This Vintner’s Rib, with its easy repeat of stitches will stretch the adventurous beginner knitters skills. The finished pattern reminded me of the rows of grapevines that surround us in the Gaspereau Valley, so became the wine merchants rib.

The soft ground etching was my first attempt at transferring pattern and texture of my knitted samples to paper. While I am very pleased with the results, it is more because it made clear some of the limitations and possibilities of printmaking using my own textiles. You can see the twist of the yarn, and even the individual fibres, but the design is too dense. Later experiments using a smoother yarn, knitted in open lace proved to be much more successful.