May 012014
 
Crossfire

Diagonal lines fire across this elongated, asymmetric shawl, creating striking contrasts in angles and colors. Textural stripes are worked using simple knit and purl stitches, while the intersecting columns are created by slipping stitches at regular intervals; only one color is ever worked at a time. The sample pairs a neutral main color with a long, self-striping yarn as the contrast color, but using a variegated yarn or leftovers to create your own custom stripe colors as the contrast would be equally lovely. The long, bias shape shows off the dramatic pattern while being easy to wear, and the simple construction adapts to varying amounts of yardage. Techniques & Skills Used: knit/purl, increasing/decreasing, slipped stitches; this pattern is both written and charted. Size: 92” length and 18” depth. Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (100% merino wool; 420 yards/ 384m/100g); 1 skein MC; Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi (80% merino wool, 20% nylon; 195 yards/178m/50g); 2 skeins CC. Shown in Natural (MC) and 120 Fireworks (CC), and using about 420 and 350 yards respectively. This pattern . . .

Sneaky Sorbet

 FOs, WIPs  Comments Off on Sneaky Sorbet
Apr 232014
 
Sneaky Sorbet

I finished the knitting last night, so today was all about weaving in ends – and with a multi-striped sweater, there were a lot of them. Working in the round and twisting the colors created a tidy RS, but a bit of work to do on the private side. After a soak and block, I’ll see how the final result looks. And I’ll just mention that with the coming of spring (finally!), my mind is totally on sorbet; blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, pistachio . . .

Phi

 Featured, New Release, Patterns, Wraps  Comments Off on Phi
Aug 022013
 
Phi

The Golden Ratio, or Phi, represents harmony in nature, art and mathematics, and embodies the human perception of beauty. This asymmetric shawl harmoniously blends two colors to the Golden Mean, and then back again, using the Fibonacci sequence to determine the width of the stripes and their relation one to the next . . . All knitting, always pleasing, with a graphic , and harmonious result. Techniques & Skills Used: increasing/decreasing, knit; Phi includes instructions in written and quick table format, and a link to my video tutorial for carrying the unused color along the garter edge. Size: 90” length and 16” depth. Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Finito (100% merino; 200 yards/183m/50g; 2 skeins MC and 2 skeins CC, or about 370 and 300 yards respectively of fingering weight yarn. Sample shown in Plomo (MC) and Mostaza (CC). The yardage requirements ratio of MC to CC is approximately 1.25 : 1 – make sure you have about 80% as much CC as MC to complete the sequence. Other Materials: US 5 (3.75mm) 32” circular needle, or . . .