Cast On Fall 2017: A Review

Cast On magazine has released its Fall 2017 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

A Basket of Posies. Not bad, though with its curling edges and crudely sketched-on flowers, it is a little on the rough and ready side. It's undeniably cute and the butterfly buttons are a nice touch.

A Road Less Travelled. I like this on the whole, but that collar is making me twitchy. It's supposed to be asymmetrical, but it looks merely askew.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket socks. Quite a good-looking pair of socks.

Alpine Hiking Vest. I like this piece, though I do note that the empire-waist level band won't flatter the well-endowed woman. If this vest is for a woman who requires anything larger than a B-cup, move that band down to her waist.

Baby in Basket Hat. At first glance, I thought this was some kind of little drawstring bag. It's not a bad little hat.

Color Block Tunic. I like the basic concept of a colour block tunic, but the execution didn't quite pan out. The look is too visually fragmented.

Diagonal Basketweave Cowl. A useful piece with some textural detail to keep things interesting.

English Diamonds Cowl. Pretty.

Garter Stitch Basketweave. A nice simple throw cushion.

Golden Aspen Texting Gloves. Fingerless gloves usually have a bit more finger showing than this, and the effect is a bit weird, as though the finger tips are showing because the glove fingers blew out at the tips rather than by design.

Green Aspen Arm Warmers. I'm liking these.

Hit the Road Cardigan. Oh, I like this one! Shaping and detailing are good, and those curving front basket stitch panels give the sweater visually flattering lines.

Mosaic and Slip Stitch Basketweave Pillow. That pattern has a smart visual effect.

Mr. Liss. This is supposed to be a fox, but it actually looks more like some sort of fox/anteater hybrid. Foxes' noses aren't that long.

Napoleon + Deseret Jacket. This is the cover look, and deservedly so, because that stitchwork is fabulous. It's impossible to add waist-shaping to a design like this one, but it would be possible to fix the dropped shoulders and make the sleeves neater fitting.

Orange Sassafras Texting Gloves. Here we have a little more fingertip showing, but also bunched up knitting because, I suspect, the fingers were simply too long for the model's hand. This one has a bit of pattern on the back, but it's not especially effective.

Picot Edge Table Runner. Not a bad decorative piece.

Red Maple Texting Gloves. These are just like the Golden Aspen Texting Gloves, only done in a light fingering yarn rather than in sport weight. I like the more polished look of the lighter yarn. I never like my gloves to look or feel like oven mitts.

Rib and Garterweave Pillow. This is a slight variation on the Garter Stitch Basketweave pillow above. I think I prefer the other one, because the smaller scale of the pattern gives the pillow a slightly more polished look.

Roaming Check Boot Cuffs. I can only sign off on boot cuffs when they can pass for the top of the boot. These don't.

Top-Down Market Bag. This is going to stretch all to hell as soon as one puts one's groceries in it.

Wayfarer. This has a dated, frumpy look, and zip fronts look bad when folded back so that the inner edge of the zipper can be seen, as here.

Zick Zack Fingerless Mitts. Quite like these, which are well-shaped and have a pretty colourway.

Interweave Knits Fall 2017: A Review

Interweave Knits has released its Fall 2017 issue. Let's have a look at it.

All Who Wander Cowl. Lovely. The pattern is very attractive, and I'm also enjoying the offbeat colourway.

Angelina Pullover. The yoke is good, but that is one unflattering shape.

Astral Road Ruana. That cape is one beautiful piece of work, but I can't help feeling it would show to better advantage on a couch.

Cash Pullover. Nice piece. The cabling has an Art Deco feel.

Free Falling Pullover. A very decent piece, but I can't help feeling that it needed a more finished-looking neckline.

Gold Rush Shawl. What an exquisite piece of lace.

Goldsmobile Top. This isn't such a badly designed piece -- the cables and shaping are good -- but I can't get past the thought that a heavy, turtlenecked vest isn't a concept that makes much sense.

Hank's Pullover. A very decent, wearable piece.

Highway 61 Pullover. A classic piece, though I have my reservations about the fit through the lower body -- it looks too loose and floppy in several of the pictures.

Madame George Pullover. Nice wearable piece with some textured stitchwork to keep the look interesting.

Nelson Pullover. Love this one, which perfectly integrates contemporary (the drawstring neckline) and classic (the cables) details in an attractive, wearable piece.

