Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Among the Birches
The first pattern in the Far North Collection is Among the Birches.
This design developed very organically for me. I had leftover Noro Silk Garden yarn from another project as well as a few balls of another colourway that complemented the first one beautifully. So I began to experiment with the two colourways in a bias pattern.
It is basically Garter Stitch with rows of wrapped stitches (a.k.a. Garter Drop Stitch) in the contrasting colourway.
I loved the way the colours worked together. And the drape that bias knitting creates motivated me to shape the piece into some kind of shawl or wrap.
So Among the Birches was born. I decided on a runana--which is a large wrap with a back and two fronts, rather like a large sweater without side seams. It gave me lots of options for sizing and combining colours. Those options are available to you, too.
The wrap can easily be converted to be worn as a vest. Just sew some buttons along the side and button together. You don't even need buttonholes, since the openings in the wrapped stitch rows can serve as buttonholes.
I have written the pattern to three sizes (Extra Small/Small; Medium/Large; 1X/2X), but it is adaptable to any size. Make it as long as you like and as wide as you like. The pattern can be your template.
Choose the colours you love the most and delight in their flow as you knit this early-fall garment.
