Insanely inspiring! Anytime I feel like I'm taking on a project or have an idea that feels "Nah, that will take too long..." or "I don't think that's possible" I am thinking of this story right here! 🕵♂
What an amazing sweater! Thank you so much for sharing your design process. What an incredible work of art. Seeing the yellow Nancy Drew books brought back wonderful childhood memories. I have a few of my grandmother’s blue hardcovers from maybe the 30s or 40s. What treasures!
You put in so much effort with the charting process: I'm too lazy for that, so I'm very impressed. I really like the results, too, especially as I read and re-read Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries from ages five to twelve. Deliberately I have not tried to read them again as an adult. I have a sneaking suspicion I would not experience any nostalgia but instead ruin the magic as I discover how simple the plots and writing really are. I'm going to leave those particular childhood memories in their static form. I have made a couple of intarsia sweaters, probably the most complicated one is "Sulaire" from Alice Starmore's "In The Hebrides". I nearly went crazy very quickly with the bobbins swirling around each other every time I drew breath, rendering any one of them useless until I unswirled it. Before long I said something that rhymes with "cluck this noise" and removed the bobbins, leaving the yarns just hanging. This was so much easier, as when it came time to change colours all I had to do was pull free the colour I needed instead of spending time untwisting bobbins (and cursing). The back looked like a terrible tangle but it actually wasn't. As I found out much later, Kaffe Fassett stopped using bobbins for the same reason - when there's a will (or more likely sufficient irritation), there's a way.
Oh my hat is off to you, that's definitely a complicated Starmore pattern. I don't do intarsia much so just went with the bobbin route. I can see given Kaffee Fassett's designs why that might be a reason to scrap them if it works for someone. lol
“… and for the joy of turning this weird dream project into reality” could be the manifesto for my life. And really, for EVERYONE’S life! You are such a treasure and an inspiration!
I loved hearing more about the making of this incredible jumper, I enjoyed the blog post at the time too. It kind of hurts my head to even think about knitting it, let alone all the chart making. It’s a stunner.
I was a HUGE Nancy Drew fan when I was a kid and had several ND books! I love love love your sweater!!! What a great tribute to one of our role models! Thank you for sharing!!!
Talented Plus! Well worth the suspense! This is beyond amazing! Tasha your skills are unbelievable! I am trying to knit, I've been practising for about 20 years now. Just doesn't click with me... love this video and your sweater is epic ❤❤❤
❤ loved your blog. So glad you did this video about your Nancy Drew sweater! Thanks for sharing the details about the chart creation. I have a request to replicate a sweater my grandmother made in 1940 and your steps of making a chart from a photo is very helpful.
OMG! This is awesome. I cannot knit even a simple one colour scarf at all despite trying many times over the years! However this has given me the confirmation I need to 'go for it' with regard to a challenging opera coat sewing project I've been having doubts about! 🙂
Holy moley, that is truly a work of art! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an awesome sweater before - I take my hat off to your skill and dedication! 👏🏼💞 Loved hearing about the process and I’ll definitely check out stitch fiddle.
Thanks so much! Yes Stitch Fiddle is awesome, from my recollection I think I randomly stumbled on it when trying to figure out how to deal with these charts. I paid for a year of it just to work on these because it was so worth it (it's not required to use it but wanted to support the development of such a great tool).
I absolutely love this video, especially the guest walk by, with your books! When I was a kid my mom let me read all of her Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden books. My favorites were Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I took amazing care of them and cherished these books. When my sister got old enough, my mom gave the books to her. Unfortunately when they got passed onto my sister, they went missing or got damaged. It made both my mom and myself very sad. Every once in awhile, I consider collecting them all, unfortunately we don't have the shelf space for them. Thank you for sharing the making of your sweater.
That is truly amazing! I also thank you for the info of online sites for doing a grid pattern. In the 90’ or early 2000’s I had a program that did it. But yeah that was years and computers ago. My dear daughter decided she wanted to read all the Nancy Drew’s. She grew up but I still carry a list of missing books!
Thank you for sharing stitchfiddle. It's heartwarming when makers share their resources especially for color graphs. Btw, I can't tell you how many times I've rewatched the part where Mel comes through the background showcasing the box of Nancy Drew books. I love the video and that fun addition so much. Your work is always amazing.
Wow! I knit one intarsia ...years ago...a couple of sweaters into my knitting journey, It was a whole lot simpler and I confess it because an area of intarsia and the rest of the design somehow became striped with each color ending at the row end (That is, I gave up on the intarsia and turned the yarn from "picture" to stripes) But that sweater gives me itchy fingers and I love Nancy Drew (30s-50s because those are the ones I read from my mom)
This sweater is INSANE!! Inspires to try to make one myself, but with topic that is important to me😂 You are so creative! I was about to ask if people gave any compliments but over 70!!
