New collection: Twisted Strings

I’ve been dreaming of making this collection a reality for literally years, and I’m so happy to be able to present it to the world! Twisted Strings is a collection of five accessories inspired by the decorative tracery found on Baroque string instruments, in unapologetic celebration of my particular brand of nerdery. The names of the individual designs - the Dowland Wrap, Tielke Shawl, Playford Hat, Jaye Mitts, and Simpson Cowl - are borrowed from seventeenth-century composers, instrument-makers, and music teachers and publishers.

My interest in the seventeenth-century musical world is a long-standing thing - I studied various aspects of it in my university days, which I touched on in my earlier post Why ‘Baroque Purls’? At around the same time I took up playing the viol - badly - before moving on to singing, which happily was a much better fit for me. I still enjoy messing around with songs from this period, but my cats do tend to object.

A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to visit Europe for the first time, and one of the big highlights for me was visiting Leipzig and its Bach Museum, churches, and Museum of Musical Instruments. I took a ridiculous number of photos, some of which you can see below, and I took my inspiration for the cable patterns in this collection directly from a few of the decorative details I captured.

If you’re interested, you can find more examples of beautiful historical instruments in the Orpheon collection, and via the MIMO (Musical Instrument Museums Online) database, which I wish had existed when I was at uni!

A case full of viols, and an early edition of Playford’s Introduction to the Skill of Musicke (Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig, 2016)

This clavichord was one of the few instruments we were allowed to touch (Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig, 2016)

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Dowland Wrap:

Named for the composer John Dowland, famous for his melancholy songs and instrumental works for viols, the Dowland Wrap is a dramatic rectangular wrap featuring a central cable panel flanked by contrasting garter stitch.

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Contrabass, Italy, mid-17thC (Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig)

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From ‘Flow my teares’, a lute song from Dowland’s Second Booke of Songs or Ayres (1600)

Dowland Wrap features:

• a rectangular wrap worked from end to end

• a central cable panel inspired by the geometric tracery decorating 17thC string instruments, with wide garter stitch edges for textural contrast

• simple 1-over-1 cables, which can be knit without a cable needle (instructions for my favourite twist method are included)

• requires 5 skeins of Malabrigo Dos Tierras (50% baby alpaca, 50% merino wool; 210yds/192m per 100g skein), or 1050yds/960m of DK-weight yarn. Sample colourway: ‘Azul Profundo’

• 72.5”/184cm long and 17.5”/44.5cm wide, relaxed after blocking

• charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

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Tielke shawl:

The Tielke Shawl is an asymmetric triangular shawl featuring a garter stitch ground and a cable panel which grows in complexity as you knit: it flows from simple twisted cables, representing the strings of musical instruments, into a complex intertwining motif. The shawl is named for the Tielke family of musical instrument makers - Joachim, who created richly decorated instruments in his Hamburg workshop, and Gottfried, who made the five-stringed contrabass (now in Leipzig’s musical instrument museum), which inspired the shawl’s cable detail.

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Contrabass by Gottfried Tielke, 1662 (Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig)

Tielke Shawl features:

• an asymmetric triangular shawl worked from one point to the opposite side

• simple garter stitch with a cable panel running along one edge, inspired by the geometric motif decorating a 17thC contrabass

• simple 1-over-1 cables, which can be knit without a cable needle (instructions for my favourite twist method are included)

• requires 4 skeins of Malabrigo Washted (100% superwash merino wool; 210yds/192m per 100g skein), or 820yds/750m of worsted-weight yarn. Sample colourway: ‘Sunset’

• 74.5”/189cm wingspan and 31.5”/80cm depth, relaxed after blocking

• charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

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Playford hat:

The Playford Hat is named for the music publisher and bookseller John Playford, known for publishing music by various composers, the collection of dance melodies and steps The English Dancing Master, and instructional books for various instruments including the violin. The hat’s all-over cable pattern is inspired by the delicate latticework framed with hearts inscribed on a beautiful violin by Hans Krouchdaler (circa 1700).

