Tag Archives: new favorites

New Favorites x Idea Log: Carbeth coat

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New Favorites x Idea Log: Carbeth coat

When Kate Davies published her Carbeth Cardigan pattern back in February (photos above), it went immediately into my Ravelry favorites, and I’ve daydreamed about it often and watched all sorts of lovely examples pile up in the ensuing months. I’m especially tempted by ilo’s, Garnomera’s, VeryShannon’s and this incredibly creative mod by @suninthesixth. Like the latter, I keep thinking I want it in coat proportions — with even deeper armholes and wider sleeves, along with the longer body and, of course, some pockets. But it was just yesterday,* as I was pondering possibilities for it (in terms of both shape and stash), that it dawned on me how much it might satisfy the cocoon sweater-coat Idea Log I posted last November (sketch above). I even have a couple of good yarn options in my stash for it.

*The day we were talking about how it’s too hot to get dressed! And here I was fantasizing about sweater coats.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Textural neckwear

New Favorites: Textural neckwear

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New Favorites: Textural neckwear

Summer seems to me like the perfect time for knitting neckwear — scarves and shawls that fall just in the sweet spot on the continuum between interesting and mindless, that are portable, that don’t require you to worry about fit or to have a growing sweater in your lap, and yet last long enough to carry you through road trips or baseball practices or whatever the case may be. Plus they’re the first thing you get to use when the weather begins to cool off (or when the sun sets at the beach). So why don’t I tend to knit such things? These three recent patterns have me wondering hard:

TOP: Madison Scarf by Norah Gaughan, who must have been smirking if she happened to see that whole conversation we had about adding a back flap to the Grete dickey when this one would have been deep in the pipeline and is that very thing! A scarf with a headhole and lovely overall knit-purl texture, which can be worn a variety of ways.

MIDDLE: Adrian by Dianna Walla is a traditional scarf (designed for cotton) that takes typical colorwork motifs and renders them in purl stitches instead.

BOTTOM: Orthogonal by Emily Greene is a stunner of a shawl with a mesmerizing geometric-lace maze of a stitch pattern. I saw this on her at Squam, artfully bunched around her neck, and it made me want to be a fingering-weight shawl knitter.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Clever garter colorwork

New Favorites: Clever garter colorwork

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New Favorites: Clever garter-stitch colorwork knitting patterns

I’ve basically been asleep for four straight days (even when my eyes are open), since getting back from Portugal — I can’t get enough shut-eye or enough water, for some reason. Which means I don’t yet have my arms around the first round of Summer of Basics prize selections or how to even begin to tell you about the trip. But this is a rare summer in which, so far, the flow of droolworthy knitting patterns is uninterrupted. So can we talk about these clever garter-stitch beauties for a minute?

TOP: Picket Fence Afghan by Julia Farwell-Clay (from the new MDK Field Guide: Ease) is made up of 3-color garter-stitch blocks which somehow magically eliminate the weaving of ends and create a magnificent tapestry, which I think would be great at wrap proportions

BOTTOM: Ellsworth by Scott Rohr takes garter stitch, two colors of yarn, and short rows to a new level of magnificence

(Side note: If I owe you an email, I’m trying!)

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Dianna’s dream sweaters

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New Favorites: Dianna’s dream sweaters

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New Favorites: Dianna's dream sweaters

It’s always fun to see a designer really hit their stride, which is how I feel about my friend Dianna Walla’s recently released mini-collection, Fog & Frost. It’s five pieces that feel completely true to Dianna, and while I love the hat and the mitts, I can’t stop looking at the sweaters! They’ve got me fantasizing about sweater weather in the thick of TN summer—

TOP: Mountain Hum is a fitted colorwork yoke sweater with a slight vintage vibe, which makes stunning use of a gradient yarn in a large-scale feather-like motif

BOTTOM: Polar Night is its sweet, slouchy cousin, with a hybrid raglan-circular yoke bearing a more understated stranded design

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: A little something to knit

New Favorites: A little something to knit

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New Favorites: Graphique kerchief knitting pattern

You know I do love a little kerchief (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C) and plus — are you sitting down? — I’ve been struggling to knit lately. I can’t seem to attach to anything, and have been thinking what I need is a little something mindless and pocket-sized to have on the go.* Something quick but useful, that would give me that happy jolt of a finish, and BAM! along comes Graphique from Shibui. It’s nothing but a little stockinette square with concentric stripes, but I think if I were to knit it, I might stripe it more like that Joelle Hoverson scarf I’m always on about. In fact, I might just cast on tonight and see if I can score a little win before the yarn for my Summer of Basics sweater arrives.

I’m back from Squam, by the way — a day later than planned (hence the brief blog outage) and wildly behind on everything — so I’ll have my recap and outfit rundown for you soon.

*Of course, there’s always the Log Cabin Mitts but I seem to have stalled on my epic series for the moment. I have one pair that’s been awaiting thumbs since early March, and another pair in progress where I’m not happy with the yarn choices. So I’ve been reluctant to reach into that bag, as well!

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Summer stripes

New Favorites: Summer stripes

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New Favorites: Summer stripes

The Summer issue of Pom Pom is all about stripes, and it’s astonishing how many distinctly different ways the designers have managed to deploy them, even though the majority of the patterns are simple little summer sweaters! My favorite details among them:

TOP: Anna Maltz’s swingy little Tarmac tank with it’s striped edging!

MIDDLE LEFT: Tina Tse’s simple little Deauville with it’s perpendicularly striped hem

MIDDLE RIGHT: Gina Rockenwagner’s deft plaid Anni

BOTTOM: Amy Christoffer’s log-cabin inspired Riley (I am obsessed with this photo!)

BELOW: And the cross-hatching on Julie Knits in Paris’s Vasarely wrap

New Favorites: Summer stripes

PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Thea Colman on a roll

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New Favorites: Thea on a roll

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New Favorites: Thea Colman knitting patterns

The lovely and talented Thea Colman seems to have really hit her stride lately. Witness these three recently released patterns:

TOP: Brennivin is a gorgeous and cozy cardigan with a narrow shawl collar (pictured unfolded) and just a little bit of non-lacy lace patterning up around the shoulders

BOTTOM LEFT: Oban Sweater is the pullover version of her Oban hat, with such a simple but highly effective stitch combination — even more effective spread out across a sweater

BOTTOM RIGHT: Water is a Flint MI fundraiser in the form of a hat pattern — a fabulous cable hat at that. All proceeds are going to help kids affected by the water crisis in Flint, via an initiative led by an 11-year-old — just go read about it! And there’s also a campaign afoot to actually knit hats for these kids; more on that in Thea’s Ravelry group.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Sweatshirt sweaters

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