Category Archives: Finds

New Favorites: Eva

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New Favorites: Eva

I’m super smitten with Julie Weisenberger’s latest little sweater, Eva. With its cropped length and open sides, it sits somewhere in between a shawl and a cardigan. I’m not 100% sure I’d like how it sits on my frame, but I like it enough I think I’m very likely going to find out. It just seems like such a simple little throw-over-anything sort of sweater, and I love the funkiness of the dangling ties. (I like it less with them actually tied.) Given that I’ve been saying for a couple of summers now that I’m eager to try her top-down set-in-sleeve method, I’m thinking this may be the one I actually knit.

The abbreviated scale of it makes me willing to tackle a fingering-weight sweater, albeit knitted on US5 needles, but a sweater quantity of fingering is the last thing you’ll find sitting in my stash. So in addition to giving me a chance to try out her method, it may also be the chance to knit with BC Garn Bio Balance, one of the yarns on my Nashville-friendly blends list. Will swatch and see!

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Over-the-top tams

Elsewhere + news to come

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Yarny links for your clicking pleasure

It’s May, and I know some of you are wondering about Summer of Basics! My apologies for the cliffhanger — I’ve been thinking about retooling it a little bit for this year and hope to have an announcement about that next week. If you have thoughts on it in between, please do leave a comment below.

And in the meantime, a little Elsewhere—

— Data nerdery in knitted form: The National Parks Tempestry Project is kind of mind-blowing (thx, DG) (photo above left)

— “How sewing improved my mental health — and restored my professional ambitions“

— Spectacular

— I love this profile of textile artist Llane Alexis (previously mentioned here)

— How to dye with osage orange (photo above right)

— Brilliant refashion

— What a treasure!

— and I’m eager to listen to this interview with Imogene+Willie cofounder Matt Eddmenson

Happy weekend, everyone. I’d love to hear what you’re working on!

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PREVIOUSLY in Elsewhere: Wool dogs and whaling wraps

New Favorites: Over-the-top tams

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New Favorites: Beret confections

Honestly, saying something has an almost confectionary quality is not normally my way of paying a compliment, but somehow I’ve fallen in love with these two new beret patterns that are exactly that. And I don’t even like berets! Although now I’m wondering why I’ve never really tried one on my beanie-unfriendly head. It could work!

These both just look like such total joy to knit, no matter whose head they might wind up on—

TOP: Western Sky by Caitlin Hunter combines cables, lace and bobbles into the more understated-yet-freespirited of the two

BOTTOM: April Hat by Courtney Kelley mixes a spot of lace, twisted-stitch faux cables, bobbles, puff stitch and a pompom into a fun-loving whole (free pattern)

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Head kerchiefs

Idea Log: Summer sweater-jacket

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Idea Log: Summer sweater-jacket knitting concept

That pic up top is my friend/colleague Cara wearing a little jacket I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I saw the photo long before I knew her. It had been designed by Hackwith Design House for my fellow Nashville small-biz owner Goodwin, and was out of my price range. I keep going back to this image thinking what a useful little thing that could be for much of year here, and it would not be hard to recreate in linen or something, but then you know when it’s summer and you long for that feeling of a sweater knit on your skin? So I’ve been pondering the possibility of a sweater equivalent in a linen-cotton blend or something. Knitting pattern designer Elizabeth Smith seems to be feeling a similar vibe with these two patterns of hers: 1979 (lower left) and Layla (lower right), which could just as easily be single-color stockinette. Either one would be a good jumping off point for a summer jacket like this.

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PREVIOUSLY in Idea Log: Everyday vest (now in progress)

Elsewhere: Wool dogs and whaling wraps

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Elsewhere: Wool dogs and whaling wraps

Hi!! I meant to have this ready to post on Friday, but last week was a week of (good) distractions and (non-tragic) complications, so here is it for your Monday enjoyment instead—

— Don’t miss this one: Andrew Sean Greer on the virtues of questionable taste (thx, DG)

— Beautiful short video of indigenous Chinese textile artists and a Chinese-American designer attempting to keep these traditions alive (thx, Angela)

— Short history of the Coast Salish wool dog, now extinct

— After combat, a veteran finds solace in sheep farming

— Kate Atherley’s dissertation on increases and their virtues

— Make your own tiny woven pouch

— Love the idea of colorwork sleeves on a solid cardigan

— This is an incredible sweater collection

— Nobody will ever crochet stones as beautifully as @resurrectionfern (bottom photo)

— And I’m super into everything about these knitted wraps for the Whaling Museum, from inspiration to execution (top photo)

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere

Photos © @isobelandcleo and @resurrectionfern, used with permission

New Favorites: Head kerchiefs

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New Favorites: Head kerchiefs

I know one of these just came up in the context of last week’s Our Tools, Ourselves interview, but I want to get it into New Favorites (which I literally reference when looking for knitting projects) and these sorts of confluences are what tend to lead me to such posts. So—

When I was going through all of my favorited shawl patterns in putting together the most recent New Favorites installment, I ran across Julie Hoover’s Walsh (top), which I had saved as a shawl pattern because it’s literally a little triangle that would also look great scaled up to shawl proportions, and even at pattern scale might double as a neck kerchief like the one I made my mom long ago and still want for myself. But when I saw it again that day, my reaction was “a head kerchief is such a good idea.” And a matter of days later, along came Denise Bayon’s Hatdana (bottom)! Now I find myself wanting to knit one of each — and why not, when they’re perfect little portable warm-weather projects.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Blankety shawl patterns

New Favorites: The blankety shawl

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New Favorites: The blankety shawl (knitting patterns)

It’s been four years since I swore off knitting shawls but, ahem, I’ve been thinking about that grand tradition of a shawl that can double as a baby blanket. So I’ve gone back through all the shawl patterns I’ve ever favorited to see if anything might tempt me into it. I’m not making any commitments, just saying these are a few that call to me, either newly or still, that seem suitable for this particular purpose—

TOP: Tensdale by Patricia Shapiro — probably my all-time favorite shawl pattern, baby friendly (nothing to poke or snag), and would look just as good in a bright color

MIDDLE LEFT: Dionne Shawl by Jeanette Sloan — on the one hand, I’m super curious to see what would happen if this motif were knitted at worsted gauge; on the other, lace plus baby fingers makes me a little nervous

MIDDLE RIGHT: Euclid by Isabell Kraemer — that is some serious cabling, especially at shawl dimensions, but looks like it’s all 1-over-1 crosses and easily memorizable, and it’s really lovely

BOTTOM LEFT: Ashby by Leila Raabe — another longtime favorite that has stuck with me, would be fun to knit but still baby-friendly fabric (See also Gansey Shawl, same thoughts)

BOTTOM RIGHT: Cloud Half Pi Shawl by Beatrice Perron Dahlen — a nice mindless pick-it-up-put-it-down project that would also let the color and yarn shine

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Leeni Hoi’s halos