Pattern Spotlight: Mrs Clark Cowl by Taiga Hilliard

Taiga Hilliard of Cashmere Junkie joins us today with her new pattern for Ava which we released earlier this week. She is a self-proclaimed yarn snob and we are so glad we can satisfy her need for luxurious yarns:

I am often inspired after seeing and playing with the yarn I have in mind. It could be the color, the yarn texture, or the synergism of feelings toward the whole. Some yarns just want to be a shawl, or a dress. And others, only a cowl will do.

With me being a self admitted yarn snob, it just follows suit that Anzula makes yarns using some of my favorite fibers out there: Fine Merino, Tussah Silk, Cashmere. And then when you add the wonderful color palette; Saffron yellow, Garnet red, Chiva blue, Hyacinth pink... All amazing. Anzula yarns are a joy to work with, plus the inspire a strong desire to create a compliment to the combination.

The new Ava yarn has a luxurious feel that runs through the fingers with delight and ease, plus has a sheen to it that makes it look rich. It also matches drape and stitch definition beautifully, a quality rarely found, but unquestionably enjoyed.

Indeed, this Ava yarn is perfect to wear on you skin and so a cowl seemed the natural route to go. The Mrs Clark Cowl pattern was designed to highlight the wonderful tonal dyeing that Anzula has refined to a fine art. I wanted something interesting and fun to knit, but that would not distract from the color. I started with a ribbed edge and added a mixture of simple lace stitches and cables. The pattern moves enough to stay interesting, but is never overly complicated.

It is my hope that you will savor Ava yarn and the Mrs Clark pattern together as much as I did.

Happy Knitting!
Taiga

You can find the pattern for Mrs Clark on Ravelry and the Ava yarn at VK Live today and tomorrow in the Yarnover Truck booth (121-123)!

Can't make it to VK Live? No worries, Ava will be appearing in shops soon. If you want it even sooner you can always place a special order at your favorite Anzula shop.

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Pattern Spotlight: Phaeodaria Socks by Hunter Hammersen

Hunter Hammersen joins us this week with the inspiration behind her newest pattern, Phaeodaria in Haiku:

I'm easily distracted. I'm sure it says something unflattering about my character, but if you ask me to do the same thing all the way down a sock, there's every chance I'll get bored and wander off somewhere around the first heel turn. Given what I hear from other knitters, I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. These socks are my answer to that little problem.

The leg is one big, twisty, unapologetically intricate chart full of all sorts of cabled goodness. Now of course i understand that keeping those sort of shenanigans up through a whole sock might be a bit much (even the easily distracted among us want a break from time to time), so things do calm down a little on the foot. There you switch to a slightly more subdued cable that repeats every few rows (even then you're working a nifty center cross cable that I find unreasonably satisfying, so you won't wander off). The combination makes for a sock that holds your attention with out ever being too hard.

The lovely stitch patterns (and of course the name) were taken from the drawings of Phaeodaria (tiny marine organisms with amazingly complicated mineral skeletons) in Ernst Haeckel's 1904 book /Kunsformen der Natur/. I'm a sucker for old scientific illustrations and find them a marvelous source of design inspiration!

So if you're looking for a lovely sock that will keep you entertained, Phaeodaria might be just the ticket. And if you're looking for something a bit more subdued, you can totally come raid my knitting basket. I've got a whole stack of half knit socks that would very much love to be finished!

More patterns by Hunter featuring Anzula yarns:

In Case of Draughts
Argent
Interstices

What keeps you going on a project? Tell us in the comments!

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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!

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