TriBeCa
INTRODUCING
Tr i B e C a As many are aware, the TriBeCa collection has been launched nationwide. In this very special Newsletter we sat down with one of minds behind and designers of the collection to get a bit of an insight! If TriBeCa has piqued your curiosity or busied your needles then we’re certain you’ll love this extended interview with Kristel Nieves. She has been with malabrigo yarn for a couple of years and was inspired to contribute one of her own designs to the TriBeCa collection. TriBeCa is a historic and vibrant neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The name is an abbreviation for ‘Triangle Below Canal Street’ due to its shape and location. Its mercantile origins have grown it into the diverse and iconic area it is today, with innumerable notable artists, actors, and celebrities continuing its cultural significance. We believe our newest collection captures the variety, beauty, and subdued vibrancy inherent in the neighborhood. (continue)
TriBeCa is an interesting name, what made you decide to name a range of yarn after a neighborhood in New York City? Last year I travelled to New York for the first time and I fell in love with the city and the style. Being lost through the streets of TriBeCa: its buildings, colors, and contrasts were undoubtedly a massive inspiration for me though I didn’t know it at the time. However, when I started working on this collection I might have, though I was not consciously relating it back to my trip then. We came up with the name a little later, when the colors were
almost finished. We thought a lot about what this range of neutral colors and pastels conveyed to us, something synonymous with Fashion, Style, Softness, Creativity, and Urban Life... concepts which could also perfectly describe the neighborhood of TriBeCa. That’s when I associated what I had experienced with the new Rasta collection. What inspired you to take Rasta in such a bold new direction? What were your hopes for the yarn? I remember that one day I came to the office and thought: Why doesn’t Malabrigo have pastels?
It’s true that we have them, but they are not together as a collection so you’d have to look closely at all the different yarns to find our neutral and pastel colors, they also can get easily hidden behind our more characteristic vibrant colors, so I found it interesting to start working on a collection for them. I consider myself a beginner knitter and Rasta is one of my favorite yarns as well as being my first choice for projects. I wanted to start a new project using something beige but I quickly realized that Rasta had no beige colors, in fact there were barely any neutrals and pastels, so we started working on fixing that (continue)
Almond Blossom
Cape Cod Gray
Cosmos
Cucumber
Fog
Ivory
Melon
Valentina
Whole Grain
right away. Having read some of the questions from knitters and designers I knew that a lot of people would enjoy it as much as me. That’s how we decided to launch Rasta’s TriBeCa. It is different from the usual malabrigo colorways and definitely is a challenge. But from the beginning we thought of it as something that doesn’t deviate too far from the style of the brand, because the colors of this collection work very well alone or as an accompaniment with older colors. Not only are you responsible for launching TriBeCa, but you’re also one of its lead designers. What came first, the range or the pattern? When I thought about the Arteixo Cowl, I wanted to do it in a Neutral color to be able to combine it with my winter clothes. Since Rasta didn’t have many neutral colors, I knitted the first Cowl in Sombras and I still wear it a lot, but now I also have it in Cosmos, Melon and Diana colorways. At the beginning it was just a personal project and I uploaded it to Ravelry as such, but then with the development of the TriBeCa collection we decided I should include the pattern.
This design is quick and easy to knit, so it is ideal for beginners (like me!) or for last minute gifts. Why is it called Arteixo? When I decided to write the pattern, I wanted to think of a name that had an important meaning for me. So my mind was cast back to when I was in Galicia (Spain), where I lived for 8 years and Arteixo is the town where I rented my first ever apartment. At a young age, it was liberating and inspiring for me to have my own place, so it seemed significant that my first pattern was named after Arteixo. To relect that freedom, I designed the cowl to be reversible, so people could choose their favorite way of wearing the pattern. The colors of TriBeCa I used to have a fashion blog and although I do not write anymore, I keep buying magazines and I look at fashion week presentations. I like to know the design trends for every season and pastels are definitely in for 2018. If you take a look at the spring / summer shows, you will see that ice cream and dusty colors are a must have. But they are never really out, because
they are easy to combine and most of us choose them every season. When we thought about the colors of TriBeCa, we decided that we should include soft shades of pink, orange, blue, green, yellow and purple. But we also wanted to have neutrals, because they are basic for clothes and decoration. So we worked on them for this collection as well. Three of these colors are already available in other yarns: Whole Grain, Cape Cod Gray and Valentina. We wanted all the names to be in English to be more accessible, so we named the new ones Fog, Melon, Cosmos, Ivory, Almond Blossom, and Cucumber. Below we have put together some recommended color combinations for each of the colors, however we encourage you to be creative and see what fun and exciting combination you can come up with too!
