The pattern is the same, but I skipped the darkest background colour and moved the red to a single row in the middle.
It turned out the way I hoped, and I like it a lot better this way: attention drawn to the centre instead of back and forth between the border edges.
Next I will play with the three shades of green in my stash.
Wool in an array of glorious colours (leftovers and new skeins I just couldn't resist) plus Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting = high time to swatch! It's a book I really recommend, primarily for the excellent pattern library section.
Not only is there an abundance of patterns, they are also arranged according to how many rows they consist of (from 1 to 19 rows plus a number of allover patterns). Starmore also encourages playing with the pattern shapes and explains how to do so in a structured way.
With so many choices it's difficult to decide where to start. For this swatch I simply picked one of the many irresistible patterns to see how the colours in my stash work together. I really like this combination of colours, but not so much my colour sequence.
The rusty red is too dominant and demands attention at both the beginning and the end of the repeat. That's too messy in my opinon, so I'm going to move it to the middle where I think it will play nicely with the warm shade of yellow. What's more, that should result in a single focal point in the centre of the repeat with the glowing colours against the undyed and beige background.
I should add that Starmore's book has many qualities apart from the pattern section. Even though parts of it may seem dated at first glance (after all, it was first published in the 80s) I would say it's a timeless book above all.
The yarn is Shetlandsuld from BC Garn; 3 mm needles (US 2½).
