Monday 23 December 2013

Creative Knitting Spring 2014: A Review

Creative Knitting has just published its Spring 2014 issue. Two days before Christmas may not seem like the most apropos time to start thinking about spring knitting (and I'm typing this minutes after reaching home following an umbrella-less walk through freezing rain), but I suppose it's never too soon to begin browsing through the next season's patterns and dreaming of future projects. Let's have a look.





Rather like this Accent on Asymmetry pattern. It's simple and I can think of a number of ways to style it, including wearing it as a beach cover-up.





The Crossover pullover would be fine except for whatever's going on with that hem. I assume that's a sort of reverse engineered asymmetry that's supposed to look stylish, but it just looks like a mistake.





Ethereal Delight. This sweater looks pretty good on this model, but given the clinging fit and the wide open front I suspect it's one of those sweaters that will only flatter a model-type figure and be rather brutally uncomplementary on the rest of us.





The Quickie Cardigan. Don't care for this one, which looks like it's full of dropped stitches, and will catch on everything, which will make it look like it's full of pulled dropped stitches.





The Serendipity Poncho. I think this one might work if it weren't done in such an afghan-like yarn. Knitted in a colour or a neutral, and worn over the right outfit, this might actually have a bit of style, but here it looks like the model should be accessorized with throw pillows.





Bath Time for Baby washcloths. These could be a pretty and useful addition to a bathroom, even if you don't have a baby.





The Take it From the Top Cardi. Not a bad little baby cardigan.





The Double Take Tunic. This looks rather unflatteringly baggy, and I don't like the muddy colours used here. I'd reshape it to a closer fit, shorten the sleeves, and use a more striking colour scheme.





The Kathryn Vest. This vest isn't the kind of thing I'd normally like at all, but I kind of like it in this instance. It hangs well and has an interesting texture. I'd do it in a less off-beat colourway, though. The shaping and texture give it all the visual interest it needs.





The Polka Dot Tabard. I can't sign off on this one. The baggy shape, naive pattern and child-like colourway make it look like something a kindergarten teacher would wear when she's given up on looking her best and is simply looking to wear something that will amuse the kids.





The Pop Art Afghan. I rather like this one, though I am imagining it in different colourways. It has a modern, desconstructed appeal.





The Ripple Effect top. I just can't deal with this retina-searing colourway, but I think I might like the style if it were done in an attractive one. It's a striking new approach to the empire waisted top.





The Seeds and Stripes infinity scarf. I rather like this cowl, though it wouldn't be my idea of spring wear, even in cotton.





The Skysong shawl is very pretty, and would make an interesting wrap for a simple summer outfit.





The Super-Simple Ombré Colorwork cardigan. I quite like this little summer cardigan, which is a kind of simplified Fair Isle look. It has a smart, sporty look.





The Cates top. This isn't bad. I'd consider knitting it all in one colour. The three colours make it look a little choppy.





The Columbine Cardigan. This one's classic and elegant, and yet interesting.





The First Lace Cowl is very pretty.





The Meandrous Tunic. Love this one. It's beautiful and eye-catching, and yet totally wearable.





Can't say I like the One Skein, Two Hours lace scarf, but it very well be the Taco Bell colourway that's putting me off. I wish I could get a closer look at the lace work.





The Sublime Shibori Shawl looks like a lovely piece of work.





The Bits & Pieces and Color-Dipped Leaves... what am I supposed to call this? A "design"? A "necklace"? Because it looks like something a small child brought home from summer camp and proudly presented to his or her mother, who accepted it as graciously as possible and then quietly made it disappear a few months later after it had been safely forgotten.





The Color-Block Headband. I see we're still looking at summer camp crafts, although this is one the mother can at least bring herself to wear a few times (around home) before making it disappear along with the necklace above.





A selection of knitted collars. Top left: On the Side. Top right: Pretty in Picot. Bottom left: She's So Edgy. Bottom right: Understated Simplicity. Knitted collars like these aren't bad little accessories if you put them with the right outfit and are the girly type who can carry them off.





The In the Nick of Time Neckerchief. Can't quite see the point of this one. It's not going to provide any warmth and it's not all that attractive.

Friday 20 December 2013

Whoooo Likes Owl-Themed Knitting?


Here's a selection of owl-themed knits, for no better reason than it's my mother's birthday today and she has a thing for owls "because they're wise and they have big eyes". The sweater above is the Ari Owl Sweater, by Brandy Fortune. The pattern appears in Fortune's book Just Like Me Knits: Matching Patterns for Kids and Their Favorite Dolls.





I see the Owls sweater pattern, by Kate Davies, pop up often in the newsfeed for The Knitting Needle and the Damage Done's Facebook page because it's regularly linked to on other knitting pages. It's easy to understand why, when it's a charming little twist on the classic cabled yoke sweater. This pattern is available for £4.50(GBP).





This is the adorable Owls Baby Blanket, by Simone Rees. This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download, although Rees does request that anyone who downloads the pattern will consider donating whatever sum she or he thinks the pattern is worth to one of her suggested charities, or to another charity of the downloader's choice.





These are the Owl Mitts, by Amanda Jones. It's easy to understand the appeal of designing with owls when they're so easy to work into a cabled pattern. This pattern is available for free.






Love the dual view of the Owls In a Tree Mittens, by Fact Woman. This pattern is available for $5.95(USD).





This Night Owl toy, by Alan Dart, embodies how I feel when I'm heading off to bed, except I don't look anything like this appealing. This pattern is available for download for £3.00(GBP).





The Owlunder short-sleeved baby sweater, by Kasa Amend, is very striking and cute. This pattern is available for $3.50(USD).





