We have one final lovely Yorlin to show you today. This cardigan was made by top-notch knitter, Sarah, who has helped us in the development phase of many patterns, and who always finds a lovely landscape in her home county of Norfolk in which to photograph her knits. Today is no exception.
Here’s what Sarah has to say about her experience of knitting Yorlin:
“I decided to knit my Yorlin in the wonderful Cranachan shade. I had only ever previously used this colour as an accent, so this was a bold choice for me. I love how the neps in this yarn transform it from flat colour into jewelled berry tones that sit so nicely with a wide range of other colours.”
“I love top-down construction, so Yorlin was a delight to knit. I particularly enjoy the moment when you divide the body from the sleeves and have, effectively, two different projects on the go. Am I alone in this?”
“I knitted the 6th size to the length specified in the pattern and it is perfect. The sleeves have 15 rows knitted after the decreases are finished and in my version there are 11 full pattern repeats, finishing on a row 9 before adding the full amount of rib.”
“My buttons are hand poured resin which is filled with sparkly holographic glitter and although these pictures don’t show it they are a little touch of shiny fun.”
“The result is a pleasingly light and extremely easy to wear cardigan, something to throw on in Norfolk’s cool coastal breezes or as the sun goes down and the temperature starts to dip.”
Thank you, Sarah!
In my Chingly discussion, I mentioned that there were a handful of shades of Milarrochy Tweed whose specifics bothered me so much that we have to have them specially made up for us by the mill. Cranachan is one of these intriguing shades, and I suspect that, just like Chingly, what I enjoy so much about it has something to do with its in-between-ness. But I don’t think it’s a contradiction to say that Cranachan is also very definite sort of colour, and its tweedy neps only seem to re-affirm this, in neutral flecks of dark and light.
Cranachan is not a shade which will ever be happy in the background, then and the indeterminacy I like about it perhaps concerns its nomenclature more than anything else. Is Cranachan red? Pinkish-red? Red-pink? Cherry? Strawberry? Something else entirely?
Named after a Scottish dessert made from raspberries, there is definitely something light, sharp and fruity about this colour.
. . . and I’ve often enjoyed featuring it in summery designs, like Pabaigh
. . . and the Polkagris kerchief
There could be no other choice than Cranachan for a simple lace shawl called Beamer . . .
. . . and this is a shade that also works wonderfully as either a popping accent or the main attraction in stranded colourwork:
I find this palette – which combines Tarbet, Cranachan, Stockiemuir, Cowslip and Hirst – immediately evocative of northern Swedish design. Can you see what I mean?
Like Foxglove, Cranachan sits among a handful of very bright colours in the Milarrochy Tweed palette, and the fact that Claire and Sarah chose them for their Yorlins makes me very happy. I enjoy a subtle neutral as much as the next person, but something in me always gives a little cheer when I see women looking so bloody fabulous, as Claire and Sarah do, in bold, bright hues. No receding into the background here, thank you very much!
We’ve added kits in Sarah’s Cranachan colourway to the shop today. This is the final sample we’ll be showing you, but please allow me to reiterate, in answer to Emma’s query yesterday, that you can choose a Yorlin in any colour of Milarrochy Tweed (with the 10% kit discount included), simply by emailing Maylin (help@katedaviesdesigns.com). You are by no means compelled to make a Yorlin in our yarn, of course, and whether you are knitting with linen, cotton or your own handspun, and (most importantly) whatever your knitting pace (this is a supportive knitalong, not a race), we will be very happy to welcome you to the KDD Ravelry group. Do come and join us!
Although we have reached the end of our KDD Yorlin line-up, I’ll be writing about different approaches to colour over coming days and weeks, so there’s much more KAL inspiration to come.
Happy knitting!
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