Vintner

I was at TNNA in June 2016, visiting with Claudia in her booth there, chatting about yarn, and this, that, and the other thing. All the while my eye kept being drawn to these five hanks of gorgeous yarn sitting there on a shelf. I visited Claudia several times during the show, and each time these hanks of yarn were about the only thing I saw, in spite of her booth being filled to the brim with beautiful yarns in a stunning array of colors. I oohed, I aaahed, I gushed. Claudia picked up the yarn I'd been ogling, handed it to me, and said, “Design something.” So I did. Vintner is the result.

Knitting this asymmetric triangle begins by casting on just two little stitches. The stitch count increases on every row; most of the increases are along the leading edge, so the triangle grows more quickly along that side. As work progresses, the colors slightly shift from the brightest shade to the darkest, except for the leaves… The leaves are worked in the lightest shade throughout. Don’t like the color order? Vintner would look just as good with the colors reversed, starting dark, and going light. All five shades are used for the simple edging, ending with an optional picot bind off for a bit more fun.

• Yarn: fingering weight; 175 yards in each of 5 colors; 875 total yards.
• Model: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Addiction in Crushed to Wine shades 1 through 5; Picot bind off used in model; 175 yards in 50 grams; 100% extra fine merino wool.
• Needles: US 5.
• Gauge: 15 sts and 28 rows to 4 inches (10 cm) in stitch pattern, lightly blocked.
• Finished size: 32 x 87 inches.
• Stitch instructions: Charted and written.