Re-released pattern: Thistle Leaf Shawl

In all the excitement of the Trunk Show, I forgot to (re)share the Thistle Leaf Shawl with you. It's a lovely pattern (and project) that warranted new photographs and a layout tweak, when I realized that it was a member of the Unicorn Tapestries, vol. one*.

Thistle Leaf Shawl $7 on Ravelry (no account necessary)



Don't you love this kind of project? One skein of a lovely fingering weight yarn and one lace chart that has enough going on to keep your attention. Thistle Leaf Shawl is a top-down shawl, which means you begin by making a little garter-stitch tab (it tops the center line of yarnover increases so that there is a lovely straight line of 2-stitch garter stitch along the entire top edge of the shawl). While this little tab may feel a tiny bit fiddly when you begin, it's over in a snap and makes the shawl a bit more perfect. I thoroughly explain the wee tab, and then you're off to the races!

There are plenty of rows of "mindless" stockinette stitch to begin, while you're still head-over-heels in love with your yarn (Julie Asselin's Milis in the Confiture colorway shown here). Then, just when you might consider straying to another project, the fun of the lace begins! Clearly, I am quite fond of this lace (Thistle Leaf Pullover, anyone?), and you should be, too :) Thistle Leaf is a Victorian variant on your basic leaf lace, but with more ... frills. Isn't it pretty? And don't worry - I've provided the lace pattern in both charted and written formats, so anyone can create their own Thistle Leaf Shawl.

Because this is an extra-wide triangle, you will increase four times on the front (knit) rows - left, right, and twice at the center line - and twice more on the back (purl) - left and right again. This produces what some call a "heart-shaped" shawl, and I will have to find the proper time/place to lay this shawl out for you to see that effect. The ends, with all those increases on the left and right sides tend to curl back in on themselves (just a little) as you come to the end of the Thistle Leaf edging. I love those extra-long ends when I wear this shawl bandit-style (triangle point in front, ends wrapped around the neck to come back to the front).

Size/Finished Measurements 
Width: 52 inches/132.08cm
Depth: 19 inches/48.26cm

Materials
Julie Asselin Milis {100% Merino; 475 yds/434m per 115 gram skein}; color: Confiture; 1 skein
US6/4.0mm 29-inch circular needle
Stitch markers
Tapestry needle

Gauge
20 stitches x 32 rows = 4 inches/10cm in Stockinette Stitch

Skills Needed 
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Reading charts (written instructions also provided)
Lace

Thanks!

Test knitting: knittygal, sallen2849, sanita60, knitterloreen, seshetsuten, Katinka

Technical editing: choochooknits

Pattern is professionally formatted (by me!) with charts and written-out versions of the lace pattern to ensure you have everything you need to create your own beautiful Thistle Leaf Shawl. Those of you lovely knitters who purchased this pattern when it was originally released should have received a message from Ravelry that the updated version of the pattern is now in your library.

This pattern is part of a bundle of four inspired by The Unicorn Tapestries* at The Cloisters in New York City. Thistle Leaf Shawl was inspired by the magnificent tapestry known as The Unicorn in Captivity, where the Unicorn lounges amidst mille-fleurs, including a single white thistle just in front of the right side of his fence.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! I have worn mine a lot, usually bandit-style, to keep my neck warm, add a bit of color to my outfit, and spice up my black v-neck winter coat. Now that Spring/Summer is upon us, I plan to wear it more as a shawl when nights are cooler - it fits easily into my purse.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,

*Use code unicornone to purchase all four patterns in the Unicorn Tapestries, vol. one bundle for the price of three!

New pattern: Sly Maid Stole

Today I have a lovely versatile accessory pattern to share with you.

Sly Maid Stole $7 on Ravelry (no account required)



At first glance, this stole is seems simple, yet the more you look at it, the more you find going on. Two different textures of Stockinette make this reversible, while the eyelet rows lighten things up. All you need is one skein of your favorite laceweight yarn (or perhaps fingering weight? ooh, that would make a lovely and more substantial version) for this beauty.

