Introducing Matsudana on HKF

Knitty, First Fall 2013 went live this week and it includes my new design, Matsudana. It's been exciting to see people queueing and favoriting the pattern in Ravelry--the feedback has been very positive.


Matsudana


This design started with the need for a "mindless" knitting project. I was getting ready for Stitches West and my active project was a cobweb lace shawl--definitely not a project suitable for convention knitting. So dove in my stash, pulled out some sock yarn, and started swatching. True to form, it wasn't a simple stitch pattern that spoke to me, it was a 36 row repeat with cables and lace. To top it off, I added twisted stitch and lace panels. Even with the heightened level of complexity, it was still more workable than the shawl so I had that going for me.

Well, I finished the socks and wrote the pattern, then I had to name it. I turned to the yarn and the stitch pattern for inspiration. The original socks were knit in a colorway called "Willow". Hmmm... willow, curling cables, ahhh Curly Willow. But that was too obvious, so I looked up the scientific name for the plant--Salix Matsudana Tortuosa. Done!

Today's Hand Knit Friday features the original Matsudana socks knit in Willow:


Matsudana

I can't resist posting additional photos that Bill Walker took for the publication. This colorway is called Leafy Seadragon. Stunning!