As the owner of Linden Yarn & Textiles, Inc., Chris Rieffer sees customers ranging in age from 5 to 95 – all excited about the possibility of making something new. She also spends her days surrounded by beautiful yarns and colors. What more could a knitter and designer ask for?
Odeseed is a colorful, seed stitch cowl knit in four shades of Berroco Folio. Chris designed it with a gradient effect, created by knitting with two strands held together and transitioning colors one strand at a time. The cowl is worked flat and grafted together in pattern at the ends.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m known for my finishing skills, technical abilities, color sense, ability to graft in pattern, fix lace mistakes several rows down, my sense of humor, my wink, and my fearlessness when it comes to cutting, fixing or altering. Local theaters call me when they need custom knit garments for shows. These usually require a speedy combination of hand and machine knitting.
How did you come up with this design?
I had the lovely, wonderfully soft, and yet neglected, yarn on the shelf in such pretty colors. I knew I needed something that could be worn next to skin and was simple to make. Seed stitch always looks great and I love all the combining of yarns I’m seeing in the industry to create gradient effects of color and/or texture.
Any interesting stories about your process?
I tried out other colors, but these four hit the mark. I even had to wait for more of the off-white to be shipped in order to finish. (Dye lots aren’t as much of an issue if you are striping/doubling.)
If you could knit/crochet something for anyone in the world it would be…?
I wish I had more time to knit for my husband and other close relatives, but these days it mostly goes to shop samples.
What do you like most about your business?
I have wonderful employees and great customers filling my days with smiles and laughter.
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.