In mid-December I picked up a project from the Rowan retreat I attended in the fall of 2019 at L’Atelier in Redondo Beach, Dee Hardwicke’s Autumn Vine cushion from the Seasonal Palette Autumn Winter 2019 collection.
The simple truth is that I love absolutely everything in this book. I love the colors of this particular palette, they are my colors after all, and I want to knit, wear, and use every single project, often in the colors shown. Of course, the beauty of this palette is that they colors work together however one wishes to combine them.
Because I started this in a workshop, we started at the beginning of the intarsia row instead of with the button band at the back of the pillow (as the pattern is written). Hence the provisional cast-on you see in the bottom of the photo. I only managed to knit a few rows in class, but it was enough to remind me how much I once adored intarsia knitting. I have to admit that returning to this project has been a thrill. I love the design and I love knitting with this yarn, Rowan’s Felted Tweed.
I have now finished the intarsia and knitted up through the buttonhole band. I now need to pick it up and work down from the provisional cast on, but I am going to take a break here and work on one of those fluffy gray camelid blankets. As I worked the back I finally realized the size of the actual pillow cover and knew where I could use it in the house. That was a transformative realization. I moved from “I love the yarn and the knitting, but hate making a pillow” to “I want to knit the other two pillows from this book”. My own evolution from a knitter who only made sweaters to a knitter who will tackle many things continues. Eventually at least two more pillows will appear on my needles, but not immediately. I must make some inroads into the project mountain before I can buy new yarn. Although who knows, I may give in to desire sooner than anticipated.
