Knit Simple Fall 2015: A Review

Knit Simple has released their Fall 2015 issue. Let's have a look at the simple knits therein.

Pumpkin and leaf cardigan. This is... okay. It's not great design, but it is the kind of thing that little kids relate to and look cute in. However, those leaf and pumpkin stems bear a most unfortunate resemblance to green worms and I'd go with instarsia stems.

Pumpkin and leaf scarf. Not a bad scarf for a kid. Again, though... green worms.

Pumpkin pocket pullover. The pumpkin pocket is really badly shaped and again... a green worm, this time with a really... ill-advised... placement. If you don't feel up to the task of designing a better pumpkin pocket, just leave it off entirely as this would be a perfectly nice striped pullover without it.

Pumpkin purse. This looks slapped together and the colours don't work.

Pumpkin bag. This is a bit better than the previous design, but not by terribly much. The pumpkin appliqué needs work. I'd be inclined to leave it off altogether and embellish the bag some other way.

Owl sweater with matching scarf. This is kind of cute but it does look a little on the roughly constructed side.

Owl toy. There must be better designed owl toys than this one.

Pumpkin hat. Cute and wearable.

Pumpkin.. cushion?... hassock? I don't know which. I suppose it's big enough for a small child to sit on. I don't think I'd care to have something like this sitting around my house all year, and it seems like an odd thing to make for Halloween decorations when it's neither especially attractive nor of much practical use.

Jack o' Lantern Scarf and Mitts. Basic, but cute and wearable.

Afghan. Basic, but it looks attractive enough and very cozy.

Sport pillows. Not a bad decorating touch for the sports obsessed. One could customize them to display a favourite player's or team's number or logo.

I... don't even know what this is. It looks like a knitted representation of Professor Kitzel's time machine. Are we supposed to make this thing, put it on a hassock, and watch entranced as we imagine it telling us all about Charlemagne and the elephant, or the California Gold Rush?

Afghan. Not a bad-looking piece, and it's reversible. This would be a nice one to do in a variety of colourways, or in a hand-painted yarn.

Orange and white cowl. Not bad. A more interesting and higher end yarn and button choice would do a lot for it.

Orange and white cowl with cables. I liked the previous one better. Those cables give it the look of a foundation garment that has wandered away from where it was supposed to be.

Triangle afghan. This is a little too grandma's parlour for me, but a better colourway could do a lot for it.

Tasseled afghan. Again... not a bad design, but a very uninspired colourway.

The granny square goes big and goes home. Not bad.

Simple striped cap. This is rather a nice basic piece, though I bet most male wearers would prefer it sans pom pom.

Basic striped hat and scarf set. It'll do.

They've done something a bit different with the stripes here, to good effect.

Dead basic shaker knit cap. Which many men would prefer to wear because it'll keep his ears warm and doesn't make him feel like an idiot and that's all he asks of a hat.

Interesting texture on this one. I'd go with a better integrated colourway and omit the pom pom.

Rather a nice-looking hat with a bit of visual interest.

Simple ribs in two colours. Nice, though again the pom pom seems like a bit much.

Basic hat in two greens that don't quite work together.

Simple striped sweater. This is wearable, and a more interesting colourway would really elevate it.

Classic cabled pullover. I'd fix the slightly dropped shoulders and add waist shaping to give it a little more style.

What I can see of this looks promising.

I like the chevron texture, but this needs waist shaping and the dropped shoulders should be fixed.

Cute, wearable, nicely textured hat for either gender.

Color Wheel Knits: A Review

Today we're going to have a look at Color Wheel Knits: Knits for Hand Dyed Yarns, written by Veera Välimäki and published by Cooperative Press. Cooperative Press has authorized me to give away an e-copy of the book to one lucky reader, so if you're interested in possibly scoring that copy, please visit this blog's Facebook page for details.

Concrete pullover. Nice one! As someone who can't wear a turtleneck, I do love a cowl neck. Between the cap sleeves, cowl neck, and waist shaping, this pullover has some good, flattering lines going on. Good use of texture too.

Spruce Cap. Cute, and the use of a two-tone chevron stitch to evoke the shape of spruce needles is really inspired.

Tin Soldier. Not so taken with this one. It looks awkwardly proportioned and unfinished.





