In a world of 235,147 knitting patterns — and that’s just the ones listed on Ravelry at the moment! — it can be shockingly difficult to find good basics. I mutter about this to myself all the time when doing Knit the Look or fielding pattern recommendation requests, where classic shapes and styles are routinely called for and I can’t just say “make it up” all the time! Maybe basic doesn’t stand out enough to sell patterns, who knows, but I’m thrilled that there are a couple of new collections this winter featuring some very good, timeless, hardworking sweaters. The first being yesterday’s Brooklyn Tweed Winter ’16 collection, where among an assortment of lace and such appeared these new classics:
TOP: Cadence by Michele Wang is a mix-and-match pattern for a super basic raglan sweater with textured body and stockinette sleeves that can be done as a crewneck, V or turtleneck, with varying sleeve and body lengths
MIDDLE LEFT: League by Veronik Avery is a great take on the always-popular sporty look that sounds like it involves some fun construction
MIDDLE RIGHT: Tallis by Michele Wang is a nicely-shaped drop-shoulder pullover with a little bit of not-too-decorative stitchwork along the seams (that could also be omitted)
BOTTOM: and Snoqualmie Cardigan, also by Michele Wang, is an iconic cabled shawl-collar cardigan (a worthy follow-up to Bellows)
By the way, for everyone who lamented the difficulty in getting ahold of that Naxos pattern I posted about last spring, Snoqualmie is a great alternative — you could easily knit it with or without the shawl collar.
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