New Pattern: Calliopsis (and Cowl Sale!)

I'm excited to share a lovely new cowl for spring: Calliopsis.

Knit in two colors of Fibre Co. Meadow, Calliopsis is a light and airy lace confection. It can be styled lots of different ways, depending on your mood, your outfit, or the weather.

The pattern is on sale—along with my other cowl patterns—through Sunday, April 9. Use the coupon code COWL25 to save 25% on cowls in my Ravelry store (magazine patterns are not included). The code can be used as many times as you like.

Named after the flower Coreopsis (also known as Calliopsis or—less romantically—Tickweed), Calliopsis features two pretty lace stitches, each knit in its own color, separated by striped bands. These bands, knit back and forth on a circular needle, employ a really fun technique of sliding the stitches across the cable and knitting them again with the other color on the same side of the work. I first encountered this technique back in 2008 when I knit Norah Gaughan's Almost Garter Scarf. It's so clever!

Calliopsis is worked flat from end to end, from a provisional cast on. After blocking, the two ends of the piece are joined with a three-needle bind off to form a loop. Instructions for these techniques are provided in the pattern, and the lace stitches are given in both charts and line-by-line written instructions.

It's easy to customize this design. Aside from choosing any two colors you like, you can also vary the lengths of the two lace sections, to make a cowl that's uniquely your own. 

Knit in a laceweight or light fingering weight yarn, Calliopsis is the perfect accessory for spring. I knit the sample in Fibre Co. Meadow—a luscious blend of merino, baby llama, silk, and linen—in Prairie (for the main color) and Bergamot (for the contrast color). As I mentioned in my previous post, after I swatched with Meadow I felt no need to look at other yarns for this design. It has an exquisite softness and drape—it's almost weightless—but a really pleasing rustic quality, too. This was my first time knitting with Meadow and I'm sure it won't be my last.

If you get bored knitting scarves or cowls that are "the same thing over and over," you'll love Calliopsis. The lace and color changes are engaging and keep the knitting fun. 

As always, I am grateful to Jenny Sennott for her careful tech editing. I'm so fortunate to have her eyes on my patterns, making sure they come to you error free.

Thank you very much for reading!

Unrumpled

Lace looks so unimpressive while you're knitting it ...

The rumpled stitches are like ugly ducklings, awaiting their transformation ...

But once lace gets a good soak in wool wash and is blocked, it's an ugly duckling no more. How I love that part of the process! It never fails to make my heart leap just a little (sometimes a lot).

This is a new cowl design I'm working on, knit in Fibre Co. Meadow, a light fingering (almost laceweight) yarn. Usually, I like to audition a few yarns for a design, to get a feel for what fiber content and weight might be best. But once I made a couple swatches with Meadow, I felt no need to look at other yarns. Without a doubt, this rustic blend of merino, baby llama, silk, and linen was "the one." 

There's still some work to do on the pattern, plus photography, but it won't be too long a wait. Look for the pattern in early April.

P.S.  Did you know that free patterns are one of the rewards for my Patreon page? For a pledge of $2 per month, you'll receive a coupon code for one free pattern of your choice. For a $3 pledge, you'll get two free patterns. To learn more and see the progress of my Stitch Journal 2017 project, follow me on Patreon.

Open Road Pattern Spotlight: Allons Mitts and Camerado Cowl

Today's post is all about the two matching accessories in my Open Road collection—Allons and Camerado.

The Allons mitts are a feminine yet practical cool-weather accessory featuring the same pretty stitch pattern as the Journeyer pullover.  Since Journeyer and Camerado are symmetrical, I thought it would be fun to add a touch of asymmetry to the collection. So I placed the stitch pattern in Allons off center.

Ribbing on the palm and sides ensures a comfortable fit. And with instructions for two sizes, you should be able to make Allons for almost anyone. They're worked in the round on double-pointed needles, from the bottom up, beginning and ending with rolled stockinette.

These mitts are knit in DK weight yarn at a fairly firm gauge, for warmth. I used Acadia from the Fibre Company, a slubby blend of merino, silk, and alpaca. When I swatched with Acadia, I felt it would really shine in an uncomplicated design. So I chose to keep the design clean and simple and allow the beauty of the yarn to take center stage.

The same smocked lace stitch appears along the sides of the matching cowl, Camerado. For this design, I felt a smooth fingering weight yarn with good stitch definition would be best. I used Quince & Co.'s Finch in Kumlien's Gull for the blue cowl (three skeins) and Egret for the cream cowl (five skeins).

The pattern provides instructions for two widths and lengths. The cream cowl is quite wide and long (13.25 inches/34 cm wide by 68 inches/173 cm in circumference). It's designed to be extra warm and cozy for those cold days ahead! But if that's more knitting than you're up for, no worries—the blue cowl is just 8.5 inches/22 cm wide by 54 inches/137 cm in circumference and knits up very quickly.

Camerado is worked flat (back and forth) from a provisional cast on. When you're finished, you join the beginning and ending edges with a three-needle bind-off. Complete instructions for these techniques are provided in the pattern. And for all three designs in Open Road, stitch patterns are given in both charts and written, line-by-line form. So whichever format you prefer, you're covered.