Month: June 2021

Perspectives Errata (Pityoulish Vest and Inshriach Hat)

Julie

Since publishing the Perspectives Collection we have found the following errata (relevant for first edition of book, corrected in second edition):

Pityoulish Vest

Corrected measurements for Total Length in table on page 45:

 12345678 
C: Total length525252.553535353.553.5cm
C: Total Length20.520.520.7521212121.2521.25in

Correction on page 43:

Front Yoke

Row 1: With RS facing and using smaller needles, pick up and knit…..

For clarity on p44:

Text to right of Lace Chart refers to knitting in the round after joining. When working rows, before joining to knit in the round, Row 2 is Purl to end. The vest is knit in Stocking Stitch throughout.

Inshriach Hat

Before working Setup Round, change to larger needles.

Size 1 only:

Setup round: Using larger needles, *pmA, [k5, m1] x 2, pmA, continue as pattern

Size 2 only:

Setup round: Using larger needles, *pmA, [k5, m1] x 2, pmA, continue as pattern

Size 3 only:

Setup round: using larger needles, *pmA, [k5, m1] x 2, pmA, continue as pattern

All sizes:

Instructions – Using smaller needles and CC, cast on 100 (110,120) sts using the tubular cast-on, or your preferred stretchy method.

For clarity:

MC: is the highlight colour – undyed Haar in the two Perspectives samples

CC: is the main background colour – Indigo and Raspberry/Damson/Pearl in the two Perspectives samples

Sian Sweater in Shetland DK

Julie

Earlier this year, when I had just received the latest batch of Shetland DK and 4ply/Sport back from The Natural Fibre Company, I began looking for a sweater design that would suit Shetland DK. Around the same time Elizabeth Doherty released a new design, the Sian Sweater which immediately caught my eye. Knowing that I would struggle to knit one myself as quickly as I hoped I asked Clare Shaw if she would be able to sample knit for me and luckily she was able to.

Shetland DK Mocha and Toasted Coconut for Sian Sweater

I decided to use natural undyed Mocha for the main body of the sweater but wasn’t sure what to use for the contrast slip stitches on the yoke. The undyed natural White seemed like the obvious option but I felt it might be a little more stark than I was aiming for. I did a little experimenting with alder cones and cutch, and tried both alum mordant and not and modifying with iron afterwards or not. I loved all the results but felt that alder cones and cutch modified with iron (and not mordanted) gave the effect I was looking for. Clare came up with the name Toasted Coconut for this new colourway which I think is perfect.

Toasted Coconut Shetland DK naturally dyed with alder cones and cutch

As usual Clare knit quickly and checked any queries as she went along. I went for the straight version of the design but lengthened the body a little to suit my long torso. Clare felt the sleeves looked quite tight at the point of picking up stitches so she picked up the number required for a Size Four (the body is knit to Size Three). The whole sweater used 395 grams, most of four skeins of Mocha plus part of a skein of Toasted Coconut. I absolutely love the finished sweater. It is easy to wear, comfortable and flattering.

Sian Sweater knit in Black Isle Yarns Shetland DK

I don’t think Elizabeth has the design available to buy on her website at the moment but copies are available from Ravelry here, or if you would like a copy but can’t use Ravelry let me know and I will help out. Clare’s Ravelry project notes are here.

Shetland DK Sian Sweater

Asahi Shawl in Auchen Sport

Julie

Rie and I first made contact with each other through a US based yarn shop, and were paired up for a project which was due to launch late 2020. Sadly that particular three-way collaboration fell foul of coronavirus but Rie and I decided to continue working together.

We agreed that Rie would use Auchen, my sport weight woollen spun yarn, which at the time was newly released. We had some to and fro discussions to decide what sort of colour I should dye and settled on a soft madder shade. We also considered what the theme of our work should be and felt that Crossing Borders seemed to sum it up. Originally we were working as three women in three different countries each with their own strengths and challenges, and Crossing Borders felt like the way we wanted to approach the world. I did some trial dyeing on Auchen and Rie and I picked a beautiful shade dyed with madder and cutch which I have named Crossing Borders. I then sent two skeins off to Rie to work her design magic.