These are the Moonlight Owls mittens, by Daria Sorokina. I find this offbeat colourway really appealing, but of course these mittens could be done in any colourway you wish. This pattern is available for $5.00(USD).





The Fair Owl Socks, by Friederike Erbslein, were just so cute I had to include them, although I think the pattern is only available in German. This pattern is available for €3.00(EUR)





The Hooter Hat, by Katie Boyette, will boldly declare your love of owls. The pattern appears in Boyette's book Wearable KnitWits.





This is the Owlie Bling Scarf, by Karoline Peterson. This pattern is available for $5.00(USD).

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Bergère de France Magazine 170: A Review

Bergère de France has published Magazine 170. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





#01, Bloomer. Not taken with this one. And I don't see why anyone would want to go to so much trouble to make an ugly onesie.





#02, Cardigan. This is... okay. It's too basic to be either bad or good. But Bergère de France, could you do me and all your customers a favour and stop photographing white items on a white background?





#03, Booties. Very basic booties. These might be okay for a beginner knitter, but if you're more skilled, I'd look for a cuter design. It's not like it will be a long search.





#04, Cable Sweater and #05, Cable Hat. Now we're getting to something a little more interesting. I like the combination of the blue and the taupe used here. But I don't think this concept was executed very well. That strip of cable is just plopped onto the front of this cardigan and hat without a real effort to integrate it and consequently looks rough.





#06, Rabbit Blanket. This is so simple and neutral, and yet totally cute and finished looking.





#07, Baby Nest. I'm guessing the idea here is you're supposed to put your baby in this. Most of the babies I have known would object very strongly to being put into the knitted equivalent of a FedEx envelope, regardless of how nice the texture was or whether the French word for "soft" was embroidered on it.





#08, All-in-One and #09, Beanie. This sleeper and hat set is really cute. Love the matching shoes.





#10, Dress and #11, Hat. Simple and pretty little dress. I'd want to do this in a colour, or possibly a variegated colour to liven it up a little. And I am not sold on the side placement of the pom pom. I think I'd want to put something else there, like a knitted flower.





#12, Zip Front Cardigan. Quite like this one. The little tab closure at the neck is a nice finishing touch.





#13, Bootees. Nice simple booties.





#14, Zip Up Front Cardigan. I originally thought this was a set of yarn tennis racquets and yarn ball until a reader helpfully pointed out they were supposed to be balloons. I can't say the balloons are working. They need colour and the pom pom balloon should be nixed entirely. Any motif deserves better than to be sketched so roughly on the front of an otherwise well-constructed hoodie baby sweater.





#15, Cardigan. I quite like this. The epaulettes and matching pocket welts are a nice touch, but I would leave off the top-stitching on the pockets as I don't think it adds anything.





#16, Trousers. Very basic pants. I assume they're meant to match the previous pattern.





#17, Helmet. I've reviewed this aviator cap design before and still feel the same way about it: I wish it had been made to look more realistically like an aviator cap.





#18, Wrap Cardigan and #19, Trousers. Not thrilled with this outfit. It just looks too blah and slapped together.





#20, Doll. This doll looks rather like a convicted felon version of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp and it freaks me out a little, but then maybe you think silent movie references and freaky is good. I don't know your parenting style.





#21, Openwork Cardigan. This one is your standard classic lacy baby cardigan.





#22, Mobile & Polar Teddy Bear. A hot air balloon mobile with a toy in it isn't a bad concept, but the design and colour choices employed here is uninspired at best. The bear is cute.





#23, Pushchair Blanket. This stroller cover does not look particularly well designed for the purpose, and sewing a bunch of crap all over it didn't help matters.





#24, Poncho, #25, Hat and #25, Bootees. Oh dear, did we take a wrong turn and wind up back in the seventies? The tabard-style poncho, the crude blanket stitching, and the ugly colour combination here all scream seventies, and not in a good way. Do not do this to your kid or Susan Olsen will show up at your door and try to talk some sense into you.





#26, Sleeveless Waistcoat. If you make this one for your child you're probably beyond even Susan Olsen's help. It is as ugly a pattern as any I have ever seen, and let me tell you, I see plenty of patterns.





#27, Boot-Style Bootees. These are at least inoffensive, though I may be too worn down by the previous several patterns to be sure I'm in a state of mind to judge them accurately.





#28, Teddy Bear. This isn't bad (it's hard to mess up a teddy bear), but I have seen much better-constructed bears than this one.





#29, Mouse Cushion. This one looks simply cobbled together and weird.





#30, Boat-Neck Sweater. Hand prints and bear paw prints could be cute design elements on a child's sweater, but they haven't been used well here and simply look random and rather pointless.





#31, Dungarees. These are cute. I might put bear faces on both knees instead of only one.





#32, Hooded Jacket. Not a bad little jacket. I might nix all the extraneous pom poms and tassels and just go with a single tassel in the colours used in the sweater and for the cross-stitching over the seams.





#33, Beanie & Mittens. Very nice little hat and mittens set. Love the colourway used here.





#34, Hoodie. I'd nix the blanket stitch used here and instead finish off hood, placket and hem with a strip of pattern, such as a Fair Isle or checked design.





#35, Long-Sleeved Dress. Not particularly attractive at all. Let's put it this way: if this were fabric instead of hand-knitted, it would look like a costume from a movie depicting a Depression-era orphanage, and it wouldn't be the kind of orphanage where the orphans trade wisecracks and sing in spontaneous four-part harmony.





#36, Sleeveless Dress. Not a bad little jumper, though I would cut the neckline away a little more.





#37, Cable Sweater. Basic cabled sweater. Though I wish I could figure out exactly what's going on with that collar.