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Pattern Scout: Olga Buraya-Kefelian
If you’re new to the world of Olga Buraya-Kefelian, we bet her designs for MDK Field Guide No. 24 have sparked your curiosity. (See what we did there?)
We’ve been in the Olga fandom for years. We can’t get enough of the wow factor that Olga brings to mere knits and purls. Again and again, she hits the sweet spot for us, creating chic, wearable pieces that are also sheer fun to knit.
Warning: the “one more row” effect is powerful—when your brain is on Olga, you may be up later (or earlier) than usual, lapping up serotonin.
To show you what we mean, here is a generous handful of Olga’s innovative designs, paired with yarns from the MDK Shop for knitting them up. The pattern names are links to Olga’s Ravelry page for each design. You can also see the entire Olga Oeuvre laid out beautifully on her website.
YABANE cowl
Atlas is ready to be knit up into this origami wonder. this was the project that Olga taught when she was in Nashville earlier this month, and we are excited to see finished pieces popping up already!
GLOWFLY
Glow up in Gauge-shifting Atlas + Dyed in the Wool
PLI
Pick your favorite shade from our full palette of Felted Tweed.
PLUS
Dyed in the Wool plus (pun intended) pops of contrasting Atlas add up (get it) to a super snuggler with style.
Boshoku Cowl
Neighborhoood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Chunky is ready for this quick, versatile, and gifty knit.
KOKO
Go high-contrast or subtle shade shifts of Felted Tweed for the sculptural stitches in this stole. Or do as we did at our swatching sesh at Olga’s workshop in Nashville, and use Atlas—it was perfection. And don’t let the intricate appearance of the fabric fool you. this is an easy-as-pie slipped stitch pattern, she’s just really good at this.
Shima Shima
The saturated subtle tones of Woolfolk Tynd give shimmer to the graphic stripes here.
Tenchi
We love Dream State + Atlas for this dramatic brioche stunner.
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Wow! She is so talented!
A such a lovely person too!
(Took her class at Shakerag.)
You are so right about the “one more row” effect of Olga’s patterns! I’m almost done with my Yabane Cowl and I can hardly wait to see the magic that Olga has designed come off of my very own needles.
Same! I’m in the home stretch and resenting life and work and the other silly things keeping me from knitting. And now so many more Olga patterns in queue!
Olga’s creativity is beyond the pale! (Link for Dream State Bundles is not working for me.)
We’re out of Dream State bundles, but you’ll find Dream State single skeins linked in the article. Thanks!
Years ago I took a wonderful class with Olga for the Reimei Cowl (her design). Fabulous, thick piece for serious winter! Two color brioche adds to the fun, but with bulky yarn it does work up quickly.
Lovely! But I can’t for the life of me figure out how the Shima Shima pattern uses 1500 or so yards of yarn… I was planning a three color version with 1200 yards, which seems more than enough for a 68″ wide triangle shaw….
Oh yes, you’ll need all the yardage – it’s the geometry of it. You probably could finish the final rows with a solid or a contrasting color. I’m getting ready to knit another one using light, bright colors and I need to figure out how to get the extra yardage myself.
So varied, so interesting! It will be difficult to resist the Yabane cowl… so much more adventurous than a pair of mittens. And I have two leftover skeins of Gilliatt available right now.
Wow – I knew I was a fan, but I don’t think I’ve knit so many pieces from another single designer. Loved knitting Issey, Eweye, Asangi, Wave cowl. And I have Winter Suns in my queue.
I’m so happy to see some of Olga’s other patterns featured. Shima Shima is one of my all-time favorites and it was the first pattern of hers I knit. I made it a stash buster, using single skeins, plus a little for the last color. I love the depth of the shawl – keeps my back warm on cooler days or nights. I’m always looking for patterns that have that depth! Plus and Koko are waiting for me to cast on!
I read on Ravelry that the chart is wrong. Two people reported problems with it.
Hello Alice, I always encourage people to teach out to me via email if they have any problems with the patterns, but often it is easier for them just to leave emails. If you are referring to PLI, that pattern is now over a year old, so the chart was corrected, and the written instructions were working from the get go. It often takes time to work out the kinks even with the tech editors and frequent test knitting, so you should be all set worry-free!
She is the most charming genius ever! Such amazing designs.
Beautiful
One more row. You mean one more project! So addictive
I am fascinated by the Pli design especially. An amazing body of design all together as well.
Gorgeous!