New pattern: Folia Loop

Folia Loop is the second design in my La Folia Collection of accessories featuring leafy lace and garter stitch. It's a lightweight cowl that can be worn draped as a long loop or doubled up for warmth. I was lucky enough to have my Mum agree to model it for me!

It requires only one skein of fingering-weight yarn - I used Malabrigo Mechita in 'Pearl', a soft grey with a pretty tinge of mauve. It's a little more tricky than the Folia Crescent shawl, but aside from the provisional cast on and the final grafting it should be relatively intuitive once you've knit the first section or two of the lace. And the garter section is of course smooth sailing!

If you haven't tried a provisional cast on before or would like to try a new method, this is my favourite tutorial, using the crochet hook method: Crochet Provisional Cast On.

Features:

  • a diagonal leafy lace panel surrounded by squishy garter stitch

  • long enough to wear looped either once or twice

  • knit flat with a provisional cast on and grafted to finish

  • a stitch marker keeps track of the lace/garter boundary

  • a one skein project in fingering-weight yarn, perfect for that precious single skein

  • one size, easily enlarged by working extra garter stitch rows

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

Find out more about my Folia Loop pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

The remaining pattern in the collection, a triangular shawl, is currently being test knit and will be released in late September. You can find the collection-so-far here on Ravelry: La Folia Collection. The triangular shawl pattern will be added to the ebook once it's released.

Curious about the name La Folia? I introduced the collection and its musical inspiration in my earlier post, New pattern: Folia Crescent.

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.

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: Multifaceted Mitts

Presenting Multifaceted Mitts, the fingerless mitts version of my Multifaceted Mittens! Personally, I love mitts. Having my fingers free is so much more practical, plus I get to show off my nail polish... ;)

Features:

  • all-over stranded colourwork pattern inspired by crystals

  • twisted ribbing at the cuffs and mitt-tops

  • short-cuff and long-cuff options (mitts shown with long cuffs)

  • full-mitten version also available (separately or both in an ebook)

  • requires less than 50g of fingering-weight yarn in each colour

  • one size, to fit 7-8" palm circumference

  • pattern includes colourwork charts

Like the mittens, the mitts are knit in Knitsch Sock yarn from Holland Road Yarn Co. This time I chose 'Sweet Pea' for the main colour, a really strong vibrant pink, and 'Silver Lining' again for the contrast colour (because of its shimmering-metal illusion).

The mitts have a few extra little details, like the two-colour ribbing at the top of the thumb. This allows for a decent amount of ribbing while also continuing the colourwork pattern. It's slightly awkward to switch between knit and purl stitches while also switching colours, but it's only for a small area (and the effect is really worth it).

For details, and to download the Multifaceted Mitts pattern, visit its pattern page on Ravelry or LoveCrafts. An ebook with both patterns (at a reduced price per pattern) is also available on Ravelry.

New pattern: Multifaceted Mittens

This one's for my fellow southern-hemisphere-dwellers, where the weather is settling in to proper wintery rain and cold right now. My latest knit design is Multifaceted Mittens, a pair of colourwork mittens with an all-over pattern of crystals, and optional shorter or longer cuffs.

The matching mitts pattern is coming soon, so if you prefer your mittens fingerless I'll have you covered shortly!

I became kind of obsessed with designing a crystalline colourwork pattern after watching some cartoons which had beautiful crystal shapes in their background artwork - here are some examples from Adventure Time and Steven Universe. I like my cartoons weird, and I like them pretty.

Both pics from Steven Universe, found here.

Hmmm, those columns would make an excellent cable pattern...

Features:

  • all-over stranded colourwork pattern inspired by crystals

  • thumb and mitten-top echo the shape of crystal points

  • short-cuff and long-cuff options (mittens shown with short cuffs)

  • requires less than 50g of fingering-weight yarn in each colour

  • one size, to fit 7-8" palm circumference

  • colourwork charts

The crystal pattern lends itself to playing with jewel colours, and the yarn I chose, Knitsch Sock dyed by Tash of Holland Road Yarn Co, comes in a wealth of rich, vibrant colours. I used 'Amethyst' and 'Silver Lining', two semi-solid shades with a lot of light/dark contrast. Solid, semi-solid, and variegated yarns will all work in this pattern, but do make sure you have enough contrast between your main colour and contrast colour - for example you could pair a darker variegated MC with a pale solid CC. One of my test-knitters switched MC and CC around for her second mitten, which looks really cool. :)

Knitsch Sock is a good choice for these mittens because its springiness helps you knit at a tight gauge without discomfort, and it's nice and hard-wearing (which I like for anything I'm going to wear on my hands).

You can see all the details and download the Multifaceted Mittens pattern from Ravelry or LoveCrafts. The mitts pattern is in the pipeline - look out for it (and the ebook containing both patterns) next week.

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:

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