Inspiration

Not too long ago, I was interviewed by the fabulous Robin Hunter of How to Become A Professional Knitter. You can read the interview here. I've enjoyed reading her interviews for a long time; they're reminders that even famous designers (and yarn shop owners, dyers, etc.) are ordinary people who work with yarn for a living. The first question was "Where do you find inspiration?" Among the inspirations I listed (Classic Movies, Music, and Archaeology) is another that I forgot to mention: vintage fashion.

Not long ago I discovered the website antiquedress.com, which sells the most gorgeous authentic vintage clothing, much of it museum quality. One of the pieces for sale was a capelet designed c. 1895 made of ruby velvet and cream lace with jet beads and sequins. It's an amazing piece, and I wondered if it would work as knitwear. Guess what? It does! Several weeks and 3 skeins of yarn later, and behold: Countess of Grantham (left), next to her inspiration.

The resulting capelet is elaborate but still wearable today. It could be worn on a dressy occasion, but it would work equally well with jeans and a sweater. I'll be wearing it that way this autumn.

Countess of Grantham- $6.95
Ravelry | Patternfish

Handling long floats in stranded colorwork

Stranded colorwork: unless you're twisting every stitch, you will end up with yarn floats. I’m not a big fan of long floats. It's tempting to say just leave them, and many do. It's a matter of taste, I suppose. But though the knitter may be the only one to see the inside of a piece, it’s important to me that I be as happy with the inside as with the outside. I had a great-aunt who was a fantastic artist and needlewoman, and whether I’m painting, embroidering, or knitting, I always look at it afterward and ask myself how it would measure up to Auntie’s standards. Here’s what I do, anytime a float is too long for my taste. Hope it is of help to you, too.

Many instructions I’ve seen say that you should “catch” the yarn if you must cross behind more than 5 stitches; I like to do this anytime the gap is more than 4 stitches.

When you’re stranding colorwork, the strands as you hold them should stay in the same positions relative to each other - one closer to the work, one further away. I knit Continental style (with the yarn held in my left hand), so I carry one yarn over the top of my index finger, and the other yarn under it, with the yarn held under the finger being closer to the work. The yarn held closer shows a little more prominently in the design. See how the multicolor stripes look thicker in the light mitten than in the dark one? The cream was held further away, and the brown was held closer.

To catch the yarn float when there is a long stretch of another color, the relative positions of the yarn must change. So I knit to 1 stitch before the halfway point, then move the carried yarn between the working yarn and the fabric. If it’s the yarn you normally held above, move it down. If it’s the yarn normally held below, move it up. Knit the stitch, then move the carried yarn between the working yarn and the fabric back to its original position.

See the little dark lines in the large areas of blue and the little blue lines in the large areas of black close to the center circle? That’s what it looks like from the inside.

This may or may not be how others do it, but it works for me. I hope it is helpful to you, too

The patterns shown above, in case you were wondering, are Alesund (the mittens) and Harmonic Curves Tam (the hat).