Crossing Borders – Auchen dyed with madder and cutch

Rie is a wonderfully talented designer with quite a distinct quiet but beautiful aesthetic and I was excited to see her design in Auchen develop. The design is everything I could have hoped for, a delicate but cosy shawl designed to drape and keep you warm. The main body of the shawl is a pretty shell lace and the deep border is a simple ribbon eyelet. The shawl can be folded where the triangular lace section changes to the eyelet border and doing so helps the design sit well across your shoulders. Bothe sides of the design are wearable.

Asahi Shawl in Auchen Sport
Asahi Shawl by Rie (@kouvive) in Auchen Sport

Once Rie had almost finished the design we considered what the shawl should be named and Rie suggested ‘Asahi’ which is the Japanese name for the Crossing Borders colour. Rie’s shawl pattern is available on Ravelry here, I don’t think it is available anywhere else but if you can’t access Ravelry please let me know and I will help out. I knit my version of Asahi in Harvest Gold which is dyed with fustic, quebracho red and rhubarb root. The Ravelry notes for the project are here.

Asahi Shawl knit in Auchen Sport Crossing Borders

Wilkhaven Sweater in Shetland 4ply/Sport

Julie

During what we now know was sadly the last Loch Ness Knit Fest in October 2019, Emily and I plotted knitting a version of her stunning, newly released, Wilkhaven Sweater in my Shetland 4ply/Sport. Knowing that it would take me a very long time to knit one myself I asked my lovely friend Clare Shaw to sample knit a Wilkhaven for me – Clare is a very speedy and accurate knitter, and found that Shetland 4ply/Sport worked well for the design (unusually for a colourwork sweater Emily designed it with a worsted spun yarn, rather than woollen spun – which exactly suited my Shetland yarns, both DK and 4ply/Sport are worsted spun by The Natural Fibre Company and are plump and smooth – there is a blog post about the yarn here).

Wilkhaven Sweater knit in Shetland 4ply/Sport

My Wilkhaven is knit in Size One with around 5″ positive ease. The Ravelry project notes by Clare can be found here, and the Ravelry page for the design here – or alternatively you can buy the design directly from Emily’s PayHip store, or a paper copy from my online shop. Clare went down a needle size to get gauge and lengthened the body to suit my long torso but otherwise made no modifications.

Wilkhaven Sweater knit in Shetland 4ply/Sport

I couldn’t be happier with my Wilkhaven which is knit with two skeins of natural undyed Grey, one skein of natural undyed White, two skeins of Indigo and one skein of Gold. If you are interested in knitting your own Wilkhaven I am very happy to put together a custom order for you. I can dye just the right amount of yarn for the size you need using mini skeins as well as full skeins to help make the knit as affordable as possible. If you’d like to consider a custom order please do get in touch.

Naturally Dyed Wilkhaven Sweater knit in Black Isle Yarns Shetland 4ply/Sport (photos by Clare Shaw)

Timely Cardigan in BFL Suri Alpaca

Julie

I have now been wearing my Timely Cardigan for over a year and I still love it. With the beginning of June Scotland has suddenly decided to warm up at last and I’ll be wearing my Timely even more over the summer months – I find it is perfect over summer skirts and shorts, paired with a tshirt or vest top.

Timely Cardigan knit in BFL Suri Alpaca 4ply

I knit my Timely in BFL Suri 4ply, which is a lovely soft drapey yarn which has worked very well for this little cardigan. I used just over two skeins of the natural undyed Silver as the main colour. For the contrast stripe I chose Culloden (which is a lovely tonal pink-red shade, dyed with Lac and Hibiscus, and works really well with Timely’s stripes) and needed just over one skein. I knit Size Three which has a finished bust of 32.5″ giving me around 2″ negative ease. I lengthened the body slightly to better fit my long torso but otherwise made no modifications.

Timely Cardigan knit in BFL Suri Alpaca 4ply

I’m currently knitting a second Timely, with undyed Cream as the main colour and Dragon as the contrast (dyed with fustic and indigo, a dark tonal indigo with flashes of green and orange). I don’t plan to make any changes to the pattern other than lengthening the body again.

BFL Suri 4ply – Culloden and Silver – Dragon and Cream

I would thoroughly recommend this design by Libby Jonson of Truly Myrtle. You can find my Ravelry notes here, and the pattern can be found on Ravelry or Libby’s website.