fringetree

Posted on Posted in patterns

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it’s hard to believe that just a little over a year ago we introduced the second addition to our family of bare naked wools—our stone soup fingering yarn, which we shipped as the march club selection to our 2013 bare naked knitspot members, in the original pumice shade.

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stone soup has been so popular that we now sell it in two weights and four—soon to become six—shades; fans of this handsome, well-performing blend just can’t get enough (including me, haha). it makes lovely sweaters with a beautiful hand in both stockinette and textured fabric, but it also does lace like nobody’s business, blocking out into edges that seem cut from crystal and holding its shape with perfection.

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i fell in love with it as soon as i saw it, but i became very much more attached when i began to knit with it. the first thing i made was the shawl i designed for the march club installment, fringetree. this design was a little slow in coming to me and a little resistant to coalescing at the time, but once it finally defined itself i was certain it was just the right thing for showing off this yarn.

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the mix of its chiseled good looks with the delicate fluttering lace motifs is a surprise, while the contrast of all those lace points with the softness of the fabric is pleasantly disarming.

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fringetree turned out to be a real hit with our club members too; one of those designs that lots of people seize on as the perfect early spring knit. its complex appearance belies its surprisingly easy-to-work construction and once you get it on the needles it flies along.

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(i just love this photo of my friend kris modeling the shawl; she looks like she’s about to lift off on its wings.)

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the fabric is so light and soft that it can be piled up and wound round the neck as a scarf or allowed to flutter free in the breeze—it flexes with the weather at hand. i know one knitter who sleeps in hers, which is my favorite feedback on this design so far.

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and with three sizes included, there is one for every use. i’m always partial to the petite and mini sizes because i find little shawls terribly useful when traveling. but with these options and our new halfsies and mini-sized skeins, everyone’s desires are covered.

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shown here, the medium shawl (left) and the petite shawl (right) in bare naked wools stone soup fingering yarn, color pumice

and now is when it gets interesting, because as much as we love this design in the stone soup yarn, we have a special batch of yarn that is also lovely knit up as a fringetree.

shown below, the petite size shawl in breakfast special #2, color cream n sugar.

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we received this one-of-a-kind batch of breakfast blend fingering from our mill in the cream n sugar shade back in december. when we took it out of the box, we could see it had been spun to perfection—angel hair in a skein, i’m not kidding you.

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everything about it—the drape, the halo, the next-to-the-skin softness—was something special alright; only problem was, it was just a little too thin to qualify as our regular breakfast blend fingering yarn. at 500 yards per skein, it was not hefty enough for socks but would make lovely lace.

i figured, why not do one of our special kits with it when the fringetree is ready to be released?

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so we did—david has just opened the kit listing; there are just sixty skeins available (the two-skein option will actually allow you to make both the petite and the medium size). this yarn would also make a really lovely wedding shawl, kinda like the one our kim wore last week at her wedding.

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the one-skein option will make the adorable petite size, perfect for those of us who love scarves or a very quick knit—you could totally knit this by easter sunday.

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to purchase patterns or view complete pattern information, please click here to visit the fringetree page in the knitspot pattern shop or visit the fringetree page in our ravelry pattern shop. please click here to purchase the fringetree kit.

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the shawl pattern is also included in the BNK 2013 eBook collection—14 terrific garment and accessory patterns that celebrate the beauty of natural fiber, each one multi-sized and suitable for gifting or keeping; many will have universal appeal for women, men, and children alike. purchase the eBook collection from the knitspot club website or in our ravelry pattern shop.

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another fun thing to do—click here to view the project page for the fringetree shawl. see more examples knit by club members and photographed on a variety of people and in alternate yarns. or better yet, join us in our swinging’ BNK clubhouse or knitspot mothership for a KAL!

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thank you so very much to karen who modeled the new shawl sample for us this week—doesn’t she look adorable in it? i love how she’s rocking’ a bit of a cowboy look with it, so cute.  and many thanks all to our friends helena and kris who modeled the original designs for us last year.

 

7 thoughts on “fringetree

  1. The breakfast blend 2 is gorgeous. You know I had to have 2 skeins. Yum. Have always loved this pattern. Can’t say enough good things about this kit and pairing. Wow!!!

  2. My stone soup fringe tree is hands down my favourite piece I have knit this last year. I love wearing it and what an amazing performing yarn. If anyone is thinking about it, don’t hesitate. It is truly fabulous! Love it madly, lol.

  3. I saw Katharine’s shawl when she was in London and I loved it! It’s magnificent in the Stone Soup fingering yarn and I can imagine how beautiful it would be in the Breakfast Blend. That yarn looks as soft as butter!

  4. Just received my Fringetree BB 2 kit and the yarn is gorgeous. I am so glad I bought the large-beautiful color and lovely hand!! Win-Win!!

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