Category: Knitting

This morning, Twist Collective published its Winter 2009 issue, which I have a pattern in! My Four Winds hat — the one with the compass rose on it — is up for purchase by any aspiring or experienced double-knitters. Of course, the patterns can be used for non-double-knitting colorwork too.

Twist Collective approached me in mid-summer, after my friend Guido took my portfolio and some samples to TNNA, to write a pattern and an article for their Winter issue. I got the yarn and churned out two and a half hats in the space of a month, as well as a pattern, an article and three tutorial videos. Thanks to my sample knitter Suzanne for her help, and Suzanne, there will be a free pattern in this for you as soon as I figure out how to get my hands on it without having to pay myself.

I have a pattern ready for my Falling Blocks hat (go see my old antiblog around November of 07 for more info on that) and many test-knitters who have done a fantastic job with it. I need to finalize the pattern and get that one posted on Ravelry as well. To any of my test-knitters who are reading, thanks so much and I hope you can understand the delay. What with the Twist Collective pattern and the wedding, I just haven’t had time to review the input from that hat, but rest assured it is going to happen soon.

Thanks again to Guido for his advocacy, and to my lovely wife Amanda for putting up with my pattern-work while I should have been helping more with wedding stuff.

Many folks who follow the double-knitting group on Ravelry — or who attend knitting groups with me — will have seen me working on this scarf. I generally put a couple of rows in while commuting to work (not in traffic — I take the train!) and as such the scarf is taking its time. I’m sure it won’t be done this winter but it’s still fun to watch the Kauni change colors as I go. This is largely an exercise — the pattern is not my own, it’s modified from a pattern by a fellow named Kieran Foley — in decorative increasing and decreasing in double-knitting. Believe it or not, counting both knit and purl-side decreases, there are 12 different types of increase and decrease to keep track of — and in some rows, 10 of those are used in the space of 57 stitches.

But as I said, it’s just an exercise, to become proficient in all of these decorative elements so that my next design (a hat, I’m sure — surprise, surprise) will be able to incorporate some of these techniques.

I call it the Victorian Raffia Scarf because the flower element makes me think of Victorian patterns, whereas my knots and crosses modification of Kieran Foley’s pattern makes me think of African raffia cloth patterns. I’m probably off, culturally speaking, on both counts, but I like the name and I’m sticking with it. Check out another view.

And before you ask, yes, I plan on blocking it when it’s done. It definitely needs it.