Since I first started bundling together a few of my favorite colors into mini-skein sets, people have been asking me what they should do with them. Which is a fair question. To me they are prompts to creativity and an excuse to try to use more color in my knitting, but as someone who often has a hard time making decisions I can see how having more color options could also be overwhelming.
So, spurred on by the knowledge that people would again be asking, “what should I do with these?” at the recent Boston Farm and Fiber Festival, I put together a couple of pattern suggestions. (Disclaimer: these have not been test knit by anyone other than me).
A set of high or low boot toppers can be knit with one of my mini-skein sets, though you won’t have much yarn left over, so if you increase the number of pattern repeats you may want to shorten them by a row of each color to avoid yarn chicken.
I’ve included a chart in each color way (Land and Sea) for each boot topper. This may or may not make them easier to follow…
Toppers for Short Boots - Land colorway (these would also make good arm warmers).
But if you like, these patterns are just a starting point for your own creativity. I use Stitch Fiddle (available in a free version) to “sketch” patterns. With this fairly intuitive program you can easily make graphs, which, when combined with a book of pattern motifs (like Mary Jane Mucklestone’s 150 Scandinavian Motifs) makes for a fun afternoon of color exploration.
And for those of you intimidated by stranded color work, while writing this post it occurred to me that I really should have swatched boot toppers that used stripes rather than small repeated stranded color work motifs. Which I shall now do…
As of this writing I have three mini-skein sets in the Land color way available in the shop, but last week the yarn spun from the 2018 Straw’s Farm Island fleeces returned from the mill, and I can’t wait to start playing with it! (That said, it could be a little while before mini-skein sets are restocked, for which I apologize).
I am very pleased to announce that latest design from the incredibly talented Jennifer Steingass (@knit.love.wool on Instagram) features Upton Yarns Bluefaced Leicester DK weight yarns (spun from the fleece of Two Sisters Farm, Warren, Maine).
That was my grown-up voice. My actual voice implies much more gleeful undignified muppet dancing. (The muppet dancing took place on several occasions) . (Sam the Eagle did not and does not approve).
Moving on.
Jenn's design, Arboreal, published here on Ravelry, is a lovey top down yoked sweater using a very pleasing, intuitive, motif of repeated leaves, and just enough waist shaping to be flattering. (Jenn currently has a 20% off sale going, use the code LEAVES).
photo credit, Jennifer Steingass
Her patterns are easy to follow, and really just a pleasure to knit, though I was impatient and left the sleeves off of my version.
please excuse the lack of blocking and the untucked ends...
I really love the elegance of Jenn's original two color design, but when I started planning my own I got a bit sidetracked by the potential for more color inherent in such a simple design. Because of the way I use natural dyes, repurposing the exhaust from one dye bath to combine with other dyes or exhausts (never mind the multiple dip nature of dyeing with indigo) I often end up with color gradients.
So then I had a few gradients that I really liked.
And then yoke kits happened.
I'm dyeing the main color to order (the 2017 BFL DK weight just made it back from the mill in time!) and offering yoke kits on the Arboreal page I've put together .
This would be the more dignified version of the muppet dancing this pattern inspires.
Jenn and I will be at the Highlands on the Fly knitting retreat at the New England Outdoor Center in Millinocket, Maine next weekend (she's the keynote speaker, I'm a vender) and most of my yarn will be going with me. So if you have your eye on anything, don't wait! All my yarns are extremely limited in quantity.
I am very pleased to announce that I've put together kits for my Salt Bay Mittlet pattern! Kits contain 3 skeins of my 3 Ply Coopworth, pattern, and a mini kit of stitch markers from BlueDogWorkshop. At the moment they are available in very limited number, but I had so much fun putting them together that I hope to create more kits in the future.
