Inspiration
Stop the Show: It’s the Cottage Throw
Greetings, colorwork lovers. Today we wrap up our tour of MDK Field Guide No. 25: Botanica with the pièce de résistance, the blankie de tutti blankies, the wedding dress at the fashion show: Dee Hardwicke’s amazing amazing, mille fois amazing Cottage Throw.
The Cottage Throw is New York’s hottest club—it has it all. It’s got a trifecta of all-time favorite motifs loved by all sentient beings: houses, trees, and flowers, plus bonus leaves and mysterious triangle-squiggles. In lofty, softy Atlas, it’s a dreamboat of a blanket project.
I could stare at the Cottage Throw for hours. It must be mine!
For such a showstopper, the how-tos of the Cottage Throw are elemental and elementary. Once again, we’ll be performing the party trick of working stranded colorwork flat, meaning back and forth, in rows, with a purl side—we’re going to get good at this, and it’s going to be fine.
The throw consists of six panels, each of which uses only three colors—making for a great portable project. The panels all use the same chart, but for the photography sample, Dee chose a different colorway for each panel. Her palette is rich and nuanced, with unexpected combinations that sing individually, and then combine magnificently. How does she do it? She swatches, patiently and prolifically. She paints, and I would imagine she stares long and hard before committing to a combo. It’s really something.
After the knitting—which I predict will fly, because the chart is so knitter-friendly, the shapes so geometric and memorizable—the six panels are seamed together using mattress stitch. Then stitches are picked up for each of the long and short edges, and worked as a narrow band of seed stitch. Presto: it’s an heirloom to cherish forever.
The Cottage Throw Bundle
To make it easy to recreate Dee’s masterpiece, we’ve bundled the colors needed to make the Cottage Throw exactly as shown in Field Guide No. 25: Botanica.
When you see the colors laid out in 16 skeins for the Cottage Throw Bundle, the artfulness of Dee’s eye is all the more amazing.
I cannot wait to get this one going. Who’s with me? Let’s go!
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I’m enchanted.
Hermosa manta. Todos los proyectos realizados por Dee , son maravillosos!! Que ganas de hacerla!!
This is a masterpiece. Not so sure about purling in colorwork, however…
You could love a blanket like this for a lifetime!
Patty says it’s easy (see below)!
I’ve just done a few swatches and so far it’s going well, I just haven’t worked out how to purl holding one color in each hand, so I drop and pick up the colors as needed.
WOW! This is my retirement project for sure. Showstopper doesn’t quite cut it. This is a piece that will be passed down for generations. Since I started purling backwards, I actually love stranded flat – so easy to trap floats and follow the chart.
Alright Patty Lyons! Now you’ve done it! HOW do you purl backwards?? I Need to know!!
I’m in and have my bundle but am committed to finish a Christmas gift first. Can’t wait to start!!
I hope your gift knitting flies!
It is sweet colorwork for sure. I like the idea of panels. I could cope with knit row, purl row stranding. But I can’t seem to see the beauty in the choice of colors nor figure out what I would use instead. What’s wrong with me!
I felt the same about some of the color combos when the panels are matched side by side. I love the look of the Autumn Garden Stole and would maybe borrow that color idea, using more neutral combinations. Or pick one neutral for the background and rotate other favorite colors like in marling – repeat one color in the next panel, drop one, and introduce another. You could make it as bright or as subtle as you wish, with transitions from muted in one panel to brighter in another, or using the color wheel to place complimentary or contrasting colors together. In the end, it kind of reminds me of the Garter Stripe Shawl in the Kaffe Fasset field guide #13 – I substituted a few colors but followed the recipe, and the end result was wonderful.
Nothing’s wrong with you. 🙂 I don’t particularly like the colors either. It’s just personal preference. Choosing different colors would be a challenge though! Maybe break out the colored pencils or watercolors and try different color combinations?
Your intro cracked me up, Stefon of snl right?
The link to this kit will definitely be forwarded to the Spousal Unit with a “hint, hint” message.
1) My husband and kid love Stefan on Saturday Night Live and the comment about this throw being New York’s hottest club made me laugh out loud
2) the triangle squiggles made me think of Meso-American motifs
“plus bonus leaves and mysterious triangle-squiggles.“
Ive never been sold so fast on a blanket before
Lovely