I really enjoy working with color and especially multicolor yarns. Lately I have been playing with the idea of combining very vibrant hues with solids and not in the traditional way; with stripes or in stranded colorwork. Instead, I have been experimenting with lace!
More particularly, with the Integrated Lace technique. This method allows the combination of color and lace without raising the complexity of the stitch pattern. It also enables the creation of depth and multiple layers without any seaming involved. In Integrated Lace, the background is worked first and then stitches are picked up to work the lace top layer, which in the end is reattached to the background layer. The tricky part in the technique is to match up the gauge of each layer properly, that’s why swatching (and blocking) is more than necessary in the design. The first time I came across this technique, was in Middlemarch by Miranda Davies.
Piiri is the very first design in which this idea comes to life. It is a short cape with a cowl neck and a combination of two layers, stockinette and lace. It is worked seamlessly, in the round, features some German short rows and Integrated Lace. The lace stitch pattern used in Piiri is a slightly modified version of one of Naomi Parkhurst’s lace patterns.
Piiri is the canvas, where I experimented with the most beautiful Rohrspatz & Wollmeise yarns. One skein of Maria’s Deepest Purple in Wollmeise DK and one skein of Feldmaus in Wollmeise Pure come together to create the desired effect: the DK as background and the Fingering as the foreground. The generous yardage of the yarns make it easy to work the entire piece without the need of additional balls. Their colorfastness, ensures no bleeding and safe washing.
There is a wide array of colors to choose from, and you can take advantage of the pre-packaged kits, which also include the pattern. Piiri is exclusively designed for Rohrsplatz & Wollmeise, so the pattern is available in the kit only.
