New Pattern Available: Dulcia

Dulcia, Fall 2016 Twist Collective / Photography by Crissy Jarvis

I am happy to announce the publication of my brand-new pattern in the Fall 2016 Twist Collective: Dulcia.

Dulcia took a long and winding road to reach the public. I originally started designing this cardigan back in late summer of 2013 after I came across an unusual shade of Madelinetosh Tosh DK at my LYS: a pale gold shade called Winter Wheat. It was lonely sitting there on the shelf so I took it home. After doing a lot of swatching and digging through stitch dictionaries, I fell in love with a simple honeycomb stitch. I came up with the basic design and started knitting. And ripping. And knitting. And ripping. OMG so much trial and error to get it right! As I knitted the prototype I scribbled down the pattern. Then I went back and did all the calculations to grade the pattern for all the different sizes. I use a spreadsheet for this. I then hired a terrific technical editor so that all mistakes could be corrected and wording rewritten so everything made sense. The entire process (knitting, ripping, writing, & editing) took about a year (!!) due to other stresses in my life and the fact that I do this in my spare time.

Dulcia Prototype in Winter Wheat / Photo by Warren Agee

Near the end of the tech editing process I ran out of steam. I decided to change directions completely. I put away the pattern, left the design world, and studied portrait photography. Roughly a year later, after attending Stitches West in Santa Clara, CA in February 2016, I realized how much I dearly missed the warm and fuzzy knitting industry. I gave it another chance. My day job had changed, creating more space in my life for knitwear design. So I dusted off Dulcia and cast about for a way to publish it. I didn’t want to self-publish Dulcia; I wanted something different. I had never submitted a design to a major publication before, even though I had designed a few things for yarn companies, and a couple of those ended up in magazines. I knew the competition would be tough and the likelihood of getting accepted was slim, but I went for it. About the same time I noticed that Twist Collective had posted a call for submissions in the Ravelry Designers forum. “Oh boy, wouldn’t it be great to get into Twist – my absolute favorite knitting publication,” I thought. I wrote up my proposal and included photos I had taken of the sweater prototype (seen above). I was nervous and readied myself for rejection. I waited. And waited. And waited….

Dulcia Neckline / Photo by Crissy Jarvis

And then in late April I got an email from Kate Gilbert, Editor-In-Chief and Publisher of Twist. It started with the words “Dear Warren, I’m pleased to write you to accept…” That’s as far as I got. My heart stopped. I had been accepted! Joy! My mind raced, and in the next moment I was filled with panic: I’m gonna have so much work to do! What have I gotten myself into?

There was nothing to worry about, I would later discover. I received the yarn directly from Madelinetosh: Tosh DK in Prairie Fire, the most beautiful shade of pink I’d ever seen. And I’m not a pink person! I knitted up the sweater in about 4 weeks (with a couple days to spare), shipped it off, and worked at getting the pattern into shape according to their specifications. A couple months later, it was published in the Fall 2016 issue of Twist Collective!

I’m thrilled with the styling and photography, expertly shot by Crissy Jarvis.

Dulcia Detail / Photo by Crissy Jarvis

You may view and purchase the pattern by visiting Twist Collective. I appreciate your support!