Sly maids always peek at you out of the corner of their eyes, never straight-on. This stole begins as a straight-up rectangle, but it ends up being all about bias and winking eyelets and never knowing which side is right. Once you get to know a sly maid, you won’t want to be without her – light, cozy, adaptable, never boring yet not difficult.

What you'll love about knitting Sly Maid Stole:

• 2tLTCO means you will have just the right amount of yarn for your cast-on
• working on the bias - it's just more fun that way
• when the rows of stockinette start to feel monotonous, it's time for some eyelet action!

What you'll love about wearing Sly Maid Stole:

• madelinetosh Prairie in all its glory (or your fave laceweight yarn - I adore Prairie)
• the bias fabric makes for a rhombus that is more interesting to wear than the usual rectangle
• it's totes reversible
• the fabric is just open enough to be wonderfully squishy - not too warm, but it will ward off any chills

Size/Finished Measurements 61”/155 cm (long edge) x 28”/71.1 cm (short edge), 16”/40.6 cm wide

Materials madlinetosh prairie (100% Merino; 840 yds/768 m per 4 oz/114 g); color: Tart; 1 skein {approx. 775 yds}
US6/4.0 mm 29-inch circular needle
Tapestry needle

Gauge
20 sts x 32 rows = 4”/10 cm in Stockinette Stitch Note: I am a loose knitter. While gauge is not critical in a stole, you may run out of yarn if your gauge is different from the gauge given.

Skills Needed Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing

Thanks! Technical Editing: Rachel Brown
Test Knitting: dezignmama, pinhappy, pretz2005

Pattern is professionally formatted (by me!) to ensure you have everything you need to create your own beautiful Sly Maid Stole.

This pattern is part of a bundle of four inspired by The Unicorn Tapestries at The Cloisters in New York City. Sly Maid Stole comes from the tapestry fragment known as The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn, where we can see a “sly” maid signaling to the hunters that the Unicorn has been lured into an enclosed garden by the fair maiden.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! It is one of my favorite things to wear (and having written that bit above about knitting it in fingering weight, I am seriously considering another one).

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

New pattern: Pomegranate Cardi

Apologies for the delay in posting today! I am finishing up a couple of special projects for Jane Austen Knits this week, so things are a little busy. But here is another one of my new patterns for you:



Pomegranate Cardi $7 on Ravelry (no account required)



Here is another lightweight project: sock yarn worked at a comfortable gauge with lovely split pomegranate cables ringing the hem and cuffs, as well as traveling up the cardigan fronts. To keep things tidy, Seed Stitch shows up on the hem, collar, and cuffs, as well as recalling the seeds of those cut pomegranates. By the way, can you see the sparkles in the yarn? Oh, sparkly yarn, how fantastic you are!

What you will love about knitting this sweater:

• Body worked in one piece to the underarms, as well as sleeves - working everything flat ensures the gauge matches on all pieces
• Seed stitch along the edges prevents them from curling
• Raglan lines created using centered double decreases have a crisp, delicate line
• Pomegranate Cables are a fun mashup of cable maneuvers and Seed stitch - written and charted versions of the cable pattern are both included
• Integrated buttonbands mean no fussing around with where to sew on your beautiful buttons - right over the buttonholes!

What you will love about wearing this sweater:

• 3/4 sleeves are versatile and perfect for all seasons
• Drape of the fabric is lovely and means you can skip waist shaping yet still have a flattering garment
• Square neckline draws all eyes up to your pretty face
• Telling people about the pomegranates in the Unicorn Tapestries is always fun!

