Friday, February 26, 2010

Friday pattern roundup

Today I’m inaugurating what I hope will be a weekly feature here on the blog – a roundup of the best new patterns I see each week. Just a few, because I don’t want to overwhelm you!

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Let’s start with a free pattern, Mary Rourke’s Lusekofte-sque MittsThese would be great as a first stranded colorwork project. Sportweight alpaca in two colors, nicely flared cuffs, traditional Norwegian colorwork. Separate charts for the two mitts, so the patterning is symmetrical. Available on Ravelry (free download). This pair was knitted by Liz.

image How about a baby sweater? Nikki Van de Car’s free Maile cardigan is simple and incredibly cute. It’s a button-front raglan worked in one piece from the bottom up. Very springy in bright green, with eyelet flowers around the hem and leafy lace along the raglan lines. Tidy garter-stitch edges are just right.  Needs just one 100-gram skein of sock weight yarn. Written in one size, 3 months, but wouldn’t be difficult to size up.

We have to have at least one lace shawl. I love Luiza, new from Jane Araujo. Top-down triangular shawl with unusual, very pretty border at bottom. Requires 450-500 yards of fingering or laceweight yarn; $5.00, available as a Ravelry download.image
Now, two patterns from new books. First, whimsical stranded colorwork mittens – with kangaroos on them!  Wonderful. The roos are full of energy - not one chart repeated three times, but three different poses. Appropriately enough, these were designed by Barbara Giguere for a new book by Gail Callahan aka the Kangaroo Dyer: Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece. Go to the Ravelry pattern page for a peek at the palms.image And from Nancy Marchant’s new book on brioche stitch, Knitting Brioche, the Haarlem jacket, an elegant striped cardigan in neutral colors that would look good on almost anyone – or on the runway, for that matter. The subtle color play and asymmetrical collar are very chic.image
And to finish up, there’s a great new collection from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in Washington called Churchmouse Classics. Eleven patterns in the group; my favorites are the simple stockinette infinity scarf in Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze, knitted on the bias (Mohair Bias Loop) and a cashmere beret, but all these patterns by Kit Hutchin are winners – there’s a beaded beret in one skein of Koigu, a Koigu linen stitch scarf, and more.  Available either as printed patterns or PDF downloads. You can order directly from Churchmouse.

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So there’s some inspiration for the coming week. If you come across something new that you think I should mention, drop me a line – I’ll be glad to hear from you.

I’ll be spending quality time with Bohus sweaters at Stitches West on Sunday – I’m taking Susanna Hansson’s all-day class on them. I’ll report next week – expect beautiful Bohus photos!

3 comments:

  1. Wow, that Luisa shawl is gorgeous!

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  2. What a great feature! I just came across this this morning, as a matter of fact. I think it's lovely and quite clever (and free!): http://home.earthlink.net/~ardesign/knitfont.htm

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  3. Lynn - you might want to check out some other free fonts and other charting tools as well. There's a list on the Knitfinder how-to page: http://knitfinder.com/how-to.htm#charts

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