It has always struck me as sort of odd that knitting ends up lumped with "needlework". I know we use needles, so maybe in a grand way it ends up making sense, but really, I can’t tell you how many ways that embroidery is different than knitting – and I say that not just as a knitter struggling with the *&^%!ing chain stitch on this baby sweater, but as a semi-retired cross-stitcher. (It’s been a long time since I did any, so I was going to type retired, but I did have some sort of spasm and buy a kit a few years ago, and it’s still sitting here, and I suppose I plan on doing it or I would have recognised it as a momentary impulse and given it away. I guess that technically, that makes me semi-retired, or maybe just weak.)
Last night I diligently applied myself to embroidering round each of those stars on my little grey to turn them into what the pattern says is a snowflake. (The pattern is wrong. They are clearly flowers. It may have been a long winter, but I still know one when I see one.) 
It seems to me like these flowers are taking forever – and that’s because they are. Last night I worked on them for hours – about two and a half hours all in, and I got four done. That means that each one is taking a rather ridiculous 40 minutes each. I tested the theory this morning, and yup – even fresh as a daisy in bright light with a good attitude, it was 40 minutes for one little flower snowflake. I know that skill with a knitting needle and yarn doesn’t translate to skill with an embroidery needle and yarn, and I know that you’re going to tell me now that they look great. Really great, and I think they do too. I think they look like someone who knew what they were doing embroidered them.
That’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is that I suck at this lack so much experience, that I’m having to swap in time for a skill. I know someone else could be doing a better job, I’ve actually unpicked two of them because they looked like I gave a three year old who didn’t give a crap a needle and yarn. 
It was last night, when I was unpicking one of them – and perhaps pouring myself a largish glass of wine and using unlady-like language (for the record, I think both were appropriate, considering my situation) that Joe asked me what the problem was.
I told him it was too picky. Too tiny. That the stitches had to go in just the right places and the tension had to be just right and it is taking a really long time and…
"Sounds like knitting" he said. He’s right, and it hit me that this is a good experience for me. Makes sure I don’t get cocky. It’s good for me to be humbled. I’ve always got something to learn – and knitting and needlework are definitely not the same. Being good with yarn apparently isn’t a cross-platform sort of thing, both are picky, both take skill and dudes, I need to get some experience. 
In other, sad news, Peter Workman has gone to the big bookstore in the sky, and the book business has lost a giant, and a knitter friendly one at that. I was lucky enough to have met Peter several times, since the first publisher who ever took a chance on me (Storey Publishing) was an imprint of Workman Publishing. I remember the thrill of realizing how incredibly intelligent and sensitive he was – especially around books. I liked him, and he scared the heck out of me. I wanted so much for him to think I was a good writer, and as far as I know, he did. He trusted my instincts and was always willing to hold a sock. I remember that several times at BEA, he would make the time to walk with me, and choose books he thought I would love.
He was always right.
I barely knew him, but will miss him. My sympathies to his family, friends, and colleagues. He was a strange and wonderful man.
Call me a quitter, but will the world end if you don’t embroider around those little flowers?
I doubt it. And as long as the recipient doesn’t read this blog (seems unlikely), you’re safe.
I commiserate with the labor intensive needlework, but it does look lovely. I am sorry for the loss of your friend, Peter Workman. I Just looked at the obituary and he was certainly accomplished. The Silver Palate Cookbook taught me to cook and What to Expect When You’re Expecting was my bible for months, and then of course there are your wonderul books… He will clearly be missed in the publishing world. The last line of his obit seems somehow appropriate here: “Mr. Workman was reticent in public. In one of his few press interviews, he told The Washington Post in 2000 that he believed in the profit potential of every book he published. “Failure is nonproductive,” he said, adding, a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.”
Kinda makes Joe’s gansey look like a walk in the park, eh?
I still say quit embroidering them and chain-crochet around the little buggers. The southern shore of Lake Superior is also super tired of seeing snowflakes, so how about we call the little buggers you’re working on, flowers?
