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Monday, August 17, 2015

Three New Patterns and Stitches Midwest!

On Wednesday, August 5, I released three new patterns! Two of them were shawls that were inspired by my recent trips to the Republic of Georgia; Lenjeri is a lace pattern inspired by a small village in Svaneti, and Polyphony was my attempt to knit a tangible interpretation of the traditional 3-part vocal tunes prevalent in Georgia.
When Doug and I visited Lenjeri on our honeymoon, we were enamored with the greenery and flowers finding homes within cracks of stone walls. When Leading Men Fiber Arts gave me a skein of green merino-silk lace yarn (the Ghost Light base) at Vogue Knitting Live, I immediately associated that green (Envy) with the green I saw in that small village. Fortunately, I had the chance to return this summer with my Georgian Choir on a tour to learn folk songs.
I'm fascinated with traditional Georgian polyphony, most often sung in three parts with close harmony (each word links to a different style of three-part singing in the country--I could not decide). I decided to combine this fascination with my love for knitwear design, and came up with Polyphony, a warm, color-block stole with a lace center. I tried to make the colors work together to make a whole, as well as illustrating that the middle part in Georgian polyphony is often the most detailed. I knit it out of Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer base (80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon) in the colorways Dames At Sea, Dusty Quartz, and Sandcastle.
I modeled it by a river in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
The third pattern I designed for the Leading Men Fiber Arts boot at Stitches was a fun hat pattern called Zipadee, using elongated slipped stitches forming zig-zag zippers that meet at the top.
I knit it out of their Playbill base (dk weight single-ply merino) in the Seaweed colorway. It was a fun, quick knit after all the shawls!
On to Stitches! We set up the Polyphony wrap on the model next to several kits that Steve and Andy picked out to go with the pattern.
I had a wonderful time meeting other designers, fellow yarn-addicts, and seeing some old friends.
If you came by the booth, thank you! I loved the opportunity to meet you!

6 comments:

  1. I still think you're cool. Love, Mom

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  2. I adore your Lenjeri, and can't wait to wear mine. Also, I'm taking another look at Polyphony....I'm usually not a rectangle girl, but the stitch pattern is calling me!

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  3. Polyphony drew me right into the booth and I love knowing the story behind it! One day I will forsake crochet and make this beauty!

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  4. Your patterns are beautiful! That gray and blue shaw is out of this world awesome!

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    1. Totally agree, the gray and blue is fantastic!
      Monica
      myartscrafts

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