We lovingly refer to Andra Asars (our New England sales rep) as “the hurricane.” She talks a mile a minute, decides whether or not she likes a yarn in a single touch and knows our collections better than anyone. Her visits are equally exciting and exhausting, though she seems to leave with more energy than she arrived. I don’t know how she does it, but I suspect it’s a combination of her emergency dark chocolate supply and a genuine passion for all things yarn and knitting!
With a job that keeps her on the road – traveling more than 30,000 miles a year – it’s amazing that Andra has the time to design anything, never mind the talent. But every season she knits up a few of her own patterns using our yarns and they’re always popular!
Her latest, Striped Trap, is a free scarf pattern for spring. Simple and elegant, the project pairs our soft and luxurious new yarn, Berroco Folio, with the beautiful multi-colored effect of Boboli Lace. The pattern is an easy-to-memorize, four-row repeat with a gradual increase on one side to make a large trapezoid shape. And since it’s all stockinette, it doesn’t require much concentration!
Our Striped Trap Knit-Along starts next week! Get details on Ravelry.
How long have you been knitting/crocheting?
As a small child I was taught never to inquire after a lady’s age (how many years she’s been knitting); she may not feel like working higher math that day. Today is one of those days.
How did you come up with this design?
Striped Trap was born from [another one of my patterns] Garter Trap. It was a natural progression for those who’d prefer not to knit in garter stitch. While I welcome challenging patterns there are times when knitting helps me gather my thoughts, relax or escape. Garter stitch and stockinette stitch are perfect to keep my hands busy while my mind wanders. I always have a project like this in my knitting bag…every knitter should!
Any interesting stories about your design process?
Both designs were inspired by a need to better spend my hours at the airport over Christmas. Serendipitously, before flying, I had pulled sample skeins from the car in case of delays. Imagine my joy when extra hours were found by the airlines!
Did you make it for anyone in particular?
I was just passing the time productively. I’m thrilled that others enjoy the results; that’s the best part.
What’s your favorite thing about knitting?
All those years ago, my knitting morphed into my occupation and thereby made me an accidental tourist of New England. One of my favorite things is traveling and experiencing these states in their vastly differing cultures, language and landscapes. But the best part of knitting is that I have met and become friendly with amazing, strong, independent and creative women who inspire me every day…yarn shop owners, yarn shop staff, knitters and designers. All of these good people come together through a passion for really great string.
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.
Love Andra on the audio guidebooks! She is the voice of your girlfriend you trust going shopping with. Her designs look great and I have now fav’d them too on Ravelry. Quick and easy is always needed and when you do it in a Berroco great yarn you get a really wonderful FO.
have a problem visualizing what it will look like. can you show me and unfolded look of the project? i am enjoying knitting it.
It’s a scarf/shawl that starts out skinny and then gets wider at the end. This knitter’s Ravelry project page shows the whole thing when it’s blocking. https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Patibrewer/striped-trap