Floriston

©2013 twistcollective.com; photography: Jane Heller

I know it sounds funny, but I do a lot of designing on my bicycle. I live in a mountainous place, and no matter where I ride, there are always hills and more hills. To keep myself from thinking about my legs on those endless climbs, I pass the time working out the details of new designs.

On some rides last summer it was a cardigan design that kept me diverted. The idea was to create a modern shape that would skim the figure and be easy to wear, but with a bit of elegance…something feminine, but not girly…with lace details, but a geometric motif rather than a floral one…on and on it went, to the top of the hill.

The result is Floriston, just out in Twist Collective's Spring 2013 issue. It's an airy, open-front cardigan with clean lines and a little surprise – a sweet inverted pleat at the back.

©2013 twistcollective.com; photography: Jane Heller

Some more details:

• A wavy eyelet-and-rib pattern forms the cardigan's front bands and is repeated on the inside of the pleat.
• A bit of waist shaping keeps the silhouette sleek.
• The sweater fronts widen slightly at the bottom for some subtle draping without an excess of fabric.
• The bracelet-length sleeves have a little vent detail that echoes the back pleat.
• The sleeves and hem have a crisp I-cord edging.

I love the way that Twist styled the photos of Floriston. The model has such grace and charm, and that floral-print skirt is adorable. But I'm not a very girly girl, so when I had one made for me, I indulged in a lovely charcoal grey. So far I've only worn it with jeans and a tank, but I'd also wear it with some dressier ankle-length pants and short boots, or with a slim sheath dress. Pretty sure I'll steer clear of the bike shorts, though.

A new Millrace

Ever since the Millrace Scarf pattern came out last year I've been itching to use the same tip-to-tip construction and edging motifs in a shawl design. So here it is: the Millrace Shawl.

With a 14" depth at center back and a generous 76" overall width, Millrace stays nicely on the shoulders and can be styled in a lot of different ways. The shawl begins and ends with just 4 stitches. The garter stitch body and lace edging are worked all in one go, so there is no long cast-on or bind-off, and no stitches to pick up. And while the garter body makes the knitting fly along, the flowing lace motif provides just enough interest to keep it fun.

The sample is worked in Quince and Co. Tern in the Sea Grass color. Tern is a lovely yarn that marries 75% American wool with 25% silk for great stitch definition and beautiful drape. Perfect for this design.

Both Millrace patterns can be found in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Another Alewife

Here's the latest in my ongoing love affair with herringbone patterns, the Alewives Hat.

A companion design to the Alewives Cowl, the slightly slouchy hat features a wide swath of herringbone texture amid panels of garter ridges. The pattern is easy enough for advanced beginners, but the texture stitches keep it fun for knitters of all skill levels.

The Alewives Hat pattern is available individually, or as part of an ebook collection containing both the Alewives Hat and Cowl. You can find the patterns in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

A bit about the yarn

Friends who have seen the Alewives cowl and hat in person always remark on the incredibly deep and rich color. The sample is worked in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted, in Bittersweet.

When I asked how they produce these glorious colors, Swans Island's head dyer Jackie Ottino Graf sent me a lot of great information. To read her full description of the dye process, check out this thread in the Swans Island Ravelry group, but here it is, in brief:

All Swans Island yarns are dyed in the skein, using traditional natural dying methods. After scouring with a mild unscented detergent, the yarn is soaked in a mordant bath overnight. The mordant, a mixture of alum and cream of tarter, creates a bond between the dye and the fiber. The fiber is then placed in the dyebath and can remain there for anywhere from a few hours, to overnight – depending on the color and shade that's desired. Swans Island uses a variety of natural dyestuffs including indigo, cochineal, madder, logwood, and weld. Some colors are dyed one shade and then overdyed with another.

The result is luminous layered color that is full of life. Pretty sure I'll be working with this beautiful stuff again sometime soon...

Alewives

I love herringbone patterns. So simple to work – just knits and purls – but such a rich and fascinating result. Perfect for adding textural spice to an easy knit like the Alewives cowl.

The idea behind Alewives was to create a simple cowl using easily memorized stitch patterns, but to make it interesting enough to be fun and engaging. The design features panels of herringbone and panels of garter ridges moving together around the cowl in a rhythmic sequence that keeps the knitting galloping along.

Worked in the round, Alewives is written for two sizes: a 24" / 62 cm diameter single loop, and a 49" / 124 cm loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf, or doubled around the neck for more warmth. The smaller cowl uses approximately 250 yards of a light worsted yarn. About 500 yards is needed for the longer version. Stitch patterns are provided in both charted and written form.

The sample is worked in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted, in the Bittersweet color. This glorious organic Merino yarn is spun and hand dyed in Maine using natural dyestuffs and traditional dyeing methods. Their processes create deep, layered, tonal colors that glow with life and subtly enhance stitch patterns. It was a great fit for Alewives.

Okay, so what's an alewife? It's a fat little fish that looks a lot like a herring…. You can find the Alewives cowl pattern in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Greenwillow

A new year calls for a new pattern, and with all the snow we've gotten over the past few weeks, nothing fits the bill like a cozy cowl.

Greenwillow features a dimensional lattice texture accentuated by crisp linear edge details. The pattern is written for two lengths, a simple 21.5" loop, and a 43" loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf or doubled around the neck for extra warmth.

Knit in String Theory's Blue Faced Sport in Jade, the yarn's subtle tonal variations and incredible luster perfectly complement the latticework pattern.

Greenwillow can be found in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Norden revisited

For a while now I've been itching to cast on for a longer version of the Norden Cowl. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was looking for a good travel project, and thought of Norden. It's a simple lace motif that fit the bill perfectly for not-fully-mindful knitting.

For this longer, lacier version I used fingering-weight Spirit Trail Fiberworks Sunna in Kismet. I doubled the number of repeats around the circumference, and worked one vertical repeat less. The finished cowl is about 46" around, and 5" tall. It used less than 200 yards of the lovely Sunna.

Brickletown

The small mountain town I live in came to life during the building of the transcontinental railroad. As the work crews advanced, the 'Hell on wheels' that supplied entertainment to the workers advanced too.

Blasting train tunnels through hard Sierra granite took time, and some of the denizens of 'Hell' put down roots. When the railroad work eventually moved on, it left behind a rough-and-tumble community with more than its fair share of saloons, gambling dens, and brothels. When I imagine those folks, I somehow always picture them wearing fingerless mitts – so much easier for counting out those ill-gotten gains.

The town has changed a lot in the intervening years, and only a few ramshackle old buildings still remain as a testament to those days – but a pair of fingerless mitts can still come in pretty handy.

In celebration of brisk temperatures and shorter days, the Brickletown Mitts pattern is available for 20% off through the end of November.