Knit Me!

A pattern for unique yarns: in Fyberspates Silk Twizzle, a handpainted one-off.

When you can’t stop petting the skein and you can’t put it down…Knit Me!

I wanted to design something that kept the pet-ability of a special skein of yarn. I wanted to focus on tactile qualities and sensual colour.

I love my Knit Night scarf (there is a special offer for Knit Night owners), and I love its cuddly garter-stitch squish, but I knew I needed smooth stocking stitch (stockinette) this time. I wanted to keep the shallow-triangle shape that everyone loves, but show off the most delicious yarns in a better way.

The result is a lighter-weight scarf or shawlette, perfect for draping around your neck or shoulders in Spring, Summer or early Autumn.

Knit Me is ideal for luxury yarns containing silk, cashmere or your preferred indulgence. A narrow border, worked as you go, frames a gorgeous yarn. I imagine people choosing yarns specially for Knit Me – or using this pattern as the ideal excuse to justify a yarn purchase. (I imagine Knit Night more as the versatile stash-buster; a more down-to-earth sibling.)

Bring on the sunshine with Must Stash Luxe in Double Rainbow, ready for a Summer vacation.

Little picots along the outside edge pick out pretty drops of each shade in a gently variegated yarn. This works so well in Must Stash Luxe, in the aptly named Double Rainbow. Yes, this yarn has plenty of colour, but they are all the same intensity, and there are just four shades used here. I love how the colours land on the picots. I went down two needle sizes for this project, to 3.5mm/US 4 and got 22 sts per 10cm/4″ after blocking fairly hard. It’s a stunning Summer scarf at 28cm/11″ x 170cm/68″ – long enough to drape loosely when the sun comes out. Stacie is a talented Texan dyer, and her colours soak up the bright light.

The colours land on the picots so perfectly!

Knit Me works best for lightly variegated and semi-solid yarns. My son delightfully described these scarves as “smudgy” when he saw them pinned out for blocking! Yes, the stocking stitch (stockinette) does blur the colours together, but without turning it into little flecks. The changing row-length prevents big patches of pooling or flashing.

I did try a spectacularly variegated yarn – the incredible Miss Babs Shiruku in Perfectly Wreckless. I love this colourway, but the wild variegation was losing all clarity. I’m glad I tried it; I have other ideas for this fire-cracker skein (watch this space). Or of course it will work for Knit Night, which can handle the most variegated of skeins. The Shiruku yarn is perfect; I just should’ve picked something more tonal like TARDish or Moonlight Stroll from the spectacular Shiruku selection.

One of my favourite hand-painted yarns of recent years has to be Fyberspates Twizzle Silk. It has made a super-soft-against-the-skin scarf at 22 sts to 10cm/4″ with 4mm needles, after blocking. It’s a lovely 28cm/11″ x 170cm/68″, with 6/0 grey rainbow beads that are as muted as the iridescent Mermaid colours in the yarn. But supplies of this yarn will finish this month unless Jeni adds this base to her commercial ranges – I have my fingers crossed. In the meantime, I am looking to mid-tones of Juno Fibre Arts Milly Sleek Singles, or the aforementioned Miss Babs Shiruku.

“Smudgy” hand paint colours shown off beautifully – Fyberspates Twizzle Silk.

Optional beads will emphasise the colours, whether subtle or bold. Never added beads before? This is a great project for first-time beads – check out how easy it is with my handy tutorial on adding beads with a crochet hook. If you already know how, skip to part 2 of the beading tutorial. Easily memorised, it’s easy to make while chatting with friends. The simplest unbeaded version is easy-intermediate knitting.

Worked from the bottom up, you can keep going until it is as long as you desire, or until you’ve used up your precious yarn. If you want to make it more of a shawlette, light and airy, then block it out hard. Yarns such as Juno Fibre Arts Alice (4ply/sock weight) block really well. The muted, elegant colours complement the lightness of the fabric. Made on 3.75mm/US 5 at a gauge of 24sts per 10cm/4″, blocking out to 22sts to 10cm/4″ – it was blocked out firmly to 32cm/13″ x 185cm/74″. This shawlette size is as light as a feather, slightly sheer, with gently sparkling silver-centred beads to enhance its drape.

Subtle Boudoir pink in Juno Fibre Arts Alice makes a delicate Summer shawlette.

With Autumn not too far off, Ginger’s Hand Dyed Splendor 4ply is a versatile weight, edging more to cooler seasons perhaps – and in bold semi-solid colours for any time of year. I confess I was very excited to see Jessica’s new colour Changin’ the Brief, and even more thrilled that she’s knit this wonderful shop-sample for Ginger Twist Studios. It’s been blocked to 28cm/11″ x 188cm/75″, and to get a great drape Jessica recommends 4.5mm/US 7 needles to get 21 sts to 10cm/4″ after blocking.

Jessica’s version in vibrant purple Ginger’s Hand Dyed Splendour, shade Changin’ the Brief.

Whilst it won’t be as substantial as a textured project, yarns with lots of cashmere make it cosy enough for a lot of climates in the coolest months. Who doesn’t want to stroke a field of cashmere? With this in mind, I’ve one Autumnal sample to share, in Skein from Australia – a Merino/Cashmere blend, shown in Tuscany. You’d think the cashmere content was much higher if you petted this softie! It’s been made much more densely at 29st per 10cm/4″ and blocked gently to a neat 25cm/10″ x 155cm/62″. It’s perfect to wrap around your neck when Autumn arrives.

A subtle softie – Australian merino/cashmere mix with clear coffee beads. Warm (but not too hot) and elegant.

IMPORTANT! Get Knit Me for just £1.50 – half price! – when you buy it with its garter-stitch sister, Knit Night or ebook Knit with us Awhile. Already got them? The offer works! Just add Knit Me to your basket and the discount is automatically deducted at the checkout.

What will your yarn indulgence be? I confess a fondness for Metalico from Blue Sky Alpacas; a luxury yarn if ever there was one. Three little skeins of indulgence worked at 22sts to 10cm/4″ on 4mm needles will make a generous scarf 32cm/13″ x 185cm/74″. So I’ll leave you with this treasure – it’s in Silver, with silver beads. Timeless. Quiet. But those skeins shout Knit Me!

Silver Metalico; supersoft and supersmooth.