A Tale of Two Sisters: Etheria and Sibelle

 by Julia Trice  aka mindofwinter

I am a knitter with a capital K, but every once in a while I spend just a little too much time designing knitting patterns and burn myself out.  In those times, I fill my hands with other crafty endeavors.  I've been known to quilt, cross stitch, do origami, and go crazy with the Christmas bug making paper garlands and spray-painting pine cones in metallic colors.  My most frequent escapes by far are quilting and crochet, so it is no great surprise that after marathon knitting the Yukiya Pullover this spring, I turned to crochet.  What is surprising is that it stuck.

My first foray into crochet was Etheria, which is essentially a stitch sampler worked in rounds. I had become a little obsessed with Shalimar Paulie in Toast Points, which I also used in the Yukiya slouchy and pullover, and I wanted to see how the yarn looked in crochet. I was playing with different stitch patterns that appealed to me to see if I could get a nice progression.  When mixing stitches in knitting patterns this often involves a bit of trial and error, but with Etheria it just happened.  I cast on 270 sts - the number I would need to get the circumference I wanted in the first stitch pattern I tried - and just went.  As luck would have it, all three of the stitch patterns I used - each with a different number of stitches in the repeat - fit evenly into 270.  If that isn't kismet, I don't know what is.  I just crocheted until I wanted something new, and then picked another stitch pattern.  The only planning I did was choosing the percentage of the design that I wanted each stitch pattern to take up.  Even division into thirds is less interesting than strips with varying widths, so I did pay attention to that detail, but in all other respects it was just a matter of doing what I liked and thought might look nice together.  In case you are wondering - that never, ever happens.  It was magical.  Hence Etheria - a name that brings to mind light, air, and fantasy.  It gave me all three.



Sibelle was inspired by a lovely skein of Paulie in Adobe 

- a gorgeous, subtly variegated colorway that really defies description. The closest I can come to describing it is to say that it reminds me of a soft sunset. Sibelle is a play on sibling, because I think of Sibelle as Etheria's sister design - equally light and airy and clearly related, but also different - bolder in color and completely different in construction.  While Etheria is worked in long rounds, Sibelle is a series of motifs strung together and then bordered on both sides by picots - which, by the way - are the exact opposite of Etheria's picots.  Etheria's picots are internal to the chains.  Sibelle's dance out along the edges.  

That really describes how I think of Sibelle - dancing in the air.  Etheria is beautiful and subdued, Sibelle is joyful.  I did not plan on designing Sibelle any more than I did Etheria, but once I worked a single motif the others followed effortlessly, and I liked the idea of doing a similar piece in a different way. The way each little color appeared in the yarn kept me moving forward - pink, yellow, gold, brown, peach, almost-orange, and back again. A dance of color to match the dance of the clusters that criss-cross across the cowl.

No doubt as I work more in crochet I will become more structured, but for now the carefree nature of just going where the hook leads has been great fun.  So fun, in fact, that I am planning to be back with more next spring, if not sooner.

Join us on the the Shalimar Ravelry Forum see other Light and Lacy cowl projects.  

Nancy Totten Appalachian Infinity Scarf With Breathless DK

Nancy Totten learned to knit from her mother and grandmother while growing up in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.  

She worked as a nurse while knitting for pleasure and raising one daughter.  Currently living in Colorado, she is now designing knitwear and accessories.  

Her love of vintage stitch patterns is incorporated into the Appalachian Infinity Scarf which uses Shalimar Breathless DK.  "When I first felt the yarn, I was in love with it.  I wanted a scarf that was luxurious, would show off the yarn, use a vintage stitch pattern and allow the wearer to feel cuddled by the yarn.  I think the Appalachian Infinity Scarf in Tamarillo creates that experience."

"My day isn’t complete if I haven’t knit something"  

Thank you Nancy for creating such a beautiful design with Shalimar Breathless DK.

Ravelry nannyknitter 

Marnie MacLean designs for Shalimar

Marnie's generous design hand created two designs for the Shalimarch anniversary celebration.  Thank You so much.  

This mitten and hat pair is called Willowherb uses Enzo Worsted.  These mittens have a fun story she writes about on her blog.  

 Estival is a stunning two color lace shawl.  