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O U R FAV O R I T E
C O M B I N AT I O N S
ALMOND BLOSSOM 703 + LOTUS 120
ALMOND BLOSSOM 703 + PLOMO 043
CAPE COD GRAY 429 + ANIVERSARIO 005
CAPE COD GRAY 429 + FRANK OCHRE 035
CAPE COD GRAY 429 + TEAL FEATHER 412
COSMOS 706 + AZUL PROFUNDO 150
COSMOS 706 + FOG 705
COSMOS 706 + PARIS NIGHT 052
CUCUMBER 708 + AZUL PROFUNDO 150
CUCUMBER 708 + PLOMO 043
FOG 705 + AZUL PROFUNDO 150
FOG 705 + RAVELRY RED 611
IVORY 704 + PARIS NIGHT 052
IVORY 704 + SUNSET 096
MELON 707 + ARCHANGEL 850
MELON 707 + OXIDO 860
MELON 707 + SUNSET 096
VALENTINA 689 + ABRIL 853
VALENTINA 689 + SABIDURIA 136
VALENTINA 689 + WHALE’S ROAD 247
WHOLE GRAIN 696 + FOG 705
WHOLE GRAIN 696 + PAGODA 023
WHOLE GRAIN 696 + STITCH RED 873
TriBeCA eBook When launching Rasta’s TriBeCa we also prepared an eBook as a way to show how these new colors would look when knitted up. There is also a suggestion for color combination and design patterns to be discovered within these virtual pages where you can see the result of our cooperation with great designers. This eBook features six quick projects of accessories, all of which could make pretty gifts for you and your friends. If you haven’t tried our Rasta yarn yet, this is a good moment to experiment with this style of fiber and colors. These are patterns designed to keep you looking stylish and warm all season long.
BARCLAY HAT
MURRAY COWL
WARREN COWL
PARK HAT
CHAMBERS PONCHO
READE SHAWL
ART E IXO C OWL
designed by Kristel Nieves
Pattern information
Abbreviations
Using only one skein of Rasta, you can easily knit up this super squooshy cowl in no time. A simple lifted yarn over technique brings an interesting texture to the piece without much extra effort.
″
inches
RS
cm
centimeter(s)
st(s) stitch(es)
k
knit
WS
wrong side
yo
yarn over
Arteixo is a Thick & Quick Reversible Cowl. F I N ISH ED MEA SUR E M E N T S Circumference: 23″ / 58cm Width: 10″ / 26cm Y A RN A MO U N T S 1 skein Malabrigo Rasta (100% Merino Wool, 90 yards/82m per 5.29 oz/150g skein), #706 Cosmos N E ED L ES US 17 / 12mm, or size needed to obtain gauge N OT IO N S Tapestry needle GAU GE 13 sts / 9 rows = 4″ / 10cm in stitch pattern, unblocked
mm millimeter(s)
right side
Directions Cast on 26 sts using the knitted on or your preferred stretchy technique. Row 1(RS): k1, *yo, k2, insert left hand needle under the front leg of the yo, pick the yo up and pass it up, over the first two sts and off of the front of the right hand needle; rep from * to one stitch before end of row, k1. Row 2 (WS): purl. Repeat rows 1 and 2 twenty-four times more or until desired length. Work one additional row 1. Bind off loosely from the wrong side. Cut yarn leaving a tail long enough to sew the ends together. FINIS HING Sew the cast-on edge to the bound-off edge using your preferred method. Steam block lightly if desired.
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