Willow & Lark Knitting Patterns

The look, and how it is knitted

Willow & Lark designs take their cues from the British landscape: muted, natural colour, rustic texture and traditional techniques used slightly against the grain. Inside-out Fair Isle, where the floats are deliberately shown on the right side, is a good example, as are lace panels set into otherwise plain garments and cables that stop short of the shoulder rather than running the full length. The result reads as heritage knitwear without being a straight reproduction of it.

In practice, that means the patterns here are mostly worked at DK tension, in pieces or top down, with the interest concentrated in one or two areas rather than spread over the whole garment. That is good news for the knitter: a lace yoke on a plain body gives you a striking piece with far fewer complicated rows than an all-over pattern.

Choosing a design for your level

• Confident beginner: a simple hat, cowl or wrap, where the textured stitch is the only thing to concentrate on.
• First garment: a plain-bodied cardigan with a patterned band or yoke. You get the look without a full pattern repeat across every row.
• Intermediate: cabled jumpers, where the shaping has to be worked into the cable panel and you need to read your knitting.
• Ambitious: stranded and inside-out Fair Isle, where two-colour tension and consistent float length decide whether the fabric lies flat.

Yarn, tension and size

These patterns were written around soft natural blends including merino, cashmere, mohair and silk, and the fibre matters to the result. A yarn with wool content holds ribbing and blocks lace open; a slippery silk-heavy blend will drape more and spring back less. If you substitute, match the stated tension over the specified stitch pattern, not over plain stocking stitch, since cabled and textured fabrics pull in significantly. Choose your size from the pattern's finished chest measurement compared to a jumper you already like the fit of, rather than from a dress size, and remember that a cabled garment eats yardage: buy the full quantity in one dye lot from the start.

Colourwork and lace practicalities

For stranded sections, keep floats loose enough that the fabric does not gather, catching any float longer than about five stitches. Knitting colourwork in the round and steeking, or simply working with the right side always facing, gives far more even tension than purling back in two colours. For lace, use a lifeline every repeat and place markers between pattern sections. Both techniques look transformed after blocking, so do not judge the fabric until it has been washed and pinned out.

Finishing and care

Block pieces before seaming and use mattress stitch in the project yarn for invisible vertical seams. Wash by hand in lukewarm water with a wool wash unless the ball band says otherwise, roll in a towel and dry flat; anything with cashmere or mohair will bloom softer after its first wash. Store folded with a moth deterrent rather than hung.

Willow & Lark pattern questions

What yarn weight are most of these patterns? Predominantly DK, with some 4 ply designs. The tension is always stated on the pattern.

Do I have to use Willow & Lark yarn? No, but match the tension and the fibre character as closely as you can, since these designs rely on drape and stitch definition.

Are there beginner patterns? Yes, including hats, cowls and simple accessories before you tackle a garment.

What is inside-out Fair Isle? Stranded colourwork worked so that the floats show on the outside of the garment as a deliberate design feature.

How do I choose a size? Measure a favourite jumper flat across the chest, double it, and match that to the pattern's finished measurement.