Playford Hat features:

• a cabled beanie worked in the round from the bottom up

• an all-over cable pattern inspired by the geometric lattices framed with hearts on a highly-decorated Baroque violin

• simple 1-over-1 cables, which can be knit without a cable needle (instructions for my favourite twist method are included)

• requires 1 skein of Malabrigo Arroyo (100% superwash merino wool; 335yds/306m per 100g skein), or 205yds/187.5m of sport-weight yarn. Sample colourway: ‘Borraja’

• 18”/46cm circumference and 8.75”/22.5cm length, relaxed after blocking

• to fit 19-23”/48-58.5cm head circumference

• charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

From The English Dancing Master (1651)

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Jaye mitts:

The Jaye Mitts, named for the viol-maker Henry Jaye, are a pair of fingerless mitts featuring a delicately intertwining cable motif, and simple twisted cables on the palms representing the strings of musical instruments. Many modern viols being played today are careful copies of Jaye’s original instruments.

Jaye Mitts features:

• a cabled pair of mitts worked in the round from the bottom up

• cable motifs inspired by the geometric decoration on a 17thC descant viol, and plain twisted cables on the palm side

• simple 1-over-1 cables, which can be knit without a cable needle (instructions for my favourite twist method are included)

• requires 1 skein of Malabrigo Sock (100% superwash merino; 440yds/402m per 100g skein), or 196.5yds/180m of light fingering weight yarn. Sample colourway: ‘Teal Feather’

• 7”/18cm circumference and 7.25”/18.5cm length, relaxed after blocking

• to fit 7-8.5”/18-21.5cm palm circumference

• charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

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Descant viol by Henry Jaye, mid-17thC (Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig)

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Simpson cowl:

The Simpson Cowl is named for viol-player and composer Christopher Simpson, who wrote The Division Viol to teach players how to embellish and improvise on a melody or bass line. The short cowl is worked in the round, and features an all-over pattern of intertwining cable motifs which I extrapolated from the lattice motifs found on various seventeenth-century viols and other instruments.

Simpson Cowl features:

• a cabled cowl knit in the round from the bottom up

• an all-over cable pattern inspired by the decorative latticework on 17thC string instruments

• simple 1-over-1 cables, which can be knit without a cable needle (instructions for my favourite twist method are included)

• requires 1 skein of Malabrigo Washted (100% superwash merino wool; 210yds/192m per 100g skein), or 201yds/184m of worsted-weight yarn. Sample colourway: ‘Pearl’

• 22”/56cm circumference and 8.5”/21.5cm depth, relaxed after blocking

• charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

From The Division-viol, or The Art of Playing ex tempore to a Ground (1665)

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The cable patterns featured in these designs have some elements in common across the whole collection, most notably interwoven latticework motifs of varying complexity, combined with 2-stitch cable ribs which symbolise the twisted strings of musical instruments. The cable patterns are relatively fuss-free, and can be worked entirely without a cable needle - instructions for my favourite method are included in the patterns, and you can also find my tutorial here. You will come across a few stitches worked through the back loop (because they give a crisper look to the cable tracery), but I’ve kept these to a minimum for the sake of ease.

All five patterns are available for download on Ravelry and Payhip, where you can find additional photos and details, and purchase them individually or together in an ebook (with a reduced price per pattern).

New patterns: Orfeo Hat & Cowl

This pair of patterns has been almost a year in the making, and my obsession with stranded colourwork is still going strong! The Orfeo Hat & Cowl feature colourwork inspired by the decorative stamped motifs found in seventeenth-century books and music scores. I enjoy spotting all the little decorative elements when I’m looking through an old music score, finding something new to sing or checking a detail of an old favourite, and when I find a motif that has knitting-design potential I do a quick sketch and make a note of where I found it. The IMSLP database is a fantastic treasure trove of public-domain music scores, and it’s where I go to find most of my sheet music these days.

Warning: more music-historical geekiness ahead!

