Please welcome Fog Harbour, my second design to be released this year. I'm also really happy to say Fog Harbour is a part of Quince & Co's latest accessory collection, Scarves, etc 6. This is my first time working with this yarn company but I am no stranger to their gorgeous blends. This fall amirisu published Phōs and in 2014, Pom Pom published Selsey, both which were knit in Quince's sport weight, Chickadee. Fog Harbour was my first chance to work with their yarn called Ibis. This a chunky weight yarn, 50% merino, 50% mohair and incredibly cozy. Ibis is sourced and milled in the United States like most of their yarns. I thought I would share the progress of this design.
Photos from Pinterest.
Often with submissions to knitting magazines or yarn companies I'll begin by looking over the criteria and theme for their issue or collection. However, this submission for Quince, worked a little differently. For Scarves, Etc. 6 the only criteria was that the design be unpublished, use their yarn and be either a scarf, cowl or shawl. There was no mood board or theme to begin sourcing ideas from so I decided to take an idea I had been thinking about for a while and bring that to life. I knew it would be a chunky Garter Stitch cowl with a hint of colour work. I started to narrow down the pattern of the colour work and found myself drawn to these strong black geometric lines featured in the textile and bridge above. The final motif I settled on for this cowl, echoes the structure of the MacDonald Bridge, which spans the harbour of my hometown of Halifax. I used vertical lines to recreate its silhouette.
The construction of Fog Harbour is fairly simple. It is knitted in the round, and primarily consists of Garter Stitch. Individual pieces of yarn, in a contrasting colour, are added to create each vertical line. These stitches are either knitted or slipped to create a geometric pattern on top of the Garter Stitch background. There is no need to carry the contrasting colour behind the work like traditional stranded knitting. Plus another great feature is that this project works up in no time. The Ibis is very light for such a thick yarn but other alternatives could be Quince & Co's Osprey or Puffin. The colours I used in my sample were picked for the final piece, Abilene and Longhorn. Here is a photo of what the cowl looks like in progress. I admit that it does look a bit messy with the many loose ends but the technique is very simple and creates a neat and tidy inside once it's finished.
Fog Harbour is now available as a single PDF download or as part of the Scarves, Etc 6 collection. You can find it through Quince & Co's website or in their Ravelry Shop. This year's collection has many varied and interesting pieces in it and I'm so happy to be included. I think the Quince & Co team did an amazing job. All of the gorgeous photography was done by Whitney Hayward. Visit the website to see the other pieces and more photos of Fog Harbour.
Photography by Whitney Hayward.
As I was putting this blog post together it dawned on my that my original sample would be a perfect size for someone I know. I swear I did not knit Fergus his own mini Fog Harbour but he does look so good in it!
