Artists talk about "happy accidents" -- art projects that don't go exactly the way the artist expects, but they still turn out very well.
My most recent foray turned out that way. I teach at The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock. The shop is hosting its annual Christmas in July event later this month. For that event, I needed to come up with a free pattern. Something quick. And simple.
Okay. If you've been reading this blog, you know that quick and simple is rarely my approach to knitting. So this was a real design challenge for me. I poked around in my folder of patterns and came across some old yarn ball patterns. These are patterns where you knit a ball by making a series of short-row wedges. Each section is similar in shape to the skin of an orange or lemon wedge. I looked around the shop and picked out a skein of Arucania Limarí multicolor (color 556). It's a bulky weight yarn. This colorway is turquoise with dabs of rusty red.
I knit up the ball shape, closed one end, and grafted the side seam. At this point, the unstuffed ball was less than round -- more squat shaped. And with the turquoise colorway, it looked very much like some little pot from somewhere in the American Southwest. So I rewrote the project by adding a row of crab stitch around the lip. And I felted the whole thing at the end. It turned out very cute. I should add that if you do felt Arucania Limarí, be aware that it felts well but it does get very fuzzy. I gave my little bowl a good trim to bring out the vertical ridge texture from the garter stitch.Update: the pattern for this little bowl will be available at the shop for awhile. There are leftover folders of Christmas in July patterns available. After that, it might continue as a free pattern with purchase.
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