Projects
Knitting Quilt Patterns: The Eternal Quest
As you know, many’s the time I’ve tried to interpret a fabric quilt by knitting it.
So far, I’ve stuck to quilts involving more or less straight lines. Recently, Ravelry’s Eye Candy featured this stunning improvisation by Sharon O’Brien (SOB-rien on Ravelry), which stopped me in my tracks.
(Copyright SOB-rien, used with permission.)
Sharon writes: “This knitted section is an attempt to see if I could knit something similar to the sewn quilt on page 96 of Sherri Lynn Wood’s book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. . . . The knitting was slow at first, due to writing down every little step that I took. Then, as I knit more of the stripes, I stopped writing, and just continued to improvise. Creating this became fun, when I stopped worrying about what I was doing, and just decided ‘to wing it.'”
For those who want to attempt it themselves, Sharon used worsted weight 4-ply wools, mostly Cascade 220.
In the same patchwork-themed Eye Candy, there is also this brilliant blanket by Mary Beal (Marusya on Ravelry).
(Copyright Marusya. Used with permission.)
Mary used Frankie Brown’s pattern for the Elizabeth Zimmermann-inspired Ten Stitch Blanket, but the crazy brilliant mixing of sock yarns is all Mary.
These are so beautiful!
My group of knitters make a blanket for charity each year using the Barn Raising Quilt pattern by Shelley Mackie & Larissa Brown. The group is spread out over the globe, so it can be hard to coordinate colors, but I think this “stained glass” version is our prettiest yet http://www.ravelry.com/projects/catnurse/barn-raising-quilt-2
The one we’re working on now will be a sort of “watercolor quilt” using smaller blocks in all shades of blue. I hope it comes out in real life as pretty as I see it in my head.
Inspirational. I love it.
Mary’s sock yarn quilt is gorgeous.
Yes it is! Such an inspiration.
Twenty years ago, when I worked at Jo-Ann Fabrics, I was one of the few knitters in as sea of quilters. I loved the patterns but hated the process. (My grandmother tried to teach me to quilt when I was 7.) I kept looking at the patterns and thinking “If I was a smarter knitter, I could figure out how to do this”. Now, lo these many years later, my favorite knitting is a Log Cabin Afghan, the very same dreaded summer project with Granny. I wonder what she would think?