Hello!

Today I wanted to tell you about something we've mentioned in our newsletter but haven't talked about on here - Anni Howard's latest new collection, Ebb and Flow, a range of knit and crochet designs inspired by the bleak beauty of the  Essex coastline and river estuaries. Eden Cottage Yarns are used in three of the four designs.

Here's the whole collection together - you can really see the soft, bleak palette and rich textures, and I think they work beautifully with my yarns - I love bleak landscapes and barely-there colours, and find them incredibly compelling.

Strood

Strood is a long scarf or wrap, depending how you wear it, and was inspired by 

the ancient causeway to Mersea Island. At high tide the saltwater of the Colne and Blackwater estuaries rise to cover the road, cutting off the island from mainland Essex. So we have a central panel with, on one side, the creeks in the muddy saltmarsh, and on the other, the fast flowing rising waters. It utilises the intarsia technique, and includes drapey garter stitch and beaded lace.

 
Strood is knitted in Eden Cottage Yarns Malham DK and uses two skeins in Natural, one skein in Rambling Rose and one skein in Falling Leaves. We don't stock this yarn as it was a one-off, however Bowland DK is fine and drapey enough to be a great alternative. You can see what we have HERE (there's a fair bit in stock as we had a Bowland DK update not too long ago).

Polder
Polders, or brushwood breakwaters have been installed at East Mersea in Essex to trap sediment, creating more salt marshes. These marshes will encourage birds and other  wildlife, and will also slow down the erosion of the coastline. Polder is knitted lengthways, starts with a provisional cast-on, and is joined by grafting or Kitchener stitch. The Polder pattern is a variation of the Estonian braid, set into a stocking stitch background. I hope that this design will appeal to men and women - it's a simple cowl design that is very easy to wear.
 
Polder is knitted in Eden Cottage Yarns Langdale Superwash Aran in Hedgerow, and takes just one skein - we included this soft, squidgy yarn in our latest update, HERE.

 

Saltmarsh

“A more desolate region can scarce be conceived, and yet it is not without beauty.” Sabine Baring-Gould in the opening pages of Mehalah: a Story of the Salt Marshes

Saltmarsh is inspired by the mud and salt marshes around the Colne and Blackwater estuaries that meet at Mersea Island in Essex. This area of bleak tranquility is home to a great variety of wildlife, from wading birds to moths and samphire, but this cowl design draws on the patterns left in the mud as the tide recedes. Saltmarsh uses both knit and crochet to create texture. Firstly, the base is knitted in the round, then this is overlaid with an easy crochet lace pattern.

Saltmarsh is written for two sizes, 70cm or 130cm long. The longer version can be wrapped twice around the neck for extra warmth.

The short version is knitted in Eden Cottage Yarns, one skein in Langdale Superwash Aran in Steel for the knitted section and one skein in Pendle 4ply in Stone for the crochet - along with the aran, I did also put some Pendle 4ply (which is the same squishy merino as the aran) in our latest update, and you can see it HERE.

The long version is shown in KnitPicks Chroma in Manzanita, and uses two balls in worsted weight and one ball in fingering/4ply weight (again - you could use two skeins of our Aran and one skein of our 4ply).

Oysterbeds

The inspiration for Oysterbeds comes from the native oysters that have been harvested off the coast of Mersea Island in Essex since Roman times. Naturally-growing oysters attach themselves to old oyster shells,  forming clusters and reefs.

Oysterbeds is a modular cowl. Each shell is worked onto the previous two and the top edge is k1, p1 rib. It's an unusual construction but it’s far easier to knit than it looks!

It's written for two sizes. The small size is shown in Debbie Bliss Falkland Aran in Camel, the larger size in Debbie Bliss Luxury Aran Tweed in Ice and uses three 50g balls - of course Langdale Superwash Aran is a very acceptable substitute - you'd need two skeins. ;)

So I hope this inspires you to cast on! To be honest on a day as grim as today, even though it's June, cosy knitwear is feeling very appealing.. or curling up under a blanket with a cup of tea and a new project. We knitters/crocheters are easily pleased, aren't we?!

 

 

 


5 comments


  • I ‘lived’ at East Mersea for a season in a caravan. I loved that place. The light on the sea is gorgeous no matter what the weather. Mersea Island is the most easterly inhabited island in the UK. They also have a slowly growing colony of red squirrels – I saw one as it ran past the caravan.😊

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