I think Nicky Epstein is the most underrated knitwear designer working today. I currently have four of her books out from the library and am going to save up to buy three of them (Knitted Embellishments, Knitting On The Edge, and my favorite - Knitting Over The Edge.) Maybe she isn't given enough credit because of *what* she knits. Sure, most of us don't have a great need for a 3-dimensional round pillow shaped like a golf ball (with dimples just like a golf ball has) but she had to have a lot of knitting knowledge to figure out how to do it.

I think intarsia is currently even less popular today than stranded color knitting (if such a thing is possible!) but she's never afraid to do huge intarsia projects like the incredible Regal Tapestry Afghan in Knitting For Your Home. Here in my house I've officially declared it "Nicky Epstein Appreciation Week."

Anyway, I was looking through her books and thinking about knitted ruffles. I wanted some on the cuff of a mitten I'm knitting. Most knitted ruffles are done at the end of a knitted item, not when you cast on. They essentially are just a lot of fabric rapidly decreased so I cast on double the stitches I was planning on using. I knit a few rows, then cut the stitches in half by decreasing (K2TOG across row). I ended up getting a basic ruffle as seen here.




I hate the design I charted though so that part is being ripped out as soon as I finish typing this.