Recent Aquaintances

"The more acquaintances you have, the less you know them."

-Chinese Proverb

Well, I don't know about that, but I do know it makes it very difficult to decide which design to work on next!

Here's a look over some recently added projects to the already l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g Sunflower Designs queue...

1) Pressed Flowers Stole
The yarn is JoJoland Melody, which is technically sock weight. I tried their lace weight, but it was so cobwebby that the pattern's sculptured aspects just didn't show to their best advantage. Melody is on the light side of fingering - similar to Schaefer's Anne in feel and weight.
I wanted a faded antique color range to go along with the stylized vine motif, which reminds me of, well, pressed flowers.

2) Unnamed scarf
I picked up more of the Nashua Geologie yarn on my way back from the lake house. This is another speedy project. The yarn does all the work, needing only an oversized lace pattern to show off its best qualities..

3) Lakeside Tweed Stole
This recent addition came from recreational knitting time at the lake, after Delphinium made it into your hot little hands.

I know - I should have been doing something different in my downtime, but what can I say? I'm just a knitting fool...

Anyway, the yarn is Rowan's Felted Tweed and the design is quiet, understated...like life at the lake.

4) Knitting Basket
I wanted to do a design specifically for Schaefer's Great Knitter's colors. The yarn is Anne and the stitch pattern forms an interesting basketweave effect. It should work with any of the four colors, or use another multicolor. Good patterns that break up the colors in those multi-colored hand dyes we love are in short demand, so I wanted to do another one.

5) Brugge Stole
Named for it's deep waffle stitch, which reminded me of Belgian waffles (my favorite kind) this design came about as the result of my determination to find a pattern for Noro's beautiful Yuzen. The listed gauge is DK, but it is really a light worsted. And the yarn is much softer than Silk Garden and Kureyon.

6) Unnamed Scarf
The yarn is Kureyon Sock. The pattern is another mosaic like Byzantine, but in a finer gauge. I actually started this one before Byzantine, but the larger stole was not as dense. That density makes this scarf more suited to colder weather.

7) Orinoco Stole
This one came about by accident. I was going to sell this Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, but the color (Sweet Pea) just spoke to me. Instead of changing the direction of the twisted stitches each time they cross, I crossed them all from right to left. The resulting pattern resembles a cascade of blue green water. So I named her after the song "Orinoco Flow" by Enya.

Love that song! Listen to Celtic Women's version here.

7) Chromatic Shift
This stole is almost complete. wOOt!
Look for the pattern on Monday. Once more playing with Noro's long color runs... This is my third design of the summer using Silk Garden Lite. This one is very loose and deeply textured. Switching between two different balls, one just slightly ahead of the other, results in a brilliant wash of color. DH loves this one...

So many projects and only two hands...sigh...

tomorrow: new infatuations