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Paired Patterns: Zenith & Nadir

Zenith and Nadir were designed together, to be a reflection of opposites. I purposefully made them both with the same yarn base and similar colourways to show that one starting point can be turned into two very different things under different circumstances.

Zenith
The time at which something is at its most powerful or successful.

The soft curve of a perfect, half-pi shawl. A delicate, dainty duck egg colour. Carefully pre- strung beads. Tiny, intricate stitches, creating a sea of stockinette. A brand new stitch that combines slipping, cables, and beads for a twinkling, quilted effect.

Zenith is the result of attention to detail, familiarity, and the challenge of something new coming together to create something deceptively simple; soft, light, and airy.

Zenith is a challenge in that it asks that you learn a brand new stitch in order to knit it, but is also made up of familiar stockinette stitch, making it an accessible challenge which, once met, will showcase your handiwork as perfectly on a summer’s day as a colder winter one.

Sizing

Zenith is a half-pi (semi-circular) shawl in one size.

Wingspan: 50” / 127cm
Height: 25” / 63.5cm

Stitches

knit, purl, knit front and back, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front, slip 1 purlwise, slip cable 1 right, slip cable 1 left

Note: the slip cable stitches are brand new stitches required to knit the Kiss Stitch. Full instructions are included in the pattern.

Other Techniques

garter tab cast on
binding off
blocking
working with beads (pre-threaded)

Sample Details

Yarn: Black Elephant Merino Singles in Utopia
Amount used: 700m

Accessibility

Zenith includes two versions of the pattern: the main version, and a second version designed for low vision and screen reader users.

Both versions of the pattern are colour blind friendly.

The accessible version of the pattern has:

• 24 point sans-serif font (Arial) throughout
• Fully saturated black text on white background
• Single column layout
• Left-aligned text
• No italics
• No header or footer – just page numbers (bottom left)
• Consistent use of heading tags for easy navigation
• Internal links to aid navigation
• All instructions written out in text without reliance on diagrams or charts
• All words written out in full (i.e. no abbreviations)
• No bulleted lists
• No tables
• Tested with screen readers

You can read full details here: Accessible Patterns