December’s Art Deco pattern is something for the home. The Lyle Owl Pillow is a stranded pillow worked seamlessly from the bottom up and then grafted closed over a pillow form.
This charming owl was inspired by the ones looking out from what is now an Elephant & Castle pub in Toronto. Back when the building started out, it was a bank branch designed by John MacIntosh Lyle. I’ve shown some of his work before on the blog. Like so many of his bank buildings, it’s full of Canadian plants and wildlife, among other things.
This design is worked in worsted weight, so it’s a fairly quick knit. I used just a touch more than 1 skein of the dark yarn (SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Worsted in Charcoal) and a little less than 1 skein of the light yarn (same yarn in Silver).
This pattern had a bit of a rough beginning. I printed off a picture of the owl as large as I could and taped it to the large patio window to try to sketch out the lines that I felt were important. That seemed to take me ages before I was satisfied. The first draft that got knit was not quite square and it certainly was not as pleasing as what I finally ended up with. I’m glad I stuck with this one, as it’s now one of my favourites.
This concludes my year-long adventure of releasing a new Canadian Art Deco architectural knitting pattern a month. This project was in the works for a few years, and I’m looking towards the next phase. I’m currently working on a way to turn these patterns into a physical book, which is both exciting and daunting!
The Lyle Owl Pillow is available on Ravelry for pattern: $6 USD 
Canadian Art Deco Knits e-book subscription: $25 USD
