Knitscene Winter 2015: A Review

The Knitscene Winter 2015 issue is out. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

The Queen Street Sweater. This is the cover design, and I can't say I agree that it deserves to be so featured. Despite the fact that this design employed a good quality silk, wool, and mohair blend yarn, it looks slightly shrunken and ratty and like something you'd keep for wearing around home. Incidentally, this sweater and the following five designs were given Toronto-related names as the two sisters who designed them are based in Toronto. Queen Street West is Toronto's street fashion, vintage clothing, and textile district; I go down there quite regularly to buy yarn, fabric, or other sewing supplies. Admittedly, one does see understated clothes like this on Queen Street West. It's not Yorkville, which is the high-end fashion district.

Bay and Gable Tunic. This one's better and has a rather nice, polished look. The bracelet-length sleeves and tunic length won't be to everyone's taste but are easily altered. The Bay and Gable name refers to an architectural style that is ubiquitous among Toronto's century homes.

Deep Woods Toque. Cute! I like the leaf motif and the thin line of colour with the matching pom pom. This design must have been inspired by the fact that one cannot live through a winter in Ontario without a toque.

Casa Loma Jacket. Not bad. This would make a nice topper for a cool day. I think I'd shape it a little more generously so it would meet in the front, as it looks a little too small on the wearer this way. I suppose the gray stone-like texture relates the sweater to Casa Loma, Toronto's one and only castle, a Gothic revival style mansion erected a century ago by a Canadian millionaire.

Yorkville Wrap. Attractive and polished wrap. This model would look quite apropos strolling around Yorkville, which as I mentioned above is Toronto's high-end fashion district, the Toronto equivalent of New York's Fifth Avenue.

Little Norway Pullover. A simple yet finished-looking and wearable design. The sweater is both a Norwegian-esque style and has a design that resembles military uniform chevrons, both of which tie it thematically to a bit of Toronto history I had never happened to hear about, the existence of Little Norway, a WWII-era Toronto training base for Norwegian air force personnel.

Red Loop Pullover. Classic cabled men's pullover.

Kaolin Tunic. Love the detailing on this (the collar looks fantastic), but am less than enthusiastic about the shaping. Very loose tunics like this tend to be unflattering on a lot of women. I'd turn this into a standard fit sweater, or at least make it not more than slightly oversized.

Field Notes Cardigan. I like this piece but am not sure about that slightly off-centre front fastening. It doesn't look quite asymmetrical enough to look deliberate and looks more like a mistake than a design feature.

The Hepsemantic Sweater. Nice piece. I like linear quality of the stitchwork, which gives a basic design a distinctive look.

Trapunto Vest. Nice-looking and incredibly useful piece. It's even reversible.

Chamei Pullover. Not a bad design. I'd want to knit this one in an especially attractive variegated yarn to give it a bit of a lift.

Snowfall Sweater. Adorable, except for the neckline, which looks too unfinished for my taste.

Fire Isle Sweater. Love this twist on the fair isle sweater. This design would have been my pick for the cover. I would fix those dropped shoulders, though.

Buffalo Checks Scarf. This has both a collegiate appeal and is adult enough for anyone well past their college days to wear. Also this looks like a great stash-busting project.

Vänskap Mittens. These look a little too juvenile for my tastes.

Northern Hat. Not a bad style, but I'm not liking how roughly the chevron motif was done.

Morphing Cowl. Wearable cowl.

Quetzal Cowl. This cowl is knitted in a scarf-like shape and then the ends are whip-stitched together to form a cowl. I'm not sure that the resulting formation works all that well. The pictures at the link provided show the cowl worn several different ways, and they all look more like something that belongs in a magazine spread rather than a style one would wear in real life. The lacework is lovely, as is the yarn used.

Finial Hat. Ooh, I like this one and would totally wear it.

Hotpoint Socks. Nifty!

Pretty Crabby: An Animated Video

Check out this animated video for "Pretty Crabby", a song from the album Rise and Shine! from Caspar Babypants, aka children's music artist Chris Ballew. The video was directed by Charlotte Blacker, and it's a great and unexpected pleasure to watch a crocheted crab go to town on its guitar.

Knitty Deep Fall 2015: A Review

Knitty has released its Deep Fall 2015 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

Pierrot pullover. Simple but effective design. One could have some fun picking out the colourway for this one.

