Variations on a leaf, a knitting design.

 

by Catherine Bayar

There is a saying that "variety is the spice of life". When I'm designing knitwear, variety means experimenting with color, texture and pattern. When I like how a pattern turns out the first time, I'll try that same motif in not only other yarns, but other sizes. Varying the knit gauge can completely reinvent that motif, letting me create several garments quickly, since I only have to remember how to knit that one pattern. 

Shrugs are simple to knit - just a rectangle and two sleeves, which have the leaf on the cuffs, though I  added a smaller dot pattern above just to keep things interesting.

See how the leaf motif changes when I stripe the yarns, even though the gauge is the same.

The shape is the same as the first shrug too, but adding contrasting sleeves makes it appear completely different.

In this version, the gauge goes way overscale - only two repeats cover the entire torso from hip to shoulder.

The sleeves have yet to be completed, but using the flow of the motif gives the front edge of this sweater a lovely wavy cut-away finish.

Taking the scale small produces a delicate effect, quite distinct from the chunkier patterns above.

The garment here has a vintage fitted look, by starting with medium needles at the bottom and going smaller as the garment progresses to the shoulders.

Finally, why only use the pattern vertically, when horizontal works as well?

In the case of this Mobius wrap, circling the body with these flowing shapes creates yet another take on leafy variety.  All these garments will be posted to my Etsy site, just as soon as I can get my niece to model them for me. Though I can still think of more variations of this pattern, it's time to turn a new leaf!

Catherine Bayar is spending the winter dreaming up ways to translate traditional Turkish handcrafts into modern works of art…read more here