Gaining Faith: Another Colorway
I almost lost faith there for a while, that the ZigBagZ collection would ever actually happen as a pattern (perhaps booklet, as now there are 5 bag designs planned in one publication). I was feeling low… thank goodness for those who keep pushing me forward when I slow down through discouragement.
Fortunately, I now am signed up for a page layout/Adobe InDesign class at the local community college this coming weekend. Therefore, the limitations I’ve had (particularly when I have tried to insert more photos than the system could take) will not be an issue. My learning curve and lack of experience in the program will take time, but the program will not be an anchor dragging me back as Word has.
Yes, I realize that Word is not made for layout. The issue mostly was that I know Word so well from the years I spent teaching its tiny details to corporate clients, that I could force it to behave. Mostly. And that did not require the learning curve and financial outlay that InDesign and the class required.
I am doing a lot of letting go this fall. I gave in and I’m changing programs. I also have a new computer this year which is still not making me happy but I’m adjusting.
I also got a new cell phone this week (which has such a confusing voice command system that I can not get it to work even with help from friends… and of course the book tells how to take photos and play music on the phone but doesn’t tell me how to dial hands-free. Why am I expecting a phone to be a phone these days? LOL. I’m obviously behind the times.
But I digress. I’ve been working on the text for this five-bag collection. This weekend I can start placing the text and photos in preparation for a print run. At the same time, my cousin Karen and my sis-in-love Diana are knitting the final sample bags. Diana is making a sample and Karen is testing the text (she gets to keep her sample when it’s done).
I showed the before/after yarn choices and bag base for Diana’s/Rae’s bag yesterday. Today I’m going back in time and showing you my own bag, the zigzag sides. I’m showing again the yarn and the finished knit fabric (in this case after felting/shrinking, yesterday’s sample is before).
In this case, on my screen, the deep teal (dark turquoise) shows up as a little lighter here than in real life, though the other colors look about right. The bottom right teal is MC1 (main color/solid) and the multi sitting above it is the contrast used when knitting the teal. The solid pink bottom left is used in contrast with the blues/greens multi on top left.
Perhaps you can see that if the lines slant toward the left, I am using the solid teal and the multi pink. When the lines slant to the right, I’m using solid pink and multi cool tones. Can you see it? Perhaps it helps to see the base as a checkerboard for reference. The base was done in the teal/MC1 and the pink multi. Now can you see it?
What’s fascinating is that the stand-out colors are those which are neither teal/blue nor pink/orange. The yellow and green and nearly-black tones are what show up from this distance. Cool! It looks even more involved than it is.
I love this bag. I’m really pleased, very proud of the design. And finally I can see that maybe there will finally be a finished product. My goal had been November 1 and I’m seeing that maybe I did not give my knitters enough time… but it will definitely be November.
Maybe I’m jumping the gun… please don’t ask for the pattern just yet, though I’d be honored if a few someones put this on their “queue” of possible projects coming up. But today I feel like showing you the photo Rae took of me with the BiggieZig bag when it was fresh out of the washer and still a bit damp.
This BiggieZig bag is tall and wide but it has a slim profile. This theoretically means I won’t be taking up too much width when attending knitting events and trying to squeeze by others also carrying knitting bags.
The BurlyZig, believe it or not, will be larger than this. It will be the same height and just a little wider, but the depth will increase enough so that this can hold a whole sweater in progress or much of an afghan on the needles. Or that is the plan.
Stay tuned and you will get blow by blow information on this design, as it develops further. At this point it’s clear we will have a printed product. We just do not know exactly when…
Whew! One day at a time.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:01 am
It is fun to knit too. Once you look at the patterning for the round, you’re off until you get to the beginning marker again, and those of you more experienced in stranded colorwork will likely glance even less often.
I love the pattern in the yarns recommended, but I can see this being a stash-buster down the line, and what a quick gift a Bottle Zig or Baby Zig will be!
October 25th, 2007 at 11:12 am
The bag looks great. It’s surprising how unobtrusive the pink is, because in the ball it looks so bright.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Lynn, this new bag is phenomenal! I love it. Let us know when the pattern is available.
October 26th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Your bag is lovely. It looks very complicated and like so much fun!