I know favoritism is a bad thing; but I have to say that this might be my favorite design for this year.
Okay, okay. I have quite a few favorite designs this year—some already published, some close to publication, and some that are scheduled far into the mysterious mists of 2021. But this just might be my favoritest; and yes, that’s a word just for today.
This is my Perpetua Cowl, knitted in American Corriedale Aran from Stone Wool. About a year ago I stumbled across Stone Wool’s site while surfing the web, and decided to submit this design; and here we are.
The theme of the call for submissions was “Urban Decay”; as a country gal, the typical visage of urban decay—abandoned buildings, broken windows, parking lots full of weeds, and graffiti, graffiti, graffiti—is unattractive and lonely. Stone Wool’s interpretation of this idea was atypical. Their focus was on the reentry of plant life into an urban setting, resulting in “the juxtaposition of organic and manmade forms”. Now there’s something that will get my wheels turning.
I’ve always loved old buildings; as in, 2 centuries or older kind of old. I’ve also come to conclude that the notion of plant life and human expansion being at odds is something of a modern construct. Is anyone bothered by the fact that Princeton is covered in vines? Nope. Westminster Abbey? Also nope. In these types of places—produced during another era, and by another view of man and of nature—man and nature grow old together. And the results are glorious.
As for the process of turning this inspiration into something knittable, I had the opportunity to do my very first interview! The team at Stone Wool sent me some fun questions on that very topic; the full interview can be found here. At the end of the article there’s also a video tutorial for one of the special stitches in the cowl, as it uses some unusual techniques to achieve the textural effects.
I’d classify this as an advanced intermediate project. The foundation is twisted rib, but almost every other row involves cabling; some of these cables involve three stitches and can be a bit tricky to work if you don’t have much experience using a cable needle. Also the bobbles can be counterintuitive, and a couple of rounds involve fiddling with your stitch markers. However, there’s no shaping involved and the yarn is hefty, so it’s a quick knit.
And while I’m going to review the yarn in a future post (I mentioned this last week; but now it’s official), it’s worth giving another shoutout: This stuff is awesome. Sturdy, springy, rustic, warm; it’s thick and bouncy, but somehow it drapes. It’s smooth like a worsted spun but has the airy quality of a woolen spun. The stitch definition is off the charts, but it’s still soft. It’s magic.
Now, the all-important question: where to buy this pattern? Currently it’s available for purchase as a pdf download from Stone Wool’s website, here. It will also be available as a Ravelry download next week, so if you’re a Ravelry user keep an eye out for it. Either way, I encourage you to hop over to Stone Wool’s website and take a gander; they produce amazing breed-specific, American-made yarns (the locations where the sheep were raised, the fleece spun, and the yarn dyed are printed on the labels) and beautifully classic knitting patterns. (I’m itching to try one of their yarns in a crochet pattern, but that’s another conversation…).
For now, I hope you enjoy Perpetua! You’ll most likely be seeing another one (or two, or three) around here if you follow this blog; making the sample seemed to take no time at all, and it was done too soon for me. Now I want to make another one; and it is time to start thinking about that Christmas list, after all.
