Pathway by Meju K-P, A Finished Object With Good Vibes

A lovely shawl packed with meaning and memories.

Contrasts by Meju K-P, Laine Publishing

First, Meju K-P’s book CONTRASTS – Textured Knitting, Laine Publishing is a present from my eldest son. I had listed a few books and he chose that one from the cover, a perfect pick. I love to browse through my books and day dream about patterns I want to knit, and this one is all thanks to him.

I did not really have this pattern in mind, I had others. All changed when I went to visit Atelier Pure Laine – you can watch my YouTube video about it here. I still need to write a blog post about it, or may be it is too late now, please let me know.. During that very pleasant day, I bought 1kg cone of Hampshire Down La Plus Fine, an undyed, untreated sport weight (266m-290,9yd/100g) rustic yarn. Frédérique, the owner of the farm, sells her own yarn that does not get mixed with any other during all the preparation process from sheep to skein or cone. You can meet with the sheep you are knitting yarn from ! All of her yarn is processed in France, from washing to spinning in small environment friendly (or as much as) companies. The few last ones that remain in France, there are other sharing the same standards in Italy and Spain.

That said, when I brought the cone back and after feeling the knitted samples at her farm, the Pathway Shawl kinda jumped at me while browsing my books and digital library, looking for ideas. I usually select a couple books at a time and go through all the pattern they offer. Pathway it was.

© Pathway by Meju K-P

Was it the colour ? The look and feel ? I do not know. I had to use bigger needles than recommended because I did not like the fabric I got with the recommended needle size. I had to fiddle around a bit to have the same look and feel, that is between the cabled section and the garter one.

These cables are worked from the right side, and for either the right side on knit stitches or the wrong side on purl stitches, on alternating rows. I am not sure if I am clear, the shawl is completely reversible, both sides have the same cable effect. The cables worked with the purl stitches make these parts sink deeper, thus raising the ones worked with the knit stitches. The cables look more defined, an interesting construction effect. The pattern is easy if you know who to cable, I did have to use a cable needle though.

I am so in love with it. The yarn bloomed upon blocking, leaving a certain amount of stickiness to the shawl that stays fit once you place it. Perfect. I am impatiently waiting for that late heat wave to go away, first because I do not like heat, second because 30°C is very unusual for Normandy, in particular in September, and third because I want to wear it 😺

Ravelry Project : https://www.ravelry.com/projects/IsabelleGD/pathway

YouTube Companion Videos :
A Visit To Atelier Pure Laine ⎮ Wooly Stories #03 : https://youtu.be/Xz-aHNSK5FI
Back From A Short Vacation ⎮ Knitting Adventures #56 : https://youtu.be/t6Nzbl4q-hQ

Wooly News ⎮#16

Lots of creators, designers and editors are having donation operations for Ukraine, either to main organisations as Unicef and Red Cross (that I support too), to local chapters of these organisations or to local operations. There are too many to cite them all, I will just link to the ones that I already have recommended : the Red Cross or Unicef. If you are interested, you can check your favorite creators, websites or LYS, they most probably will have projects or links.

Patterns

© Trelliz & Maria Zilakou

My own version

You may recall me knitting the Fresh Peonies Shawl when it was released as a mystery box by TreLiz for her birthday last July. This was when I just started my channel ! A very enjoyable knit and one of the shawls I wear most as it is very light and very warm. The shawl was knitted with a strand of fingering merino and a strand of lace mohair. Some parts are with the merino alone, some others with the lace mohair alone, creating an unusual texture.

The pattern has just been release on Ravelry so you can buy it individually. It was not possible before as the pattern had been release by email on TreLiz Birthday, to people who had bought the box.

Free Pattern Highlight

© Espace Tricot

I had the intension to highlight the Warm-up Sweater from Espace Tricot last time but settled on a 3D Purl Soho Wrap. As we say in French “ce n’est que partie remise” – it was only a postponement. Not sure of the translation or the use of this sentence.. The Warm-up Sweater is a very basic one, with a nice sweatshirt and relaxed feeling. It is knitted with Aran weight yarn, but I am sure we can adjust for a wide variety of yarns as they are 12 sizes. You can crop and adjust it or choose a more boxy fit, which I like.

To say, I have already knitted Espace Tricot patterns and they are very well written and edited, a professional work at no charge. What else ?

Tutorials

Not quite a tutorial, an information. Making Stories have a nice ressource page on their website that you may want to keep in your bookmarks. If you are subscribed to their mailing list, you should have received a link to a text document where additional resources are linked. A keeper

Trends

gansey type sweaters

At least two “main” designers are releasing sweater patterns with a lot of different textured stitch motifs that could be quite engaging : Stephen West’s Dustland Sweater and Petite Knit’s Ingrid Sweater. To some extend, these sweaters show, at least to me, a lineage with Gansey type sweaters, one good example would be a pattern that has been released last year in a book from Di Gilpin & Sheila Greenwell in The Gansey Knitting Sourcebook. (Di Gilpin is currently donating all pattern sales to the Red Cross).

© Di Gilpin & Sheila Greenwell

© Stephen West

© PetiteKnit

If you look for Gansey patterns, you will find many, even free ones, for any type of yarn and gauge. I do have several books on the history of Gansey sweaters, early patterns, and I never decided myself to dive into them other than for daydreams. Maybe now is the time.

Yarn Companies and Stores

Aimée from La Bien Aimée is continuing her USA tour with her Worsted Hello Book. You can follow her adventures, encounters, events and friendly meetings on Instagram. When you cannot travel, and if it makes you happy, you can use a proxy ! I am most interested in people and places she visited because I know it will fuel her creativity, and then mine in return. I also get to have glimpses of places in the USA that a lot of people talk about on a regular basis. Nice.

Books, Magazines, Articles And Creators

Contrasts book preorders

© Meiju K-P & Laine Magazine

Another book, and there is still one more 🙀 How to handle my temptation ! At least this one is on pre-order, so no rush. Meiju K-P is a designer from Finland who’s sweet spot lays with lace, lots of lace. You can have a preview of the different patterns on the Laine Magazine dedicated page for the pre-order. Beautiful designs in a beautiful book, I like Laine Publications, the texture of the books, the smell of their pages, the fact they are study and reliable books. My only remark would be to be able to get a download code to a PDF that would suit my ageing eyes better 🙂

Companion YouTube Video : https://youtu.be/3zMq09u1CzM