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Home » Herbaceous and Herbal Buds: A Tribute to Herbs and an Indie Untangled Release

Herbaceous and Herbal Buds: A Tribute to Herbs and an Indie Untangled Release

A closeup of the bottom of a sweater that is lavender-colored with brown dandelion puffs, green basil leaves and dark green rosemary sprigs arranged along the hem and cuffs

My Herbaceous pullover pattern and Herbal Buds hat pattern are now live and available for purchase here on my website, Ravelry and Payhip. The patterns are automatically 20% off through the 24th (no code needed). I released these patterns to coincide with Indie Untangled Everywhere and the Zoom session in which I was featured.

Herbs are among the most beloved plants in the world. It is no wonder given their delightful aromas, magical healing properties, and flavor enhancements in cooking. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and are known to boost the immune system and help reduce inflammation. For this fingering weight colorwork design, I have included some of my favorite herbs: oregano, dandelion, mint, basil and rosemary.

Herbaceous features sprigs of herbs fanned out around the yoke and arranged neatly around the lower body and sleeves. The body and upper sleeves incorporate staggered knot stitches to represent herbal buds and to add fun texture to the plain stockinette portions. The neckband, hem and cuffs are identical and use a stretchy faded rib. The design is worked top-down and in the round.

How beautiful is Tiffany in the main Herbaceous sample below? I used Ritual Dyes Maiden, a springy sock yarn with a gentle twist, in the colorways Holy Basil, Sugar Maple, Virgo and Green Tourmaline. Yarn kits are available in the Ritual Dyes store. This sample is shown with balloon sleeves, but a tapered sleeve option is available as well.

Two images of a black woman are combined. In each image she is wearing a purple handknit sweater with brown, medium green and dark green herb motifs arranged around the yoke, hem and cuffs. In the first picture she is gazing down and laughing. In the second picture she is gazing to the right.

Below is the Herbal Buds hat I knit using Virgo left over from the Herbaceous sample. The pattern is available in 12 sizes, ranging from Preemie to XL Adult. It is shown in the Adult Small size on a head circumference of 21.5 in / 55 cm. Ritual Dyes has kits for these as well!

A deep medium green handknit slouchy hat with staggered knot stitches

The Herbal Buds hat below uses Jadeite, a minty Maiden colorway with golden specks.

A young girl with a fishtail braid to the side is wearing a minty green slouchy hat with golden speckles.

Below is the always stunning Amber, who is wearing a size 7 Herbaceous sample using Kim Dyes Yarn Tartlet Sport in the colorways Starstone and Coreopsis. The sample omits the colorwork at the hem and cuffs and was knit by the talented Sara Aviles (avidknits).

I love how Amber always coordinates her impeccable makeup with the designs she models!

A large woman faces the camera with her eyes closed, revealing hot pink eyeshadow that matches the pink herbal motifs of her sweater.

Amber has undergone weight loss surgery, which is why she is wearing a size 7 rather than the size 9 she typically models. Don’t worry—Amber is going nowhere! For each design in the future, I plan to knit a sample or have one knit for her, whatever size she ends up being.

A woman stands sideways with her face turned toward the camera. She is wearing a dark gray sweater with bright pink herbal motifs at the yoke. A rainbow camera flare swooshes across her body.

When Amber told me about her weight loss changes, I knew I wanted to find a size 9 (or a close size) model to continue representing the upper size range in my product catalogs. At first it seemed unlikely I would find someone, but then Dionne of Full Figured Fierce came through for me once again, just as she did with Amber. Full Figured Fierce is a local organization that “was created to inspire self love, encourage you to live out loud and empower you to take your life back. Plus size or not, you matter.” —Full Figured Fierce website

Meet Raqiya! I feel so fortunate to have found another local model with whom to work for Herbaceous and future designs! Raqiya is modeling the size 9 using Birch Hollow Fibers Sylvia Sock in the colorways Blush, Vignette’s Wings, Oceania and Moss Matched. Robin of Birch Hollow Fibers is offering kits for this one as well. Many thanks to Gabby Roberts (knittygritty) for knitting this amazing sample!

A large black woman faces the camera. She is wearing a soft pink handknit sweater featuring various teal and green herbal motifs at the yoke, hem and cuff.

TESTER SPOTLIGHT!

Katie and Kim (pictured below) are two local friends who tested Herbaceous. Both are incredibly talented knitters, and I’m so thankful to know them, to get to knit with them, and to have had their help with this pattern.

Two women stand side by side wearing masks. One wears a white sweater with orange, yellow and green herbal motifs at the yoke, hem and cuffs. The other is wearing the same sweater, only it is dark gray with pale pink, green and purple herb motifs.

Below is a gallery featuring some of the tester photos, including stand alone shots of Katie and Kim. Testers are an invaluable part of the design process, and I’m always in awe of their unique take on the pattern. Click the link on each picture to visit their Instagram page. Also, many of their projects are available on Ravelry if you’d like to learn more about their mods.

https://instagram.com/nicbatch?igshid=jaerrb8tw3yt

I seem to have added a fourth model, my daughter. Sophie is now able to model the size 1, and this is very bittersweet for me. This gorgeous sample was knit by Michelle Paradis using House of A La Mode Tweed Fingering in the colorways Into the Woods and Ocean Pacific (selected by Sophie).

A young girl is wearing a soft gray handknit sweater with blue and purple herbal motifs at the yoke. She is blowing a dandelion puff into the wind.

And last but not least, I couldn’t resist knitting myself a neutral version of the sweater with some La Bien Amiee Merino Singles I’d been saving. This sample uses the colorways Undergrowth and Winter Garden, and indeed, I think this is a nice winter version of Herbaceous.