I had the opportunity to visit the Shetland Islands this past summer and met Mary Macgregor, a local craftswoman, whose book “Fair Isle Knitting Patterns” provided the inspiration for this design.
Not long after meeting Mary I went to Jamieson’s of Shetland to do some yarn shopping. When I saw their range in Ultra (a Shetland wool/lambswool blend) I decided to buy a selection of greys and blues (with a red thrown in the mix).
This 6.5×72 inches (16.5x183cm) scarf is knit in the round, meaning that it is reversible and doubly thick as well. The ends are closed using a 3-needle bind-off technique.
I used five different colors for this scarf (a total of eleven 25-gram balls): two greys, two blues, and a red.
The pattern is available on Ravelry at:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fair-isle-scarf-in-blues-and-greys
We’re on a week-long visit to the US, taking in the scenery from coastal Virginia and South Carolina to the fall colors of the mountains around Asheville NC.
On the way we stopped to visit Ladianne Henderson and Sheri Osborne at their yarn shop in Huntersville, NC – Cheers To Ewe. It’s a wonderful place that I’ve watched developed through posts and photos online. Check out their website at http://www.CheersToEwe.com
and you can see my chat with some of the shop’s faithful customers on YouTube:
I’m particularly interested in geometric shapes that represent nature. This lace knit wrap features a center panel of a repeating arbor lace stitch pattern surrounded by a Turkish faggoting stitch, and edged on both sides with a stylized leafy vine stitch pattern.
The inspiration for the design came as I was walking through a formal garden in Europe last year.
The wrap was hand knit by me in a luxurious blend of linen and wool and is a perfect weight for year-round wear. The color is called Citrine.
It is rectangular in shape and measures 17×62” (43.2×157.5cm).
If you’d like to purchase this item, it’s available in my Etsy shop.
A couple of months ago I posted some photos of this hat and noted that I would be writing a pattern for it. It has taken a while to get to it, but it is available now.
This hat was one of my final two projects for the Master Hand Knitter certification program of The Knitting Guild Association. The design includes two cable patterns, bobbles, twisted stitches and background and filler stitches.
Finished Measurements:
Brim circumference 21in (53.3cm)
Length from crown to base of ear 9.5in (24.1cm)
The length is between that of a beanie and a slouch.
I found this Mosaic Maze stitch as I was swatching a variety of slip-stitch and Mosaic patterns and thought it would be the perfect choice for a cowl.
It is actually quite easy to knit. Only one color is worked for each round and the stitches not worked are slipped. The color changes every other round.
The piece begins and ends with a row of eyelets – with a purl row on each side. The size is 23 inches in circumference and 12 inches in height (58.5×30.5 cm).
Your favorite fingering weight yarn could be substituted for the Jamieson Spindrift.
You can see from the back view photo that the design includes 2 stitches in every round that are not part of the actual Mosaic Maze stitch pattern. These stitches create 2 columns of interrupted horizontal lines at the back of the cowl. The reason for including these stitches is to avoid the jog that occurs in changing colors when knitting in the round.
Summer in Bloom – a lace knit shawl that’s just in time for summer! This easy-to-knit, large triangular shawl is perfect as a summer evening wrap – or works equally as well as an after-beach cover up!
This shawl is knit in stockinette stitch with panels of eyelet flowers. The yarn is listed as a thick and thin fashion yarn. It yields an open-and-opaque fabric, with the eyelet stitch patterns creating additional open spaces.
The King Cole Opium yarn is a blend of 54% cotton with acrylic and polyamide added making it an easy-care as well as light-weight accessory.
Worked on US8 (5mm) needles, the shawl required around 1-2/3 balls of the yarn in the color Peacock. It was actually quite pleasant to work with and very interesting to see the fabric patterning develop.
This bandana-style scarf is basically a triangle knit from the top down, alternating stripes of color with bands of an eyelet Roman Stripes pattern and a final edge that incorporates a Fireflowers slipped stitch pattern.
It’s perfect as a summer evening wrap – or works equally as well as an after-beach cover-up!
The yarn I used in the sample is Blacker Yarns Lyonesse 4-ply that’s a blend of linen and Corriedale wool. It used most of 1 ball of Tourmaline and 1 ball of Citrine. The yarn produces a crisp fabric with excellent stitch definition.
Raspberries and Lime – because there’s a refreshing and fruity feel about this combination of colors and stitch patterns. It’s sure to add a welcome and eye-catching touch to your neckline at any time of the year!
Measurements: 41×15.5 in (104×39.4 cm)
Pattern available on Ravelry and the scarf itself is available on Etsy.
This traditional cabled Aran hat was the last of the 2 final projects for my Master Hand Knitting Program of The Knitting Guild Association.
It was designed and knit by hand by me. I knit the hat in the round using Donegal Yarns Original Aran Natural Yarn in natural light cream white (báinín).
This is a view of the top, showing the patterned decreases:
The hat is an adult’s size L and measures 9.5in / 24cm from beginning of brim to top of crown. I’ll be working up a pattern for it if anyone’s interested.
I just finished knitting this all-over Fair Isle-patterned gansey. It was designed following a traditional shape I found in Michael Pearson’s Traditional Knitting and some patterns I found in A Shetlander’s Fair Isle Graph Book in Colour.
The first photo is on its own; the second is the gansey worn by the recipient; and the third is the piece of Asian embroidery that inspired the color palette.
