Katy Carroll's designs are bold, full of bright colors, and usually, at least a few cables. Sounds pretty great right? She joins us today to tell about her newest pattern, Lucienne Scarf:

I was so excited to have a chance to work with Ava, Anzula's new sport weight blend. Of course, I hadn't seen Ava yet, but having knit with several Anzula yarns, and having scoped out even more of them at trunk shows, I knew it wouldn't disappoint.

The first thing that struck me about Ava was its bouncy twist, which is one of my favorite things to discover in a yarn. While I like a lot of different knitting techniques, I'm a cable-lover at heart, and I'll always try to find a way to sneak them into designs and projects. A round yarn like this shows off cables so well, but the softness from the MCN content also gives it a beautiful drape. it was a tactile treat to knit! I also think Ava has a lot of inherent versatility, both in terms of gauge and the types of projects for which it could be used. it would make an amazing sweater!

Knowing that Ava would be released in the spring, I chose the vibrant, sunny Saffron colorway for my design. And thinking about Spring further, I knew I wanted a pattern that had an open and airy feel to it. I decided that I would incorporate dropped stitches somehow, but while dropped stitches can be fun (it feels so subversive to drop them on purpose!), they can leave the stitches on either side looking sloppy. Unless you're aiming for a deconstructed, "Matrix-y" look, that may not be what you want. This "cables and lace" motif is ideal for the purpose, though - it's bordered by decreases on either side, which keep the edges crisp and distinct. A few purl columns in between the motifs are dropped down at the end of the work, and while you don't get to enjoy that moment of transformation until the very end of your knitting, it's well worth the wait!

Ava's generous yardage allowed me to use most of all of two skeins to make a wide, lengthy scarf that could be draped loosely during transitional months, or worn more snugly in colder weather. Look for Ava's debut at VK Live in Pasadena this weekend, with the Anzula yarns at 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.

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!