The weather is biblical. Again.
A beautiful moth appeared in the kitchen.
I prepared a gigantic slow-cooked curry. My preparations would have been more efficient had I not kept stopping to photograph the moth.
I crunched all the numbers for one of my new patterns (whoot!).
And, for those of you who were asking, my BMC kit, in the muted colourway above, is now back in stock over at Jamieson and Smith
Just popping in to show you a few photos of the new BMC sample which will be coming with me to Woolfest. I wrote the pattern for two sizes of cowl – small and large. The large one you may have already seen, and this is the small. This size is worked over 7 repeats of the pattern (as opposed to 26) which means that you only have to cast on 147 stitches (as opposed to, ahem, 546).
This sample is worked up in Jamieson & Smith Jumper Weight, and I just love it. The colours in the J&S palette are really complex: one never quite knows, until one starts knitting, just how they are going to appear, or speak to one another. Separate, in the ball, the shades look so distinct, but knitted up together they perform a kind of muted alchemy. The combination in the finished object appears, to me at least, quiet and subtle, like something that has been naturally dyed.
I have never worked with shade FC24 before – that fresh, pale green that forms the cockleshell – but it is rapidly becoming one of my J&S colour favourites.
Anyway, I’ll have a few kits in this colourway with me at Woolfest (each kit contains enough to make a large and a small cowl if you are so inclined). I’ll also have kits for Sheep Heid , Rams and Yowes, Tír Chonaill, and the Sheep Carousel. I’ve been receiving a number of emails and tweets about the availability of the latter: if you are coming to Woolfest, I’m going to do my best to ensure there are enough kits to go round, and I’m also making arrangements for postal and overseas orders. More of this anon.
I’m going to take a proper break now – so I won’t be available to answer any queries until June 26th. See you in a week or so!
At last! I can now show you the BMC (Betty Mouat Cowl).
You may remember my cockleshell lace obsession , which resulted in the soon-to-be released Betty Mouat Sweater? One can never have too many cockleshells, I reckon, and this design is a veritable showcase of ‘em.
Cockleshell lace is traditionally knit back-and-forth in garter stitch. When used on a stole (which is how you’ll most often find the pattern used in Shetland) the lace pattern is generally worked across the fabric, so that the shells and scallops lie horizontally, like this:
(Cockleshell stole in the Shetland Museum)
The BMC does a couple of things differently: first, it is knit in the round (using Susan Stevens’ innovative no-purl garter stitch method) and second, the lace pattern is worked along the fabric, so that the shells and scallops frame the full length of the cowl.
The BMC is worked in two pieces, using a colour scheme which is mirrored along the centre. The two pieces are then grafted together, and the end result is a cowl/ wrap / snood / infinity scarf / [insert your preferred garment moniker here] that is both dramatic and versatile!
I don’t know about you, but I am very tired of Winter’s browns and greys. I had a strong hankering for bright colours that POP in the Spring sunshine. The shades I chose for the BMC (in Shetland lambswool Albayarn) certainly do that!
I thought of beach huts and deck chairs; seaside rock and pistachio ice-cream.
The BMC is an infinitely adjustable garment. You could make it longer, or shorter; you can wear it many different ways.
I am sporting it here on the beach at North Berwick – a logical choice to photograph this most nautical of designs on a lovely, sunny day!
The BMC now has its own Ravelry pattern page and will be released, together with the Betty Mouat Sweater, on Wednesday 21st March as part of Textisles, issue 2, where you can also read my newly- researched piece about the namesake of these designs . . .
BMC AHOY!
