Love of Knitting Winter 2017: A Review

Love of Knitting has released its Winter 2017 issue. Let's have a look at it.

Bohuslän Sweater. I like this quite a lot on the whole, and find the idea of putting the chevron details in the body of the sweater rather than in the contrast yoke where it would usually be to be interesting and unique, but I would nix the garter stitches from the stitchwork through the body and do it all in stockinette. The garter stitches don't seem to be adding anything, but are rather giving the chevrons a slightly muddled effect.

Clare Pullover. This is rather a nice piece. I'd shorten it, but that's because I don't care for tunic length items, not because there's anything objectively wrong with it.

Cliffs of Moher Vest. Not bad. Something like this can be useful for when a woman's going very casual and just wants a layer to put over a flannel shirt.

Connacht Cowl. Lovely. But then it's hard to go wrong with a cabled cowl.

Furuset Gingerbread People. Cute, but I think I'd tweak the facial expressions somewhat. The pink spot for the cheeks ought to be situated in the cheek area rather than at the ends of the mouth -- unless I've been putting my blusher in the wrong place for the last three decades.

Jagody Mittens. Nice on the whole, but I'd add a bit of cuff trim. The edges look a little unfinished and one of them is rolling up.

Jūratė Cowl. Some nice stitchwork in this.

Kattegat Pullover. Oooh, I like this one. It's so simple and wearable and yet the collar, cuffs and waistband make it so distinctive.

Ruhnu Cropped Pullover. The cropped length will show off whatever cute shirt is worn underneath, as it does on this child model, but it does have a "shrunk in the wash" look.

Sandwick Pullover. I like the overall concept of this and the shaping is good, yet somehow it's not quite pulling together, perhaps because the colours don't seem to work together that well. I think I might do this one in two yarns, rather than three, using a variegated for the main colour and a coordinating solid for the contrast colour and ribbing.

Scalloway Scarf. This is a handsome scarf that'll set off a simple outfit well, as it does here.

Scapa Flow Shawl. I'm not crazy about this one. The texture's good, and I love the yarn used here, but it looks awkward in all three of the professionally styled photos on the pattern's Ravelry page. Wraps this heavy don't tend to sit well.

Sherkin Island Shawl. An attractive, classic wrap.

Skellig Micheal Sweater. Beautiful. How I wish I had enough neck to wear a look like this!

Spitsbergen Cowl. Love the fair isle and the colourway in this, but not those clunky lines of garter stitch just inside the ribbing. They look like the knitter making this temporarily forgot which was the right side of the piece.

Tarfala Valley Shawl. Nice! I love the edging and the fact that the wrong side of this shawl would look nearly as good as the right.

Yell Island Cowl. Another attractive piece with interesting stitchwork.