Blackberry Cozy Design -- Part II

After all the showboating before the match, I was expecting a little competition, a little fanservice from the contenders. Sadly, it was all talk, and the match was a total shutout. Observe these swatches and judge for yourself.



The Rowan Calmer did its very best, I'm sure, but it did not accomplish what I needed it to. While this is a very pretty swatch, and I especially like how the smaller bobbles look all lined up like that, it really does not look much like a blackberry. Case closed.

I hope you agree that the Gems Opal swatch is a total K.O. This looks so good it almost makes up for the fact that making it was a total pain in the ass. I have nothing against tiny yarn or tiny needles (hence the love of sock-making); it's the bobbles themselves that make it a chore. Having to short-row five stitches, and then knit them all together on my slippery metal needles all across the row, over and over, is a little on the grueling side. Also, the stitches in between the bobbles? Yeah, that's seed stitch, baby. Like I said before, sucker for punishment.



Maybe I need to purchase some bamboo #3s...hmmm. I do own several pairs of bamboo dpns, but for the lower sizes I really only have a set of bamboo #2s, and eventually I want to replace my metal #3,4 and 5s with wood or bamboo, because aside from the metal ones being cold and slippery, the sound they made when you slide them out of a plastic case is bone-chilling. It's akin to the sound of a fork scraping against a plate, or a fingernail on a chalkboard-- it's that kind of bad.

So, the next step is to take some measurements of my blackberry and figure out the guage of this swatch, and from those two measurements I should be able to arrive at the number of stitches I need to cast on. I've already decided I'm going to work this up in the round, since that will make for a stronger cozy, and eliminates the need for seaming. At this point, I also need to make a few decisions about the structure of the piece.

• Do I want it to be a straight up and down knitted case, with an opening at the top, or a more complicated design with a top that flips off?
• Should the case fit only the blackberry, or the blackberry and the holster. The holster will make it more complicated, but it would allow me to clip the blackberry, in the cozy, to things. This would show off the cozy more and would allow me to get to the BB more quickly.
• Should the cozy be lined? Again, this would make it stronger, but if I decide to make a holster-accomidating cozy, it won't need to be all that strong.

Additionally, I need to work up a design schema for the pattern of the bobbles on the front of the piece. This will be effected, and in return will effect, the number of stitches that will eventually be cast on for the piece. Since I already have a pattern for a small leaf, the finishing touches of a leaf and stem need marginal thought (the stem can easily be knit up as i-cord). There are still plenty of things to think about here, so I'm going to take some time to give it a good mull in the old skull-chest. To be continued...