Yare Scarf and Stitchmastery Charts in A Knitter's Sketchbook

My Yare Scarf is named after the river that runs through the City of Norwich in the UK. The delicate stitch pattern is inspired by the intricate designs found on nineteenth century woven and printed shawls that were produced extensively in Norwich, Edinburgh and Paisley. These stunning shawls were originally inspired by extremely fine and much valued shawls from Kashmir which were imported into Europe in the mid nineteenth century. The history of these shawls is fascinating and some wonderful original examples can be viewed on the Costume & Textile Association website and also on display and in the online collections of The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the V&A Museum in London.

Yare Scarf by Emma Vining from A Knitter's Sketchbook

When I was writing my book, I immediately knew that my knitted Yare scarf design would be the perfect example to show the combination of short row shaping with twisted stitches. The short rows are used to give the scarf a gentle curve. The twisted stitches create a series of delicate motifs that change in scale as the scarf narrows from cast on to cast off points.

Yare Scarf detail by Emma Vining from A Knitter's Sketchbook

The Yare Scarf example also provides me with a great opportunity to write about the fantastic Stitchmastery charting software used throughout A Knitter's Sketchbook. I had constructed my original pattern for Yare with only written instructions and although this worked well, it was the addition of Stitchmastery charted instructions that really completed the pattern.

The Stitchmastery software package allows knitters and designers to create their own knitting charts, along with written instructions. This excellent software really has become an integral part of my design process. Capturing my ideas with a chart helps me to translate my sketches into "knit-able" stitch patterns. If you have not yet taken a look at Stitchmastery, you can read more and download a free trial here. To help you get the most out of using Stitchmastery, there are a series of insightful blog posts, a Ravelry group and a some detailed YouTube videos. These excellent video instructions guided me through how to customise my own cable symbols which I then used in my Concrete Scarf pattern!

You can see more details about A Knitter's Sketchbook on the Crowood Press website and on Amazon!