We spent some time catching up with Carol Feller, prolific designer of more than 200 stunning knitting patterns, as well as five books. We are fortunate to have her coming to A Good Yarn Sarasota next month for a special class working with Gradient yarns and patterns that showoff these stunning rainbows to their best. Gradient and ombre yarns are increasingly popular, but it can be difficult to figure out how to show them off to their full beauty in a finished knit. Carol was happy to share some of her great tips on working with gradients!

How did you come up with the idea to use gradients in the Santa Rosa Plum cardigan?

I’m currently going though a gradient obsession; that is how I ended up writing a gradient book! In the book the projects are all smaller to take advantage of the standard gradient kit, which is 100-200g. However I also want to work on a larger gradient project so a gradient cardigan KAL seemed like a great way of doing it and Santa Rosa Plum was born. Fortunately Blue Moon Fiber Arts wanted to create some gradients so we teamed up for the project. We’ve done a few KALs in the past and they work really well, their yarn is fantastic and their great customer service make it a wonderful experience for the knitters.

What are some of your best tips for using gradients effectively in projects? Do you have any rules of thumbs for choosing project types or substituting gradients, even when the pattern isn’t written for them? (Or, if this will be covered in the class you’re teaching…..What can students expect to learn in the Painting with Rainbows workshop?)

I will indeed be working through a lot of these concepts in the class. Frequently knitters will pick up a fantastic Gradient Yarn and then feel at a loss on how to use it. To start with you need to evaluate the gradient type. Is it a single skein with continuous color change? Is it in several mini-skeins? Are the changes between the colors subtle or are there big jumps? This is the first question that you need to answer. The yarn type will determine the most suitable stitch pattern and project type for the yarn.
Subtle color changes look great with patterns that use biased stitches such as lace or chevrons. If you’ve got big color changes you could try slip stitch patterns or perhaps using a contrasting color to break up each division. In addition to different stitch patterns you’ve also then got biased fabric that are knit at an angle and even modular knitting that can use different colors for each panel.
Once knitters can recognize the different types and know how to use them it will make it very easy for them to make pattern decisions that are perfect for their gradient yarn.

What are some of your favorite designs from your pattern catalog? Are you working on any new books or collections for fall?

I’ve got so many pattern favourites! I’ve listed the knit pieces in a few different categories that I get a lot of use out of myself. For cardigans, Ravi and Dark Pearl are probably my all time favorite cardigans. For sweaters I seem to live in Spritz Stripes when I travel, it’s wonderful over summer dresses. My shawl of choice always seems to be Penrose Tile.
I’m always working on something new and at the moment I’m putting the finishing touches on my newest self-published book, Painting with Rainbows. As you can probably guess this book will cover the same topic as the class, gradient yarn. Each section will look at a different method that can be used to enhance gradient yarn and there will be patterns that demonstrate it. It has been so much fun collecting a variety of yarn for this project; there are some amazing yarns out there. I will bring all the samples to the class so the students will get an early peek at the book!

Top: Spritz Stripes, Ravi. Bottom: Penrose Tile, Dark Pearl.

You’ve taught workshops here at A Good Yarn before. What is your favorite thing about visiting Florida?

My husband is originally from Sarasota and we actually lived here for a few years after we got married. Homesickness got the better of me though after my first son was born and we went back to Ireland! My in-laws still live there so we try to visit most years. Florida (and especially Sarasota) is very special to me, there is such a lovely mixture of beach, arts and great shopping that we love coming back every year!

There are still spots left for our August 13th workshop with Carol- sign up now!

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