We are collectors of interesting and fabulous yarns. Let’s not be shy about it. Let’s be counted among stamp collectors, toy collectors, any collectors, so we don’t have to hang our heads in embarrassment as if we were afflicted with some wild and quirky disease. Stand tall, oh yarn collectors! Your passion are equal in merit to any other and needs to be celebrated!

For this design any weight, any kind, of yarn will work. Noro would be perfect. Show your collection! I’ve knit mine primarily in dk or sport-weight yarn on US 8/5 mm needles but the design easily accommodates both smaller or larger needles. The bigger the needle size, the larger and more loose the wrap, obviously. A lace-weight version would be lovely, too. I worked in mid-range to accommodate my particular collection of hand-dyed silks and specialty yarns. For the stranded checkerboard ‘mosaics’, I used primarily silks, of which I am enamored. Since, in true collectors spirit, I can never part with the last ball of anything, I had multiples of tiny amounts of silks in magnificent hand-dyed colors and most of them ended up in this wrap.

The three-wrap drop stitches showed off my collection of Blue Heron beaded rayons, silk bouclé’s, and any yarn that offered some interesting texture. These stitches literally flow and add a breezy level to the more dense mosaics. Play up all your favorites here.
These drop stitches are separated by two rows of knit stitch (garter) where I worked bulkier yarns like ribbons and artspun yarns.

The wrap is rectangular, knit end to end in braces of 15-row clusters of checkerboard stranded knitting--a simple Fair Isle technique which uses no more than 2 different yarns per row--separated by two sets of three-wrap drop stitch. The stranded checkerboard shows yarns and colors to perfection, giving an almost mosaic effect, while the drop stitch lets textures shine, nub, or slub at will. The combination creates a lovely free-flowing ode to yarn.