In early summer I was knitting projects quickly. It seem that knitting is much faster than pattern-writing, photography, videography, and all the other elements that go into self-publishing a pattern.
For the Mach Wave cowl, I decided to use some stash yarn. I had purchased Wool2dye4 Tweed Worsted in a "learn to dye with Kool-Aid" kit at The Whole Nine Yarns. This yarn has three plies, two of which are wool and the third is superwash wool. The third ply takes dye differently from the other two, creating the tweedy effect. I did quite a bit of outdoor dyeing back in June. That first burst of scorching summer weather triggered the impulse to execute the dye projects that had languished through the cooler months.
Although I have a big pile of Kool-Aid packets in my dyestuff stash, for this project I used Jaquard acid dyes. Before applying the dye, I decided I wanted the skein to become a center-out möbius. I divided the yarn into 11 lengths, placing a pin at each division. (Note to self: Next time, take the pins out as soon as possible. They will rust!) I wanted the stripes to be the same width. If the möbius is worked center-out, then the first color needs to be half the length of the remaining colors. Thus, the first color section was only one length, while the remaining color sections were two lengths.
Just for the record, here are the dyes I used:
1st section: 636 gold ochre
2nd section: 612 lilac
3rd section: 621 sky blue + 631 teal
4th section: 627 kelly green, 628 chartreuse, 629 emerald, + the tiniest bit of 620 hot fuchsia
5th section: 607 salmon + 617 cherry red
6th section: 600 ecru, 607 salmon, + 636 gold ochre
I laid everything out in aluminum pans, covered them with clear Plexiglas, and let the yarn bake in the sun for the day.
The cowl pattern is a center-out möbius worked in a reversible lace feather and fan pattern. You'll recall I figured out how to work chevron/wave patterns in a center-out möbius when I designed the Sonic Boom cowl. Sonic Boom was reversible because the feather and fan pattern was applied to a welted fabric. For Mach Wave, I instead used feather and fan as a reversible lace.
If you are working your way up the reversible lace learning curve, this in an intermediate project. The cast-on is Cat Bordhi's möbius cast-on. The lace pattern itself is a fairly basic reversible lace pattern. If you don't like the möbius shape, you can make a cylindrical cowl instead.
In September I'll be teaching a series of classes on reversible knitting at Georgia FiberFest. The festival will be producing their own magazine this year, and I've submitted Mach Wave for inclusion. You can also find the pattern as a paid download on Ravelry.
For the Mach Wave cowl, I decided to use some stash yarn. I had purchased Wool2dye4 Tweed Worsted in a "learn to dye with Kool-Aid" kit at The Whole Nine Yarns. This yarn has three plies, two of which are wool and the third is superwash wool. The third ply takes dye differently from the other two, creating the tweedy effect. I did quite a bit of outdoor dyeing back in June. That first burst of scorching summer weather triggered the impulse to execute the dye projects that had languished through the cooler months.
Although I have a big pile of Kool-Aid packets in my dyestuff stash, for this project I used Jaquard acid dyes. Before applying the dye, I decided I wanted the skein to become a center-out möbius. I divided the yarn into 11 lengths, placing a pin at each division. (Note to self: Next time, take the pins out as soon as possible. They will rust!) I wanted the stripes to be the same width. If the möbius is worked center-out, then the first color needs to be half the length of the remaining colors. Thus, the first color section was only one length, while the remaining color sections were two lengths.
Just for the record, here are the dyes I used:
1st section: 636 gold ochre
2nd section: 612 lilac
3rd section: 621 sky blue + 631 teal
4th section: 627 kelly green, 628 chartreuse, 629 emerald, + the tiniest bit of 620 hot fuchsia
5th section: 607 salmon + 617 cherry red
6th section: 600 ecru, 607 salmon, + 636 gold ochre
I laid everything out in aluminum pans, covered them with clear Plexiglas, and let the yarn bake in the sun for the day.
The cowl pattern is a center-out möbius worked in a reversible lace feather and fan pattern. You'll recall I figured out how to work chevron/wave patterns in a center-out möbius when I designed the Sonic Boom cowl. Sonic Boom was reversible because the feather and fan pattern was applied to a welted fabric. For Mach Wave, I instead used feather and fan as a reversible lace.
If you are working your way up the reversible lace learning curve, this in an intermediate project. The cast-on is Cat Bordhi's möbius cast-on. The lace pattern itself is a fairly basic reversible lace pattern. If you don't like the möbius shape, you can make a cylindrical cowl instead.
In September I'll be teaching a series of classes on reversible knitting at Georgia FiberFest. The festival will be producing their own magazine this year, and I've submitted Mach Wave for inclusion. You can also find the pattern as a paid download on Ravelry.
Comments