You know, you could do that chain stitch with a knitting needle (or crochet hook, which would be my first choice).
Hold the yarn behind the fabric, dip the needle through and pull up a loop.
* Pull up another loop where you want the next stitch to go. Pass the first loop over the second.
(repeat from *)
I think they look more like snowflakes bare, before your embroidery turns them into flowers. Which result do you like more?
The problem is, being good at knitting doesn’t make you good at embroidery (or any other craft requiring string & needles), but it does make you better at noticing when you’re doing a crap job with any fiber art. I say this as one who has just learned some embroidery in the past couple of months. If this were my first fiber craft, I’d be calling a lot of things “good enough” instead of picking them out b/c I *know* I’ll be annoyed looking at them later. The bad news is, it takes longer, but the good news is you’ll get a good end result regardless of your inexperience. I know this will be the case for that little sweater!
I’d suggest that you could pull them out, but if you have done even near to half of them then my brain rebels at pulling out all of that pretty stitchery.
It’s coming out so beautiful. So worth every moment.
Thank you for the lovely notice, and rest in blessed peace, Mr. Workman. Thank you for publishing our Stephanie.
I hate embroidering. So I use a crochet hook and make them into slip stitches instead chain sew. More faster and fun.
I think they look great!
New skills are good for the brain! I think I learned this from you, after all!
And they are CLEARLY flowers.
How ’bout crocheting through the fabric while holding the yarn under the flower/snowflake. Forms the same a chain stitch, more “knitter friendly”.
Steph-you’re being too hard on yourself. Yes, they need to be relatively “even” as far as stitches go, but what you’ve got so far is incredible!! Go Harlot!
Use a slightly sharper (and shorter) needle. Don’t use the same needle you kitchner toes with.
Nuf said?
Technically, you are right. They are flowers. Snowflakes have 6 sides and you are chaining around 8, so flowers, not snowflakes.
So, if they were snowflakes they would only take you 30 minutes each to do rather than 40 minutes.
I have been doing a cross stich for 7 years, so I feel your pain. But they are, whether they be flowers or snowflakes, very pretty.
I send virtual strength and will power to finish the sweater, and love and hugs for your loss. <3
We have one more band of a spring blizzard to pass thru this afternoon so I also vote flowers rather than snowflakes. I’m a fast chain stitcher (I used to embroider denim patches for my jeans while I baby-sat in HS and the skill stuck) but I’d definitely use a knitting needle or hook if it were faster/ less frustrating. I didn’t realize how many Workman books/ products (still have a couple Kliban cat pillowcases!) I own or have read ’til I read Mr Workman’s obit. I particularly liked the last comment on persistence, “we stick to our knitting”. Nothing cryptic about that Mr Reporter. And I was in Denver (Highlands Ranch, Tattered Cover) to see you the day after the sock holding photo- I brought you dark Colorado chocolate and Hawaiian “breakfast beer” (infused with Kona coffee). 🙂
Nice mention of Peter Workman – a Giant. I love that he (they / the company) supported your book. I also saw that the NYC bookstore you visited way back when in April 2008 was a Borders. Sniff. We miss them so!
Seems that Mr. Workman appreciated you, too…
I kind of like it better without the embroidery, too . . .
So sorry to hear of the loss of your Book Guy – the world needs more “real” publishers.
I must say I agree on the needlework thing, to me the main difference between knitting and all other forms of “needle” work, is, knitting needles don’t hurt! (Well, I know some people who have hurt themselves knitting, but not the same way.) Your little sweater is looking beautiful!
I’m sorry for the loss of your friend.
you know, i can’t be the only one that thinks it looks better WITHOUT the embroidery. i looked at other projects on Rav, so it’ snot just your embroidery. i flat out don’t like it at all. if it was me, i would long since have taken OUT the stitches i’d already done, and left them alone. i really really don’t like it.
so, the question is, do YOU? if you don’t like it, then.. just quit. i can almost guarantee you that you will spend less time UN-doing the ones you’ve already done than you will spend finishing the rest of them.
i just don’t like it. it doesn’t add anything, IMO. obviously, some people like it, but i’m totally not one of them. (and i LIKE embroidery/needlework.)
