Designer Faye Kennington has created a lovely colorwork collection, entitled Flora & Fauna for the May MFPP. This collection has 4 patterns, Bittercress, Chickadee, Buck, and Maple. All of the pieces are worked in Arroyo.

When I asked Faye to share about her new collection, this is what she had to say:

In 2018, I decided to develop my dream sweater – a saddle shoulder sweater with colourwork inspired by the west coast  in my favourite Malabrigo colours: Water Green and Teal Feather.   

I was really happy with how the pine needle motif for the sweater worked out and developed a similar motif for a quicker-knitting project, a pair of mittens: Brackthaw.   

I live near to the Pacific Rim National Park which usually draws millions of visitors from around the world every year.  For the Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project, my aim was to try to capture some of the beauty of natural elements found in the Pacific Northwest.

Bittercress

Part poncho, part pullover, this pretty sweater features an ombre floral yoke pattern around the yoke that is simply stunning. Even though it’s not a difficult knit, it is one of those finished objects that feels like an opus. I had great fun combing through the Malabrigo swatch cards to find just the right ombre effect. There are so many possibilities!

Chickadee

This scarf is a sweet sampler of colourwork motifs including some leaves, geometic flowers and of course, a chickadee. Knit as a tube with no shaping, it was a project that was easy to pick up whenever I had a few moments and sneak in a few rows. The resulting scarf is thick and luxurious.

Buck

Much like Brackthaw, these are a traditional style mitt with a gusseted thumb featuring a colourwork motif of a buck. We have lots of black tail dear around town and  honestly, they are our most frequent cause of traffic jams in our rural area.

Maple

Leaves are a common motif in knitting and I wanted to get a little whimsical with the interpretation of a maple leaf on this hat. The starburst shape at the base of the leaf helps was incorporated to make the stranding more manageable but creates a pretty geometric effect.

Faye (@ukeeknits) is hosting a Flora & Fauna KAL (#floraandfaunaKAL) in her Ravelry Group, Ukeeknits.

The KAL starts May 21. Be sure to check out her group for more details.

Find the entire collection here: Flora & Fauna.

Written by Jessica Anderson.