Sizes/Finished Measurements Women’s XS {S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X} (shown in size M with 0 inches ease)
Chest circumference: 28 {33, 36¼, 39¾, 44¾, 48, 53} inches/71.1 {83.8, 92.1, 101, 113.7, 121.9, 134.6} cm

Materials Wooly Wonka Arianrhod Sock (75% Merino, 20% Silk, 5% Metallic; 435yds/398m per 3.53oz/100g); color: Byzantine; 2 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4 skeins {approx. 750 (875, 1000, 1200, 1300, 1500, 1600) yds}
US4/3.5mm 29-inch circular needle
Cable needle
Waste yarn
Stitch markers
Removable stitch markers
Tapestry needle
Buttons

Gauge
24 sts x 32 rows = 4” in Stockinette Stitch

Skills Needed Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Working from charted or written instructions

Thanks! Technical Editing: Rachel Brown
Test Knitting: Malinda, chau7, galzanne, strickgut

Pattern is provided in both charted and written formats professionally formatted (by me!) to ensure you have everything you need to create your own beautiful Pomegranate Cardi.

Pomegranate Cardi is part of a bundle of four patterns inspired by The Unicorn Tapestries at The Cloisters in New York City. Inspiration for this design came from the magnificent tapestry known as The Unicorn in Captivity, where the Unicorn lounges beneath a pomegranate tree with pomegranate seeds and juice dripping down it's flank. Pomegranates were a fertility symbol, thanks to their abundant seeds.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! There are two more new patterns and one re-release to share with you this week, so stay tuned :)

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

New pattern: Thistle Leaf Pullover

Thistle Leaf Pullover $7 on Ravelry (no account required)


Are you looking for a Springtime project? How about a Thistle Leaf Pullover? With a pretty lace body and stockinette sleeves, it's a lovely project in fingering-weight yarn to wear almost any time of year. My testers (and their friends) all went crazy for this one, and I must confess that when I wear it, I feel like a million bucks!

What you'll love about knitting your Thistle Leaf Pullover:

• worked in the round - always having the right side facing you makes it easier to see where you are in the pattern and means hardly any finishing work (weave the underarms together, darn in your ends, and you're all set)
• body is worked without shaping (no increasing or decreasing in lace - whew!) - put the stretchy quality of lace to work for you and your curves
• sleeves are worked straight from the elbow - no shaping, just knit around and around (and if you decide to make the sleeves longer, do the same and you'll have pretty flared sleeves with no more work)
• my three-motif-wide chart of Thistle Leaf Lace can be used to mark off your raglan decreases for the yoke - since I don't know where you will be in the lace pattern, I can't provide a definitive chart for the raglan decreases, but you can do it! Feel free to ask me for help - my contact information is on the pattern - or check in with fellow knitters in the forum.
• lace pattern is provided in both chart and written formats - I know that not everyone can read a chart (some folks just can't process visual information like that) and others cannot make their way through written instructions - use what works for you
• somewhere between two and four skeins of sock yarn will give you a pullover to wear almost any time of year (with a t-shirt underneath, I wore mine on all but the coldest days this Winter, and layered with a tank or camisole you're ready for Spring or Fall, maybe even Summer depending upon your weather

And what you'll love about wearing your Thistle Leaf Pullover:

• the curvy hem from beginning the lace pattern right away
• crisp, turned-hem cuffs on your sleeves - turned hems are a great way to deal with the curling nature of stockinette
• how the lace follows and flatters your curves, even though you didn't have to mess with shaping in lace
• the raglan lines, where the stockinette sleeves meet the lace body, drawing attention up to your beautiful face
• the delicate rolled neckline which doesn't distract from the lace and puts that stockinette curl to use

Size/Finished Measurements 
Women’s XS {S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X} (shown in size M with 4 inches negative ease)
Chest circumference: 28 {32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52} inches/71.1 {81.3, 91.4, 101.6, 111.8, 121.9, 132.1} cm

Materials 
madelinetosh tosh sock (100% Merino; 395 yds/361 m per 3.53oz/100g); color: Ms. Taylor; 2 {2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4} skeins {approx. 575 (680, 790, 930, 1050, 1170, 1290) yds}
US6/4.0 mm 29-inch circular needle
Set of US6/4.0 mm double-pointed needles (DPNs)
Waste yarn
Stitch markers
Removable stitch markers
Tapestry needle