Sticky Note Pullover. Classic sweater with a bit of a twist. I'd totally make this for my man. If I had one, that is. Since I don't, I guess I'll just have to fall back on making more beautiful things for myself.

Autumn Rain Cardigan. Nicely detailed piece, though the too long and rolling button and button hole band is detracting from the overall look.

Rail Yard Cardigan. A classic and very wearable cardigan. Can't you just imagine how warm and comfortable this would be and how much you'd wear it over the years to come?





Cirriform cardigan. I'm a hard sell on this sort of draped style. It doesn't tend to present that well in real life unless you're in the habit of towing a wind machine around behind you, and it isn't all that flattering. But I must admit this is a good example of the kind. It's got great texture and the back looks very well.

Brick Wall Waterfall Pullover. I was on the fence about the centre cable on this one when I first saw it, but now I think I'm going to come down on the side of approval. This design works aesthetically and is also quite wearable.

Spaziergang mit Emil vest. A design can hardly get any simpler than this halter vest has, but the skillful shaping makes it work and lends it all the style it needs. I would want to go with a more attractive yarn choice, though.





Hopoholic sweater. This isn't appealing much. I can never get past the conviction that clothing ought to either lie smoothly or drape gracefully, rather than flapping and bulging and rucking up. I do quite like the yarn used here.

Caught in the Rigging cape and cowl. Rather a nice, polished pair of pieces, and the idea of making a matching cape and cowl set is really ingenious. The owner of two such pieces will get so much more mileage out of both of them when she has the option of wearing them separately.

Ghost Ranch Scarf. This scarf is woven. I don't weave and I don't know how many of you are weavers, but it is a very pleasing piece of work.

Tartessos shawl. Lovely bit of lacework.






Urban Tribe cowl. Oooh, this one's just plain cool. I love the concept of putting a different pattern on each side of the cowl, which will allow the wearer to change up the look of it. And the design is excellent on both sides.

Serendipia scarf or wrap. Very handsome stitchwork here.

Interlock sock. These are cute. They have a neat retro appeal, as though they are the reincarnation of a vintage sweater vest, and they'll be a great way to use up those odds and ends of fingering yarn.

Floki sock. I'm not liking these much. The texture in the leg is too afghan-like.

Penrose Toes Socks. Very nice! Loving the yarn used here.

Droste effect hat. Nice classic cabled cap. The interlaced horizontal cables are a nice touch.

Candy Kane gloves. Very much like these. They have great detailing and a vintage feel to them.

Resonator gauntlets. Classic cabled mitts.

Strong Arm cushion. In the accompanying description the designer writes that, lacking a boyfriend and with the weather getting colder, she designed and made this cushion so she could have a warm, strong arm around her. It would make me feel like I was in bed with a dismembered Popeye, but to each her own.

The Four Crocheteers and Other Knitting Fables

Edie had expected finishing her new Tutti Frutti top would cheer her up and help her forget that she'd flunked out of beauty school, but it hadn't done the trick.

Carmel felt that the drama of the glorious cascade of yarn attached to her shoulder by way of a brooch more than made up for the fact that she had forgotten to wear her "nice undies" as she had intended.

After her manager strenuously objected to her visible undies as workplace attire, Carmel came up with a new look. People in the marketing department were always told they should be positive, and what could be more positive than an outfit inspired by cheerleading pom poms?

Triplets Bill, Phil, and Dill loved to knit, but they had not spend so much time at the gym honing their physiques only to cover them up with knitwear.

The craft club best known as the Four Crocheteers weren't such gym rats as Bill, Phil, and Dill, and were therefore more inclined to go free form when practicing the needle arts.

By contrast, the knitting club known as the Kneurotic Knitters used their knitting to veil their insecurities. You don't think their ankles look fat in these outfits, do you?

Giselle always reserved one outfit for those days when she felt more than usually Kafakesque. Her Penal Colony outfit was an even more dramatic, fun look than her Metamorphosis outfit, but also more cumbersome.

Verna loved wearing her new sweater design while wearing housework. Being able to use one's sweater as both a duster and a pot scrubber was such a timesaver.

Jackson was positive his new sperm outfit would do wonders for his social life. Chicks dig a man who's able and willing to give them babies, right?

Zed oozed so much cool, he could even wear his new hoodie dress like a boss.

This is Why We Knit: A Video

Very Pink Knits asks knitters of all nationalities and ages why they knit. The answers range from the funny to the pragmatic to the moving.