Illusion Knitting

I am busy working on the border to my shawl, which is interminably slow.  So, I decided to post a link that was on a knitting blog Re Knitting that I read.  The author, Barbara, was posting about her knitting guild, which I am totally jealous of, but that is another story.  In it she talks about Illusion knitting, and links to the website by Woolly Thoughts.  These people have really taken shadow knitting to a new level.

Shadow knitting, or Illusion Knitting, is the use of 2 different colors of yarn (contrast is better).  “It is a process of knitting such that the finished piece has a hidden image only viewable from an angle. The effect is created by alternating rows of two colored yarns so that the raised stitches from one row block out the flat stitches of another row. The finished work looks like a simple striped pattern from the front, but when viewed from an angle, the “hidden” image appears.” In essence you always knit on the right side, and either knit or purl on the back side depending on if you want the stitch to stand out (knit) or recede (purl).  You work with 2 colors, but only one at a time, using that color for 2 rows.  The trick is to just really follow the pattern well.

Vivian Hoxbro wrote a book on shadow knitting, and I made her large Wing Shawl using this technique, which I blogged abut earlier.  I get lots of compliments when I wear that shawl.  

The people at Woolly Thoughts have taken it to an entire new level however, and really made it into art.   Some of the patterns are free, and others are available for a nominal fee.  I really want to tackle the tiger.