I too thought the last bit of the article was fitting.
“Failure is nonproductive,” he said, adding, a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.”
I hope it’s comforting that your end result is so beautiful!
The flowers look great. Definately flowers. They would look like snowflakes if you had skipped the chain stitch. Either way, it’s a lovely little sweater and a lucky baby.
It’s a shame about Peter Workman. I happen to be a big fan of books. REAL books. Paper and covers and printy smelling books. He did well in recognizing your talent and the talent of others. Rest in Peace, Mr. Workman.
Duplicate stitch, not chain stitch…would it make it easier to do?
Condolences on the loss of Peter Workman…one of those unsung heros.
Embroidering a chain-stitch using a crochet hook is called Tambour Work and is way, WAY easier on a flexible fabric like knitting than sewn chain-stitch, especially for someone who already has dexterity (albeit enforced) with a crochet hook.
Sorry for the loss of your publisher friend; the world just can’t spare those smart, knitter-friendly, modest types of guys.
I learned to embroider as a child…you’ll catch it. I promise 🙂 We all need a “little reminder” sometimes to not get too cocky. Thanks for admitting this happens for you, too.
Thank you for the news about Peter Workman. Isn’t it amazing how a book publisher can touch the lives of so many people? The reader, the writers, the merchandise buyers… I mean really, who doesn’t have a something in their house with a Kliban cat on it?!?
At one bookstore in Seattle, the needlework magazine section includes tattoo and body piercing along with embroidery, knitting, crochet, and other fiber needle crafts. It always makes me smile.
40 minutes per flower divided by 8 petals equals 5 minutes per petal divided by about 12 chain stitches per petal equals about 25 seconds per stitch. Less, actually, because of finishing ends. Possibly a little quicker with a crochet hook, but not that bad. Certainly not worth criticizing. Perhaps a short break after each one?
Keep at the embroidery. You’re taking an already beautiful sweater to a whole new level.
First, try this technique to speed up your chain stitching: http://www.sublimestitching.com/pages/how-to-chain-stitch
Second, as cross-stitch is my primary hobby and knitting second, I completely understand your…consternation. (I won’t say frustration, it doesn’t seem to be that serious). I’m a very good stitcher and a so-so knitter. When I decide to up the ante on the knitting side, it seems to take forever before I’m happy with the result for the time invested 🙂
And if that kit needs a new home…. lemme know. I seem to recall it was a street scene?
I’m with Austin Val – don’t worry about the embroidery. Bet the sweater looks fantastic just the way it is.
Sorry to read about the loss of Peter Workman. Sad news, indeed.
All I have to say about this sweater is that this baby had better grow up to really, really, really appreciate you!!
…I agree with everyone else who said that it would look fabulous without the embroidery. I did that in my 20’s and don’t miss the fact that I don’t embroider anymore. LOL
I had to do something like that a long time ago. I did one star (I called them stars) and figured out it would go a lot faster if I used a crochet hook. Turned out it not only went faster, it also looked better.
I don’t like crocheting better than embroidery, but it goes faster.
I’m in the camp of the “snowflakes” look more like snowflakes minus the embroidery, but if you like it, you’ll get through it and you’ll be pleased with the result, I’m sure. Sorry about your friend & publisher…he sounds like a stellar human being.
The thing I love about crafting is that there is always something new to learn. I came to knitting about 4 years ago (having previously only done sewing) but still feel like there is a vast amount still to explore. Maybe some day I’ll get round to embroidery too…
I’m sorry for your loss.
Did you notice that last line in the obit? “We stick to our knitting?” Great in a couple of ways here, no?
Also, my boyfriend is implies I have some sort of dodgy habit, what with buying stuff in grams and leaving used needles around the house. Charity shops in the UK aren’t allowed to sell used needles. As in knitting needles. Yes, really. (Sometimes they keep them under the counter and will let you rifle through if you ask nicely though).