Bravo! from One Who Was Defeated by intarsia. I love the Nancy Drew sweater AND that you decided it is enough intarsia . . . forever? I'll stick to lacework, cables and the occasional Fair Isle color piece, thanks very much. To avoid being reminded of my Heraldic Dogs debacle, I gave away all of the Kaffee Fassett books, even though I love his work. Oh, well. Much love! 🧶
My dream would be to make a replica of the exquisite white beaded gown the wonderful Sharon Tate wears as Jenn in Valley Of The Dolls. That gown is gorgeous ... as is your magnificent Intarsia sweater!
Tasha-I just found your channel from Retro Claude’s video. Curious…do you live in the Chicago area? I’m wondering based on what looks like a typical Chicago back yard from your Instagram pics. I’m on the nw side. And…I love your aesthetic!!
Have you read the "Advocate" series by Teresa Burrell? They are not "cozy" but are clean and have engaging characters and plot. Your sweater is adorable. Im sure it makes someone smile every time you wear it.
When people ask me for a project, material, or even the pattern for something that took way too much effort to justify selling, I make them an offer of a large amount of money, donated to whatever charitable organisation I respect and feel might be relevant to the project. Say... $10,000 donated to a literacy, or women's justice charity. I've never had anyone take me up on any of those offers. But... that's about what it cost me to create it if my work were being paid fairly... so...
Insanely inspiring! Anytime I feel like I'm taking on a project or have an idea that feels "Nah, that will take too long..." or "I don't think that's possible" I am thinking of this story right here! 🕵♂
What an amazing sweater! Thank you so much for sharing your design process. What an incredible work of art. Seeing the yellow Nancy Drew books brought back wonderful childhood memories. I have a few of my grandmother’s blue hardcovers from maybe the 30s or 40s. What treasures!
You put in so much effort with the charting process: I'm too lazy for that, so I'm very impressed. I really like the results, too, especially as I read and re-read Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries from ages five to twelve. Deliberately I have not tried to read them again as an adult. I have a sneaking suspicion I would not experience any nostalgia but instead ruin the magic as I discover how simple the plots and writing really are. I'm going to leave those particular childhood memories in their static form.
I have made a couple of intarsia sweaters, probably the most complicated one is "Sulaire" from Alice Starmore's "In The Hebrides". I nearly went crazy very quickly with the bobbins swirling around each other every time I drew breath, rendering any one of them useless until I unswirled it. Before long I said something that rhymes with "cluck this noise" and removed the bobbins, leaving the yarns just hanging. This was so much easier, as when it came time to change colours all I had to do was pull free the colour I needed instead of spending time untwisting bobbins (and cursing). The back looked like a terrible tangle but it actually wasn't. As I found out much later, Kaffe Fassett stopped using bobbins for the same reason - when there's a will (or more likely sufficient irritation), there's a way.
Oh my hat is off to you, that's definitely a complicated Starmore pattern. I don't do intarsia much so just went with the bobbin route. I can see given Kaffee Fassett's designs why that might be a reason to scrap them if it works for someone. lol
Oh cluck!
Thank you for explaining your design process. I would never attempt something this complicated but it was fascinating to hear how you did it
“… and for the joy of turning this weird dream project into reality” could be the manifesto for my life.
And really, for EVERYONE’S life! You are such a treasure and an inspiration!
I love getting the fully back story on the sweater. And love the Mel cameo!
I loved hearing more about the making of this incredible jumper, I enjoyed the blog post at the time too. It kind of hurts my head to even think about knitting it, let alone all the chart making. It’s a stunner.
Wow! Why a cool process! Just the knitting alone is intense but all the pattern altering you had to do was mind blowing! So fun! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! It was definitely intense from start to finish!
This is the sort of project that is truly a work of art!
Thanks Claude! It certainly feels like a work of art to me! 💖
I was a HUGE Nancy Drew fan when I was a kid and had several ND books! I love love love your sweater!!! What a great tribute to one of our role models! Thank you for sharing!!!
Yes, I didn't ever refer to her as a role model in the video but she absolutely was! Glad you enjoyed it. 😊
I love Nancy Drew! I passed my Nancy Drew books to my granddaughter. Your sweater is beyond amazing ❤
Talented Plus! Well worth the suspense! This is beyond amazing! Tasha your skills are unbelievable! I am trying to knit, I've been practising for about 20 years now. Just doesn't click with me... love this video and your sweater is epic ❤❤❤
❤ loved your blog. So glad you did this video about your Nancy Drew sweater! Thanks for sharing the details about the chart creation. I have a request to replicate a sweater my grandmother made in 1940 and your steps of making a chart from a photo is very helpful.
