One of my favorite parts of my job is curating Malabrigo Free Lance Pattern Projects and watching ideas bloom into beautiful collections showcasing the designer’s favorite Malabrigo yarns. Incense Route from Ranèe Mueller of Arabian Knits is one of the most stunning offerings I’ve come across thus far!

This five-item collection is inspired by the incense route that crossed the Arabian peninsula, the seaside areas, the mountains, and the desert. It includes two garments: a rectangular stole, a shoulder-hugging shawl, and a pair of fingerless mitts. Each piece is named after a particular stop on the route or a tribe involved. They are designed with specific features from the art, textiles, and even climate and terrain of these people and places. These garments and accessories have relatively simple lines, with more exciting construction, using color work and cables to communicate these design elements.

The colors of this collection reflect the bright colors found in textiles and art throughout the Arab world, specifically in these locations and tribes.

This five-piece collection is the perfect antidote to the gray winter as it pairs bright, bold colors with intricate color work and stunning details. Ranèe took time to share her inspiration and how this collection came together.

1 What is your favorite part of your MFPP designs and why?

I love that these designs express the spirit and history of a place while being modern, wearable pieces.

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

Details in each pattern permit the knitter to reduce finishing efforts.  I hope people pay attention to that to enjoy their knitting and wear their items more quickly.  Each piece minimizes sewing (even though one garment has seams) or fiddly work.

3: What do you think knitters will enjoy the most about this project?

The pieces are distinct but are not costumes.  They do not give the impression of being foreign to anyone, yet still express the place and feel of their inspiration.  They are imminently wearable.  While you certainly wouldn’t wear all the projects simultaneously, they are compatible and would make a significant part of a coordinating wardrobe. As for the knitting, it is interesting without being overly complex.  These will hold 

4: What does your design process look like?

Generally, it begins with inspiration from a piece of art, architecture, or an idea that takes hold in my mind.  Then, if necessary, I move to sketching and graphing and considering yarn weights and colors.  Most often, I design on needles, making notes, additional sketches, and corrections as I go along.  However, several designs were swatched and written, this time well before the sample was knit.  There is always a lot of swatching.  My swatches are generally to see if I like the fabric created with the yarn and needles and to work out graphs for colorwork, lace, or cables.  I know knitters don’t always love to swatch, but it provides a lot of information and helps me with many of the challenges that come up in design.  Once the pattern is written and I have a sample or sufficient swatches and in-progress photos, my technical editor goes over the patterns, looks for grammatical or mathematical errors, and, in general, polishes the pattern. Hence, it is clear and knitter-friendly.  Often, a friend and fellow designer go over the pattern before I send it to my editor, helping me with another pair of eyes.  Once the pattern is edited with basic photography, I can send it to beta knitters who give it a test drive and see if the instructions make sense to someone who didn’t design it or go over it with a fine-toothed comb.  They often use different colors or yarn choices, which is helpful for others, and make the items in various sizes so other knitters can see how the items look on different people.  Then comes the final photography and publication.

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

This collection of garments and accessories is inspired by the Incense Route, which went through the Arabian Peninsula, crossing the seaside areas and the mountains and desert. It includes two garments: a rectangular stole, a shoulder-hugging shawl, and a pair of fingerless mitts. Each piece is named after a particular stop on the route or a tribe involved. They are designed with specific features from the art, textiles, and even climate and terrain of these people and places. These garments and accessories have relatively simple lines, with more exciting construction, using color work and cables to communicate these design elements. The colors of this collection reflect the bright colors found in textiles and art throughout the Arab world, specifically in these locations and tribes.

6: What impact does the color of this project have on you? Did you make design choices based on the colorway name?

Though sometimes a colorway name has given me ideas, in this case, I chose the colors based on the designs and their inspiration.  Because of the wide range of colors that Malabrigo has, it was easy to find colors, but sometimes challenging to decide which colors to use.  The rich, saturated color matched my inspiration, however.  I wanted to dispel the idea that the Arab or ancient world was somehow on a grayscale.  This is not true.  Even today, people think of Saudi Arabia as a place of sand, black and white fabric, and few distinct details.  Both in the past and the present, the colors of fabrics, pottery, and painted designs have been riotous and vibrant.  I wanted to share this with others.

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

Oh, this is a tough one to answer.  Cereza gets the most use from me, so that is probably it, but I love the deeply saturated colors, especially jewel tones.  Archangel is my favorite tonal, and I love Tuareg (especially since it is named after the tribe!).

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

I love seeing people learn something new with my designs!  It thrills me when someone tackles a pattern that may be a little aspirational, comes to me with questions, and accomplishes their goals.  I see my role as a designer solving the problems that the knitter might find in the design before they exist.  Problem-solving is a big part of design.  Each feature or detail usually answers how to avoid this or that problem.

You can find the patterns at the following links:

On Ravelry:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/incense-route

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yathrib

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/taghlib

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/najran

https://www.ravery.com/patterns/library/nabati

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hail-2

On PayHip:

Incense Route - https://payhip.com/b/tuTzM

Yathrib - https://payhip.com/b/xg2e6

Taghlib - https://payhip.com/b/TcdKI

Najran - https://payhip.com/b/VunLg

Nabati - https://payhip.com/b/eIm7H

Ha´il - https://payhip.com/b/oBeIV

Follow @ArabianKnits on Instagram so you can catch all pattern releases!