She's Not a Poe-seur Deb Breland hails from Louisville, Kentucky, where she creates a striking line of knit accessory patterns as "Goldberry Knits". From fingerless mitts to socks and scarves, Deb's Ravelry store is a delight for knitters of all levels. She recently designed the gorgeous Annabel Lee Shawl for us as part of the Independent Designers Program using Louisa Harding Pittura. I knew we would get along fine when in our first email exchange we discovered a mutual love of Poe's poetry and puns. I hope you enjoy getting to know Deb better through this interview! Sasha for Skein Shop (SS): Hi Deb! What do you want to make sure the Skein Shop Community know about you? Deb Breland...
Negative Space This is the second in a series of posts recommending patterns for variegated lace yarn. We are saying goodbye to Findley Dappled in Have Shawl Will Travel. Join us! I know that at first blush "negative space" isn't necessarily what you might think you want in your project, but it's really just a fancy term for the open, lacy bits. Lace is all about the juxtaposition of positive (where the yarn is) and negative (where the yarn isn't). I find that when a lace pattern has a lot of negative space, it's easier to pair it with a variegated yarn, since the busy colors won't be detracting from any shapes that the positive space is forming. With that...
Texture! This is the first in a series of posts recommending patterns for variegated lace yarn. We are saying goodbye to Findley Dappled in Have Shawl Will Travel. Join us! One thing that variegated lace yarn is pretty good at is obscuring lace. Your eye is drawn to all the fun colors, and pretty soon you can't process the interesting shapes. A great way to combat that effect is to simply make a shawl with an interesting texture. The color has a much more difficult time overwhelming a strong texture. On the knitting side, how about an oldie but a goodie - Citron? The stitches couldn't be simpler since most of the shawl is stockinette with a few increase and decrease...
Jillena R. was kind enough to share her project photos with us. Since she got the yarn from us, she'll be receiving a coupon for 10% off. If you'd like to see your work featured here and get a coupon, read this post for details. I test knit the the Anonymous Shawl for The Wool Club. I love Verena’s designs for their texture and simplicity. My favorite thing about this shawl is the juxtaposition of the garter stitch with the crosshatch stitch sections - they really complement each other and create such a nicely draping fabric. Juniper Moon Farm Findley DK is truly the perfect yarn for this pattern. I wear my Anonymous Shawl both as a scarf and as...
Thank you to Sharon K. for sending in this post! She'll be receiving a coupon for 10% off because she got the yarn from us. If you would like ot have your work featured (and get a coupon in gratitude), please read this post for all the juicy details. Here's what Sharon wrote to us: I have made this triangle scarf pattern numerous times, and I have several colors listed in my Etsy shop. A customer from Colorado wanted a dark gray to go with a top she has. She even emailed me a photo of the top so I could try to match the gray. After visiting my LYS and finding nothing, I started searching online. I had no...
