FO: Salt Creek Hat & Loop for Black Wolf Ranch

  

In the two years since I started working on indie.knits full time, I've been lucky to connect and work with some awesome local and American-made yarn companies - and among my favorite folks to work with are Black Wolf Ranch, a brand that features luxury alpaca blends in luminous colors influenced by the Montana landscape.

Last year, I knit up a Nusa cowl sample, and later, designed the Jardiniere shawl, using their gorgeous yarns. And this past February at Madrona Fiber Arts, I was delighted to see my designs featured in their booth both as individual patterns and thoughtfully chosen kits.

While I was there, I got to catch up with Wendy and her lovely team - and when she asked if I would be available to knit up samples of my Salt Creek Hat & Loop for them, out of two different dreamy silk-blend yarns, I was like um, yes please!

 

Salt Creek Hat

This was the first design that I ever released for sale on Ravelry, so it holds a special place in my heart! I revamped the pattern in 2014, and ever since, I've been so happy to see it keep getting love. The simple cable and twisted stitch details add knitterly interest, while the garter stitch gives it a bit of textured smoosh. And the crown decreases are pretty neat, if I do say so myself!

I knit up the sample in Black Wolf Ranch Rustic Wool, a 70/30 BFL/tussah silk blend, in the colorway Tuscan Sun, which is a beautiful shade of green-scented yellow - like a ripening lemon, or a splash of fresh olive oil. The BFL adds structure and crispness to the fabric, which lets the silk content sing the lead, as the color shimmers and glows from within.

For more details, you can check out my project page here.

 

Salt Creek Loop

This pattern came a little later, when I was inspired to try the same textural details of the Salt Creek Hat in a soft, drapey alpaca yarn. I worked on the pattern on a trip to Iceland in 2012, and I have distinct memories of blocking the sample in our rental laundry room during a bout of insomnia: the cement floor and hum of the dryer, the smell of soap and sulfur lingering in the air like a strange, cozy dream.

I knit up this sample in Black Wolf Ranch Spirit Alpaca & Tussah, a 70/30 alpaca/tussah silk blend, in the colorway Cenote', a deep, complex blue-green - just like the pools of clear, cavernous blue of its namesake. In this yarn, the sinuous quality of the alpaca combines with the luster of the silk to create a fabric with amazing drape and shine - like the yarn version of silk crepe-back satin.

For more details, you can check out my project page here.

One of my favorite things about working as an independent designer is the opportunity to partner with folks who share my love of color, local and independently-produced yarns, and strong, supportive community - and by all of those counts, Black Wolf Ranch has been a total pleasure to work with. If you ever get the opportunity to stop by their booth at a fiber festival or show, I do hope you'll say hello!

In the meantime, if you're interested in their lovely yarns, you can shop online here.

(And a few of my patterns are available as kits as well, which is pretty awesome!)

Thanks again to Wendy, Amanda, and the rest of the Black Wolf Ranch team for their support, and for letting me play with their pretty, pretty yarns!

And thank you for reading, friends. Happy Thursday!

<3

Cory

Pattern Release: Jardiniere, a Collaboration with Black Wolf Ranch

  

Annnd they just keep coming! A few months back, I started chatting with Wendy from Black Wolf Ranch about creating an original design using her yarn, with an eye towards featuring several of her beautiful dyed colorways.

This is the resulting shawl: Jardiniere, a four-color shawl inspired by knitted counterpane motifs, knit up in Wendy's beautifully textured alpaca/mohair Spirit for the body, and lusciously soft & glowy Distinctly Alpaca Sport for the color panels and edging. Wendy and I put together two different colorways - one with lots of color, and one neutral with just a little pop of brightness, which you can take a look at below.

This pattern is debuting as a kit at Black Wolf Ranch's booth at Stitches Midwest 2016 this weekend, and will be available exclusively from Black Wolf Ranch until July of 2017. 

  

I knitted most of the sample on a two-week trip to London and Paris a few months ago. I'll always remember knitting in bed on a rainy afternoon in Paris: the city shrouded in mist and rain streaking across the windows; our rooftop balcony lined with plants, a kinetic green against the gray.

When it came time to name the shawl, Jardiniere seemed like a perfect fit: it's a word used in both French and English, with multiple meanings - a flower box, a gardener. A word that by its meaning alone is something ordinary, but in its context means something more.

A painted container full of earth and color, tendrils of green spilling out over its walls. A woman with dirt under her fingernails holding a tomato still warm from the vine, her face half-shaded from the sun. This is what I thought of as I named it.

I hope you love it.

Happy Friday, friends - and happy Stitches!

<3

Cory