Meet the Shifting Moods Scarf by Anna Husemann!
"The Shifting Moods Scarf is a small triangular scarf knitted in stockinette stitch using a combination of the intarsia technique and marling to create botanical abstract motifs.
These motifs are inspired by long walks along the coast and the shifting moods of the sea: Calm and restless, soft and rough, moody and radiant – all blending seamlessly into one another.
The triangular scarf is knitted from one corner to the other, first increasing and then decreasing along the left edge on every other right side row. An I-cord edge is worked along both sides of your knitting for neat edges."
~ Anna
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We originally worked with Anna to design this scarf for our 2025 Winter Solstice Knitting Experience. Looking at Anna's catalogue of work, we really liked how Anna had used silk mohair yarn in previous designs to create shapes. We knew we wanted to pair Bread & Butter Pretzel with mini-skeins of Verb's silk mohair yarn, Frond. Anna then looked over the colors and make requests for the colors she was inspired by. We fine-tuned the colors for her until the whole combination really popped, while still being harmonious.
Anna designed two palettes for us:
a light version using Pretzel in pale green Jade Cove, with Frond in Succulent, Poppy, and Lucky Penny;
and a dark version using earthy brown Porcini, with Frond in Succulent, Mesa, and Mist.
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One of the things we love about Anna's design process is the cross medium format of painting and collage. Take a peek below into how Anna developed these palettes:
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The Verb team could not wait to cast-on their own versions of Shifting Moods. To do so, we used the same palettes of Frond as Anna's original versions, but paired with two new colors of Pretzel: Agave and Deep Valley.
Kristine dove in with pine-green Deep Valley Pretzel, and used Frond 20g in Succulent, Poppy, and Lucky Penny.
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A bit of a deeper dive into the process of knitting Shifting Moods...
Shifting Moods uses one color of Pretzel and three colors of mohair-silk Frond 20g.
The entire scarf is knit with Pretzel. Strands of Frond are carried along and dropped at intervals to form the organic motifs.
Here is the magic of Anna's design: because the strands of Frond are held together in different combinations, you will actually end up with six colors organically shifting along the length of your scarf.
With the first section, we begin with two strands of the first color of Frond (in this case, warm coppery Lucky Penny). The color shines through bright and strong. Little baubles of glowing mohair begin to appear against the background of merino wool.
In the next section, we combine one strand of the first color with a strand of the second color. Now a strand of Lucky Penny is combined with a strand of electric green Succulent. This creates an intermediary color via a trick of the eyes - the mohair aura of the combined strands produces an illusion of a new color, a brassy copper-peach tone.
Then we move to the third section and hold together two strands of Succulent. Once again allowing the true color of the mohair to come through.
And on we continue in this pattern, moving through the colors, creating a gentle gradient that shifts from shape to shape, like light shimmering over ocean waves.
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Shawn chose to knit a version using Pretzel in gray-green agave, and Frond 20g in Succulent, Mesa, and Mist.
As you can see below, the color of Pretzel used dramatically changes the final look of the intarsia shapes. With the lower-contrast, silvery-green background, the mohair shapes appear softer, like the quality of light a cloudy day. The shifts in color are subtle and invite a closer look.
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A few tips to share from our experience knitting these two versions:
+ Unlike traditional intarsia, because the strand of Pretzel provides a constant backdrop, there is no need to twist the strands of Frond between shapes. Simply drop the Frond and continue knitting with Pretzel, and pick the Frond back up when you knit back along the next row. This is a perfect project for those new to the intarsia technique.
+ Knit from both ends of one ball of mohair when two strands of the same color are called for.
+ Use the first few intarsia shapes to get a general sense of how much Frond you will need to wind off for each subsequent shape. And if you run a little short - don't worry! The 'stickiness' of the mohair makes it easy to add in a new strand without fuss.
+ On that note - no need to be too precious about weaving in your ends. Pass through a stitch or two on the reverse and snip!
