Nordic color stitch patterns have always attracted me. The sharp contrast between light and dark, and the "licing", or sprinkling, of light/bright against the dark background is the first thing that catches my eye. I have had a love affair with this type of design from day one of my knitting journey.
As I begin the study of actual stitch patterns and ideas for this next sweater, I am spending time with my collection of knitting books, magazines and patterns. This will probably take a month to wade through. But, last night as I sat watching INDEPENDENCE DAY for the 6th time this month (GREAT movie to knit through), I decided I just had to start playing with my HEILO yarn collection. So, with a #4 circular 16" Addi Turbo needle, I cast on 120 stitches in charcoal heather for a hat.
Many of Elizabeth Zimmermann's ideas are firmly mine now, and I always make many hats before I make a sweater. Hats are the best gauge swatch for seeing what the yarn does in the round for GAUGE and stitch sampling. I will start with a long tail cast on so I can finish the edge as a HEM, and she explains exactly how to do this in KNITTING WORKSHOP, page 63.
The first 5 colors that are charming me
are charcoal, light olive green, cadet blue, dark gold and natural. Stay tuned.
