Knititude

Year of the Horse pattern: the Lijiang Hat

Since 2011, I've created a design in honor of the Chinese zodiac. For 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, it was the Bunny Yoke Pullover and Hat; for 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the Dragon Lace Pullover, and for 2013, the Year of the Snake, it was the Nerodia Cardigan (for both children and women). 2014 is the Year of the Horse, and this year's Chinese zodiac pattern is the Lijiang* Hat. 

There are some similarities to the design process for the Bunny Yoke Pullover/Hat and the Lijiang Hat; both were projects intended for new babies born in that year, and both use more than one color. In both cases I found animal sketches that I liked, used them as a guide to create sketches on graph paper, and then simplified those sketches as much as possible until I came up with a motif that could be reproduced using a relatively small number of stitches.

But in the case of the horse, I originally wanted to do something different: I tried to use a combination of cables and textured stitches to create the horse's image, using only one color of yarn. It wasn't a success! So I returned to the idea of using two colors of yarn, but I still didn't like the idea of a bunch of horses prancing around the hat's brim, nor did I want to do a single big intarsia horse; I wanted the animal motif to end up being a more abstract element (more like the bodies of the cabled snakes in the Nerodia cardigans). That is when I decided to incorporate the simplified Chinese character for horse into the design. I also decided to add a corrugated rib edging (which could easily be changed to regular ribbing instead).

The pattern is written so that the Chinese characters can be used alone, or in combination with the horse image, and includes baby to adult sizes.

And now it's time to start working on my design for the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram!

*The Lijiang Pony is a relatively new breed of horse from the Chinese region of the same name. 

Kit & Kat Pullovers

The pattern for the Kit & Kat Pullovers was recently published in Interweave Knits Gifts 2014 (first three photos courtesy of F&W Media/Interweave Press). The doll's version, sized to fit American Girl-type dolls, uses sport weight yarn, and the girls' version uses aran weight yarn, so that the stitch patterns are of similar scale for both girl and doll.

I didn't choose the name "Kit & Kat," but it does remind me of a story from my veterinarian days: I was working at South Bay Veterinary Group, in Boston's South End, when a woman brought in a cat named "Spic." When I first saw the name on the medical record, I thought "Well, that's kind of offensive; I'm surprised someone would give a cat a name like that." But then a few minutes into the examination, the woman mentioned that she used to have another cat, which had recently died. And that cat's name was Span. "Spic & Span," get it?

Anyway. The working name I used for this design was the "Lucina Shell Pullovers," because the lace edging around the hem and cuffs is the "Lucina Shell" pattern from one of Barbara Walker's Treasuries. I like the three-dimensional quality of this stitch pattern, which results from stitches being rapidly increased and then decreased to form the "shells." Once I had the idea of having the shells flow into ribs, the rest of the design followed: the shell borders form a slight peplum and belled sleeve cuffs, and the ribs give a more fitted look to the body and sleeves.

Cascade 220 Superwash Sport yarn was used for the doll's version, and Aran for the girls'. These are great yarns for children's clothes because they are machine washable, and can even be tumble dried (although for this design, you would be better off reshaping and drying flat). They also come in a big range of colors.

I finished the sample for the doll's version last spring, while visiting my granddaughters, and they were kind enough to let me use one of their American Girl dolls as a model. As you can see, the camera loves her! 

 

Related articles

Ropes Beach Infinity Scarf or Cowl and Almy Cabled Mittens

Plumage Wrap

Amphorae Shawl