Pattern Spotlight: Point/Counterpoint 4

I’ve been in a gray mood lately.

I’m not really talking about state of mind, though there has been some of that, too. But I’ve been gravitating toward a palette of neutral grays lately as a solid basis for playing with geometry.

My name is Mary Hull, and I’m the designer and podcaster behind Kino Knits. One of my proudest projects has been the Point/Counterpoint series. Four times now, I’ve paired up with another designer to create a collection of four accessories. My partner and I each choose a yarn and independently create an accessory. Then we swap yarns and photos (but not pattern instructions) and use our partner’s first design as inspiration to create another to pair with it. The result is two accessory sets with one item in each by each designer. The concept and process always get my creative juices flowing in completely unexpected ways!

For Point/Counterpoint, Volume 4, I was delighted to partner with Lisa Ross of Paper Daisy Creations. We decided to go rainbow for one set and gray in the other… and for my first design, I pounced on a set of gray Anzula Squishy Skeinettes.

Citizen Skein runs from a light gray to a dark black, and the temptation, of course, is to use them in the gradient as presented in the pack. However, I’ve never been that interested in doing what’s expected in my knitting! I find it much more interesting to break things up, and in the Parallelograys hat pattern, I went for maximum contrast.

I’m really delighted with this hat. It’s visually striking and comes in seven sizes, and the cashmere content in the yarn makes it a real treat to wear. It’s knit in the round, and I played with stitch counts to make the parallelograms occur naturally. Plus, when you knit it, you’ll feel like you’ve pulled off a little sleight of hand, because a shifting round marker makes it nearly impossible to find a color jog between rounds.

Lisa then used photos of Paralellograys to create the coordinating Lateral Quadrants mitts in five sizes. Instead of parallelograms, these mitts feature high-contrast colorwork squares elongating into rectangles for a flattering look. Coordinating, but not matching… which is exactly the point of Point/Counterpoint. It’s a sweet little set with high impact.

And if you’re not in a gray mood, Anzula Squishy Skeinettes come in bright colors, too. Two sets will be all you need to make the hat and mitts (for most sizes).

Point/Counterpoint, Vol. 4, is available through the Kino Knits Ravelry store starting August 30. The entire pattern collection (both monochrome patterns, as well as a rainbow shawl and rainbow mitts) is just $5 through September 30 with Ravelry checkout code RAINBOW

Also, join the Kino Knits and Paper Daisy Creations Ravelry groups for all our latest news! For example, the Kino Knits Ravelry group is hosting a Point/Counterpoint, Vol. 4 knitalong (KAL). Knit any item from the collection by October 31 for a chance to win great prizes – including yarn from Anzula and other dyers, rainbow project bags, and themed stitch marker sets.

You'll find a list of shops that carry Squishy Skeinettes here

Now go play!

#pointcounterpoint4 #parallelograys #berelentlessmitts #makeyourownluckshawl #lateralquadrants

Pattern Spotlight: Swirled by Lisa K. Ross

I first encountered Anzula Gerty last summer while attending the TNNA summer trade show. I was so excited to see that one of my favorite dyers now carried this rustic, natural wool yarn. I knew it would be perfect for stranded colorwork and started playing around with color combos. Pink is a favorite color of mine and, with four boys at home, not one I get to use very often. Taffy is a bright and happy shade of pink that easily pops when paired with the darker Charcoal colorway.

Paper Daisy Creations Swirled Peace Lisa Ross Anzula Gerty

I had a lot of fun playing around with Gerty and trying out a variety of colorwork stitch patterns to create a hat. In the end, I created an original colorwork swirl that is easy to work with terrific graphic appeal. Through trial and error I came up with charted crown decreases that both feature the swirled motif and make the hat look exciting from every angle. Swirled Peace is as much fun to knit as it is to wear.

Paper Daisy Creations Lisa Ross Anzula Gerty Swirled Traveler Peace

After finishing the hat, I knew it wasn’t enough. I wanted an additional design that would complete the look. A cowl was just the thing! Creating a cowl filled with swirls would be a bit much, especially if worn at the same time as the hat. Cowls squish down when worn, which would cover up all the beautiful two-color knitting. What if I worked just the border in colorwork? With the colors inversed from that of the hat? Thus, Swirled Traveler was created. The colorwork border is knit first and is later folded and seamed. This creates a thick fabric with inversed color swirls on each side that holds itself up when worn to show off the design. The body of the cowl is swirled with diagonal ribbing in a single color. This creates a wonderfully warm and squishy texture, perfect as a backdrop to let the swirls shine.

Paper Daisy Creations Lisa Ross Anzula Gerty Swirled Traveler Peace

All of my designs are on sale for 50% off with code MERRYCHRISTMAS through December 23, 2017 (11:59EST), so hop over to Ravelry to grab your new designs and cast-on!

P.S. If you’re looking for socks to knit, my Emerald City socks feature the luxurious Anzula Squishy and are included in the pattern sale. Happy knitting to you all!

Emerald City Lisa Ross Paper Daisy Creations Anzula Squishy

Pattern Spotlight: Miki

Miki Swatch in Frankie and Charcoal Gerty

Miki, pronounced mee-kee in Japanese, means flower stem. This hat looks great on everyone, so no matter who you're knitting for this pattern will be a go to. It's knit from the bottom up with two contrasting colors of Gerty. The hat features a slipped stitch pattern that is reminiscent of a flower stem. I had a lot of fun swatching with Gerty and coming up with the stitch pattern. The yarn has a lot of bounce so I knew it would work well with slip stitch.

 

 

You only knit with one color at a time, super easy!

Slip stitch patterns are really fun to knit and it creates a warm and cozy hat. You are only working with one color at a time, so it's much easier to knit than it looks. The colors are carried up on the inside of the hat, so there is no need to cut your yarn as you knit the hat. This yarn takes dye very well. The colors are so vibrant. There are so many possibilities of color combinations with Anzula’s beautiful colorways.

 

One of my favorite parts about this pattern is that you will have enough yarn to make a second hat. Gerty’s yardage is very generous. As you can see, I reversed the colors for the 2nd hat. You can knit one for yourself and then gift the second one.

Alternating colors makes super cute hats for best friends, parent/child, siblings, or any other 2 people who like each other.

Gerty blocks out beautifully. It plumps up nicely even after blocking and I do love a good blocking. I highly recommend blocking because it brings out the best of the wool. Gerty does best with a short soak in cool water. (Note from Team Anzula - If you add anything to the water, make sure it's designed for hand dyed yarns. Please don't use laundry detergent or softeners. They aren't great for hand dyes)

The pattern is now available on Ravelry here. From now until Oct 13, you can buy Miki for a discounted price of $4 by using the coupon code “GertyLove” at the checkout. For yarn shops that would like high quality print copies for their store, they can be purchased at wholesale through Stitch Sprouts.


You can find more of Angela’s designs on Ravelry. Follow her on Instagram to see what she is currently working on.

Gerty is available in the shops listed below, all of whom are happy to ship!

Baskets of Yarn - Charlotte, NC - (704) 733-9053
Wasatch and Wool - Park City, UT - (435) 575-0999
Yarn Refuge - Reno, NV - (775) 384-1600
Knit One Purl Two - Rockford, IL - (815) 904-6030
Harps & Thistles Yarn Emporium - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - (234) 208-9482
Avenue Yarns - Albany, NY - (510) 526-9276

Special orders only: Swatches - Fresno, CA - (559) 435-2813
Special orders are dyed to order and are typically ready in 3-5 weeks.You can place a special order for Gerty (or any of our yarns) at your favorite local shop. See a list of shops here and our map here