Letters
Scheming: That Fluffy Stole
Dear Kay,
Happy to be back at MDK after a week of staycation, aka Hubbo and Ann Wander Middle Tennessee. It was great.
My takeaway: it is possible to feel like you’ve gone far from home, even if it’s only an hour away. If you’re feeling housebound, go drive an hour in a new direction, and you’ll see something that will make your day.
In particular, we discovered: two lakes, one river twice, a cedar glade, amazing fried pies, the oldest house in Tennessee, a deer napping in the woods two feet from our trail, and a railroad museum with exactly four train cars.
Meanwhile . . .
I’m still getting my plan straight for what I’m going to do with Jeanette Sloan’s designs in Field Guide No. 15: Open.
The Aperture Stole has got me thinking.
Let’s lean in and see what the heck Jeanette has cooked up here. These elements can be combined any number of ways, depending on how much thrill you’re seeking.
Pattern, Texture, Color: A Trifecta!
Several things are going on at once in this project.
Thing 1: An extraordinary lace pattern. This is Oscillating Lace, actually a pair of lace patterns combined into one juicy chart. (Written instructions are included as well.)
I’m seeing diagonal eyelets that come and go. And a series of floating circles attached in a way that makes them look particularly airy. If you really want simple lace, you could go with the diagonal eyelets only. If you want to astonish yourself with your cleverness, you could go with the floating circles all the way. Or dole them out as you wish. Maybe a stockinette stretch in there will keep it fun, for those moments when Season 3 of Alone is just . . . too . . . much.
Thing 2: Two different yarns. Here are Gleem Lace (slinky) and Cumulus (fluffy), both from the Fyberspates folks. The fluffy Cumulus and the sleek Gleem alternate. I can easily imagine knitting this as written. But I can also imagine letting go and improvising the yarn changes.
We have Gleem/Cumulus bundles in four colorways, over in the MDK Shop. Each has its own vibe.
Thing 3: Three colors. The stripes are a subtle extra layer of beauty, shifting and changing. It’s all written out in the pattern, but it might be fun to play with the stripes as you like, without following the chart.
A Whole New View
Breathtaking Version
And of course, you can knit this design using one yarn, one color, all the way through.
Kathy in Vermont was a test knitter for the Aperture Stole, and she used a gorgeous laceweight yarn, Modern Deco Lace from Bare Naked Wools.
Notice that she started work during the recent Ice Age in Vermont.
Isn’t this lovely? Kathy’s Ravelry project page is full of tips ’n’ hints, so I’m definitely doing a clip ’n’ save. One shocking declaration: she claims she used too many stitch markers. WUT? I didn’t know that was possible.
Anyway, those floating circles are driving me mad with desire. I know they will be a challenge, but I also know: floating circles, wow.
Love,
Ann
PS Kay, may your rambles this week be epic. See you next week.
PSS You have to come back.
PSSS Why are you reading this post? GET YOUR VACATION GOING, LADY.
I’m imagining this in fingering weight. Maybe a fade or random stripey thing. Or perhaps a use for my yarn bombs?
So very pretty! And so many options! I need more coffee.
Ann – Please share the fried pies location. I could use an adventure that ends with fried pie.
I was going to say the same thing! Love fried pies.
Hi Jennie and Virginia! Head south on I-65, drive about an hour, take a right to Lynnville, where you will find an adorable village, Lynnville, home of the Lynnville Fried Pie Co. https://www.facebook.com/friedpieguy/
Thanks Ann! I’ll be heading there soon.
Thanks for all the helpful articles about Field Guide #15. I’m so excited to knit some of the patterns in this booklet I am a little confused though about the ssp in the field guide it explains how to do an ssp but the video Jen Arnall-Culliford made demonstrates a different way and your test knitter, Kathy also recommends a different method. Does it matter which way it’s executed?
I was a test knitter also. I knitted the blue Aperture Stole pictured at the beginning of this post. I just watched the two videos that you mentioned and I did my SSP the same way that Jen Arnall-Culliford demonstrated. I followed the SSP instructions from FG#15 (without watching a video). Slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 knitwise, pass back to the left needle and then purl 2 together THROUGH THE BACK LOOPS.
It’s a bit tricky to do this but it gets easier as you go along. (The other video shows the last part of the SSP as a regular purl 2 together – which is much easier.)
Ultimately, it probably doesn’t matter as long as you are consistent with your SSPs. It won’t show much in lace weight yarn and won’t show in a fuzzy yarn like Cumulus. If you follow the pattern as written, all of the SSPs are in Cumulus. Hope this helps.
Cedar Glade. These are the words that have me going today. I need to plant this. I need to go there.
Seeing things closer to home may be one of the best things about this year. We took a trip to west Texas this summer and had a great week just seeing places we hadn’t been before but will definitely go back to! We also had a lot of great Mexican food!