It can be created from Zoe, Breathless, Paulie or Homage - the collection of fingering weight from Shalimar.  Marnie has shared other brilliant color options with us in another blog post.  

The Shalimarch celebration was not the first time Marnie designed with Shalimar yarns.  This is Arctium using Breathless.  

This is Cowl and hat set is Treillage using Haven.

Marnie MacLean lives in Portland, Oregon with her three rescued dogs and her husband. She has been designing for over a decade and has a large library of free and for-sale patterns on her website, http://marniemaclean.com. She is also a production assistant and designer for Twist Collective  http://twistcollective.com.

Marnie, Thanks for sharing your designs with all the fans of Shalimar yarns.  We hope to see more.  

Breathless DK

Join our Slofock KAL done in Breathless DK Haven in Adiri by Julia Trice A couple of Slofockers Quick Links Blog Facebook Ravelry Group Website Introducing New Breathless DK! Visit our Etsy Shop beginning: Tuesday, Dec. 18, 9am EST - Sun., Dec. 23, 7pm EST Breathless DK, our newest offering, is a luscious blend of 75% Superwash Merino/15% Cashmere/10% Silk that will blow your mind! We'll have 14 colors available, including 5 NEW colors! At a hefty 270 yards, Breathless DK is the ultimate luxury yarn for shawls, wraps, accessories, baby duds and sweaters. And join our Slofock KAL, hosted in Knitspot's Ravelry group, beginning Jan. 11th. We're using Breathless DK - two skeins for the hat and mitts makes a wonderful gift or keeper! Also on our Etsy Update, back by popular demand, we're offering a 10% discount on all preordered Haven. Julia Trice is offering a 10% discount on the three individual Adiri patterns: the Adiri slouchy hat, Adiri, and the Adiri Cowl. Enter the code “shalimarupdate” any time between now and the end of the update on December 23rd to receive the discount. You can use the code multiple times - ‘tis the season!  *All yarn will ship by Jan. 3rd Shalimar Yarns' Etsy Shop Thanks for supporting small, independent fiber-arts businesses!

Haven Pre-Order Sale

Haven Preorder with Discount! 

 

We've added 8 more colors to this new Haven Preorder Update!

Choose from 23 luscious colors in this luxury DK/Worsted Merino & Tussah Silk blend.

Visit our Etsy Shop beginning

Friday, Nov. 9, 7 pm EST - Sunday, Nov. 11, 7 pm EST

Receive 10% OFF your Haven preorder!

 

      

If you're looking for quick and easy holiday gifts, look no farther!

Adiri Cowl by Julia Trice is a stunning

allover lace and cable pattern-complex in texture,

yet surprisingly easy to work!

 

 

Join us for our Adiri KAL!

 

Haven Preorder with Discount!

We are so excited about the prerelease of Adiri and Adiri Cowl

by Julia Trice, a stunning allover lace and cable pattern which is complex in texture, yet surprisingly easy to work!

 

In conjuntion with this prerelease, we are offering

a 10% discount on all preordered Haven. Choose from 15 luscious colors in this luxury DK/Worsted Merino & Tussah Silk blend.

Visit our Etsy Shop beginning

Thursday, Oct. 11, 7 pm - Saturday, Oct. 13, 7 pm

for this limited time promotion.

Preorders with regular pricing will continue through Thursday, Oct. 18

 

You'll also find plenty of Haven in numerous colors to make

the Adiri Cowl. This awesome cowl takes only 1 or 2 skeins!

For recommended yardage and sweater specs, check out Adiri here!

Adiri

Julia Trice, mindofwinter, had just released her Adiri Cowl pattern in Haven! This lovely cowl has a companion sweater pattern, also named Adiri. The Adiri sweater pattern will be released later this month.

We will be having a KAL on Ravelry for both the sweater and the cowl beginning on October 15 and running through the end of the year. The Adiri cowl is a perfect knit to give as a Christmas gift, while you knit the sweater to keep!

Julia has generously donated two pattern packages which includes both the Adiri sweater and cowl pattern! Kristi has donated a skein of Haven to each winner, which is the perfect amount to knit a cowl. To enter, leave a comment in the contest thread on Ravelry.

 

You can read more about Julia and see her fantastic designs on her blog: MindofWinter