Gauge 
20 stitches x 28 rounds = 4”/10 cm in Stockinette Stitch

Skills Needed 
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Working from charted or written instructions

Thanks! 
Technical Editing: Rachel Brown
Test Knitting: BillS25, frankiepaige, jessicakunttu, jgeorgieff07, puddinknits

Pattern is provided in both charted and written formats professionally formatted (by me!) to ensure you have everything you need to create your own beautiful Thistle Leaf Pullover.

Thistle Leaf Pullover is part of a bundle of four patterns inspired by The Unicorn Tapestries at The Cloisters in New York City. Inspiration for this design came from the magnificent tapestry known as The Unicorn in Captivity, where the Unicorn lounges amidst mille-fleurs, including a single white thistle just in front of the right side of his fence.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! There are two more new patterns and one re-release to share with you this week, so stay tuned :)

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

Inspiration at the Cloisters

Last week on a stunningly beautiful day I made my way up to the Cloisters. It's one of those places that is largely a secret, since it is so far uptown, but it is such a lovely place. And that goes double this year, as they celebrate their 75th anniversary. Until last month they had the Search for the Unicorn exhibit (I was sad to see that the Narwhal tusks had been put away - if you didn't know they came from an odd-looking whale, those "horns" would make you a believer in unicorns), and now they have placed Janet Cardiff's Forty Part Motet in the Funtidueña Chapel, which is the first chapel on the right.

Pontaut Chapter House (and me experimenting with my 50mm lens)

Bees doing their thing in the Cuxa Cloister

I'll be honest, I strode right past the Funtidueña Chapel and headed for the Saint-Guilhem Cloister, which is always a favorite, with it's little bubbling fountain and serene skylight. Checked out the flowers blooming in the Cuxa Cloister... I wandered over the whole museum, spending lots of time with the Unicorn Tapestries and then in the Bonnefont Cloister.

Unicorn in Captivity (those are dripping pomegranate arils, not wounds)

Unicorn Captured (I had never noticed the "true" maiden's hand and arm before - around the unicorn's neck and out the right side of the damaged tapestry)

For me one of the charms of the Bonnefont Cloister is the inclusion of plants relevant to the fiber arts: fibers themselves, dyes, and mordants. It's a reminder of how much the world has changed that people used to grow the stuffs necessary to make their own clothes. The other charms include the profusion of plants, views of the Hudson, and the cozy sheltered place itself.

Flax flower in the Bonnefont Cloister

Cotton boll

Pomegranate blossoms and growing fruit

I want to know who has an anchorage in front of the Cloisters!

Eventually, I made my way back to the entry hall and figured I should check out this music. One of the things I usually love about the Cloisters is how quiet it is, so I was the tiniest bit annoyed by the music (no matter how lovely), when I arrived. But by the end of my usual circuit, I got over myself. And I'm so glad I did! The Forty Part Motet is ... magic. There isn't really another word for it. Well, actually, there are plenty of words (gorgeous, soaring, profound, immersive, unusual, thought-provoking). I made a little movie, but you really have to experience it for yourself - sitting on a bench in the middle or walking around and experiencing the sound.

So, what's all this visiting the Cloisters about? I'm feeling the rumblings of some patterns here. All those carved stone elements? Cables! The flowers and colors in the tapestries? Colorwork! Actual flowers and fruits in the gardens? Lace! Stand-alone patterns? Booklet? Full-on book? I'm still trying to figure out what it's all going to be, but I've got to find something to keep me busy now that the kids are back in school. Don't want me getting in trouble on the streets, do we?

To see more photos, visit my Flickr photo set. (I'm always amused after the fact to see what I did, in fact, capture and what I somehow managed to miss, like the espaliered pear trees in full leaf, though I'd photographed them "bare" in the spring.)

Until next time, happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen