Crafted

 

I've been working for some time now on a throw using cable patterns from Barbara Walker's "Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns".   In 2003, I dropped into the Oxfam shop in Penrith and snapped up a full pack of Rowan Cork for £4.99.  It's been waiting for the right project to come along.

 Last year I decided to reclaim the yarn from an aran jumper knitted for my husband, but about two sizes too big for him.  I used some of this on an earlier throw, but there was still plenty left.





My idea was to knit strips of random widths in a variety of neutral tones, but this turned out to be more of a challenge for me than I had imagined.  I actually prefer symmetry.  I bought 100gms of another greyish yarn, but was surprised to find that it read as a dull green against the grey and beige of the completed stripes.  I decided that this did not matter as it was such a muted tone, not really a colour.  I bought another ball to make a second stripe.

 

So, then, how to arrange the finished strips?  One of the Cork stripes was a little wider, and had a more complex pattern.  This would be the central strip, with the other Cork stripes forming the end pieces.  The green looked better next to beige, and there were four beige strips, so that organised itself.

As I was assembling the strips it became obvious that there was some variation in length, which could not be fixed by blocking.  I added some moss stitch or took away a motif in some cases.  This was the most fiddly part of the process.

Finally, I also reknitted the opening rows of some pieces where the moss stitch needed fewer stitches because the cables pull in so dramatically.  This was quick to do and made a huge difference to the neatness of the finish.
One last ingredient: sunshine!  With side lighting the sculptural qualities of the cables really come alive.  I love the complexity of the finished item and the muted tones of the yarns.