Kathy Perry has been knitting most of her life, but she’s still picking up new techniques through her design work. Her recently published pattern, Boho Banded Jacket, came about when an editor asked Kathy to create something using reverse Fair Isle. At the time she didn’t know what that meant, but she’s a quick learner!
Kathy’s jacket is knit in four shades of Lustra and uses two shades of Ultra Alpaca Fine for the ties and fringe hem. Because the Fair Isle is reversed, the actual colorwork pattern is formed by the floats rather than the stitches. The piece is worked flat and knit from the bottom up. You can get this pattern in the 30th anniversary issue of Cast On.
How did you decide on the yarn?
Lustra was picked by Cari since she was editing the magazine. It is wonderfully soft and luxurious. I loved working with the combination of four colors. She had the idea to use two fine yarns for the fringe, which gave the jacket a delicate finish. I love the way it turned out.
What’s your favorite project you’ve ever made? Why?
One of my favorite projects was a recent one. I had never heard of a mini lamby blanket but was asked by a magazine to design one. I did a little online research and found they are very popular baby gifts. I loved designing it and the result came out just as I had planned. I have three more to design in the coming months using different animals.
Any disaster stories?
I guess all designers have disasters but you have to be willing to rip and redo if necessary. I do that a lot!!
If you could knit/crochet something for anyone in the world it would be…?
I just love doing special gifts for friends and family based on something they really love – maybe using a special yarn or color.
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.
Thank you for sharing this , Kathy. Your sweater is beautiful -a true work
Of art. Admittedly, I know very little about knitting , but it was very interesting to read the interview. I hadn’t realized your credentials !
I love this jacket, my daughter wants one for herself. I have a question about the main color – it looks like denim in the photos, but Louver looks like a dark gray on the websites. Was different color used in the photographed sweater? Thanks.
Hi Sarah,
That might just be the photo and how it’s appearing on your screen. The sample is knit in Louvre, which is a gray shade.
Thank you.