Knititude

MacMahan Collection of cowl patterns

 

 Just in time for holiday knitting, the MacMahan Collection of three cowl patterns is now available! In late September I spent a weekend on MacMahan Island, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and in the company of three of my college roommates (but that's another story!). The cowls in this collection were inspired by the island's rugged coastline.

The Boothbay cowl is worked in the round from the top down, and uses a variation of the feather-and-fan lace stitch pattern (minus purl ridges) to suggest gently rippling waters. Increases and ribbing shape the cowl so that it flares slightly at the bottom, and narrows at the top; increases are carefully set up so that the ribbing flows nicely into the main stitch pattern. For this cowl I used Madelinetosh Tosh Chunky, worked on US size 9 needles, in the "Well Water" colorway, a lightly variegated spectrum of steely blues that nicely suggests the ocean's surface on an overcast day (unfortunately, the sun showed itself for a total of about 10 minutes that whole weekend--no exaggeration!).

The Rockweed cowl is named after a type of brown seaweed which is ubiquitous in that area of Maine. Also known as bladder wrack, the clumps of rockweed I saw were not just brown, but also included a wide range of other hues, from olive to pistachio to gold-- a color spectrum almost perfectly captured by Madelinetosh colorway "Filigree." And when I found the stitch pattern “vines and eyelet rib,” in the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume 1, its waves and and eyelets reminded me, not of vines, but of clumps of rockweed. I modified the stitch pattern by removing the columns of faggoting, making the fabric warmer and denser (yet leaving the appearance of the stitch pattern virtually unchanged). Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn is held doubled for this cowl, which is worked in the round with self-finished edges.

Finally, the Schist cowl was inspired by the rocky ledges along the island's coast (formed largely of, yes, schist). To create the layered look of this cowl, I experimented with different combinations of knit and purl stitches, finally hitting upon a pattern of wide, shallow knit/purl triangles that creates natural folds. This cowl is knit flat and sideways, and then seamed; the pattern gives directions for a provisional cast on, so that the seaming can be done via three-needle bind off, but a conventional cast on and seaming technique could easily be substituted.

Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn was also used doubled for this cowl; the "Whiskers" colorway, a combination of different shades of beige and light taupe, suggests the color variations in the sections of rocky coastline which lie above the high tide mark.

The Boothbay and Rockweed cowls each use less than a skein of yarn, and the Schist cowl uses just about one skein; all three work up quickly, with a difficulty level of advanced beginner. The collection is priced at $7.00 for the trio of patterns, and includes both written directions and charts for all three. Cowl patterns are also available individually, for $3.50 each.

 

 

Arc & Line Cowl and Ribbed-Waist Pullover

I have two patterns in the Fall 2012 issue of knit.wear: the Arc and Line Cowl and the Ribbed-Waist Pullover. When the premiere issue of knit.wear came out in Fall 2011, I really liked the clean, modern feel of many of the designs, so I was quite excited when two of my submissions were accepted for the Fall 2012 issue.

The Ribbed-Waist Pullover is a variation on a very classic design: the raglan pullover. What sets it apart are the ribbed accent panels; they are shaped into triangles (sleeves), inverted triangle (upper back) or diamonds (side waist), and thus provide more shaping at the widest part of the panels, where it is most needed: cuffs, back neck, and natural waist. 

In the original swatch for this design, the ribbed panels were bordered with diagonal strips of stockinette stitch, 2 stitches wide. When the editor of knit.wear, Eunny Jang, contacted me about using the deisgn, she suggested I try using the panels without the borders, to allow the ribs to flow more organically into the stockinette body of the sweater. I was a little concerned that this would make the ribs look sloppy, as the knit stitches in 2X2 ribbing tend to be a little bigger than the knit stitches in plain stockinette, when worked on the same size needles. But after swatching I decided I liked the effect, so I went with Eunny's suggestion.

I really liked the yarn for this project (Juniper Moon Farm Chadwick, in Hannah, a lovely muted green)--it was soft, bouncy and a pleasure to knit. And the design worked up quickly; the only rough spot was the calculations for the upper back ribbing: since it flows into the neck ribbing AND the ribbed raglan seams, it was a little complicated figuring out where the point of the triangle should be so, that everything came together properly for all sizes.

And when I tried on the sample, I did notice that for the most flattering fit, the widest part of the side waist ribbing should fall at or slightly above the natural waist. My back waist length is slightly shorter than the standard sizes, and the sweater honestly didn't look great on me, because the widest part of the side waist panels were pointing right at my abdomen. Then I pulled the sides up slightly, moving the side "pointers" up to my natural waist-- and it made a huge difference!

As for the Arc and Line Cowl (photo courtesy of interweave Press), it was a fun, fast knit, with a delightful yarn (Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage), in Filigree, a gorgeous green/olive/gold colorway. With yarn held doubled, and US size 10 needles, I was amazed at how quickly the work progressed. For this project I wanted to make use of the way the lace stitch pattern distorts the fabric, to shape the cowl into a face-framing curve. And yes, even though the fabric is quite solid, the stitch pattern is in fact a so-called "true" lace, with yarnovers and decreases on every round.

I hope this doesn't sound conceited, but I'm a little surprised that this project isn't more popular on Ravelry, because in my opinion it is a little unusual, very wearable, and works up quickly-- all great characteristics for holiday gifts AND personal knitting.