October quickie: Nicondo

 I think that Anne of Green Gables said it best, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers”, because between the beautiful fall foliage, all the special autumn-inspired treats, it is also the best time for sweater weather, which also means it is a wonderful time to use those specially hand-made accessories. This Quickies project is a very special., mother-daughter collaboration between Christine Guest, the pattern writer and knitter, and her daughter, Kari, who was the creative director, making all the decision decisions. This scarf is knit in Arroyo and is show in Borraja, which I think is truly a beautiful color for any time of the year, but it most especially embraces that fall essence, don’t you agree?

Christine is a designer. She learned to crochet in Pioneer Girls Club, but not to read patterns until her teens. She studied chemistry and mathematics, then worked as a lab technician, math tutor and coffee barista.  She currently homeschools her youngest child. Kari is homeschooled, and is mainly tutored by her mother, but will also take in person, tutorial classes at a place near her house.  She loves drawing cave systems, dragons, and anything fantasy.  She will also work with her hands to create nifty, unusual creations.

Their unique piece, Nicondo, is a word that Kari made up to mean “ Polite hello and graceful thank you,” and I had the opportunity to ask them a little bit more about their creation.

1: What is your favorite part of your Quickies design and why?

Christine: The sides of the scarf are reversible, but the knitter can tell if it's an action row or a resting row by if the selvage is knit or purled.

Kari: I love the double zippy zigzag lines, that go down the middle, especially how they kind of form fitted together triangles.

2: What should knitters pay attention to when working this pattern? Do you have any tips or tricks that will make knitting this pattern easier?

Christine: The charts include repeat boxes to make them narrower, but that means that not all of the ribbed stitches are shown.  The testers reminded themselves that the charts meant rib until a marker and were fine.

Kari: Judging that I am not a very good knitter, any advice I give won't be very helpful, my Mom did most of the hard work by writing the pattern.

3: What does your design process look like?

Christine: There is a lot of drawing, swatching, ripping and charting.  It takes me forever to decide on alternatives, and I feel like I have to investigate them all.  This time, being the patternist but not the designer, Kari made all the tricky calls.  That speed-ed things up so much.

Kari: Making up the idea, drawing a picture of the idea, giving Mom feedback when she asks for it.

4:  Was there any particular inspiration you had when creating this piece?

Christine: Kari's sketch, and feed back.

Kari: Nicondo is a word I made up and use often.  It's a courteous thank you, usually said with a bow or curtsy.  So the theme of Nicondo Scarf is courtesy and thankfulness.

5: What is your favorite color in Malabrigo’s catalog?

Christine: Vulcan.  Because I made one of Froginette's adorable baby cardigans for my little cousin in it, and he looked great.

Kari: My favorite color is Matisse Blue.  I learned about Matisse, the famous artist in my art class last year.  I really love all the shades of dark blues next to the slightly  lighter blues.

6: What is the one thing you wish people knew about you as a designer?

Christine:  I really like to swatch and see what happens, especially when my blog has been quiet.  Send me an email with a question about stitches or construction and I might investigate it in a post.  Christine at christineguestdesigns dot com.

Kari: I am an artist, and I love drawing.  I also love looking at other people's art, and wondering ,”How did they do that?” or, “I wonder what brush they used?”  I also love looking at old red brick buildings, and looking at the different dimensions.

Thanks Christine and Kari for sharing you collaboration with us and a little bit about your design process. 

You can find Nicondo on Ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nicondo

Search for more of Christine’s designs here: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/christine-guest