Meanwhile in Maine…

A site photo from the ground clearing company was sent to me this week and I was so excited to see where my future first nest is going!  It made me reflect upon the joy of the process and not just the end result so I decided to try something a little different with my next design.  Puddles and I invite you to join along in the process of designing a sweater worthy of Maine’s forecasted winters!

We’ll be tagging each blog in the series with the “Meanwhile in Maine” blog tag.  This design began in 2019, so we’ll kick off the series catching you up on the design timeline and then, in the next blog, move to present day as I pick the pattern back up.

First up, a Maine winter worthy (allergy-friendly) yarn!  Check out this gorgeous organic cotton yarn camera mom and dad surprised me with Christmas of 2019.  Aptly named “Jack Fost” the Blue Sky Fibers Organic Cotton Prints line had just been released and I was dying to knit with it. 

Happy New Year – 2020 – the yarn arrived, the plans to be living in Maine by the Fall were being arranged, and then… well you all know.

I admit it, my design mojo for this design evaporated with the news of seeing my 20 yearlong dream delayed.  So, sketches, gauge swatches, and my SQ of yarn went into a drawer for a season of hibernation. 

Aside – one of the requirements of my illness is a very specifically created living environment – I call it “thriving on the inside (of a healthy home),” the world calls it “(being a) bubble girl”.  This presented us with a bit of a chicken/ egg issue.  I can’t move to Maine without having a bubble (specially built home) to move into.  We can’t oversee the building of the bubble (to ensure it isn’t contaminated with any materials that would burst the bubble and make it no longer okay for me) without being in Maine.  Since all problems are opportunities in disguise, after months of working on it we thought of the solution of a mobile tiny bubble home.  With that possibility my design mojo for the sweater returned!

As this sweater is tied to “home” I had the concept of antique keys and key locks. 

I wondered how it would look as a knitting pattern and swatched it out while designing the tiny house layout over Christmas 2020… Puddles by my side, of course!

Okay, no close up given because the concept didn’t turn out as planned, but it did take me down a rabbit hole of sketches and swatches until I landed upon the one I’ll be using. 

Happy New Year, 2021 – I had my yarn, gauge swatches, general idea of the sweater design, and stitch patterns picked out!  We were making headway with the tiny and the material testing stage began.  This put practically everything on hold as my health issues took over.

August 2021 – the tiny home concept failed as the medical required materials were not mobile-friendly, but just after that happened mid-summer, God opened the door for a foundation-built home!  With only possible because God is in control lightning speed, the build aspects fell into place – financing, architecture, materials, and workers.  Camera dad is lovingly glamping on the property to oversee the build and ensure the bubble remains a bubble for me and I’m ready to finish the design, knit, and publish this gorgeous SQ of yarn for my Maine sweater!

Let’s get started – today we submit the building permit!