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Posts tagged ‘knitty’

Inspiration Monday: Cloudy, with a chance of cowls

Happy Monday, everyone!

It’s the first official Monday in summer, and yet in the perverse schedule proscribed to us makers, what’s on our needles now is what we’ll need to wear come Fall. Smart Gal Amy Singer of knitty.com is all too aware of this, so she gives us the gift of a “First Fall” issue in June.

So many good pieces in this ish! But the one that jumped out at me first and inspired me to reach into my Blue Moon bin was Wolkig, by the endlessly-talented (and fellow German, again!) Martina Behm.

WolkigbyMartinaBehm2_2_medium

It’s a little fluffkin of a cowl, perfect for knitting at this easily-distractable time of year, when your eye might be on the kids playing in the surf or on the waiter bringing you your drink with the umbrella in it, rather than on your pattern.

WolkigbyMartinaBehm2_1_small2

Dudes – it’s a ONE-LINE PATTERN. ONE set of instructions, round and round, ’til you bind off. A genius AFP (Afternoon-Friendly or Alcohol-Friendly Project, depending on how you roll) that will roll off the needles just in time to deter the first windy days of Fall.

A piece like this needs a fluffy dream of a yarn, and good thing Tina has just the ticket: Featherlight. As Tina says in the description, it’s “a perfect balance between softness and twist, like a feather dancing on a breeze.” 100% merino, with just enough twist to hold its shape, but an airy single that will let the texture of the decreases and increases in your ONE PATTERN ROW (did I mention it was easy?) shine.

And with 430 yards per skein, you can just knit knit knit til you have just enough to bind off – or splurge and make it bigger with two skeins and extra stitches (Martina tells you what multiples to add right there in the pattern).

May your summer be filled with blue skies, with the only cloud on the horizon the Wolkig on your needles!

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Zaria by Shannon Squire

The newest Knitty has lots of lovely patterns, but the Zaria shawl is our favorites, and not just because it uses our Socks that Rock Mediumweight yarn! It was designed by one of our besties….Shannon Squire and is  a simple and yet interesting to knit asymetrical shawl that makes the most of a highly variegated colorway with a contrasting solid. You can find the free pattern here: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEw13/PATTzaria.php

Shannon knit the original in Mossley Manly with Pond Scum and also did another in Farmhouse with Sunstone. JJ has big plans to knit one in Tempest and Thraven. What about Antiquated System with Bleck, Bittersweet, or Spawn of Scum? Maybe Waltzing Lobelia and What’saabi, Marina, KMBFLA or HRH Princess of Purple Violetta is more to your liking? Smoky Mountain Morning with Single Cell Dating Pool, Pining 4 Ewe and Tempest would be elegant. Ginger Plum-licious with Spores, Smoke on the Water, Ochroid, Poupon, Help us Rhonda, or Cranberry Bogged would be fun to knit. How about Beach Glass with Hazy Shade of Blue, Shoqua, China Rose, or Sadie Sue? Possibly Grayple and Raspberry Mousse, Scum Bubbles, Ochroid, HRH Princess of Purple Violetta, Tina’s Silver Lining or Purple Phantom? I love to help people choose colors for their projects, so if none of these are quite what you are looking for, just send me an email at info@bluemoonfiberarts.com! All photos courtesy of Stefan Lombard, Shannon’s honey bunches.

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