This week, we are celebrating the release of another new collection: Modern Mosaic. This collection includes 4 mosaic knits in Bamboo Pop. Bamboo Pop is our 50/50 bamboo and cotton blend yarn that is perfectly suited to warm weather garments and accessories. It is light and cool, with a vibrant color palette of solids, multis, and dots to choose from. I often hear that Bamboo Pop is many people’s favorite yarn, and I can see why. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the perfect time!
Areca in 112 Black and 101 White
Mosaic knitting is a really interesting type of color work. It utilizes two contrasting colors of yarn, knitting the stitches on each row in the dominant color and slipping the stitches that are in the contrast color. You work two rows with a dominant color, and then it changes for the next two rows. The charts in each pattern tell you which color is the dominant one for that set of rows. Mosaic knitting lends itself well to geometric patterns, and creates really bold and stunning color work. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated to do my first mosaic designs, but now I love it!
Areca in 112 Black and 101 WhiteAreca was inspired by black and white tile work and features a bold pattern throughout the front and back. Designed by Yonca Ozbelli, this top is sized from A-K and has a modern, boxy fit. Areca is perfect for those who love an interesting construction; the front and back are joined at the shoulder with a three-needle bind-off, and then the side panels and edging are created by picking up stitches along the left and right sides. I love the bold and graphic look of Areca, it’s an ‘all eyes on you’ kind of design.
Dypsis in 134 Blue Whisper and 127 Brambles
For those interested in dipping their toes into the mosaic knitting waters, Dypsis may be the perfect choice for you. Designed by Rachel Brockman, Dypsis features a traveling mosaic pattern on the hemline that is repeated again for an unexpected shoulder detail. Dypsis is knit in the round from the bottom up, so the mosaic pattern is perfectly seamless. The front and back are separated at the underarm, then worked flat. They are joined at the shoulders with a three-needle bind-off, and a garter edging is picked up and knit for the neckline.
The thoughtful choice of the mosaic hem and shoulders really makes Bamboo Pop shine, and the design looks timeless and sophisticated. Mosaic knitting can seem intimidating if you haven’t tried it, but I think Dypsis would be perfect for just about anyone. I’d throw on a fun necklace with this and let the gorgeous pattern do the talking!
Palmetto in 102 Cream, 114 Super Pink, and 212 Bright Spot
One of my contributions to the Modern Mosaic collection is Palmetto. I’m never shy about the fact that I’m a ‘more is more’ kind of person. When I was prompted to design with mosaic, I knew I wanted to design something that featured a few different patterns. I have a serious affinity for textile design and was inspired by Ikat fabrics from Indonesia for Palmetto. The tassels on the ends are one of my favorite touches too. Everything is better with tassels.
My Ikat inspiration blossomed into a stitch sampler style stole that is oversized and sure to get lots of love from everyone who sees you made it. You can wear Palmetto so many different ways, and it will add joy to any outfit you choose. I wear pink year-round, but I think this would look equally great in a blue and white combination.
Sabal in 106 Turquoise and 121 Lily Pad
My second design for Modern Mosaic is Sabal. This is an open front jacket/poncho that has a relaxed, bohemian vibe. I stuck with my textiles inspiration for this one, but instead, looked at tropical locale home interiors. I wanted a soothing color combination and a geometric style mosaic pattern that felt meditative.
My favorite thing about Sabal is the construction. It is worked starting at the back in one piece. After you get to the neckline, you work across one side, bind off the neck stitches, then work each of the fronts separately. You pick up and knit an edging for the sides, and then the garment is folded in half and seamed, while and I-cord is worked over the fronts and neckline. Sabal is just so relaxed feeling, and I love that you can wear this as a jacket to go out, a cardigan around the house, or a beach cover up!
Now that you’ve seen the patterns in our Modern Mosaic collection, here’s even more exciting news. Two lucky winners will receive a pattern of their choice from the collection, and enough Bamboo Pop to make the pattern in their chosen size and colors. We love Giveaways!
All you have to do to enter is follow us (Instagram), like our page (Facebook), like and comment on the giveaway post or another post from the collection. Only one entry per name, and the giveaway closes at 5 pm EST on 9/14. We will choose and announce our winners (one from Facebook and one from Instagram) on 9/15. You can enter on both social media platforms, but you can only win once. Good luck!
This is part 9 in a 12 part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, Series 2 Edition.
Ornaments are meant to be special. Often they are passed down to us. Perhaps they’ve been collected from some treasured place, or maybe they are handmade. After all, what is more charming than lovingly made handmade items?
The Mosaic Ornaments pattern calls for 3 balls (1 of each color) of Deluxe DK Superwash. Though there are seven different mosaic designs included in the pattern, the yarn amounts are enough to make at least 40 ornaments. Quite a bargain, eh?
Each ornament begins by knitting the two sides separately. They are then joined with a three-needle I-Cord bind-off. Sound tough? It’s not, because I’m adding a step that takes this from a three-needle bind-off to just (the usual) two needles. Keep on reading to see how I like to do it!
Here you can see that I have two sides of the Trees ornament, all ready to be joined.
What I haven’t shown in these images is that the first step is to pick up and knit stitches all the way around each square with the contrasting red color. So that’s where we are at now – stitches have been picked up around each square.
Next, place both pieces with their wrong sides facing together.
This is similar to the prep for a tubular bind-off.
What I’m doing now is certainly not absolutely necessary, but I find it makes the process so much easier. With a separate double pointed needle (dpn), first I slide a stitch from the front needle onto the spare dpn.
Next, I slide a stitch from the back needle onto this same dpn.
Keep going, alternating front and back needles/stitches until all stitches from one front and back needle have been transferred to the spare.
All the stitches from each needle are transferred. We’re ready to bind off!
Now that the stitches from both needles have been combined onto one needle, all we’re really doing is an I-Cord bind-off, but with one extra step.
To start, cast on two stitches using the knitted method. These are our I-Cord stitches.
Next, knit 1 (the first cast-on stitch), then k3tog tbl (knit three stitches together through the back loops). These three stitches are: the second cast-on stitch, a stitch from the prior front needle, and a stitch from the prior back needle. Slip the resulting 2 stitches back to the working left needle. Then: * K1, k3tog tbl, slip these 2 sts back to the left needle; rep from *
This baby 2-stitch I-Cord is works well to join the sides of the ornament and gives a nice finished look to the project, as well.
Here’s what it looks like after the side is partly joined.
All done!
Remember, you can find the Series 2 12 Days of Winter patterns on Ravelry!