The motifs I used as the starting point for my Orfeo Hat & Cowl come from some early editions of music by Claudio Monteverdi, one of my top two favourite composers (the other is J.S. Bach). The same tiny, tiling motifs appear on the title page of Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo (1609) and his Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610), which were both published by Venetian music printer Ricciardo Amadino. You can see the motifs below, forming the border of a page.

Motifs which can be combined in various different configurations are brilliant for creating a stitch pattern, and the shape of these reminds me of elaborate lyres or c-clefs. To create my colourwork pattern I traced enlarged versions of the motifs onto squared paper and added clean straight lines to contain them. To me, the contrast between the elements creates movement and drama, and feels very baroque.

The yarn I chose for my samples is Outlaw Yarn’s Bohemia Sport (45% Polwarth, 45% Alpaca, 10% Possum; 183yds/167m per 50g skein). When I was still at the swatching stage for these designs I asked around on Instagram for recommendations for good yarn for stranded colourwork, and I’m glad I went with this suggestion. It’s soft and warm, the fuzzy halo helps the stitches ‘mesh’ well without obscuring the design, and it can be worked at a tight gauge, which is how I prefer my colourwork.

I used half a skein of each colour for the hat, and a little over one skein of each colour for the cowl - so if you’d like a matching set, two skeins of each colour will be plenty. The colours I picked are Parchment for the hat’s main/background colour (MC), Gaslight for the cowl’s MC, and Leadlight for the contrast/motif colour (CC) for both. Leadlight has unfortunately been discontinued since I knit my two samples, but the new colour Erebus is a great substitute - it’s a dark blue/charcoal shade, whereas Leadlight was plain black.

I chose the Twisted German Cast On for both the hat and cowl because it’s quite substantial as well as stretchy, but you can use any cast on you prefer for 1x1 ribbing, e.g. Tubular, Long Tail, Alternate Cable, etc. I used this tutorial to remind myself how to work the Twisted German method: Photo Tutorial: Twisted German / Old Norwegian Cast-On.

Once you get into the colourwork, there will be some rounds with longer floats which you will need to ‘trap’ on the reverse side. I found a few good tutorials for this, including Andrea Rangel’s Catching Floats in Colorwork, Dianna Walla’s trapping long floats in stranded colorwork, and Ann Kingstone’s Trapping Floats. It does interrupt the flow of your knitting, but I feel it’s worth it to tidy up the long floats so they won’t snag on things and pull your stitches out of place.

Orfeo Hat features:

• a stranded colourwork beanie knit in the round from the bottom up

• swirling colourwork motifs which grow out of the corrugated ribbing of the brim, and simpler abstract colourwork in the crown shaping

• hat dimensions: 18”/46cm circumference and 8.5”/21.5cm length, to fit adult head sizes ranging from 19-22”/48-56cm head circumference

• requires 101yds/92.5m of the main/background colour (MC) + 102yds/93.5m of the contrast/motif colour (CC) in sport- or fingering-weight yarn

• pattern includes charted stitch patterns only.

Orfeo Cowl features:

• a stranded colourwork cowl knit in the round from the bottom up

• swirling colourwork motifs edged with corrugated ribbing

• cowl dimensions: 27”/68.5cm circumference and 10”/25.5cm height

• requires 216yds/197m of the main/background colour (MC) + 209yds/191m of the contrast/motif colour (CC) in sport- or fingering-weight yarn

• pattern includes charted stitch patterns only.

The Orfeo Hat and Orfeo Cowl patterns are available on Ravelry and Payhip, both individually and as an ebook (with a reduced price per pattern).

New pattern: Folia Crescent

The first pattern in my new La Folia Collection is out! It's a sweet, simple one-skein shawl called Folia Crescent. This one was very quick to knit, straightforward and not requiring much attention after the first repeat or two. Watching the lace emerge kept things interesting, and of course knitting with such beautiful yarn is always a pleasure.

