Meditative texture patterns for Easter

Sometimes pairing a gorgeous yarn that shows off a pattern's texture is all you need for a truly relaxing knitting project. So in preparation for the long weekend, we are sharing some of our favourite patterns that are all about texture!

The Alvar Pullover by Sari Nordlund is surprisingly easy and simple to knit. Using just knit and purl stitches, it creates an intricate-looking gansey texture. Single colours or slightly tonal colourways are recommended–like Countrywide Yarns Natural 8ply, Malabrigo Rios, Brushtale Upcycled Possum 8ply, Rowan Felted Tweed, Zealana Rimu DK, Woolly 8ply,, Broadway Yarns NZ Merino and Wild Earth Yarns Natural Haunui 8ply–to show off the pattern.

Snow Crocus by Midori Hirose is designed as a classic cable sweater and is inspired by a small crocus that grows in the Greek mountains when the snow melts. The texture and yarn choice of the sweater mimics this softness. Use DK–worsted yarns such as Spinning Yarns Weaving Tales Dooish, Countrywide Natural 8ply, Malabrigo Rios 100% Merino, a possum blend yarn to make it extra airy such as Zealana Rimu DK or Brushtale Upcycled Possum 8ply. or the lofty Cardiff Cashmere Classic.

Another surprisingly simple pattern: the intricate texture of the Ariundle sweater by Rebecca Clow is made up of knits, purls and crossed stitches. You can knit Ariundle with most of of our 8ply yarns and choose, as the patterns above, a unicolour or tweedy yarn to flaunt the textured yoke.

The Grid Loop Sweater by Other Loops_ is a unisex pattern with a relaxed fit and ribbing details for extra comfort. This garment is knit with a strand of a 4ply or sports weight yarn such as Biches and Buches Le Petite Lambswool, Sesia Mistral, Wild Earth Yarns Haunui 4ply and Naturally New Zealand Merino held together with laceweight silk mohair like as Sesia Vivienne or Rowan Kidsilk Haze. If you're not a fan of mohair, you can substitute it for laceweight Lana Grossa Setasuri Suri Alpaca Silk.

The sweater version of the Elton Cardigan featured in last week's newsletter! The Elton Pullover by Joji Locatelli has alternating stripes that mix texture (and colour, if you choose). The solid bands are knit with a 4ply yarn such as Spinning Yarns Weaving Tales Darnie, Biches and Buches Le Petite Lambswool, Sesia Mistral while the contrasting bands use laceweight mohair like Sesia Vivienne,Rowan Kidsilk Haze or can be replaced with Lana Grossa Setasuri Suri Alpaca Silk.

Low Tide by Rachel Illsley has delicate eyelet lace and cable details inspired by the rolling pebbles and sand ripples of a receding tide. The pattern was designed using Happy Go Knitty Āhuru 4ply but would be perfect in other possum blends like Brushtale Upcycled Possum 4ply and Zealana Rimu 4ply.

Jean Cardigan by kolibri by johanna features a groovy wave-lace-pattern alternating garter stitch stripes with lace pattern stripes. Like the Grid-Loop Sweater above, this garment is knit with a strand of a 4ply or sports weight yarn such as Biches and Buches Le Petite Lambswool, Sesia Mistral, Wild Earth Yarns Haunui 4ply and Naturally New Zealand Merino together with laceweight Lana Grossa Setasuri Suri Alpaca Silk, Sesia Vivienne or Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

The playful Polka Dot Cardi by Midori House has extra wide sleeves and coin-sized holes designed to layer over clothes. You can knit it with one strand of bulky yarn such as Countrywide Yarns Natural 14ply , make it extra colourful with Spincycle Plump or with worsted yarn held double such as Ruataniwha Dye Studio Merino Linen 10ply, Spinning Yarns Weaving Tales Dooish, Countrywide Yarns Natural 10ply or Malabrigo Rios.

The squishy texture of Manon Cardigan by Moreca knit is worked with a moss stitch designed for a DK cotton blend such as Kremke Morning Salutation and Rowan Cotton Revive. You could also use 100% cotton yarns like Amano Yarns Sami Organic Cotton and Rowan Summerlite DK Cotton, or Erika Knight Studio Linen as other summery alternatives that will give you the same drape.

We love options! Created by New Zealand designer handmade by SMINE, Awake! shawl has two versions–one with a simpler stitch pattern for gradient yarns and another with more stitch variation for unicolour yarns (pictured above). You can knit it with 100gms of your favourite 4ply yarns. Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool would work great for the simpler gradient version (or both versions!) and Happy Go Knitty Mardi Merino/Silk/Yak for the more detailed option.

Andrew Mowry's Honey Moss shawl is designed for a worsted merino/linen blend like Ruataniwha Dye Studio Merino Linen 10ply to get the softness of merino with the drape of linen. For an even warmer shawl, 100% wool yarns such as Spinning Yarns Weaving Tales Dooish, Malabrigo Rios and Spincycle Yarns Dream State would also work great.

A dream for anyone with a large yarn stash. The Broken Rib Hat by Purl Foundry lets your yarn decide which version you knit this weekend. The pattern includes instructions for knitting in 4ply/fingering, 5ply/sport, 8ply/DK or 10ply/worsted yarn!

The FREE Cloudburst mittens pattern by Arienne Grey is light as cloud and only takes one ball of Zealana Air Cashmere Blend to knit. Although the pattern calls for 4ply yarn, the laceweight cashmere makes it extra soft and luxurious. Just make sure you check gauge first to see if you'll need to adjust your needle size.

Another one-skein wonder, the Birds and Ships by Caitlin Hunter only uses 290mts of 4ply yarn like Ruataniwha Dye Studio Merino Linen and Happy Go Knitty Mardi Merino/Silk/Yak.

The Kennecott beanie by Caitlin Hunter uses a simple twist-stitch technique and knit and purl stitches to create a fun-to-knit rhythmic pattern.

We are so looking forward to having extra days for knitting this week! If you don't have any WIPs at the moment (or could use a couple more) we hope some of these textured patterns will make it to your favourites list.

Happy Making! 🤗
xx The Loopine Team