On Saturday 10 October between 2 and 4pm, we are hosting a knitalong of the famous Ranunculus Top, which is a lovely knit designed by Midori Hirose. It can be knitted in any weight of yarn from lace to Aran, and it can be long sleeved, or short sleeved, short in the body or long, and which, most of all, is a very quick knit. It starts from the top down and has a simple lace pattern in the yoke. It is very easy and the last one I made only took me two weeks. Anyone who wants to is most welcome to join in the knitalong and if you purchase the yarn from the shop, we are offering a 10% discount. I am still undecided as to what I want to do – a traditional 4ply plus mohair? Some of the new Pure Wool DK from Stylecraft we are now stocking held with one of the gorgeous new sparkly yarns we have just got in from Rico? Some Malabrigo Rios? Decisions, decisions. The one in the photo below was knitted by Mandy in a DK held together with a Merino/Silk laceweight.
What do you mean by famous? I hear you ask. The fact of the matter is that in this small world that is knitting/crochet, there are some very big names and some very recognisable patterns and the Ranunculus is one of those. It has 38,700 projects on Ravelry. I have, as it happens, knitted another design by Midori Hirose, the Tulip Guernsey, and loved it, but I would say that she is defined by the Ranunculus pattern. I see from Ravelry that she is Japanese, but lives in North Germany.
Petite Knit (Mette Wendelboe Okkels) is a Danish designer and she is probably one of the more successful ones out there at the moment. Her most famous pattern is the Sophie Scarf (56,7000 projects on Ravelry), but she has designed 389 patterns since she started in 2016. I love her patterns. They are simple and designed to be knitted in luxurious textiles so that the beauty of the garment lies in the fabric rather than intricate knitting. Very excitingly, I am now stocking hard copies of 25 of the patterns in the shop, including the Sophie Scarf, along with some others of her more well known designs. They also sent me details of all the other patterns so that you can have a look at them (when I have decided how best to file them), and then, if you want one you can get it on Ravelry.
Another very well-known designer is Andrea Mowry (Drea Renee Knits). I think she is American, and I really love her patterns. Her Inclinations Shawl was the very first shawl I knitted, but I have also done her The Shift cowl (64,620 projects on Ravelry) and have her Birds of a Feather Shawl on my waiting list. Mandy has knitted the Montana Mountain Cowl as well – it is very pretty indeed. Andrea Mowry has a preference for variegated yarns and often uses Spincycle Yarns which are way too expensive for most people, but can be easily substituted with Schoppel Wolle Edition 3 or Crazy Zauberball. I would say that she is a fan of slip stitches – so the finished items look more complicated than they actually are to knit.
There are many well-known patterns out there that I now find I can identify when people walk into the shop. The Halibut sweater, which we did as a knitalong a couple of years ago is one. The Love Note by Tin Can Knits is another. Alpine Bloom is very easy to identify as well. There is a reason why these become knitalongs! And of course it is pretty easy to identify almost any shawl designed by Stephen West – he has a style all his own.
Talking of Stephen West and knitalongs – his latest Mystery Knitalong (MKAL) the Colour Kaleidoscope Shawl is starting on 2 October. Mandy and I have lined up our 8 colours – Mandy is stash-diving, I have raided the Knitting for Olive shelves as I am interested in a more muted shawl this time. Although where I think I am going to find the time to do all this knitting, I do not know! After all, I still have to start that Gansey which terrifyingly has no pattern and requires me to do maths and schematics. Which is why I have so much respect for all the fabulous designers out there. Who is your favourite?