Prairie Wind Cardigan. I'm liking the fair isle and the hood, but that is one dowdy shape.

Subterraneans Cardigan. Beautiful, classic cardigan... that deserved better than this "sister wife" styling.





Tangled up in Gray Pullover. Nice! I especially like the back detail.

Whiskey Creek Pullover. This one isn't bad -- the shape is excellent and the shawl collar sits perfectly -- but I think it needed something a little more, like a marled effect in the reverse stockinette stitch panel.

Whitman Hat. Cute and rather eye-catching cap.

Pom Pom Quarterly Autumn 2017: A Review

Pom Pom Quarterly has released its Autumn 2017 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

Aubusson. I'm liking this one. The colour block effect is enhanced by making both colours part of each block, and the scarf is reversible, which is always advisable in a scarf.

Barbicel. That stranded pattern on the front pieces is really sharp. I'm not so thrilled with the shape of the cardigan, but that might be because these long, narrow cardigans look best on someone tall (the model is 5'8") and are hard for a shorter woman to carry off. However, if the sweater you're making is intended for a shorter wearer, it can always be shortened.

Calamus. Love this one. That colourwork is so smart and eye-catching.

Diesis. Hoo boy. I get where the designer was going with this, and it is kind of a fun, offbeat look, but it's also so unflattering and discordant to look at it that even though I know diesis is a musical term for an accidental or a mini interlude, I can't help feel as though this is a coded design you'd make for your sister if you didn't wish her well. That's how my sister would take it, anyway.

Elibelinde. I like this one, but I could do without the little protruding horn effect in the front yoke just above the stitchwork panel. It doesn't add anything but grounds to wonder if the wearer is smuggling an errant miniature reindeer in her bra.

Herati. I'm liking the unusual diamond tartan pattern in these mittens.

Overcheck. Love this cowl too. That's a bold and fun large scale check pattern.

Palmetto. Such a cute cardi. The striped contrast bands on this are fun, and the shaping is good.

Soumak. These are fetching, and as a bonus would be ideal to wear when one is a volunteer answering phones at the Red Cross.

Knitscene Fall 2017: A Review

Knitscene has released their Fall 2017 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

All Spice Cardigan. Sometimes in my reviews I say an item looks like it belongs to an exhausted and depressed homeschooling mother of seven. This is definitely a design from that look book. In this case, mom has not bothered even to dress, but simply threw a shapeless, stretched out, baggy sweater on over her nightgown, and by the end of the day it'll have pablum and peanut butter smeared on it somewhere.

Arkins Poncho. I'm not a big poncho fan, but this sits fairly well, and that stitchwork is fantastic.

Ashes Cardigan. This looks like a not particularly happy marriage between an 1980s Shaker knit and 1990s grunge style.

Blake Shawl. And here we have the cover design. The texture's great.

Brighton Hat. Cute cap.

Chili Pepper Cardigan. The stitchwork around the front edges and cuffs is lovely, and it's pretty well-shaped, but it does concern me that the model is pulling or holding the edges in place in every shot.

Cranberries Cardigan. This has such an awkward, lumpy look.

Fleet Cardigan. This looks baggy and as though the knitter who made it didn't quite have enough yarn to knit a full-length band around the front edges and decided to make do and pass it off as a design feature.





Hills Cardigan. This sweater, which is worked in two flat pieces, presents as combination of a shawl on top and a cardigan down below. And I like the concept, but I do wish the lower half of the cardigan fit better.

Logan Mitts. A simple, useful pair of mitts.

October Cardigan. This one looks as though it was pieced together out of scraps of knitting.

Seeds Cardigan. This one wouldn't be so bad if the dropped shoulders were fixed, but it's nothing special either.

Walnut Cowl. I like the texture on this, but don't like those unfinished, curling edges. I'd put a seed stitch border on this cowl.

Weston Socks. Classic pair of ankle socks. Which I would not pair with a pair of ankle strap stilettos.





White Smoke Cardigan. Some beautiful detailing on this one. The back looks great. I still wish the body were a bit better shaped, but out of an issue of inexplicably frumpy cardigans, this one is the best.

Wynkoop Cuffs. These boot cuffs aren't bad so far as their cables and ribbing goes, but putting fringe on boot cuffs will make the wearer look as though she's recently been wading shin-deep in a swarm of rats.