My ups and downs ... and a new test call

I hope you are doing well!

I'm keeping myself busy with a lot of projects to keep my mind occupied and not too carried away with the roller coaster of life that it has been lately.

There have been some nice ups, such as getting published in Pom Pom Quarterly, and being featured on the cover, no less. To me, that is like getting to the Olympics for knitters!

I had submitted about ten ideas previously, and all proposals had been rejected. With that kind of success rate, one has to give up hope, don't they? And truth be told, I had. With this last one, I nearly didn't send the submission; I had all sorts of doubts about the design. If it hadn't been for my daughter, who seemed to absolutely love it and snatched up the prototype I had made as soon as it was dry, I wouldn't have made the submission. If it hadn't been for my friends who pointed out that I had nothing to lose given how much work I had already put in, I wouldn't have clicked "send".

Then came the news that Pom Pom would like to include #SaknesCardigan in the fall issue 38, and I was over the moon. There wasn't much time, the process is very speedy, and my pattern is quite complex to write (not to knit), which means the perfect conditions for the kind of projects I love. I did enjoy designing and knitting this cardigan very much, and I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was to find out that it would be featured on the cover. The whole issue is gorgeous, all the other designs are exquisite, and the photos are beautiful. I couldn't be happier about that.

And there have been some downs. All 24 of my lovingly grown from seed tomato plants caught an incurable disease due to the cold and awfully wet weather this summer, and we had to get them out of the garden. I had carefully selected a bunch of different varieties and looked after the plants like they were my children all throughout the spring and early summer, so that was tough. If you know how amazing home-grown tomatoes taste, you know it's worth all that trouble. This year there will be no rewards. But I'll do it all over again next year because if there's one thing I learnt from my experience with Pom Pom, that is always to try again!

Now back to knitting; more ups are coming! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have seen my stories and posts about an upcoming release which I'm very excited about, a collaboration with Spincycle Yarns. That will happen in just a couple of days.

Today I'm writing to invite you to check out my latest test call in my Ravelry group. It is for a top-down seamless round colourwork yoke sweater: #austraskokspullover. The design is created in collaboration with Primrose Yarn Co. and is due to be published in October. If you would like to be one of the testers, let me know by applying through the form posted in the test call.

P.S. If you do apply but you haven't heard from me within 5 days, please check your spam folders as sometimes, unfortunately, my emails end up there for some of you.

P.P.S in Photos of the #SaknesCardigan

Model: @rabbawisdom⁠
Photogtapher: @the.edit_by.salsabil⁠
Hair and makeup: @ashley_kay_beauty ⁠
Photoshoot location: @keswickmill⁠
Clothing: @phaedraclothing