Kieran Foley Is a Genius

Yes, it’s as simple as that. And, no, he hasn’t paid me to say this. In fact, as far as I know, he’s never read this blog.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have spotted a shawl patten that I like only to discover that it’s another design by Kieran Foley.

Europa? Kieran Foley.

Blackbird? Kieran Foley.

At one point last fall, I’d started knitting a High Seas for Melissa, but it went walkabout, and I still can’t find it. I know I did not throw it away or leave it at a bus stop, so it will turn up eventually, and I will finish it—but that little bugger is being mighty elusive just now.

Which leads me to my current declaration of Kieran Foley’s brilliance—Serpentine. (Note that the picture is not of my work—it’s from the pattern.)

Since I couldn’t find High Seas, and I wanted a lacy, curvy something to work on that I could give to Melissa and that she wouldn’t find too frivolous, I turned to Serpentine.

I’m knitting it in Noro King, so it will turn out rather different from the picture above. Imagine a sort of crunchy yarn ranging from peacock through various greys to bright avocado then back again.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I am loving this knit. The rows are 77 stitches across and there are 48 rows to every pattern repeat, which could be crazy-making, but there’s something magical about this pattern. Each row (right side—I admit the wrong sides are all purl across) is different, yet each row feels so intuitively right that I’m having no trouble at all following the pattern. I’m halfway through the second of three balls of yarn, and I’m not bored in the least.

Like I said, Kieran Foley is a genius.