Obviously you’re right about the flowers; snowflakes only have six points.
You’re a better woman than I; I’d have opted out of the embroidery. (Why do I feel like I’ve said that before)
The sweater looks beautiful – – – if it is bad send it to Dances With Wool – Lene – She does beautiful knitting…
You are correct: These are not snowflakes, which have 6 points. These have 8points, so they are either stars or flowers.
I agree with some others. They look like snowflakes without embroidery and flowers with it (regardless of the points)! 🙂
wow, Stephanie, your getting pretty good at the photo thing; that first photo of the sweater is just perfect..well done. I was trying to add in a pic of the socks I just finished into my blog today and sorta failed at it.
The question is whether they look better with the outlining. Looking at the sweater yesterday I wondered what embroidery could improve on this elegant, classic sweater. The answer appears to be “None.” If the embroidery consists in outlining each motif, I say screw it, even if it does, Dawg forbid, mean quitting. They’re nice defined, but they’re no nicer than undefined. Do whatever it takes to get ’em symmetrical and Let It Go.
I owe Mr. Workman, too — it was his publicity department that sent you to our store. He’s why we met. Bless his heart.
A friend once said that we get the face we deserve. Mr. Workman looks kind AND intelligent, a wonderful combination. May he rest in peace.
Yeah, the fiddly-ness of those snowflake-flowers would be why my daughter’s sweater only has the funny knit/purl pattern on it. I never got around to doing that embroidery stuff on it. I think it looks tons better with the embroidery stuff, and maybe someday, the sweater in my drawer will get it. For now, the sweater rests in the drawer waiting for another little one in our family to wear it. Oh, and as for my (adult) Fanasaeter? Yeah, it doesn’t have the embroidery either. Sigh.
Is it not remarkable that the last word of the obituary is “knitting”?
My condolences on the loss of your friend.
As for the chain stitch, might you be able to get the same effect with a tiny crochet hook? It seems like you could pull one loop up, reposition the hook inside the loop that you just pulled through and pull up the next one. I think that this could be a quicker alternative to the embroidery and might be more easily tensioned than the traditional method using a needle.
Those look simply amazing!
I’m not sure if this would save you time, but you do know how to use a crochet hook and really, those are just slipped stitches all along the outlines, and I’d probably have given up the tapestry needle by now for a crochet hook. Just sayin’.
I wonder if such chain stitches are easier to make with a crochet hook. If you keep yarn at the back, then you can push the hook from the top and pick a loop to the front side, and then repeat the same step over and over again, basically making a chain with the knitting in the middle. I am really bad with embroidery myself, and this is how I handle it, most of the time.
I imagine the chain stitching would be so much easier if there were such a thing as a knitting-friendly embroidery hoop.
They look like snowflakes before embroidery, flowers afterward. I like the snowflakes….
For Jiminy Cricket’s sake! The embroidery is only there to outline an already-well defined pattern stitch???? The pattern’s author must have added this step in an attempt to drive people bats. If I were knitting this sweater, I would have skipped the embroidery.
My mother used to do embroidery when I was growing up, decorating pillowcases, table linens, and such. The only part she liked less than chain stitch was doing clusters of French knots. Either could evoke unlady-like language that would make a crow blush fire-engine red.
So many of knitting books from Workman Publishing I love. I actually looked up how many books. A knitters friend is right.
Any skill takes practice 😉
This is exactly how I felt making my first lace pattern search before I got your book!
And the last phrase of Peter Workman’s obit is “We stick to our knitting”! What a cool guy he was.
The embroidery looks like a fiddly pain in the ass, and I rather love it. Too often I’ll bail on the fine detailed finishing work, and end up dissatisfied with the result. I admire your skill and sticktuitiveness and willingness to do the fiddly bits to make truly remarkable pieces.
