweater.

    Reply
  5. Katharina Gerlach Avatar
    Katharina Gerlach

    I’d love to knit something like that. Unfortunately, my wrists won’t cooperate. It’s beautiful to look at.

    Reply
  6. Esther Avatar
    Esther

    It’s really beautiful and I love your sense of color. The color choice combined with the pattern is stunning. It also looks really cozy. I can’t think of what I would like more — wearing it or looking at it. I guess you’ll be able to do both….

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Where sense of color is concerned, the best I can claim is excellent taste in yarn. The yarn I’m using is Noro Taiyo in color 5.

      The pattern, however, consists of an image in my head of what I want the finished piece to look like. I don’t knit from other people’s patterns. I design on the needles. I do a swatch for gauge, do the math to get the necessary number of stitches for the neckline, then knit top-down.

      I’m building this sweater specifically around the fact that Noro yarn and its amazing color changes are such fun to work with, and the long color changes let me get effects I can’t get with most yarn.

      Reply
  7. Jean Avatar
    Jean

    I agree, the three-dimensional aspect of the scales sets it apart. Does this dragon breathe fire? 😉

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      If it does, it’s gonna be a bitch to wear.

      Reply
      1. Jean Avatar
        Jean

        But you’ll be warm!

        Reply
    2. Geraldine Ketchum Avatar
      Geraldine Ketchum

      A few years ago one of the science magazines (Discover or Sci American) had pictures of knitting that had been done to illustrate some physics constructs – black holes and space-time stuff that I don’t understand but like reading about (dumbed down, please). I haven’t explained it properly, but the results were fascinating and apparently helped university students understand the 3-dimention aspects.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

13
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x