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Surprise Guest Revealed!

August 18, 2010

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I am starting with a quick side note before I dig into today’s topic. Please pop over, if interested, to see a few video interviews I did on Yarn on the House. I talk a lot about Spud & Chloë and the best part is that there is a huge Spud & Chloë giveaway running through Sunday, Aug. 22! The prize is enormous!  Click here to watch and enter!

Okay, today’s the day! Do you see who that is up there in that tiny thumbnail? Our special guest contributor to the Easy Top-Down Raglan Knitalong is none other than the fabulous sweater designer/author Wendy Bernard! I am so excited to get to tell you this. I am sure you all know who Wendy Bernard is but just in case I will tell you a little about her. Wendy is an accomplished top-down sweater designer who has designed many of today’s most popular sweater patterns. If you look at the top 100 sweater patterns on Ravelry her designs pop up over and over again. In fact, right now she is filming a new DVD on top-down sweaters in Denver at the Interweave headquarters. I can’t wait for that one.

I feel so good about having her by our sides as we work. Wendy has written a completely awesome book which I am sure many of you are familiar with called Custom Knits. Now, let me tell you how this all came to be….

This summer I have knitted four (and a half) adult size sweaters for myself. All of them have been top-down and are varied slightly in styles and stitches. I have also been reading lots of patterns and formulas and recipes for top-down sweaters. I’ve had the book Custom Knits for a long time but haven’t had time to knit myself sweaters for literally years. I have had about 7 sweaters from this book ear-marked as must knit sweaters for some time now! I love everything about Custom Knits especially all of the technique and teaching aspects included in the book. Wendy is a great instructional writer as well as a talented designer.

I turned to the back-end material of the book to find formulas or as I like to call them recipes for a variety of top-down sweaters and cardigans and sleeve types. I kept thinking about how I wanted to do a knitalong on Spud says! so I had my eye out for a simple, no-nonsense recipe. On page 154 in Custom Knits I found the simplest 10 step formula for a top-down raglan sweater I have ever seen. I fell in love with the 10-steps to the perfectly and personally fitted sweater. I grabbed my tape measure, a ball of Grape Jelly and my size 7 circular needles and dug in. I had so much fun making my own sweater using Wendy’s formula.

Here’s where it gets good. I emailed Wendy to see if she minded if I used her basic formula for the top-down raglan as our general recipe for this knitalong. Not only did she say yes, she said she could help out as well. I couldn’t believe my good luck and your good luck. She really and truly is THE expert on this area of knitting in my opinion. She knows the pitfalls, the easy way out of trouble, how to solve fit issues, what looks best and where, techniques, tips and tricks, etc. The list goes on and on.

Wendy is currently working on her second book of top-down sweaters where she delves even deeper into the subject. I highly recommend Custom Knits (click here to see all of the projects in the book), Wendy’s first book, for anyone wanting to knit top-down sweaters.  You may want to get a copy of your own especially after we knit this sweater together. You will want to branch right out and try another sweater immediately.

Here is the link to Knit and Tonic, Wendy’s ultra-fantastic blog. It has been one of my favorites for years now.

Here is the link to Wendy’s book Custom Knits.

Here is the link to Wendy’s ravelry designer page.

Go and enjoy her talent, her humorous and fun blog and her spectacular photography! Wendy is a gem.

One last thing, I am joining right in the knitalong with you to knit another sweater. I am gathering my stray balls of Sweater to make The Collector a sweater of her own. She loves mine so much that she wants one for herself. I will take photos along the way including the measuring and figuring out as I create her own “custom knits” top-down raglan.

Isn’t this great? I have heard from so many people gathering their skeins of Sweater in almost every color available, Cider, Firecracker, Watermelon, Toast, Moonlight, Grass, Pollen, Firefly, Chipmunk…. Will there be a Turtle, an Ice Cream,  and a Rootbeer? We’ll have to wait and see! I know that a few stores are trying to get yarn for customers. I know a few stores that have been inundated with orders, too. We will move slowly at the beginning so everyone can get settled so don’t worry about it. The information will always be available and you can join in at any time, even after it is over!

This is all so exciting!

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