o w l s. the pattern.

Yes, the o w l s pattern is ready. You can now download it as a PDF under ‘designs’ (see tabs at top of page). Later today I hope to be able to contact all of you who requested the pattern by email. I’ve encountered several wrongly-typed or rejected addresses on the list, so if you do not receive a message from me, it is not because I’m ignoring you — just please download the pattern here. I hope to soon have it listed as a ravelry download also.

A few things I wanted to say:

THANKS. Big thanks to my knitting comrades Hannah, Kate B, Melanie, and Ysolda, who have shared their champion knitting skills and technical expertise most generously. As with most things knitwise, this pattern has really benefited from collective knowledge and effort.

Short rows. The original o w l s featured Japanese short rows. These can be tricky to work in the round and (I discovered) it is even trickier to describe precisely how to work them in the round. The horror! There are some great online tutorials for working Japanese short rows back and forth (here, for example). But when you are working in the round, you encounter the turning point / gap in (as it were) the wrong direction, and face the tricksy problem of forcing the turned yarn back on itself, up onto the needle, and closing the gap by twisting the previous stitch so that it sits the wrong way round as well as knitting through a loop that is stretched to near breaking point. Sheesh! I take my proverbial hat off to anyone who has figured out a straightforward way to describe this. Anyway, for ease, clarity, and my general sanity, the pattern has reverted to good old ‘wrap and turn’ to work the short rows. This is certainly an easier method for beginners (and many people who have asked for the pattern have described themselves as beginner knitters). But I do like Japanese short rows (even though I can’t for the life of me describe how to close up their gaps in the round) and if you like them too, I recommend you use them in place of the wraps and turns the pattern includes.

Expertise. Lots of you have emailed me asking if o w l s is suitable for a beginner knitter, or as My First Sweater. ™ I would rate the design as reasonably easy, but while my pattern shows you how to make an owl sweater, it cannot teach you to knit. The pattern begins with a list of necessary skills. If you are familiar with the techniques on this list, you should be able knit the sweater.

Yarn rationale and working at different gauges. Many knitters are not fond of chunky yarn, either because it can be a rather blunt instrument, design-wise, or because of its general bulk. This pattern reduces bulk through the fit of the sweater and uses chunky yarn because 1) I wanted to be warm and 2) I wanted BIG owls. A chunky yarn produces several large, tall, owl cables standing proudly on the yoke. If you re-work the pattern for finer yarns and gauges, your owls will be smaller and perhaps a little less owlish. On the other hand, a finer yarn would produce more owls. This is always a bonus.

Labour. Value. Credit. Designers should be paid for what they do. For us to keep knitting the shawls and sweaters and socks that we love, we should be supporting our designers, and paying them in a way that reflects our appreciation and their hard work. To not do so devalues both their talents and their labour. It is the same issue as with other forms of work that are performed independently, or (in a rather different way) within the domestic sphere — such labour should be properly remunerated, and properly valued. This is why what Twist Collective is doing is so great, and I have no truck with those who churlishly complain on Ravelry and elsewhere about paying for individual patterns. Seriously, folks! Should your pleasurable hobby be the focus of designers’ charitable endeavours? I think not.

Having said all that, I am offering this pattern for free. Why? Well, here are my reasons. First, I am now working with a company who will hopefully be producing the pattern in children’s sizes (from toddler to pre-teen) as part of knitting kits, with yarn and lovely buttons included. The adult version of the sweater I have released today counts as a sort of taster, and should also later be available in the form of a purchase-able kit. Several of you have said you would like to knit this sweater for your kids, and if you would like to support me and the work that went into producing the owl sweater, then please buy the children’s pattern as part of a kit. I’ll keep you updated on progress with the new, kid’s version of owls. Second, I did not imagine, when I whipped up my sweater having seen the vests that Liz was then knitting, that the design would be the focus of so much knitterly love. It is certainly apparent that if I sold the pattern as an individual download I could expect to recoup a fair few donuts. But, while my sweater is an original design, the owl cable is a familiar motif, currently in circulation on several other patterns. To profit from that motif on a pay-per basis (as opposed to the far less remunerative flat-fee arrangement from selling the pattern on) seems frankly unfair. I don’t want to speak for other designers here, but it is a similar issue to that of the meticulous and skillful redesigning of EZ’s February baby sweater for a grown ass woman, or producing an innovative, asymmetrical BSJ (that is still, undeniably, a BSJ). Suffice it to say though, the next time I design something sizeable like a sweater (and there are a couple in the pipeline) solidarity with other designers as well as the desire to receive fair recompense for my hard work means that You Will Pay (rubs hands and makes ha ha ha noises in the manner of the Sesame Street Count).

Thankyou. And enjoy your owls.