Pattern Spotlight: Equal Measure by Emma Welford
This week designer Emma Welford joins us to tell the creation story of her newest design:
Some designs start with an inspiring image, others are born from a pretty stitch pattern, and sometimes the yarn itself takes center stage and tells you what to do. Such was the case with Equal Measure, which started way back in 2014 as three beautiful skeins of For Better or Worsted I took home with me from Anzula's TNNA booth. I couldn't decide between Avocado, Sexy and Hyacinth so I took one of each. These colors could go together....right? I told myself. Or am I just crazy? (The jury's still out on the crazy part.)
Photos by Lindsey Topham
I knew I wanted to use all three colors in the same design and craved something textural to elevate them past simple stripes. The crisp stitch definition of For Better or Worsted looked fantastic when I added a cable to my swatch. Garter stitch and an accent cable it is, then! Originally I planned on making all three pieces have the same color placement, but then it hit me.
- I wanted to use all colors equally, rather than having excess yardage leftover on some colors.
- This was already shaping up to be a...funky design. Why not go all the way and play round robin with the colors?
I toyed with the debate of knitting flat vs knitting in the round. The cable on the hat spans 12 stitches, which is longer than I like any floats to cross, and to tell the truth working garter stitch in the round is not one of my favorite knitting activities. But who wants to knit small accessories flat and seam them up? Not to mention a seam would be more obvious due to the stripes, unless you really wanted to shoot yourself in the foot and alternate stripe colors as you seam. Didn't think so!
While I've done plenty of traditional intarsia, I wanted to see if it was possible to work intarsia in the round. Off a-Googling I went, and I discovered yes! It's not true circular knitting, since you're knitting back and forth in rows and joining them seamlessly as you go, but it would do the trick just fine for me with the added bonus of getting to learn a fun new technique. Don't worry, dear knitter—I whipped up a photo tutorial, included in the pattern, so you have your own personal reference! Equal Measure is sized to fit toddlers through adult large, making it the perfect set for your whole family. Pick your favorite colors of For Better or Worsted and let 'er knit!
What new techniques do you want to try? What's your favorite way to learn new techniques? Let us know in the comments below!