Moving in a new direction (originally published 11 November 2021)

 

A while back I made the decision that The Knitted Raven would start shifting its focus.  As I no longer have the "spoons" to work as I once did, I have been exploring new ways of expressing my creativity.

When I embarked on creating simple, luxurious knitted accessories last year, I started by knitting swatches and prototypes.  My goal was to use simple stitches and fine yarns to create "everyday luxuries", items that would be worn everyday and not kept for special occasions only.  The challenge with handknit goods like this is the price point needed for selling them to cover costs and make a modest profit could eliminate the very market segment I wanted to target.  

The Knitted Raven believes everyday luxuries are for everyone.  So it is important that those who can afford the materials, but perhaps not the price of the completed garment, should also be able to create the items they desire.  This is where my interest in designing patterns began.

Lace weight yarns can be so very luxurious, even those produced by larger companies.  You get a lot of yardage in a single skein, more that enough to create something lovely.  For example, I used Sugarbush Drizzle, a commercial mohair and silk yarn in some of my samples.  It retails for about $12.95 CAD per ball (25g/200m) online at Yarn Canada.  Indie hand dyed yarn in a higher quality mulberry silk and kid mohair combo (50g/459m) can also be had for around $34 CAD at online shops such as Smashknits . And the larger skein will of course yield more than one project. So it doesn't take a lot of money to acquire sufficient fine yarn to make something lovely.

Also, accessory projects, even in lace weight yarns, do not involve a huge time commitment. So it is easier to fit them into a busy daily routine.  And the experience of knitting with really beautiful and soft yarn is in itself an absolute pleasure!

Yesterday I finished work on two more knitting patterns for my online shop and published them there and on Ravelry.com.  This makes three in total so far, all pictured above.

Top left - Skinny Scarf knit in Sugarbush Drizzle, Thunderstorm.  This is reversible scarf (i.e. looks the same front and back enabling it to be worn in a variety of ways.

Top right - The Feather and Fan Cowl made using a single strand of laceweight yarn (Sugarbush Drizzle - Red Sky).  This item can be worn with or without a brooch/pin.

Bottom left - Feather and Fan Wrist Warmers knit using two strands of laceweight yarn in different colors to create a custom colorway.  I used an indie dyed mohair and silk and a commercial merino to make mine.  As two laceweight yarns are about the same weight as a fingering yarn, you could use a single strand of fingering yarn as well.