It’s no big secret that I love Twist Collective, sadly I was too busy to participate in the new issue, but I’ve just had a wonderful time paging through it. Suddenly abandoning my book in progress and running away to somewhere with plenty of yarn is sounding mighty appealing because there are several designs I would absolutely love to knit. Spring / summer issues are notoriously tricky – knitting and knitwear do both seem to be more naturally suited to cold weather. I think this issue has struck a great balance between garments that you could actually wear in truly hot weather, transitional pieces that would be great on chilly summer evenings and worn well into autumn and smaller accessories that will make perfect projects to work on in the coming months.
Celandine, the cover tank by Jennie Pakula is so pretty – I love the idea of the counterpane style motifs edging the top and forming the straps but I never would have guessed they could look so delicate. The lace combined with the geometric lines of the edging and the light, drapey top make for a garment that’s pretty and feminine without being at all fussy. The straps, I also noticed, will be wide enough to obscure bra or camisole straps, which will make it much more wearable.
I’ve been watching Emily Johnson’s Family Trunk Project evolve with fascination for some time now (read the interview I did with her a couple of years ago) so it was great to see her design Anney pop up in this issue. I’m not sure yet whether this fits within the project or is a standalone piece but either way I’m looking forward to reading the story behind it.
The ballet necked tee is ridiculously adorable and would certainly fit my style, but I think it could also be quite versatile – I’d love to see it in a sophisticated green without the ribbon. The shape will flatter lots of figures and just looks like a lot of fun to knit. Just complicated enough to be interesting without being a pain – perfect. Personally I was drawn to this one because I’m currently working on a sweater that while it’s completely different features a similar stitch pattern, it’s so interesting how many possibilities there are with similar elements.
I’m sure lots of you will be traveling over the coming months and looking for small portable projects to take along, so I was delighted to see whole stories on the two types of projects I find best for traveling – socks and shawls. Even if you’re not going anywhere, the summer months tend to be a little busier and these are the perfect projects to throw in your bag, ready to pick up and put down around everything else you’ve got on. I’m not particularly into knitting socks, but last time I took a road trip (as a passenger!) I found myself making a pair. If you do love to knit socks there are some gorgeous possibilities, I’m secretly hoping that someone feels the need to make Wallflower by Stephanie van der Linden for me! So beautiful.
Of course those are probably better suited to lounging on a beach (and better make sure that cocktail is virgin), but if you need some socks that won’t require quite so much attention Sweetgrass look like a lovely option.
My favourite traveling projects are small, not too complex shawls. I knit a few, including Damson and one that’s yet to be published, while traveling last year and I think if I was really going to run away I’d take Abrazo by Susanna IC to work on on the journey. Not only is it pretty, but it looks like it wouldn’t be too hard to knit while traveling, when at least I find that my attention is always divided.
Summer however, is still a ways off, at least in Scotland. Even here, it never really gets hot and it’s always a good idea to have a sweater close by to keep cosy in the evenings (or the inevitable sudden change in the weather). There are several sweaters that will nicely fill that role and if actually knitting them weren’t an issue, I am fantasizing here after all, would be totally wearable right now. If you’re going to put the time into a sweater, it’s nice to make one so wearable. There are several more gorgeous options in the magazine, but here are the sweaters I’ll be dreaming about tonight.
Gathered round a campfire on a slightly windswept beach, I’d pull on Tonia Barry’s Goose Rocks, snuggle up and admire the lovely cable and lace details.
Admittedly I have an extensive coat collection, but after seeing Connie Chang Chinchio’s Timpani I’m certainly feeling like my wardrobe is missing the perfect jacket for when it’s too warm for a coat but I want something less casual than most sweaters. I’m lucky enough to consider Connie a friend and I did get a sneak peek of this in progress which, with it’s interesting sideways construction and cable details was terribly intriguing. I have every faith in Connie I was truly delighted by how well it turned out.
Although you were probably too busy looking through the issue to actually read this, I’d love to know what you’re dreaming of knitting and / or wearing if we could really run off and do nothing but knit.
