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Dear Ann,

One thing I can’t abide is not having a knitting project on the go. I can’t abide it for even 24 hours. So when I finished all the knitting on my Mood Cardigan, I was in a fix. I had company for the weekend (socially distant, related-to-me company), and I therefore couldn’t sit all by myself in a quiet room getting the cuffs, construction, and neckline details worked out on the Mood. I needed a sit-and-knit project, and I needed it now.

Help soon arrived, in the form of a photograph on Amy Christoffers’s Instagram feed during Family Scroll Time.

I love everything about Amy’s new shawl design, Pressed Flowers, especially the Marimekko/Orla Kiely vibe of stylized flowers against dotted background.

It took me a full 5 minutes of fishing around in the big blue Ikea bag that holds my pandemic stash. I came up with 6 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed, in two colors, Seafarer (dark blue) and Granite (beigey-gray).

Suddenly, my holiday weekend became very fun.

The slip-stitch pattern makes sense from early on, and the piece grows very quickly.

Very quickly.

I love slipped-stitch patterns for many reasons, but I particularly love the flat, almost woven fabric they create. I’ve been having flashbacks to the dearly beloved Linoleum Dishcloth, although I think this square floral is even easier to knit.

Felted Tweed is working out perfectly for this pattern. It’s light and soft, and so well-behaved. Felted Tweed is truly a universal donor of yarns, and it had the distinct advantage of being there in the Ikea bag stash when I needed it.

Love,

Kay

46 Comments

  • Wow. I totally love this project and the woven-y fabric it creates. Normally I am not a particular fan of blue (I’m a red person) but here I adore it. And the size – something to really wrap yourself up in. This oughta keep you awhile, right?

  • What a lovely pattern! Great colors on your part, as well. I am a smidge envious that you can come up with enough of those yarns from your stash…

  • I thought it was a facial mask! I don’t know if it would be 99% safe but it would be better than nothing. Just add loops (for ears) to the ends !

  • What a coincidence! I fell in love with this picture immediately over the weekend – but had to have new yarn so I’m impatiently waiting to cast on. I have some perfect green now and will pick up some watercolor for the flowers at my LYS.

  • Love the pattern. I’m not a triangular shawl fan, but might try to modify somehow for a rectangle or something like that.

    • I’m not a triangular shawl fan either, but my gloss on that rule is that if the triangle is greatly oversized, it’s fine. It’s just when they are of a size that the triangle points to the derriere or the points hang down in front and make me look kind of hunchy that I don’t like them. This one is going to be enormous.

    • It looks as if it starts from the centre so just cast on in the round and do the chart twice over and you should get a square.

    • Bandana cowl!

  • Just finished my first linoleum dishcloth a few weeks ago and purchased this pattern the other day. I have already found some grey and white yarn in my stash, but am thinking I should check out my Felted Tweed. I purchased some from you and some when a LYS was having a going out of business sale. No matter what, I am now even more excited to get started. Keep us posted on your progress.

    • Re Linoleum Dish cloth: you will never be without something to knit.

  • Hmmm, I think its Clay not Granite, but definitely gorgeous! (Currently knitting the Rowan Elder blanket and both colours are in it.)

    • You may be right! The Ikea Bag o’ Tweed doesn’t always have the labels….

  • Gorgeous!

  • I bought this pattern the second I saw I, but haven’t gone stash diving yet. We used to call Kidsilk Haze the bacon of yarn, because it makes everything better, but the Universal Donor of yarn, I love it!

    • As a Blood Bank professional, I appreciate those Universal donors every day. As a knitter, its good to know we can depend on our stash in these uncertain times!!!!

  • That’s gorgeous! I’ve been eyeing this pattern on and off, but Rowan Felted Tweed never occurred to me! Thanks for that—I’m on it.

  • This color combo reminds me of old woven coverlets- you’re making me want to knit another

  • I may have to don”just a swatch” or this. I love this pattern.

  • Those shoes are on my feet right now – they’re the best, right?

    LOVE the shawl pattern! But it will have to wait until I finish putting together my Pandemic Picket Fence. If I start it now those beautiful blanket squares will disappear into the deep recesses of The Cabinet of Unfinished Things.

  • Wow, Your colour choice really caught my eye when I opened up my email to your site this morning. You have inspired me to do something with a dark background, although I know it can be a bit harder to see the stitches. Love the blue and yellow and I love your website. I make it a regular part of my morning to take a peek at what’s going on in the MDK world. Thanks.

  • I’d really love to see the other side of the fabric. This is gorgeous.

    • I’ll be sure to show it next time. And there will be a next time!

  • What is Family Scroll Time?

    • In our house it’s when things suddenly go quiet and you notice that every person is on their phone.

  • Your colors are much better than those in the pattern photo, imo. Classic sashiko vibe going on there.

  • Physical distancing: good. Related-to-you: irrelevant in terms of safety.

    • I’m aware.

  • This is already looking so cool!

  • Love this and definitely will be trying out some linoleum dish cloths

  • It looks gorgeous already. I can’t quite work out what’s going on with the straight sticks on the first two pictures, are you using a third to knit the stitches off each one in turn or does it let you straighten it out and knit straight across both sides?

    I like the sound of family scroll time :-D.

    • I was just knitting on the short sticks while the piece was small, and I took the picture halfway through a row so that it would lie nicely.

  • I love this!

  • I would just like to tell you Family Scroll Time is BRILLIANT, and you should patent it!! (The project isn’t half bad, either…!)

    • I wish I were better at limiting Family Scroll Time lol! But it is a nice companionable way to spend time together. Much sharing of animal videos!

  • Love at first sight!

  • I loved this one too, as soon as I saw it on Ravelry’s Hot Right Now list. I went stash diving and found some perfect Rowan combos, and I think I have to make two!

  • Your colors and the pattern have a Japanese ikat feel. 🙂

    • I like that thought! These were the only two colors I had in sufficient quantity but navy blue is always a go-to.

  • Very nice, indeed! The pattern, and your yarn combo. Love it!

  • Love it sooooo much. a dense, functional blanket-y shawl. 2-colour ikat comes to mind

  • Just curious – why the third color for cast-on?

  • I love the way I get swept away with a new yarn or pattern or book or your writing. It reminds me of being a teenager and meeting a new boy and falling in love with a fantasy. The difference with your writing is that it opens doors that I had been too lazy to explore. I had never seriously considered felted wool or the shawl pattern of small pressed flowers. A copy of #15 is even on my coffee table but I needed a personal invitation.
    Thank you for constantly inviting me to new adventures!

    • This is exactly why I love my Snippets Saturday morning with my cup of coffee! Well said…I get so much inspiration from MDK, and it pushes me to try new projects I didn’t think I could do.

  • I’m not typically a big fan of triangular shawls but Felted Tweed is my all-time favorite yarn and I do love Amy Christoffer’s designs. It’s one to think about for fall. Not sure I’ve got enough of any two colors in stash. Something else to think about.

  • Love it!!

  • What size needle are you using. I tried the size recommended and it is quite tight. Rowan tweed is a thinner yarn. YOur photos looke like a size 8 or 5mm? I am going to try that and see. This is my first attempt at mosaic. Usually I go down a needle size.

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