Pattern Spotlight: Dividing Lines by Adventure Du Jour Designs

We're friends who met on Ravelry and now our knitting and designing is as entwined as our friendship and families. We had been friends for years and designing separately for just as long. We were always consulting each other on design ideas and knitting techniques. It only made sense a year ago when we decided to join forces and design together as Adventure Du Jour Designs.

We have learned over our collective 75 years of knitting experience that knitting is a social sport and experience. Recent years have only enhanced this as the internet and fiber arts events have opened so many doors for formerly solo knitters. As many close friends find, we have similar tastes in not only yarn but also what we like to knit. We've collaborated up to offer other friends like us patterns that are simple enough to knit in social settings yet interesting enough, in either yarn or pattern, to hold your excitement during the knitting process. The result is a shared of experience and souvenir marking a special time together.

 

Anzula Luxury Yarns is a favorite brand of ours. Who can resist those beautiful yarn bases and colors?? When presented with the opportunity to design with the newest yarn Ava, we were delighted and jumped! We are equally excited that Anzula will be offering Ava paired with Dividing Lines at TNNA’s Sample It! on June 10th in Washington DC.

As lovers of color and accessories, we had no trouble in designing something that would be as fun to knit as it is to wear. Dividing Lines, a convertible accessory, from wrap to cowl, is perfect for cool spring and fall days worn as a wrap and equally versatile as a cowl in the winter when bundling up under a jacket. With the right buttons on the decorative ribbing, Dividing Lines makes a statement no matter how you wear it. It's the only accessory you’ll need for your weekend trip because it brings a new look to every outfit.

This DK weight yarn, Ava was wonderful to knit with as it glided through our hands. The subtle shifts of color made the visual experience as pleasurable as the tactile. Ava knits into a fabric that is both soft yet sturdy. The real test is the final fabric and Ava did not disappoint after its proper washing. Ava held its shape while allowing the cashmere to bloom fully. Combined with the beautiful Anzula colors, the stitches flew off the needles.

Look for Anzula’s Ava and Dividing Lines at TNNA! The kits will be available at Sample it on the evening of June 10th! 

You can find more of our designs in our joint Ravelry Store, Adventure Du Jour Designs and our individual stores, Debbi’s The Stitches of My Life Designs and Marcy’s Steppingstone Fiber Creations. 

As we are fond of saying, Plan Your Next Adventure and Knit On! 

 

Pattern Spotlight: Vail by Heather Zoppetti

I’m here on Anzula’s blog to give you a closer look at Vail. This was one of those projects that started as something else and then evolved into what you see now. Originally, I had intended it to be part of my Knitscene designer’s collection, however, with changes to the design, I couldn’t get it finished in time for that issue. Instead it’s be reborn in this special issue of Knitscene Handmade. I really love the idea of a handmade life. Perhaps I’m an old soul who used to make all my own clothes, or maybe I’m just preparing for the zombie apocalypse…but I love the idea of being more self-sustaining.

Vail calls for two Anzula yarns, Vera and Breeze. Both are the same blend of silk and linen but Vera is sport weight and Breeze is lace weight. I love unexpected blends like this. Silk and linen make a great duo---drapey, strong, and crisp. With all of Anzula’s beautiful colors to choose from, you can put together some great color combinations!

At first I had planned for a complicated all over pattern that required drawn up stitches. I even knit an entire back piece!

However, I fell out of love with it. The fabric was too stiff, too formal, and it strayed too much from my original vision of clean and simple lines with a dramatic ruffle as the focus. So I did the hard thing and ripped it out.

Now Vail is a simple top down raglan. It doesn’t even have waist shaping! Instead the waist is drawn in with a fancy cable in the back. The back “skirt” is dipped down ever so slightly with short rows and made fuller with a few increases hidden after the cable. The edges are finished simply with an applied i-cord.

© Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

Let’s talk about that ruffle. Before I sent this garment to Knitscene I dubbed it “The Ruffle of Doom”. That’s not to say I don’t love the ruffle. It’s a great element. However, what happened was, the ruffle was not originally as it appears. At first, I went a little overboard and had the ruffle going all around, even behind the neck. After binding off and putting it on, I hated it. HATED. But, if you’ve ever knit a ruffle, you know that there are about a gazillion stitches at the end. So, I knew I didn’t want to rip and re-knit, besides, there was simply no time for that.

I decided to cut the neck section out. Yes, I Cut. It. Out. In other words, I did a little surgery. It was scary, but very rewarding. There were many ends to weave in, but this saved me so much time. I got the look I wanted and I didn’t have to re-knit. 

© Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

So what do you think? Was all the ripping and cutting and re-designing worth it? Do you love the way Vail worked out? What colors of Vera and Breeze are going to choose for your Vail?

Pattern Spotlight: Mentzelia Shawlette by Tian Connaughton

Tian Connaughton is a knit and crochet designer who specializes in accessories. She has a wide range of designs and many techniques in her tool belt: textures, cables, lace, trims, and clever shaping. You'll also find some really cute cardigans in her Ravelry store. She  joins us today with her newest design, Mentzelia Shawlette

With the brand Anzula, you know what to expect with their yarns, every time. Their yarns are consistently high quality and the colors, beautiful. Their latest addition to the line, Ava, a sport weight 80/10/10 (merino/cashmere/nylon) blend is no exception. It's everything I've come to expect from this brand and dyer.

A couple months ago, Charlie at Anzula reached out to a bunch of designers about their new yarn, seeking designs featuring the new yarn. I was so thrilled to be included in that list of designers. Immediately my brain went into overdrive. So many ideas came up, but for my first pattern, I wanted to create a pattern that would be perfect for a single skein (because sometimes we grab just one skein at a show or our LYS to try out), and a design that is easy enough to adjust with additional skeins. Thus, the Mentzelia Shawlette was born.

You know when you have that single skein of precious yarn that you can’t imagine just knitting any ole’ pattern. Well, I had only the one skein of this color of this yarn and I wanted to make the very best of it. Of course the yarn is in Poppy. I have to say, this color is by far my favorite color in the long range of Anzula's colorways

At 330 yards per skein, I figured for this design, big needles and lace would make this skein go pretty far, which it did! Worked sideways in stockinette stitch with a lovely lace edging, the Mentzelia Shawlette allow you to use up every ounce of your precious single skein. The pattern is easy to remember and very intuitive. As you progress through the lace pattern, the edge stitch counts changes, increasing and decreasing as you to create the beautiful points along the edge of the shawlette.

You can find the Mentzelia Shawlette pattern on Ravelry. Ava will be appearing in yarn shops in the next couple of weeks and is available for special order from all shops that carry Anzula yarns, both LYS and online