Have you ever listened to your needles as you knit, and picked up the traces of a rhythm? Found yourself knitting a stranded colourwork design and whisper-chanting the stitch-pattern: “three blue, two pink…”? Ever looked at the details of knitted lace and been reminded of the intricacies of a favourite track? 

This book will inspire you to think about such things, and to be more curious about the connections between knitting and music. With skeins of John Arbon Textiles’ music-inspired Yarnadelic yarn in our hands, we - Felicity (Felix) Ford and Muriel Pensivy - have translated tunes into punch-cards for music boxes, and then into patterns to knit. This book shares the process so that you can knit music, too. 

In this book, you’ll find a waltz and a pop song that you can work together in double-knit. Big lace holes in the shape of a guitar riff. Notes applied to knitting as joyous sparkly glass beads. Stranded colourwork mitts, in which colours are used to highlight the different parts of a song. A magic ball project that makes the process of knitting feel like listening to tunes on shuffle mode. 

Designing patterns with their roots in rhythm and pitch pushed us to discover a wealth of new techniques - all of which we’re thrilled to share with you. In this book you’ll learn about: 

• Double-knitting (in which a fully reversible fabric is produced). 
• Combining Big Lace Holes (adapted from Lucy Neatby’s technique) with slip-stitch textures. 
• Creating ombre effects through marling. 
• Beading with a crochet hook. 
• Using different shading schemes and contrast to highlight different areas of the same chart. 
• Making Magic Yarn Balls.

Because of the relationship between stitch-counts and the maths of music, you’ll also find detailed notes on swatching and on adjusting size through adjusting gauge. If you’d like to learn more about how to change the size of a project through changing the gauge, this collection will show you how. We are also thrilled to include, as part of this project, an amazing artwork from artist Lorna Hamilton-Brown RCA MBE. Woman Blue - Elevate was commissioned as part of this project and explores connections between componium punch-cards and knitting machine punch-cards. This piece also explores the complex social history behind what is probably our favourite song in this collection: Woman Blue, and honours the unnamed woman who was its first recorded source.

We hope you’ll enjoy knitting our patterns and exploring the soundworlds that have inspired us as we’ve created these designs, with this yarn. It is our greatest wish that after reading this, you’ll see dots everywhere and wonder what melody they play. Knitting has never sounded this good; music has never been this much fun to wear. Pick up your needles and prepare to hear their rhythms in a brand new light: we can’t wait to hear how the music evolves in your hands! 

158 page PDF (the download is separated into seven chapters).

First published by KNITSONIK Ltd. in 2023, RRP £21 © KNITSONIK Ltd., 2023

Please note: a coupon that entitles the bearer to 50% off the full cost of Yarnadelic Remixes 0.1 on Teachable is supplied along with this digital download, should you wish to access all the video and supplementary multimedia work that was created as part of this project without paying for the eBook twice.