MDK FIELD GUIDE #19: Marls

What happens when we knit with multiple strands of yarn at once? Five artful patterns introduce us to the concept of marling and set us on a gorgeous exploration of texture and color. Wherever Cecelia Campochiaro leads, we are eager to follow.

The beloved author and designer Cecelia Campochiaro has the gift of seeing knitting at its most elemental, exploring knitted fabrics at stitch level, from the ground up. Cecelia first introduced us to her groundbreaking concept of sequence knitting, and we’ve been knitting sequence projects ever since. Now, she’s showing us another irresistible sort of knitting.

Marling is the effect we get when we combine strands of different fiber, weight, or color.

This Field Guide is a tantalizing tasting menu of different types of marling. The effects are amazing, and amazingly intuitive to create. The fabrics are a sensory joy to knit, and they are beautiful to wear.

These five designs are elegant canvases for your marling explorations.

Color Explosion Throw: The chance to see what happens when you work with 11 colors and a graphic knit-purl pattern. This is heirloom knitting at its best.

Marlogram Scarf/Cowl: Working marls with slow-shifting gradient yarns makes colors shift even more. Who knows how they will combine? That’s the fun.

Spectra Sweater: An inventive construction leads to a pullover with a lot of style, and marls that behave beautifully together.

Swarf: Think of it as a sweater without those pesky sleeves and back part. We’re making it our mission to bring back the dickie, a quick accessory that gives a jacket extra warmth and instant pizzazz.

Striped Marl Hat: Two colors give us three possibilities for solid and gritty stripes.