As I mentioned a while ago, Cephalopod Yarns, one of my very favorite indie dyers, announced a yarn club (Club Kraken). If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s where you sign up in advance, pay some money, and then the dyers get to have fun playing with dye without worrying about creating a 100% reproduce-able color–usually club colors are a one-time deal. I was given the honor of designing a pattern to go with the first yarn installment.
Club Kraken has three installments and, unlike a lot of other clubs, there were categories you could sign up for like neutrals, semi-solids, rainbow barf, or “surprise me.” And therein lies the challenge!
Designing for this particular yarn club was an interesting challenge. It’s one that I try to keep in the back of my mind all the time, but in this case it was the main concern: to design a garment or accessory that has enough going on to be interesting in a neutral or semi-solid yarn, but is still simple enough to function in a highly variegated (rainbow barf, lovingly) yarn.
This rules out most cable patterns as well as most lace. I find that the best way to go is usually to a) create interest via the shape of the design, or b) use a textured stitch pattern that will highlight the colors in rainbow barf or shine on its own in a neutral or solid color.
In fact, this is what I’m starting to think of as my niche: with the vastitude of stunningly beautiful hand-dyed and hand-painted yarn on the market, patterns that suit rainbow barf as well as solid colors are more and more needed.
Many knitters I’ve spoken to feel seduced by hand-dyed yarn–seduced into taking them home and then, once there, they languish in the stash because the knitter has no idea what to do with them.
A happy marriage of yarn and pattern is one of those sublime moments of knitting, and finding the right fit is crucial. So fear no more the siren song of rainbow barf! You’ve come to the right place!
[end of manifesto.]
Moving on, the pattern I designed for Club Kraken is called Moon Moth.
Right now it’s only for people who are in the club, but it will be available to the general public on June 7th.