Maize is FINALLY here
Oh, you guys. I can’t even. March 2009?!
This one’s been a long time coming. Meet Maize. This time for real.
Here, let me crib from the notes inside the pattern because whoa. My head is officially done in.
Also known as: the pattern that broke a thousand tech editors (this is only a slight exaggeration). Maize is a pattern with a STORY.
Have you ever knit something that—while incredibly easy to knit—is really, really difficult to explain? That’s Maize in a nutshell. I knit the first sample in gorgeous Malabrigo “Frank Ochre,†a golden color that jumps out at you in the dim light of autumn.
Knit from the bottom up, the cables that form the peplum bottom come together organically and create shaping that’s almost invisible. Ditto at the bust and armscye…and therein the problem! Sometimes I am terrible at writing down what I do as I go along if I am knitting something for myself, which was my original intention here.
I thought my trusty long-term tech editors would be able to help. They are way better at making sense of my scribbles than I am sometimes! They tried…valiantly. So, so valiantly.
Finally, to get a pattern that was not only correct but also available in sizes other than Shannon-size, Andi knit an entirely new sample from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, the green version you see here. We tested and recharted and fixed along the way. I cannot thank everyone who helped me with this pattern enough. In particular: tech editors Alexandra Virgiel, Kate Atherley, Andi Smith and Ruth Garcia-Alcantud, all of whom have poked it with a stick (sometimes beaten it with a stick) over the past few…years.
(This pattern took forever, but I’d rather it be right than not!)
Andi gets special thanks for knitting and taking notes on the second (green) sample, and working on the charts. Ruth is probably getting a life-sized chocolate statue in the mail soon.
Beautiful photos by Caro Sheridan, as modeled by Rebecca Patterson.
YAY!
(Shannon falls over, quietly, into a puddle of glee-induced, exhaustion-inspired mush).
Repin it on Pinterest, would you?
Wow, woman, I thought I was stubborn! congrats–I love this sweater!
I think I have found my next project. This sweater is absolutely lovely! I must pick wool, dye, card, blend, spin, ply and plan just for this pattern. You are a genius.