What is an ethnobotanist? Botany is the study of plants, and ethnobotany is the study of how people interact with the plants in their world. I am an archaeologist, and ethnobotany is one of my specialty fields. When yarn in the colorway called Botanist showed up, I couldn’t say no!

This reversible wrap has rectangular sections with nubbly bits, all surrounded by pretty openwork around the edges. The pattern is written, not charted, good for social knitting, and suitable for a beginning knitter.

When I first began this project, I intended to make a scarf. While I was knitting, though, it occurred to me that the design would also be just about the right size for a cowl; so I’ve included directions for both versions. Sometimes I wonder if designs have a mind of their own… The stitch design of this two-color cowl is easily memorized, prod...

This design, in the national colors of Ukraine, is a personal response to the horror of the war in that country. This piece can be finished either as a scarf or as a cowl, and directions are given for both versions. The stitch design of this two-color cowl is easily memorized, producing a fabric that is soft, non-rolling, and essentially revers...

This is a crescent-shaped shawl with an unusual texture stitch, designed to work with the irregular color patterns, saturation, and speckles in hand-painted yarn. This is not like other patterns, where you can follow the directions to get a result that looks like the designer’s, because it’s unlikely that you will have yarns that are just like ...

Designed and knitted for a friend who was going to Alaska to see the Northern Lights - and see them she did; you can see her photos! This reversible scarf is quick and easy to knit, but there’s enough going on that it won’t be boring. The stitches are basic knit and purl, the pattern is easy to memorize, and it’s a perfect project for social kn...

Each of the six slanted panels of this large, cozy shawl has a stitch pattern composed simply of knit and purl stitches. All six patterns are different, so you never feel like you’ve been knitting the same thing forever! The general shape is long and not too wide, and it may be draped in different ways depending on your mood. The pattern is wri...

This is a comfortable, wearable scarf that’s knit from side to side, using only simple stitches to form an unusual design of slanted panels. The knitting seems to go quickly, and boredom is held at bay because none of rows is perishingly long and the stitch patterns are different from panel to panel. There is definitely no feeling of acres and ...

This lightweight wrap is just right for summer wear - outdoors on a cool evening, indoors anytime in an overly air-conditioned room, anywhere there’s a draft you would like to tame a bit. It is the simplest construction - a big rectangle, big patches of stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches, uncomplicated cast on and bind off, subtle cha...

Everything Changes is a trapezoid-shaped shawl knit from the bottom up with interesting, subtle design details. A knitter’s attention is held by the three elements that gradually change: shape, color, and texture. The shawl begins with a green triangle that appears to lie on top of a turquoise trapezoid; the triangle expands upward into the tra...

This trapezoid-shaped shawl is knitted from the bottom up, using three fingering weight yarns in an eye-catching geometric design. The technique is intarsia, or color-blocking, and the random sequence stitch pattern produces a lovely, unusual fabric. The shawl may be blocked or not - knitter’s choice; unblocked the texture is soft and cushy, wh...

This is a wide, cozy shawl showcasing three quite different, but very beautiful, colorways stacked on top of each other: two skeins of one color and one skein for each of the others.

This reversible shawl, an asymmetrical trapezoid, is knitted from the bottom up using garter stitch with simple short rows for shaping and an I-cord bind off. This forms sweeping wedges, outlined with eyelets from side to side, that remind me of gentle switchbacks easing an uphill walk.

Pigeon’s Neck is an asymmetrical, reversible, triangular shawl knit from the bottom up, with contrasting stripes in intarsia (color blocking) and kicky bits of knitted-on fringe. The remarkable texture is produced by each row having a random sequence of knit and purl stitches. It is suitable for an advanced beginner, and it is a good introducti...

This cowl is a fun, uncomplicated knit, suitable for beginning knitters; the pattern is quickly memorized. The version shown is done on #5 needles in 270 yards of variegated handspun yarn, but any fingering weight yarn may be used. The variegated yarn in garter stitch shows the side-to-side short rows beautifully; the design in a single color o...

This is a simple, gently curved scarf/shawlette, perfectly reversible. It features a beautiful handspun and hand-dyed silk yarn and the subtle spark of a few randomly-placed tiny beads (optional).

During the 2016 summer Olympics, what would be more natural for knitters (and crocheters, spinners, and weavers) than to do what we do while watching the games? And to do as much as we could, as quickly as we could, responding to the athletic efforts we were watching? So Ravelry once again organized their Ravellenic Games. For knitters, this me...

This is an interesting asymmetrical shawl, and looking rather like three overlapping triangles. Suitable for an advanced beginner, it is knitted from the bottom up and finished with an I-cord bind off in a contrasting color. It is an excellent design to show off a beautiful yarn. The pattern is written, not charted.

When we lived in the Midwest, we often woke to early morning fog. When this happened, I liked to wrap myself in a shawl so I could take my coffee outdoors to sit and begin my day. The world looks quite different with fog drifting about, and there is a curious muffling effect fog has on sounds – I find it magical. I rarely experience fog here in...

This shawl is a large, warm, slightly asymmetrical triangle, suitable for an intermediate knitter. It was designed to take advantage of the controlled color changes of this particular yarn; each ball begins with one color and gradually changes to another. Each ball can be worked from either end. For each half of the shawl I began with the brown...

This easily-knit light shawlette, suitable for even a beginning knitter, is an asymmetrical triangle. The main color is knitted in garter stitch throughout, increasing one stitch each row; the contrasting color is knit in stockinette stitch while continuing the increases. You may make it as large as your yarn supply will allow – simply continue...