It has been fascinating to see the amazing range of patterns that people have worked on during our Boost Your Knitting knitalongs this year. There are well over 500 projects on Ravelry that have been tagged boostyourknitting and although many of them are projects from our books, there are plenty that simply use the techniques covered in the series.
Some months it is really easy to send knitters off to work on any pattern using that technique. For example, in April we worked on fixing mistakes in lace patterns, so any lace pattern was eligible and there are THOUSANDS to choose from. But other months it has been more challenging to find alternatives. We have showcased a few techniques that don’t yet have their own attribute tag on Ravelry – tuck stitches, dip stitches and marlisle would all be examples. In order to help you to find beautiful alternative projects to those in Boost Your Knitting, we have set up some bundles on Ravelry, to showcase these lovely techniques. If you know of a pattern that should be in one of our bundles, do please let me know and I will add it!
I really enjoyed making the Sooper Sweater this month. Marlisle was such a fun technique to try out! I’ve finished the little sweater, and was thrilled with how beautifully it blocked. The stranded sections now all lie perfectl flat and even. Blocking really is magic!
But if you don’t have a small person to knit for, then why not try a marlisle accessory? Anna Maltz has done some gorgeous designs that you can purchase on Ravelry as single patterns. The Zazie cowl was a very popular choice, and would look ace in our Something to Knit With Aran – I’m thinking of Ginger and Sky.
Image © Nicole Mlakar
If mittens are more your thing, then Anna has recently released these beautiful Bomen mitts, each with a different tree on the back of the hand!
Image © Jeni Reid
And then of course, there is Anna’s wonderful book on the subject – Marlisle: A New Direction in Knitting. I could happily cast on for any number of the gorgeous designs found within. From pullovers and cardigans, to hats, cowls and mitts, Anna’s explorations have widened the possibilities of knitted fabrics.
I hope that has inspired you to give marlisle a go! It’s not long until the end of November, but our marlisle knitalong thread will stay open indefinitely, and we are always thrilled to see what you’ve been making!
Happy marlisle-ing!