Projects
Bewitched
Dear Kay,
We suffer from a terrible malady, don’t we? These Field Guides are rough on me, a sore test of my skills at delayed gratification. We see designs far ahead of their launch, and it’s such a challenge to keep from casting on.
Today’s marshmallow I’ve resisted eating for ages is the wrap by Dee Hardwicke in Field Guide No. 25: Botanica. It’s the Autumn Garden Stole.
When I first saw this design, back in 2008 or maybe it just feels that way, I was struck by the way Dee dials back the vibrant palette of our Atlas yarn to land in a very neutral, very beautiful place.
I’m going to take it to a color story that I think will be even deeper than this one.
After a solid half hour in the Atlas aisle at MDK World HQ, I got clarity—thanks to color consultation by Ashley, Natasha, and Hannah. (Our company email was down, so we were just wandering around the building looking for adventure.)
Three colors emerged as the Atlas combo that will make my Autumn Garden Stole a truly late-autumn, after-the-time-change mood:
Black for the edging and the leaves.
Shale for the background.
Lapis for the flowers.
I just cast on the 325 stitches to knit this in the round, feeling so happy to get started on this most hypnotic design.
To get a 40″ circular, I used the little connector gizmo that came with my Tulip interchangeable needle set. Presto! Two regular circular cables = one long one.
The colorwork chart is only 10 x 20 stitches. I’ll be able to carry that in my head in no time.
I’m knitting in the round, so you can see here where my steek is starting to get all checkerboardy.
Wish me luck! Who else is making this Autumn Garden Stole? I think the color possibilities are endless.
Love,
Ann
I’m three flowers deep and it’s still bewitching.
I know you can’t wait to get to a flower!
Exactly! That little dopamine thing is big with this design.
Love the colors you chose! I just can’t add another project to my growing pile of projects waiting in the wings. Or, can I! Someone is going to inherit a beautiful stash of yarn when my time comes!
How you wait is beyond me!! I have patterns awaiting me that haunt me… Can’t wait to see your colors in full swing!
Having a swell time ditching work on this thing please don’t tell anybody.
If your little Tulip gizmo is otherwise committed, 40″ (and 47″ and 60″!) cords are available.
DG speaketh the truth! We are extremely proud of our wide selection of high-quality Tulip cords. If you want the best, go Tulip. [trying to sound vaguely like a motor oil company]
Ann, did you change up the yarn quantity for any of the colors? I love the border and leaves the same color, but it seems there would need to be an adjustment? Thanks!!
Hi Susan!
It’s a trick of the lighting that the border looks to be a different color, but it’s actually the same color as the leaves. So: 5 skeins each of 2 colors for the border, background, and leaves—plus 2 skeins of a third color for the flowers.
I had to go doublecheck the pattern! The border really does look like a different color in the sample photos!
Hope you have fun with this–I’m really grooving now that the stitch pattern is in my head.
Yarn purchased, remaining in the sealed bag until I finish two sweater sleeves on my current WIP.
Temptation? Um, yes…..but my Catholic childhood prepared me for this (I hope).
Pebble, Seaglass, and Mallard is perfectly aquatic, really can’t wait to see how this turns out.
This is the design that spoke to me, too! I have my yarn, I just need to finish something before I can cast on. I chose Pebble for the background, Seaglass for the edging and the leaves, and Mallard for the flowers. I love the colors you chose, too! Good luck with your stole!
Pebble, Seaglass, and Mallard is perfectly aquatic, really can’t wait to see how this turns out.
I’m usually a few Field Guides behind and I don’t mind because I love seeing the color combinations y’all put together. Ann, your wrap will be stunning. Looking forward to pics as you progress!
Oh Jan, it’s kind of a never-ending set of things to make over here, I’ve got stuff from Field Guide No. 4 lurking around here . . .
Darn it… going to have to buy it now
It’s pretty much a totally fun thing to be making.
I have been mulling over the idea of making it into a cushion for a bench in my dining room.
OK that’s a really cool idea. You could even do it in the round, throwing a purl row in there for the side edges, putting a sturdy foam pad in there, then seaming the top and the bottom of the cushion, for a knife-edge cushion. No steek required. Maybe an attached icord edging for the finish? DO IT!!! : )
Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the ideas.
Thanks for the cushion how-to! I can see this coming together already.
I like this pillow idea! Now to choose three colors. A light, a dark and a medium.
I LOVE this project and I couldn’t decide whether to do this first or the shawl–the shawl won, but I SO need to do this one next. I love the colors you chose!
Ann – Those colors!!!! You may have convinced me that I MUST cast this one on too! I’m still working on my projects from FG#23!!!!!! I am so far behind! I will practice as much restraint as I can muster, and put this gorgeous wrap on hold for now…I.DO.NOT.NEED.TO.CAST.ON.ANOTHER.PROJECT!!!!!!! But oh my…it’s going to be so beautiful!!!!!
I absolutely love your color version of Dee’s Stole! And I already love the original version. And I almost never am a fan of blue-and-gray (being a purple -and-red girl myself). But This blue (so vibrant) with those two neutrals: Mwah! Can’t wait to see the finish line, Ann. Thank you so much.
I deliberately avoid reading the other comments before I make mine so that I don’t confuse myself too much. But then I do read them and occasionally have an overpowering urge to respond. Love the Pebble, Seaglass and Mallard combo, too. I had been wondering how to get Mallard in there. And will try to use it for a smaller project in the future. And that in-the-round idea seems reminiscent somehow of your piano bench cushion from those days gone buy. (On vacation, so my books aren’t with me right now to consult for name of project or which book, sorry).
Love. Those. Colors!!!
Your color combo looks stunning! I’m excited to see your knitting progress!
Completely ace color choice, Ann!
This palette sent me straight back to Christine’s coffee shop on First Avenue & 13th street, where in 1986 you could find me in a silk charmeuse and/or spandex getup combining all 3 of these colors, slurping up a bowl of white borscht while waiting for my combo plate of boiled pierogis and sour cream (no applesauce thank you). Thank you for the time travel, and look for me to copy this color story.
Ann,
I the blue Country Harden stole (pictured at the bottom tonahow the steek) should you not have several navy stitches every row either side of the steek to make the edging for the emds?
I really love this gorgeous design, but wasn’t sure if I liked it all in neutrals or if I would add a splash of colour for the flowers. I’m really excited to see how yours looks once you get that third colour in there!
Absolutely gorgeous