The Mere

"Alive without breath; as cold as death; never thirsting, ever drinking clad in mail, never clinking. Drowns on dry land, thinks an island is a mountain; thinks a fountain is a puff of air. So sleek, so fair! What a joy to meet! We only wish to catch a fish, so juicy-sweet!"

-Gollum’s song

When I was designing this piece, DH opined that, " NO ONE is going to buy a pattern named 'Dead Marsh'!"

This is when sneaky designers migrate to the web domain to determine if said marsh has another name - lol...

I think the dead marshes possess a melancholy and lonely beauty. It is a vast & barren landscape, full of wispy grasses and pools of stagnant water. It glows with the light of "corpse candles" as Gollum calls them. We may be more familiar with the term, "will-o-wisp."

In working on this design, I also have had in the back of my mind the haunting and terrifying scenes as Frodo is pulled under the water by the dead warriors and that feeling of being trapped by seaweed like vines and limbs.

I wanted the beads to look like the lights and the entire piece to flow like seaweed.

How'd I do?

The design reminds me of my ill fated "Drizzle" design, the one that got away...

THE MERE
THE TWO TOWERS SERIES

An organic stole in beaded cables & lace Size: 18-24 inches wide by 64-72 inches long (smaller if left unblocked)

Materials: 1320 yds Sanguine Gryphon Gaia lace or other lace weight yarn
5000 size 8 seed beads
Size 3 (US) needles
Crochet hook for beading; tapestry needle for grafting
Gauge: not important to this piece
Intermediate level - charted & written directions

Make sure you click on the images to get a close up. This piece is subtle and, like the Mere itself, warrants closer examination.

The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon's Gaia lace; the color is Sunflower Sutra. the beads are Miyuke 8-0234

NOTE: WHILE SUNFLOWER SUTRA WAS A SEASONAL COLOR, SANGUINE GRYPHON HAS TOLD ME THEY HAVE 36 SKEINS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO USE THE EXACT YARN.

The pattern combines cables, beading and a lace. A perfect tri-fecta!

The repeats are predictable and not too long so this one goes a little quicker than some. While the bead count is high, it is a no brainer to place them. Stole is knit in one piece with the exception of the final end border, which is grafted at the end.


The bottom border is kinda funky: a bit of leaf, a bit of shibori-like 3D point.

I was going to leave mine unblocked to enhance the organic feel to it & highlight the cables...



But the blocking really shows off the subtle glow of the beading, the sheen of the yarn & the sinuous nature of the lace pattern.


I really love this one & hope you do too!

Sneak Peek Saturday

"Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."
- Jean Petit-Senn (1792-1870, French poet)

It's been a while since we've had a sneak peek Saturday. Each week, time would roll around to the weekend and I would say to myself, "Well, I really want to get to this that or the other point before sharing my recent work."

And the weeks just seemed to fold seamlessly into one another and here it is a month later.

My bad...

It has been an abundant month at Sunflower Designs.

Before vacation, I was sort of burned out on designing, but the 10 days of rest, relaxation, reading (the 3 Rs) and NO KNITTING (gasp) worked their magic on this worn down middle aged knitter.

Well, since vacation, I have come roaring back with a vengeance.

WARNING: picture heavy post!!!

First off, some old business:

Many of you have requested modeled shots of my creations. I roped DH into taking some shots a week or two ago, so here goes...

Barad Dur

Lothlorien - front...

and back

and last, but most certainly NOT least!

In Dreams

I will be compiling the Mystery Shawl clues into one pattern next week, which all KAL participants will receive. This pattern will include all charts, written directions, & corrections. I will post more pictures then.

On to new business:



The Mere is coming along - mine is 1/3 complete and my test knitters have made good progress with their knits. As soon as I get her a little further along and vett the directions for attaching the final edging, I will write her up & get her out to your hot little hands.

REMEMBER: Barad Dur & Mere were added to the Two Towers Series AFTER the Christmas gift certificate promotion. THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE $52 GIFT CERTIFICATE.

They are part of the $15 add-on package. THEY ARE INCLUDED FOR THOSE PURCHASING THE SERIES AFTER MARCH 1 FOR $60.

Those of you forgoing the extra 3 patterns, your first pattern will be Treebeard, which I finished this morning and shot out to my test knitters.




This shoulder wrap features a twist at front and an unblocked lace pattern to evoke the look of moss on the side of the Ents in Fangorn Forest. The yarn is Alchemy's Silken Straw in Forest Waltz.

It is not too late to subscribe to the Two Towers Series. This gets you benefits such as a reduced price, wonderfully warm & witty (HAH!) missives from yours truly, automatic pattern updates, and a surprise pattern somewhere down the line (SHHHH!!!)

Sign up is on the left hand sidebar - scroll down a bit...

I also have one other new pattern in development that has nothing to do with the Lord of the Rings.




This is the Three Angels Shawl: my first dedicated pattern. It is a fundraiser for the Three Angels Children's Home in Haiti, which includes a school and a hospital. The shawl is knit with Crystal Palace's Mini-Mochi and will be edged with a lace border in alpaca that looks like angel wings.

Here is a shot of the shawl stretched out a bit to show the stitch pattern better.

These spring days are abundant indeed. Even as new life springs from the earth and our pulses quicken with the scent of fresh possibilities, we move into the summer months with hope in our hearts and joy in our own backyards.

Nature Lover

Who can explain the secret pathos of Nature's loveliness? It is a touch of melancholy inherited from our mother Eve. It is an unconscious memory of the lost Paradise. It is the sense that even if we should find another Eden, we would not be fit to enjoy it perfectly nor stay in it forever.

-Henry Van Dyke

I have been searching these last 2 days, for the right combination of yarn & pattern, to evoke the melancholy and lonely beauty of the dead marshes in The Two Towers. It is a vast & barren landscape, full of wispy grasses and pools of stagnant water. It glows with the light of "corpse candles" as Gollum calls them. We may be more familiar with the term, "will-o-wisp."

In working on this design, I also have had in the back of my mind the haunting and terrifying scenes as Frodo is pulled under the water by the dead warriors and that feeling of being trapped by seaweed like vines and limbs.

I wanted the beads to look like the lights and the entire piece to flow.


Today, I got there. I am in love. It is just right. When complete, it will be understated , simple, yet elegant. The design reminds me of my ill fated "Drizzle" design, the one that got away...

Make sure you click on the image to get a close up. This piece is subtle and, like the Mere itself, warrants closer examination.

The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon's Gaia lace; the color is Sunflower Sutra. the beads are Miyuke 8-0234

With a name like that, I just HAD to try it, right?

The pattern combines cables, beading and a little lace. I am going to leave mine unblocked to enhance the organic feel to it. I love the way the fabric ripples and twines, as is.

*****

In Fellowship news, Lothlorien is through testing. I am having a tech glitch with one of the cable symbols used in the charts. As soon as I can get that taken care of, I will send it out.

And now I should probably find something pithy or philosophical to write, some anecdote or observation to make myself sound all wise.

But I have itchy fingers and they are ready to cast on. I think I will go knit.