Debuting today at Stitches West ….

Graphium!

Graphium weiskei lives only in the highlands of New Guinea. Like many of the butterflies in the Graphium genus, the purple spotted swallowtail has intense pastel patterning outlined in black.

The Graphium colorway (available from A Hundred Ravens) is inspired by this flashy butterfly.

(psst: use coupon code RKGraphium for 50% off — expires 2/29/2016)

Graphium is curved asymmetrical triangle worked from narrow tip to broad end. Bands of lace in a colorful hand-dyed yarn are separated by narrow stripes of black. The lacy black edge is worked as you go, using basic intarsia techniques.

Graphium is easy to enlarge (or reduce). You will need about 2.5 yards of MC for every yard of CC.

Graphium is charted with full written directions for all charts.

Done! Just in time for Stitches South ….

Altitude!

Designed for two contrasting colorways, Altitude is a crescent-shaped shawl with an extravagant lace border. The shawl begins at the back neck with just three stitches. The body features a simple lace pattern flanked by garter-stitch wings, and is suitable for both tonal and moderately variegated colorways. The all-lace border is worked along the entire length of the shawl. Frequent increases in the border allow for dramatic blocking. The complex lace is best shown in a tonal colorway.

New Pattern Promotion! Buy Altitude, and receive 25% off anything in my Ravelry store. No limit on number of patterns or ebooks; expires April 30th, 2015.

(No coupon code required — just put Altitude in your cart, and the discount should apply automatically to any pattern from my Rav store.)

Some things I love about this shawl ….

* Color, color, color!  Be as WILD as you want to — the body section will stand up to moderate variegation, so don’t be shy!  Or … be subtle and sophisticated with mellow tonals that are closely related.  The choice is yours!

* Shape!  Crescents are my favorite shape for easy wearing. The curve keeps everything in place, and the fabric just swoops across your body with stately aplomb.

* Ruffles?  Almost! The massive increase in stitch count at the border means that extra fabric for extreme blocking, but it also means the edge goes 3D with very little effort. Lots of movement in the finished piece.