Alhambra Test knit

8-10 TESTERS needed, to knit any size. 

Please note deadline and start time as well as event rules.

Accepted participants will be notified via email by no later than September 26th 2022. 

Any YARN can be used. 

Review skills required !!!. I will not be able to teach any techniques used in this pattern. 

Event rules:

1. Knit from stash, hand spun or what ever you like.

2. Edit, test the pattern for spelling errors and flow.

3. Follow gauge, adjust needle size as needed.

4. Provide completed pictures of social media quality. !!! important

5. Add project to Ravelry, a code will be provided.

6. Communicate with designer in Insta chat, that requires you follow @woollyhooligan instagram page

7. Respect copy rights, sharing pattern and/or posting part of the pattern to other internet/private sites is prohibited.

Pattern is for personal use only, is NOT to be used commercially/or for resale of items created from this pattern.

8. Stay respectful. We are an all inclusive community, all persons are welcome to join us in the test.

9. Have fun ! Engage ! Chat ! Post on social media !

Inspiration:

Seeing the Alhambra palace in Grenada, Spain was a dream. An actual fantasy tearing up my eyes with beauty and awe. Usually, I am taken by the fiber first, then an idea stews over in my head, this time it was different. Overwhelmed by stimulating beauty, I had this idea plant a seed.

Alhambra is very geometric, yet its walls are carved out into this busy, repetitive pattern. Long time ago, the carvings would have been filled with colour. Those carvings faded with time leaving shades of grey. Those grays tell a story of a stunning world. At first, you think …” That’s too bad, maybe restoring them to their formal glory would be nice?” but then it hits… the idea of time and endurance created something more wonderful. Shades of grey, are amazing, the longer you look the more you see. The more you look the more you relate your life. Complexity of thought and relationships are ALL the shades of grey, maybe with a twist of orange and blue thrown in?

This is my representation of those thoughts in fiber.

For me, every knit, is therapeutic and reflective in nature. I hope the same for you.

Sizes:

1, (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Smallest size outside the brackets, consecutive sizes inside the parentheses.

Bust (finished blocked garment): 37.5, (39.75, 42, 44.25, 46.5, 48.75, 51, 53.25) in, or approx. 95, (101, 107, 112, 118, 124, 129.5, 135) cm

Meant to fit with ease fit.

Shown in pictures on a model with 36 in (91cm) bust. Model wearing size 3, with ease of 6 inches.

Smallest size outside the brackets, consecutive sizes inside the parentheses.

Finished Measurements: Refer to schematics.

Gauge:

It is common for stranded colorwork to be tighter than plain St st.  It is recommended to swatch both in charted colorwork pattern and St st. Use appropriate needles to match gauge on both sections. Swatching the stranded motif use chart B. Chart B is used for swatching purposes only.

Please take time to achieve gauge, adjust needle size as needed.

32 sts/ 36 rows in 4 in/10cm blocked swatch

Needles used: 3.25 mm

Yarn Info: TESTERS TO CONFITM YARDAGE NEEDED

Yardage:

MC (main colour): Any fingering for main body approx. 1000, (1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800) m

CC (contrast colour): Any fingering, DK, homespun or commercially produced approx. 250, (300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600) m.

Yarn used:

MC: Mongolian cashmere, colour 07. Held double.  400g.

See link:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001907987893.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.7d771802wLyiwt

CC: I used home hand spun, sport/fingering, 18 wpi, double ply. Super wash merino fiber. It is hand spun, I am not a pro therefore some thinner and thicker portions exist.

To add the unexpected twist of orange and blue, I carded my own blend.

Main fiber was naturally dyed using acorn extract with iron mordant to achieve the gray approx. 50 %

Undyed natural colour 40 %

Additional fiber was dyed using lichen and blue acid dyes. Approx. 5% each colour.

Notions:

·  Size 3.25 mm 16-inch (40cm) circulars needles with interchangeable cord lengths, increase cable length as sts increase,

·  Stitch marker to denote BOR, additional st markers optional to denote each chart repeat,

·  Darning needle,

·  Blocking materials.

Skills required:

·  Stranded knitting from chart,

·  Use of Norwegian thimble recommended, not necessary,

·  Twisted bicoloured stitches,

·  Increases, decreases, left/right as well as yarn overs,

·  Looser CO, backwards loop CO, BO in pattern.

Notes about construction:

Knitted stranded, from top to bottom, in the round, in one piece. Utilizing bicoloured twisted stitches. There is no body shaping and sleeves are tapered.