A year of test knits – part 1

On my previous post, I talked about my most recent test knit, the Navigate pullover. A cabled men’s sweater designed by Annie Lupton for Rib Magazine’s second issue.

I completed several other test knits in 2016 and I’d love to share them with you. This is the first of a 4 part series where I will go through each one in detail. As with anything, practice makes perfect and though I’m far from it, I am thankful to these designers who entrusted me with their work, helping improve my skill as a knitter.

There are 2 shawls, a cowl and a scarf.

I’ll begin with the cowl, my very first test knit.

Part 1 // Because I Love You Cowl by Amy Meeks

I had just completed my second shawl, the Because I Love You Wrap by Amy Meeks and shared this photo of my daughter wearing it on Instagram. Her sister, Debby, saw it, tagged her, and before I knew it, began a wonderful friendship with the Periscoping Sisters, particularly, Amy, the designer for the wrap. She and I got to talking and as it turned out, she was working on a new pattern, a cowl version of the wrap, and asked if I would like to test knit.

I love learning where designers get their inspiration from when coming up with a new design. Sometimes it comes from nature, architecture, even movies, but, there is something extra special when it comes from an individual. This was the case for the wrap and the cowl. Amy was inspired by her late sister, Wendy:

“This pattern was inspired by the mere fact that sometimes there are people in our lives who are so cherished that we need to gift them a hand knit “just because”. No special occasion is needed for giving a handmade gift to those we love, just being blessed by their friendship and love in return makes them deserving enough. In any relationship, there are two separate persons, personalities, values, beliefs (colors). The “bridge” is when there is a “meeting of the minds”, a common ground or silent understanding where two people may feel like one. Let this pattern inspire you to gift this wrap to someone just because you love them and I’m sure they will feel loved and cherished for it.” Amy Meeks

I loved the story behind the wrap and was especially moved by the concept of the “bridge”. I was ecstatic to be a part of this project. I was still fairly new to knitting and was so impressed by how Amy was able to create a new object incorporating the same stitch pattern for a completely different shape.

I used Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids in the colorways 5682 & 5704.

Even though the same stitch pattern was used for the bridge on the cowl, Amy keeps it interesting by introducing a couple of new ones for the body. She even leaves it up to the knitter to pick and choose which one to use and where to apply it.