Green Cables Cardigan. Adorable! It's simple yet has lots of style and would look just as good over a dress as it would over jeans or leggings.

Fine Jacket. Not liking this one much. The front "pleats" look more like poor workmanship than like a successful design.

Ground Vest. I'm not a big fan of this style, but if you like the open front, long, sleeveless vest style, this isn't a bad example of it. It has decent lines and the quality of the yarn used here really upgrades it.

Little Miss Frill top. This looks both baggy and rumpled.

Classic Cables Hat. Cute basic hat.

Little Red hooded cardigan. Very basic, but it has good lines and the yarn choice makes it.

Wonder Stripes pullover. Not thrilled with this one. The broken stripe pattern is interesting, but the neckline is a clumsy shape and the colourway could have been better. Something higher contrast would have done more for this design.

Afloat in Red Cardigan. This looks like someone's old, stretched out "around home" sweater. It's unflattering and frumpy.

Stripe & Cable Mittens. Cute. The two-tone effect used here works really well.

Bric-a-Brac Hat and Cowl. This is a handsome and not unstylish set.

Color Block top. This piece has good lines and a finished look, but the patch of yellow at the hem has that "I ran out of yarn as I was desperately trying to finish this piece on Christmas Eve and grabbed a random skein from my stash" look. I'd forget about this sad attempt at colourblocking and instead add stripes or some sort of other repeating design in a contrast colour.

Button Back Pullover. I like the idea of bridging two colours with a two-tone garter section, but am not sure about the back buttoned effect, which when viewed from the hindside makes this young boy look as though he might be wearing a girdle.

Knit & Purl Mittens. These look well-shaped, and a simple use of stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch gives them some texture.

Skyline sweater. Simple and sleek. I'd be inclined to lengthen this one and turn it into a dress.

Freezing Point sweater. This is pretty wearable. If the intended wearer is less hipsterish than the model, a change of buttons would turn this sweater into something suitable for the more conservatively dressed man.

Grid Plan Cowl. Lovely and simple and really sits well.

Be Mine Cardigan. Nice piece with some distinctive lines.

Cable Scarf. Lovely classic piece that any man would be glad to wear, unless he's one of those cave men types who insists on going out in sub-zero weather half-dressed because he believes his manly chest hair will keep him warm. Yes, there are several of those men in my family, why do you ask?

Beetle Cap. Very cute. The herringbone stitch and the visor really set this cap apart from the run-of-the-mill knitted cap.

Gauge This

One of the most useful tools a knitter has is the knitting needle gauge, which is a tool for measuring the size of a knitting needle. There are various styles of gauges available for sale, and in this post we're going to have a look at some of them.

The Knitter's Rule handcrafted bamboo gauge above is probably one of the cutest I've seen, but sadly for those of us who might want one, the Etsy seller who made the Knitter's Rule gauges has retired from Etsy.

This is the utilitarian and widely available Susan Bates needle gauge. It's the one I have, and though it may be unexciting aesthetically, it could hardly be bettered in terms of its utility. The built-in rulers and gauge measure are very handy, and besides providing both metric and U.S. knitting needle sizes, it also measures crochet hook sizes, and as it's made of metal it's extremely durable. My one quibble is that it doesn't have U.K. needle sizes on it, but then no gauge that I've seen has all three.





These owl and Dr. Who-themed gauges are made by the Etsy vendor Tangerine Designs, who also makes gauges in sheep and hedgehog shapes. They aren't quite as useful as the Susan Bates gauge because they only have either metric or U.S. needle sizes and have little measuring capacity, but they are undeniably adorable.

This laser cut plastic Swift needle gauge was made by Etsy vendor Hipstrings. There are a lot of handmade and vintage gauges for sale on Etsy, so it's worth a browse through their listings if you'd like a gauge that is styled like your spirit animal or favourite theme.

Malojos.com offers those of us who feel married to our knitting this sterling silver needle gauge ring, which measures knitting needle U.S. sizes from 0-8.

Of course, if knitting needle gauges are too old school for you, there is an app for that.

If any sort of needle gauge isn't in the budget right now, here's a free needle gauge chart from Twisted Angle. Just print it off their web site at 100% and you'll be in the needle gauging business.