OMG! This is awesome. I cannot knit even a simple one colour scarf at all despite trying many times over the years! However this has given me the confirmation I need to 'go for it' with regard to a challenging opera coat sewing project I've been having doubts about! 🙂
Holy moley, that is truly a work of art! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an awesome sweater before - I take my hat off to your skill and dedication! 👏🏼💞 Loved hearing about the process and I’ll definitely check out stitch fiddle.
Thanks so much! Yes Stitch Fiddle is awesome, from my recollection I think I randomly stumbled on it when trying to figure out how to deal with these charts. I paid for a year of it just to work on these because it was so worth it (it's not required to use it but wanted to support the development of such a great tool).
I absolutely love this video, especially the guest walk by, with your books! When I was a kid my mom let me read all of her Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden books. My favorites were Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I took amazing care of them and cherished these books. When my sister got old enough, my mom gave the books to her. Unfortunately when they got passed onto my sister, they went missing or got damaged. It made both my mom and myself very sad.
Every once in awhile, I consider collecting them all, unfortunately we don't have the shelf space for them.
Thank you for sharing the making of your sweater.
That is truly amazing! I also thank you for the info of online sites for doing a grid pattern. In the 90’ or early 2000’s I had a program that did it. But yeah that was years and computers ago.
My dear daughter decided she wanted to read all the Nancy Drew’s. She grew up but I still carry a list of missing books!
Thank you for sharing stitchfiddle. It's heartwarming when makers share their resources especially for color graphs. Btw, I can't tell you how many times I've rewatched the part where Mel comes through the background showcasing the box of Nancy Drew books. I love the video and that fun addition so much.
Your work is always amazing.
Wow! I knit one intarsia ...years ago...a couple of sweaters into my knitting journey, It was a whole lot simpler and I confess it because an area of intarsia and the rest of the design somehow became striped with each color ending at the row end (That is, I gave up on the intarsia and turned the yarn from "picture" to stripes)
But that sweater gives me itchy fingers and I love Nancy Drew (30s-50s because those are the ones I read from my mom)
Ha! I got the same Hoppalong Cassidy sweater in high school. His horse Topper is on the back. I still have it saved in my grandma’s cedar chest.
Aw that's so cool!
AMAZING!!! 💜💜💜
This sweater is INSANE!! Inspires to try to make one myself, but with topic that is important to me😂 You are so creative! I was about to ask if people gave any compliments but over 70!!
So well done! Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely gorgeous work! ❤❤❤
Thats amazing!! Thank you for all the fascinating details and background information! 😊 Fantastic content as always ❤
Absolutely stunning work!
wow love it …. maybe I should do one with withs a vintage comic book cover of the green lantern🤓🤔
Thanks! That would be amazing!
So fabulous! I followed your blog as you were making it. Absolutely inspiring
Bravo! from One Who Was Defeated by intarsia. I love the Nancy Drew sweater AND that you decided it is enough intarsia . . . forever? I'll stick to lacework, cables and the occasional Fair Isle color piece, thanks very much. To avoid being reminded of my Heraldic Dogs debacle, I gave away all of the Kaffee Fassett books, even though I love his work. Oh, well. Much love! 🧶
My dream would be to make a replica of the exquisite white beaded gown the wonderful Sharon Tate wears as Jenn in Valley Of The Dolls. That gown is gorgeous ... as is your magnificent Intarsia sweater!
Tasha-I just found your channel from Retro Claude’s video.
Curious…do you live in the Chicago area? I’m wondering based on what looks like a typical Chicago back yard from your Instagram pics. I’m on the nw side.
And…I love your aesthetic!!
Thank you! Yes well spotted, I'm indeed in Chicago, I often recognize Chicago area yards too.😊
😲 To be blessed with this kind of patience and determination is truly a gift.
This is nothing short of incredible design and knitting! A major achievement.
Epic! ⭐
Thank you!!
You would love vintage Knit O Graf and Mary Maxim knitting patterns
Yes I've seen those, they're great.
Have you read the "Advocate" series by Teresa Burrell? They are not "cozy" but are clean and have engaging characters and plot. Your sweater is adorable. Im sure it makes someone smile every time you wear it.
Thank you for your recommendation. I'm always on the hunt for clean books.
When people ask me for a project, material, or even the pattern for something that took way too much effort to justify selling, I make them an offer of a large amount of money, donated to whatever charitable organisation I respect and feel might be relevant to the project. Say... $10,000 donated to a literacy, or women's justice charity.
I've never had anyone take me up on any of those offers. But... that's about what it cost me to create it if my work were being paid fairly... so...
😍
Whoa! You have too less views comparing what do you do!
Ha ha well maybe someday 🙂 Thanks!
EPIC! It's inspiring me to try some intarsia knitting. Also, I love Mel's cameo!
Thanks!! 😁