#spring knitting

I saw green and growing things out on my wall yesterday, which means it’s time for the Buds and Blossoms socks! These simple eyelet lace socks celebrate the first peeks of spring after a long and cold winter, making them the ideal spring knit.

KolomanKnitShop

Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2022

This issue offers up a soothing natural palette on the cover, but along with some quiet pullovers, it also offers some strong colors too. There are a total of 18 patterns, including 12 pullovers, 2 cardigans, 1 vests, 1 pair of shorts, 1 wrap, and a bottle holder.

The sweater on the cover is the dramatic despite its pale color: it is asymmetrical, creating both one sleeve with eyelet and a deep slit up the side. Called Corrales, designed by Wei Wilkins, it is made of Cascade’s Cantata yarn, a cotton/wool blend. Make it if you want people to ask you about your clothes. 

Easier to live with is the simple rectangular pullover in pale yellow, one of my favorite colors, with a slip stitch pattern and a polo collar by Rachel Brockman called Virden. Univeral Yarn’s Magnolia which is a luxurious modal/cashmere blend in sock weight. It is a 3 out of 4 for difficult.

The wrap called Mossy Glen uses garter stitch, which is simple, and short rows, which takes more concentration, to make the 5 undulating colors in Indigodragonfly R.O. U. Sport yarn which is a wool. Kim McBrien Evans designed it and it is also a 3 out of 4.

The landscape sweater called Bayview by Syliva Watts-Cherry is one of the bold designs in this issue. Made of Debbie Bliss/Lovecraft Rialto which is a wool sport yarn, it uses some 9 colors. It is a 3 out of 4 for difficulty like the rest of these. There are easier tops as well in this issue,.

In addition, there are several interviews, an article on linen production, and another on why we should think of inches per stitch instead of the other way around when we ponder gauge, and a travel piece on the Navajo Nation in the southwest. Of course, the usual short pieces on new yarns, fashion trends, etc. 

The weather is now warm enough to get your Spring Breeze socks out! Although I could still potentially jinx it, I’ll go ahead and say that the risk of snow is pretty much gone, and spring weather is firmly established.

The first sock is complete! I'm very excited for this pattern! So far it's simple, but somehow delightfully pleasing to knit. A simple lace motif becomes the first little peek of spring in an otherwise vanilla sock pattern.

Watch for a test knit call soon!

KnitScene Summer 2020

KnitScene offers slightly simpler garments and projects and a bit more instructions than Interweave Knits, its big sister. There are sketches in the back illustrating all the techniques used to make what you find between the covers. Cotton yarns, cottons blends, and wool and hemp blends suited to warmer weather. And there are several small tops which will be much quicker to finish than the long sleeves and tunic lengths we crave in cold weather.

For the summer issue, the focus is on several lacy knits, including the cover Bluets Top by Estefania Espindola which is rated at Easy or as they put it, “Moving past scarves.” It is knitted side-to-side which means you start at the outer edge of one of the cap sleeves and knit across the body to the edge of the other on. It is literally a rectangle with a hole for your waist, arms, and neck which means you need to think about the lace stitch pattern without thinking about shaping. It is saved from hopeless boxiness by that lace pattern which creates a diagonal movement of the eye as it moves from one motif to the next. She also designed the racy Olivine Top which is slit at the sides and  ranks as Intermediate in difficulty.

Small tops continue with Jennifer Owens who adds the Gorge Tank Top in citrus orange and white stripes and this one is shaped by ribbing ranks as Intermediate too. My last image is of the Gemstones Shawl by Lana Josi which takes several colors and plays with them to create a shifting movement. There are also several longer tunics, other lace projects, more shawls, and a Wool Studio pullover with a high neck and long sleeves.

Interweave Knits, Spring 2020

Spring is upon us and the spring knitting patterns are coming out. Since I knit so slowly as a beginner, I figure I should really be working on fall patterns right now, but here goes.

This issue spotlights different fibers which makes sense as spring needs it. So you see at top made of Icelandic lambswool in natural shades of white, black, brown, and greys, the Islenska Shawl by Jennifer Miller Comstock which is only marked 2 out of 4 on the difficulty scale. Look close and you will notice that the Old Shale stitch, aka Feather and Fan stitch, is used along the multi colors. Yes, the same pattern that I muffed in my scarf that I posted yesterday.

Then there is a yellow Gilt Lace Cardigan by Susanna Ic which also used lace stitches and is more difficult because it involves shaping. That is a linen cotton from KnitPicks. More exotic is the Arctic Headband by Kate Scalzo made from Musk Ox Farm Qiviut, yes, musk ox, those big, dark brown, furry creatures with horns. You don’t shear them, you comb out their downy winter undercoats according to the accompanying article by Sophia Minakais. Extremely warm and soft. Last is the Heartwood Cardigan on the cover is made of linen yarn in the perfect spring green and designed by Donna Estin.

Old Shale Scarf in Good Morning, Sunshine

I have managed to finish my first lace scarf in time for spring. The stitch pattern is an old Shetland one according to Barbara Walker, author of several treasuries of knitting stitches. You can find several free versions of old shale scarves on Ravelry.com (also called feather and fan stitch).

If you notice the Ravelry versions look different than mine, that is because I did not know what I was doing. I found out a ways in that I was doing all of my yarn-overs backwards. It was so hard to pick up the yarn-overs on the next row that I watched a video to see if there was a trick to doing it, and realized that I had been making them backwards. Ah. I see. Oops. By doing them backwards, I made the lace holes far smaller than they were supposed to be.  

Knitting tip: when you are doing knit stitch, your yarn-over begins at the front goes over the right-hand needle and falls down the back. Thank you, Garn Studio, for your silent movies.

It’s still a pretty scarf and perfect with both my heavy and my light spring coats, and I figure other patterns with yarn overs will seem pretty easy in comparison. Stay tuned for a hat made in a harmonizing shade of hand-spun yarn.

The yarn is Knit-Picks’ bare worsted Wool of the Andes: https://www.knitpicks.com/yarn/bare-wool-of-the-andes-worsted-yarn/c/5420101

Dyed by yours truly with food coloring dyes which I learned from Gail Callahan’s book: https://www.knitpicks.com/hand-dyeing-yarn-and-fleece/p/31330

Join Ravelry.com and you can access all the free patterns, but it is a marketplace as well for patterns, yarns, you name it.