Hi everyone, it’s Sarah again. Since I’m practically snowed-in at home in Scotland I thought I might do a bit more blog hijacking and show you a few things I’ve finished recently. There’s been lots of knitting going on and Ysolda came over to help with what turned out to be a very cold photoshoot!
This shawl is something I’ve wanted to make for a while, its Simple Things by Mary-Heather Cogar. I tried a couple of different yarns but settled on this delicious pink merino/cashmere yarn, Cariad Yarn Dale. Its a fantastic pattern for showing off a special sock yarn, I think it would look amazing in handspun too. I love the eyelet ridge detail and so added an extra repeat to use the entire skein. I managed to knit the whole thing in just two days, so it would be perfect if you were looking for a last minute Christmas gift.
I also managed to finish some more patterns from Whimisical Little Knits 2, now I only have two left to make. I promise that I have total free will on my pattern choices – there’s no arm-twisting going on here!
First was the Damson I knit while we were away on tour and finally got around to blocking, in Handmaiden Casbah in the Peridot colourway.
Then I made another pair of Snapdragon flip-tops. I’ve made these a few times for samples and as gifts so it was time for own pair. These were made in Easyknits 100% Organic Merino in the O-negative colourway.
And my Peaks Island Hood, knit in Rowan Coocon was by far the warmest thing to model! I knit this while visiting my mum in the Highlands and it was the perfect thing to keep me cosy when walking dogs on the beach. I’m blaming this one on the knitters at Once a Sheep in Gourock – I wore the original sample for a while in the shop while Ysolda was doing a book signing, and before I knew it I’d been persuaded to make one myself (I don’t think I needed much convincing.)
Secret knitting on Ysolda’s Christmas present continues, but isn’t going to be finished on time unfortunately. Hopefully I’ll be able to reveal all in the New Year!
I’ve been working on a modified version of one of my soon to be released patterns, because I thought it might be fun to show it in a slightly different style. This got me thinking about how much I love to see the ways that people modify my patterns, while I’m designing something I always end up thinking of so many different possible directions for the design and of course it’s only ever realistic for me to actually follow one or two of those. I also love how eager people are to share their pattern modifications and how easy Ravelry makes that. Sometimes people worry that I won’t like people changing my patterns, that I’ll feel precious about my vision, but that couldn’t be further from the truth – if I didn’t want people to make them their own I probably wouldn’t be publishing patterns! So here are a few of my favourite pattern mod projects, at least of the one’s I’ve actually seen – you’ve been busy, there are 500 pages to go through on Ravelry and I sadly haven’t yet had time to look through them all.
I get a lot of inspiration from children’s clothing, and have a rather childish style at times myself, so it’s hardly surprising that some of my sweaters look wonderful downsized – like this adorable toddler Coraline.
Two of the most popular modifications to Vivian are a collar and buttonbands .
Sometimes something as simple as changing the arrangement of colours slightly can add a lot to a design, I love the little stripe of the contrast colour on the edging of this Little Birds, alongwith the subtly alternating bird shades.
Here’s a cute Elijah with some contrast colour added with fabric, I love his tusks!
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/geniphyre/coraline
I quite often see cardiganized versions of pullovers, but it doesn’t seem quite so common to go in the other direction. I love these two different
ways of turning Coraline into a pullover though.
An extra special Damson with pretty lace panels incorporated into the existing edging pattern, Jill who made this even kindly shared the chart she made.
Another adorable mini Ysolda pattern mod, the chart from Little Birds is easy to insert into a basic pattern like this little boy’s vest.
Those were just a few of the many, many creative things that knitters have made from my patterns, if you’ve changed things up a little (or a lot!) in your project I’d love to see. Or maybe your inspired by what someone else has done to try making a similarly modified version of a pattern – if so, the Ravelry project notes are your friend. I love how helpful people are with their notes and here’s a tip – you can find projects with particularly helpful notes by choosing “helpful notes” in the dropdown box on the projects page for a particular pattern.
I’m delighted to announce my new collection Whimsical Little Knits Book 2. Once again you can pre-order and receive a pdf of a new pattern in the collection every week. The final book will ship on or before November the 1st and you can choose just the digital version or both the printed and digital versions.
The first pattern in the new collection is Damson and it’s available right now.
Hope you like it!