Now I know that you know how I feel when I read your blog-profound wonder re your amazing speed/skill in creating exquisite yarn heirlooms. For awhile I convinced myself that you secretly employed knitting assistants/elves – the quantity/quality you crank out is superhuman. So, no elves?
At the risk of incurring untold wrath, I think they look more like snowflakes and like them better sans broiderie. They threw that in the directions just to be mean.
That little gray sweater is looking great. I’m actually kind of glad to see you struggling with the embroidery, and I mean that in a really really nice way. I took a weaving class several years ago and the instructor said all textile arts teachers should take a class in something they do not already know. She felt it gave the instructor a better insight to the learning process and struggles of an absolute beginner. . Watching you diligently work out each stitch is like watching myself do a heal flap (just finished my second pair of socks) It takes effort and concentration and a lot of time to make it look good, and with practice the results will only improve. I’m also glad to read that you know it is lack of experience that is slowing you down, and with practice it will become easier/faster. I think the embroidery adds to the beauty of the little sweater, and even though it is not knitting – and not easy – you can stick with it and will find the end result was worth the effort.
Ahem…think I might have mentioned when the emb!£$%^&ery subject first reared its head that they’re definitely ALREADY snowflakes and stitching around them will make them flowers. And which is more Norwegian?
I still, as others have mentioned too, prefer them without, but since it’s giving you a good excuse for wine and bad language, who am I to interfere?
I suspect that part of the problem is that you are a very fast knitter. You are accustomed to making one of those stitch loops in a split second, not in 25 seconds. That makes you less patient than a slower knitter would be. However, I, too, think a crochet hook would be faster.
Your feelings about embroidery (which I mastered long before I could manage to keep a steady gauge in my knitting) are similar to mine about crochet (which I usually need to redo at least 5 times to get looking kind of okay, by which time the yarn is looking pretty tired) and spinning (at which I have failed miserably every time I’ve tried it). I’ve read enough of your blog over the years to know you are light years ahead of where I could hope to be at either craft.
We all have something we cannot for the life of us get yarn to do (and that someone else can do seemingly with no effort). It is the way of the world.
I’ll just say the embroidered ones look like flowers, the plain ones look like snowflakes. Just sayin’.
Workman was/is one of the best publishing houses. So sorry they lost a great man at the helm. Seems like a really cool frood. (However Douglas Adams spelled it.) Like the others that followed your links love the last line about “sticking to our knitting.” The man was in a class with some other really great independent book publishers. We will mourn his passing.
The sweater is looking fantastic and almost finished. Keep up the good fight, and I agree with you they look more like flowers after you add the chain stitch. Oh well.
I just took a fly tying class, and my knitting and spinning skills totally translated and made me the star of the class!! The setting was a pub, i was the only girl, and only participant under 50, but I’m pretty sure I rocked it;)
Those are some very nice flowers! I like the 3D effect that comes out of the embroidery. Never thought of that. Nice trick! PS. The flowers were never snowflakes. Must be designed by someone living in a warm climate… But they look great 🙂
Pardon if you have already had this suggestion, but have you tried this tambour-style with a crochet hook?
I have the opposite experience: I am skilled with needles with holes in them: cross stitch, crewel and surface embroidery come easily to me. I can even manage a crochet hook in a respectable fashion. But I just can’t seem to master knitting though I keep trying. Using two needles at the same time really throws me: I guess the right and left hemispheres of my brain don’t communicate all that well.
Before you started embroidering the “snowflakes” I thought they looked like snowflakes. Now that they are outlined they DO look like flowers! And no one can convince me otherwise.
I really liked the sweater without the embellishments. The knittinh. alone, is just lovely
I know I tend to shy away or should I say run as fast as possible from projects that have needlework involved. I, too have been a cross-stitcher, but embroidery makes me anxious and causes hives. You have more fortitude than I, so don’t knock yourself.
I was also sorry to hear of Peter Workman’s passing. I was part of an independent editorial project in grad-school and he was one of the publishers that mentored us via our virtual classroom. He will be greatly missed.
