Introducing The Lady Cuffs! This
pattern is a collection of 3 cuffs inspired by ladies from various Arthurian
legends.
They’re the perfect accessory for dressing up a sweater or jacket, and
they can be made as simple or as fancy as you like. The samples are shown in hand-dyed Cormo
Fingering yarn by Elemental Affects. I
love Cormo – it’s soft and sproingy and stretchy and simply yummy. Elemental Affects’ Cormo has a good amount of
twist so it shows off the stitches well.
Choose a neutral color that will complement most any garment, and you
have a go-to accessory that will add a little something extra to an
outfit. Or choose a bold color and
really perk things up! The cuffs are
lovely unadorned, but you can play with embellishments and make each pair
unique. Beads, crystals, tiny flowers, sequins,
knitted flowers, buttons – your creativity is your only limit.
For an fancier version, consider Elemental Affects’ Civility yarn. It’s a luscious merino-silk blend that also
has a good deal of twist, making the yarn pill-resistant. The silk provides a bit of sheen which will
dress the cuffs up a bit. And maybe run
with a thin sparkly metallic filament…oh, the possibilities!
Cuffs have the added benefit of keeping your wrists warm and your hands
free. Look stylish and keep comfortable
as you have lunch or cocktails on the outdoor patio! When the weather turns chilly and damp, I
will often wear them in the house, especially when I’m knitting or doing other
handwork. The cuffs cover just enough of
the lower hand to keep my thumb joints warm and flexible (definitely a help
with my tendinitis), but they don’t get in the way.
The Lady Cuffs are
appropriate for a range of knitting experience.
The set of 3 patterns provides variety for the experienced knitter, and
beginners can think of the motifs as little samplers and explore simple twisted
and crossed stitches, cables, and lace.
Lady of the Fountain has a central diamond motif with rivulets
of twisted stitches bordered by cabled stitches. The cuff on the left is embellished with tiny
3mm Swarovski crystals.
Lady of the Lake features a textured triangular motif surrounded by crossed stitches. The texture is provided by alternating directions of twisted stitches, proving that simple patterns can have great results. The cuff on the left is embellished with little Venetian glass disc beads. I chose a pale watery blue bead, but was really torn because the black beads looked fabulous and made the cuff look quite dramatic. (Which just goes to show that a simple change can make a big impact.)
Lady of Shalott features a central lace motif. The cuff on the left is embellished with
knitted flowers and little pearls. The
pattern includes instructions for the knitted flowers, which require just a wee
amount of laceweight yarn.
The e-book collection has complete written and charted instructions for
all three cuffs, and it includes a document with full-page charts for those
knitters who want “just the charts and nothing but the charts!” You can get the pattern here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/the-lady-cuffs/patterns.
Now, about those Arthurian ladies. Many will be familiar with the ballad, The Lady of Shalott, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Originally published in 1833 and loosely based on the legend of Elaine of Astolat, the poem describes a cursed lady living in isolation in a high tower. Set in the world of Camelot, there’s knights and Sir Lancelot and weaving and that famous statement, “I am half sick of shadows.” (And also the word daffodilly, which I’m going to have to work into something.) If you’re not familiar with the poem, you may have heard the beautiful song of the same name by Loreena McKennitt.
“The Lady of the Lake” is the ruler of Avalon and appears in many
Arthurian stories. She’s responsible for
giving the sword Excalibur to King
Arthur, of enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot. The
Lady of the Lake is also a well-known narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott. The action takes place in Scotland, with
rivalries over a woman, the feuds of kings, and wars between highlanders and
lowlanders – oh, those Scots! The poem was highly popular in its day, and
influenced many other artistic works.
The Lady of the Fountain is one of three tales known as the Three Welsh Romances that are contained within a Middle Welsh collection of prose known as the Mabinogion. This compilation came from two manuscripts from the late-medieval period, the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rydderch, although the stories likely date back to much older Celtic sources passed down through oral tradition. More than you ever wanted to know, right? As for the story itself, it’s a tale of love found and lost and found again.
All of these poems are fun reading, if you’re into that sort of
thing. And if you’re not, well
fortunately they’re not required for making these pretty (dare I say romantic?)
cuffs. Just knit, and enjoy!