Features:

• a leafy lace panel surrounded by squishy garter stitch

• easy-to-wear crescent shape

• a garter-tab cast on and an i-cord bind off

• suitable for beginner lace knitters

• stitch markers keep track of the lace section so you don't have to

• a one skein project in fingering-weight yarn

• perfect for that precious single skein of sock yarn

• one size, easily enlarged by working extra repeats

• pattern includes full written instructions and hybrid charted + written instructions

I used one skein of Merri Creek Sock yarn from local dyer and colour genius Miss Click Clack. The colour is called 'Ambergris', and it's an absolutely stunning glowing gold. The beauty of a small (6 row) lace repeat in this shawl is that you can keep knitting and use up almost all of your yarn. I'd recommend putting a lifeline in first before doing extra repeats, just in case!

The remaining two patterns in the collection, a drapy cowl and a large triangular shawl, will be released in mid-September and late September, respectively. They feature the same leafy lace and garter stitch combo, put together in different ways to suit the different shapes of the cowl and shawl.

You can see all the details and download the pattern via Ravelry or LoveCrafts. An ebook is also available on Ravelry with all three La Folia patterns - the cowl and triangular shawl patterns will be added to the ebook as they are released.

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I chose the name La Folia for this collection partly because folia means 'leaves' in Latin (just right for a botanical lace design), and because it's the name of a famous musical form based on a standard bass line. You can read about the history of the Folia bass line here, and find the sheet music for various versions here.

More than 150 composers have used variations on the La Folia theme in their music, including Corelli, Vivaldi, Marais, J.S. Bach, Handel, Liszt, and  Rachmaninoff. There are all kinds of riches to be found by searching for 'La Folia' on Youtube! Here are a few that stood out to me.

A performance of Vivaldi's variations on "La Follia" (RV 63) with Baroque dancers:

A Folia in the Spanish style performed by the viola da gamba player Jordi Savall:

And the Australian group Latitude 37 recording their own set of variations on La Folia:

New pattern: Amarilli

I have something especially pretty to share with you today! This floaty, lacy shawl is Amarilli, part of the Wool People 10 collection and my second design published in collaboration with Brooklyn Tweed.

You can see the whole collection in the beautiful Lookbook. As well as a few more lace scarves and shawls, there are some very cosy-looking cabled jerseys (I especially love Marylebone).

Below are a couple of backyard photos of Amarilli, which we took late last year before sending it off to Brooklyn Tweed. I've been keeping this one a secret for quite a while!

Amarilli is knit in Brooklyn Tweed's new laceweight yarn, Plains. It's a laceweight with a lot of character and springiness, which gives a slightly rustic feel to the shawl. I used the colour 'Ranier', a calm blue-grey-with-a-hint-of-green that reminds me of lichen.

My starting point for this design was a 'bell lace' pattern from one of Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries. I charted it out, tweaked it to fit a triangular shape, and added a border in keeping with the lace pattern. The design difficulty was in making the edges and border of the shape work with the stitch pattern - it took me a while to find a tidy and elegant solution!

Features:

• all-over floral lace pattern which becomes nicely intuitive

• knit and purl stitches only on wrong-side rows

• top-down triangular construction with garter-tab cast on

• requires 2 skeins of Plains by Brooklyn Tweed (or 750yds of laceweight yarn)

• suitable for solid or semi-solid colourways

• one size: 60" wingspan, 30" along spine

• both charted and written instructions.

I named this shawl Amarilli because the lace motifs look like flowering bulbs - think amaryllis, lily, or crocus - but I also had a famous early Baroque song in mind, 'Amarilli, mia bella' by Giulio Caccini (published in Le Nuove Musiche, 1602). It's a very common song for young sopranos to learn - if you know someone who has had formal singing lessons, chances are they know it!

You can hear the song here:

And here is a different take on it, a much more decorated version published by Johann Nauwach in 1623:

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You can purchase the pattern for the Amarilli shawl from Ravelry, or from the Brooklyn Tweed website.