Sending you all good thoughts as you finish the sweater – the baby to come will never understand your efforts, but it will be kept warm when wrapped in your love and caring and I can’t help but think that this baby will feel that in some cosmic way. Here’s hoping anyway. 🙂
I’m with you on the needlework, and knitting is not needlework, which conjures of an image of a Victorian grandma, hunched over in her rocking chair, poking a hooped piece of embroidery with a needle. And that’s sooo not me, a knitter!
It’s probably the wrong time to tell you this, but….. until you started embroidering those snowflakes I had no idea that anything was missing from the design. You totally could skip it and the recipient would be none the wiser.
Sure hate to say it but they looked more like snowflakes before the embroidery!
Know anyone who loves to do embroidery? Trade tasks with them. Maybe they hate weaving in ends – who doesn’t? However, I would much rather weave in someone’s ends than sit and embroider. That would be a fair trade to me.
I had to stand up and walk away from my computer when I read this, “I’ve actually unpicked two of them because they looked like I gave a three year old who didn’t give a crap a needle and yarn.” One of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. I needed that. Your little grey is truly handsome.
I had no idea who Peter Workman was until I read the link. I read most of the listed books back in the 80’s. The publishing world will be less without him
As for the embroidery- I would have skipped it. I liked the sweater better without it.
If you want a flower effect continue with needle and yarn. If you want 8-sided snowflakes rip the stitches out. If I had a vote, and i know I do not have a vote, I would choose snowflakes.
Since they have eight sides, they’re flowers. Snowflakes are six-sided. (My daughter is very particular about observing this!) Beautiful sweater!!!
Susan B Anderson does a chain stitch tutorial on youtubehttp://youtu.be/1MZrvZBtM9c
Sorry… that’s a chain stitch tutorial using a crochet hook. I find it so much easier!
Maybe someone caught this already, but the obit ends with a quote from Workman:
“Failure is nonproductive,” he said, adding, a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.”
Let’s hold up our needles (whatever kind) to an interesting guy.
Umm. This is a bit late, but I “chain stitch” with a crochet hook on my knitting (Blu Jeans from Knitty). It still requires care in placement, but I find the tension easier to control that way.
Good luck!
Has anyone else suggested that you could have embroidered every other one and had both snowflakes and flowers???
‘…a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.”’
Nothing cryptic about Workman’s comment — he was thinking of you and his other knitter authors.
A good man.
Stay strong young warrior. Actually, I think your test validates your wine consumption and not your freshness. Pour another tonight!
I am shocked at how many books published by Workman that I owe or have owned. Sad day for sure.
They look great but I find my self in the ‘I’d probably skip it’ camp. I embroidered for years including samplers, cross-stitch french knot crewel and even smocked bunches of little dresses. NOT gonna embroider on knitting.
Confessing I like it better without the embroidery. In either case, it’s going to look marvelous. Stitch on!
Try using a crochet hook to do the chains – it’ll go a little faster.
When I took a spinning class with Maggie Casey, she said that she asks the teachers at her store to take a class in something they’ve never done before every once in awhile so they don’t forget what it feels like to be a beginner. I learned to embroider and knit from my grandmother both around the same time. I think my fascination with all those little hanks on bright embroidery floss foretold my fascination with handpainted spinning fiber.
Apparently few people read what others have written before them or just don’t care if they say the exact same things that 70 or more people already said. Crochet hook chain stitch? Really? Just saying.
I gotta tell you, I would have looked at the beautiful sweater and said “gosh its beautiful and doesn’t need any flippin embroidery.” It is truly beautiful and a work of art. I hope the receiving Mom truly understands this and when her babe outgrows it, she keeps the sweater and uses it for other babes and when it has done its work, she should frame it. Truly.
That is a gorgeous sweater! However, I think I would have gone cross-eyed from the embroidery, so keep your chin up! It’s amazing and commendable, and damned if that baby doesn’t pass it down through the generations until the sun runs out of fuel!
