Meadow Wrap KAL with Dee Hardwicke

The time has finally come where I can fully reveal what we've been cooking up for you for this fall! Together with designer extraordinaire Dee Hardwicke we've come up with a magical fall adventure, and we do believe you will love it as much as we do! Made in the wonderful yarns of John Arbon - what more could one wish for!⁠ Giving first access to our newsletter subscribers on Sunday, and with the kits now being released in our online shop, I've received a few questions about the wrap and how it is done. Read on for all the information you need about this gorgeous design, our Meadow knit-a-long, and I'll throw in some tips on techniques as well.

Exclusively released for our knit-a-long, join us in making this wonderfully lush wrap - The Meadow!⁠

Working from her home-studio in the Welsh countryside, the artist and designer Dee Hardwicke is endlessly inspired by the ever-changing beauty of Britain's landscapes, city parks and cottage gardens from season to season. The inspiration behind Dee's gorgeous Meadow wrap is a meadow filled with wild flowers and grasses that Dee came across unexpectedly one day and couldn't resist sketching. Dee describes the strong vertical lines in the design as having a contemporary energy, and the pattern has an intuitive, rhythmic quality that makes it so lovely to knit. I would say that this design is suitable for the intermediate / enthusiastic beginner, if you have dipped you toe into stranded knitting before it would be a plus, but it is by no means a requirement to be able to master this project.

As soon as I saw the Meadow I immediately fell in love with the pattern and wanted to celebrate the wonderful colour possibilities with a knit-a-long, sharing the joy of working this design with all of you! The wrap is knitted in John Arbon 100% organically farmed Falklands Merino Knit by Numbers DK yarn. Dee describes knitting with this as being similar to painting in yarn, with each stitch becoming a brushstroke of colour. As Dee explains, 'this John Arbon yarn is a dream to knit with, and as an artist I find the colour palette irresistible!' Dee has knitted her Meadow wrap in a palette called Orchids, one of the palettes created by Dee specially for Knit with Attitude's KAL. A compact tension gives the wrap an almost woven feel that emphasises the geometric design, while the density of the knit creates a wonderful weight, ensuring that the wrap drapes beautifully.

Each colour palette for the Meadow Wrap is beautifully illustrated by Dee in watercolours, and you'll find them all in our online shop. The construction calls for 5 sections, you start at the wider cast on edge working a high contrast, then follows 2 sections of more low complimentary contrasts, the 4th sections gives another high contrasting pop, before you finish with the same colours as in the first section for the tip. All watercolour swatches follow this structure compared to the finished shawl.

The wrap is knitted back and forth in stranded colour work, meaning you knit on the right side and purl on the wrong side. Personally I don't have any problems with purling, and I do think that the Meadow is an excellent project to practice and get your purling speed and technique up to par. But I know a few of you find this quite intimidating, and I would hate for you to loose out on this amazing project because of it, so I thought I should mention that there are several ways around this. One great technique is to knit backwards. This is not at all as difficult as it sounds, and there are several tutorials available on the topic, one that I find very clear and helpful is this video by Norman of NimbleNeedles. Another way to avoid purling all together is to knit the wrap in the round instead, making a steek and cut it open when done. You would cast on as instructed in the pattern, but add a few stitches before joining in the round to create your steek. While working the pattern you would be doing your edges and decreases on either side of the steek. The end result would be a cone shaped tube. The trick is to reinforce the steek neatly with no visible raw edges, and my favourite technique here would be a crochet steek. Kate Davis has an excellent tutorial on this, which would work perfectly for the Meadow.

The pattern instructions include both a small and a larger version of this yumminess for you to wrap up in during the colder season. Meadow is completely huggable! Our KAL includes loads of social fun and support, we'll meet through zoom parties and a virtual knit night, as well as a dedicated Ravelry group. All you have to do to join in is to buy your Meadow Yarn Kit and everything else will be provided, but here are some key dates for you to pop into your calendars already:

• Friday 22nd October, 6pm BST: John Arbon Open Mill
  Join Dee and Maya for a chat about everything Meadow and our KAL. 
  Get your FREE tickets here: Eventbrite Registration
• Friday 29th October, 7pm - 8pm BST: Cast On Party on ZOOM
• Tuesday 2nd November, 7pm - 8pm BST: Virtual Knit Night on ZOOM
• Friday 19th November, 7pm - 8pm BST: It's a WRAP Party on ZOOM

I can't even tell you how excited we all are to get this party started, and I can't wait to see what colour combos you will choose and the gorgeousness that is the Meadow come alive on everyone's needles!!!