Introducing my latest design for Knit Now magazine: Bluebell Wood. It’s in Issue 33, which went on sale this week and if I’m honest the publication date gave me pause for thought when commissioning was going on some months back. I’d been playing with the idea of botanical designs and the motif used here was meant to echo what you see when you look straight down into the bluebell flower. Woods carpeted in bluebells are a real sign of Spring being on the way for me, but I wanted to use the Shetland yarn I used for swatching in the design. Could Shetland wool work in a Spring design?
I ended up chatting to editor Kate Heppell. At this point she had yet to experience the biting wind of the Furness peninsular on her seaside photoshoot here, but nonetheless she pointed out that in many parts of these islands, signs of Spring don’t necessarily mean it’s quite time to put the woollies away. As I sit here, looking at new leaves and blossom against a backdrop of grey clouds outside my window and contemplate putting a second cardigan on, I realise she is right. In any case, this design uses a relatively light yarn- Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift- which knits up into quite a fine fabric. Of course, being pure wool it’s ultimately breathable as well as insulating which should mean this is a pretty versatile set.
More importantly, doesn’t it look pretty? Both pieces are knit in the round (this makes the scarf double sided) and I think this would be a great project for a newbie to stranded knitting. There are only two colours to juggle, the motifs are quite short in both rounds and rows and once past the colourwork, the rest of the hat and scarf are pretty straightforward- although you do have to work the chart top to bottom for the other end of the scarf! Using Shetland yarn is a good idea for those new to colourwork. The ‘stickiness’ of the yarn makes it less prone to gaping and unevenness and then when you wet block it, the ‘bloom’ means that the colours snuggle happily against one another to give a great finish. I picked the colours to fit the Bluebell theme, but I’d love to see it made up in different pairs of constrasting colours- maybe even a light on dark for a more wintry knit.
As ever, there’s a great selection of patterns in the magazine. As with any title, there are always going to be some months where you want to knit ALL THE THINGS and others where there aren’t so many things to your taste. However, I know Kate works very hard with her team and us designers to try and cover a wide range of ability levels, provide the right mix of garments, accessories, kids stuff and homewares, showcase different techniques and include projects where varied amounts of time and yarn need to be invested. The pattern I have my eye on particularly this time around is the Colour Strands Pullover by Danielle Parkin. I’ve not really done much slipstitch colourwork and I like the effect created here where it’s used for horizontal bands of a chain pattern. A bonus is that not only is it knit in a British Yarn (Woolyknit’s Diggle DK) but it’s very reasonably priced, which could make for a cheap, fun knit. Can I really justify knitting another sweater for myself?!
On that subject, here is a WIP update: I sorted out the sleeves issue on the red cardigan by rather inexpertly threading a narrower circular needle through the sleeves and body sections at the point of joining so that I could pull everything off the needles and unravel. It all went a bit wrong because I’d not caught the same rows each time going through the lace sections but with a bit of fiddling and possibly some swearing I got it sorted. I’ve now completed most of the yoke and have run out of yarn- the perils of repurposing, eh? I’ve sent off for an extra skein but of course being kettle dyed it is unlikely to be an exact shade match, although this has been true of all the skeins so far and it’s not been a problem. If needs be I’m going to have to alternate skeins row by row to blend the new stuff in. This may involve unravelling some of the last few rows I’ve been doing, sigh! I am tantalisingly close to finishing, but apart from waiting on yarn will be putting this aside for the next few days as I have swatching and sketching that needs urgent attention. The Shawl, meanwhile, still awaits me having the time, energy and reserves of sanity to look at it again. It watches me reproachfully from my WIP pile…