For fiddly and fussy and picky and tiny please refer back to a previous blog entry of yours regarding the socks that had dangling maple leaves hanging from the tops and started with leaves at the toes. I broke out in hives just reading how much you absolutely loved ripping and re-ripping those toes out until they were just perfect. Shudder. I will give you that it’s unfortunate knitting can’t be put in a hoop, but chain stitch really can’t compare, can it?
8 petals? flower. every 5 year old knows that there are SIX arms to a snowflake!
You win.
Oh how clever! That’s such a cute idea!
For the record, the same person who taught me to knit also taught me to embroider, and that was my grandfather. When his widowed sister-in-law remarried, he made them a french knot table cloth for a wedding present that they still treasure more than 50 years later, being one of the very few treasures they saved when their house burnt. I’ve made uncountable embroidered pillow cases and table cloths and table runners. Unfortunately arthritis has slowed my hands when it comes to handling sewing needles anymore. I’m hoping I have one more project in me, tho, because I want to put some embroidered dragonflies on the shawl I’m doing now for a wedding present.
It’s a great skill to have, so hang in there! You’re doing fine!
The sweater is beautiful, you don’t need the embroidery, but speaking from experience embroidery should always be done by morning light. Don’t ask me why but it always comes out better
“It was last night, when I was unpicking one of them – and perhaps pouring myself a largish glass of wine and using unlady-like language (for the record, I think both were appropriate, considering my situation)”
And this, Miss Stephanie, is why I like you so much. Yes, you are the yarn harlot. Yes, you are a REAL person.
For those who read my earlier comment, I’ve given up on my little lavendar sweater. It, the instructions, and circular needle still holding stitches are on their way to the attic. My son can figure out what to do with them when I’m dead.
I’m very sorry to hear of your friend’s passing, he does sound like an incredible human being. Even thought you don’t think you knew him very well, obviously what you got was enough.
I agree with others: I thought the sweater was beautifully perfect in every way and not sure why the designer insists on the embroidery. If you are so compelled, you will do what you must.
Love and best wishes to You…
The world is divided into two-needle people (knitters) and one-needle people (crochet, embroidery, sewing, etc). I tried everything in both classes and I can do the one-needle arts well enough but the finished product is my motivation. With knitting, the process is my motivation. I’d have skipped the embroidery as many others have suggested.
Whoever thought those were snowflakes was clearly on some really interesting drugs. It was snowing when I went to the store just now, and I can’t tell you how much I would have preferred to be showered with something that looked more like those patterns.
Good luck on the embroidery. I have faith in your resilience (and your disinclination to abandon a sweater THAT close to done in a fit of despair).
A lovely obit about Peter Workman – I had various Kliban memorabilia for years. And the last line: “Failure is nonproductive,” he said, adding, a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.”
Of course he would hold a sock!!
Definitely flowers and not snowflakes. Snowflakes have six-point symmetry and so would not have eight points like that. ;-p
I just read Peter Workman’s obit in the New York Times and was amused by the end of it: “Failure is nonproductive,” he said, adding, a bit cryptically, “We stick to our knitting.” Not cryptic at all!
Did you consider laying the “loop” the other way around? It seems every video on the net and your pictures show laying the “right leg” of the loop first, that is laying it anti-clockwise. I like to lay the loop with my left hand clockwise, so the left leg first, also I turn the fabric so I always have the rounded part of the loop pointing diagonally to top left. Maybe it matters also if the yarn has an S or a Z twist, because the way you lay the loop might loosen the thread just a little bit, while the other way around keeps it tight and thus neater.
I would definitely pick a couple of the most visible snowflakes/flowers to embroider around, and call it a day. Practice be damned. Embellishment is just as effective if not done all over, in fact it looks more modern that way.
But there’s a large thing at work here – why embroider? A chain stitch is almost instantaneously done.. with a crochet. Much better control over what goes where, easy ripping. Maybe the designer doesn’t know Prudence Mapstone?
I’d use a crochet hook for that…..