The Knitting Fiend

Seafoam and Taiga Lada are soulmates!

Are you familiar with Seafoam? It’s a simple stitch pattern. Last summer, I illustrated Seafoam using Caron Simply Soft yarn, a smooth, soft inexpensive acrylic available at big box stores. When I described how to knit the stitch, I wrote:

. . . I would suggest working all elongated stitches in a fuzzy yarn like mohair. That would result in gorgeous, yet very easy to knit, fabric.

Why did I suggest that? Well, the stitch looked like this ==>

Ok, so I’d swatched a pattern and suggested it be knit is a soft fuzzy mohair. So, when my Taiga Lada arrived, I should have immediately knit it in Seafoam right? Well.. yeah. But, I was fixated on Feather and Fan; I looked at the swatch and wrote:

Well, I think it looks ok knit up in Feather and Fan stitch pattern, but I think that if I’m going to the trouble of working feather and fan, I prefer a solid color or longer color runs. Long runs of color would accentuate the curving lines of the stitch pattern; short runs interrupt the curving lines.

Lada and Seafoam? Yes, I will repeat the photo. Ok, I need a better photo to really show you — the yarn looks more “watercoloring” in real life. You’ll eventaully get a good photo because this is going to be a scarf. You’ll see the fuzz fills in the gaps in the elongated stitches, and the short color runs complements the open-close-open close nature of this stitch pattern.

Ok, but beginners ask: Is this easy to knit?

Well, yes and no. The stitch pattern is very simple. It’s garter stitch based with yarn overs sprinkled every fourth row. However, extremely fuzzy yarns can be “catchy” or “draggy”, meaning, the long fuzz sort of catches on other fuzz as you pull the yarn through to form a knit stitch. As a result, I find I a) knit relatively slowly and b) find it harder to rip.

That said, most beginners knit slowly anyway. So, you probably won’t knit much more slowly with catchy mohair. As to ripping? Well, that’s never fun anyway, so I’m not sure it’s a big deal.

My advise: read the directions for this stitch pattern, test in using smooth yarn. If you find it easy, consider getting a nice variegated mohair with short color runs. Then, make yourself a scarf. (That’s what I’m doing!)

How much yarn do you need? Uhmmm.. I’m not sure yet!