Rhapsody in Blue

Knitting with Linen

Linen is one of the essential yarns you'll want to be knitting or crochet with this season. You only have to look on the high street and see that linen sweaters are everywhere, but as knitters, there's nothing better than knitting your own key pieces to add to your summer wardrobe. 

Linen is made from the flax plant, it has been used since ancient Egyptian times and produces a piece of fabric that is cool and draping making it ideal for summer knits. It isn't as elastic as wool and working with it is quite different. Your stitches won't quite hug your knitting needles you may find a change of needle from metal to bamboo or wooden needles will certainly help. Linen though is very durable and only gets better with wear and washing.

Studio Linen

One of our favourite linen yarns is Studio Linen from Erika Knight, first introduced in 2016 is has proven to be very popular among knitters. Made from 85% recycled linen which has already been broken in for you, it is then spun with 15% premium linen. This gives a unique yarn which is dry and crisp to the touch and has a lovely sheen. 

With a dry hand feel, cool drape and subtle sheen, a yarn that just gets better with wear and age.

Originally the palette was made up of eight colours, but four new colours have been added for 2017 which include three different shades of blue and a black. These are inspired by the ancient Japanese resist-dyeing technique of 'Shibori' which mimic the subtle hues of indigo dyes and are a welcomed addition.

Erika Knight has also released her new collection of knitting patterns for her Studio Linen. She has taken classic shapes and brought them right up to date with deconstruct-reconstruct techniques and asymmetric details. They are available to purchase as PDF downloads on Ravelry, although we are happy to order in printed copies just let us know which pattern you are interested in. All four of the knitting patterns shown above are suitable an intermediate knitter.

I'm a sucker for stripes and so couldn't resist adding Rhapsody as a printed knitting pattern to the store. This easy knit uses three colours of Studio Linen to create a t-shirt style sweater. Knit solely in stocking stitch in two pieces it makes the best use of short rows to add shape to the shoulders which are then joined using a three-needle cast off, followed by the neckline which is picked up and finished off simply. 

How about knitting Rhapsody in one of these colourways:

• cameo - flutter, bone & kumo
• print - neo, bone & lacy
• light - kanoko, remnant & milk
• plaster - covet, remnant & bone

Finishing Off in Linen

Designer and knitting idol Hannah Fettig has had lots of experience knitting with linen and she shares her wisdom on finishing off your hand knits with linen in her blog post Finishing with Linen. 

Studio Linen is available in twelve colours - which is your favourite?