Rowan Knitting & Crocheting Magazine 58: A Review (Part 1)

Rowan has published issue Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine, issue 58. Let's take a look at it, shall we? Or rather, let's take a look at the first half of it. As there are 39 patterns in it, I will be splitting the review into two parts, with the second half to be published tomorrow.

Colonsay. The stitchwork in this crocheted jacket is awesome, but I do wish it had a better shape.

Fingle. Nice piece. Varying the widths of stripes and using a sophisticated colour palette always does raise the basic striped sweater to a whole new level.

Scilly. Speaking of raising the striped sweater to a whole new level, this designer has incorporated an unusual texture, gorgeous yarns, and great shaping to make a really lovely piece.

Eddystone. Lovely classic menswear piece.

Ulva. Nice jacket. It has a vintage-y appeal.

Anglesley. A very attractive new twist on the Fair Isle sweater.

Guernsey. This one is a Kaffe Fassett design, and it's visually striking while still being something even quite a conservative man would wear.

Mersea. Really good texture in this one, though the colourway is a little lacklustre.

Hayling. This is attractive except for the cropped length, which throws the proportions off.

Unst. The Fair Isle pattern here is good, but the sweater is so large it's overwhelming the model. The dropped shoulders and oddly placed pockets aren't helping.

Lindisfarne. This is perhaps a little busy. I'd work the middle panel as directed and nix the "reverse Fair Isle" stitchwork used on the body in favour of something plainer.

Alderney. What a lovely leaf motif. The shaping is good too.

Sark Wrap. Nice piece, but it would look better on a couch.

Yell. A slightly variegated yarn gives this simple ribbed sweater more interest.

Jersey Hat and Scarf. The subtle stripe of the yarn used is what makes this otherwise basic set.

Gale Pattern. Love the slip stitch effect used here, but I would definitely raise the dropped shoulders and add waist shaping. This piece is terribly unflattering even on the model.

Iceberg. The cabled pattern and the yarns used here are lovely, but this is another design that could do with reshaping.

Blustery. Classic cabled pullover. And I promise you that there's no need to liven up a classic piece like this by going with David-Bowie-in-Labyrinth hair. You can have more faith in a classic cabled sweater than that. Really.

Glacier. These larger cables make for a new twist on the classic cabled pullover.

Nippy. Love this classic turtleneck, which looks luxuriously comfortable.

Aurora Borealis Mittens: A Review

In this post we're going to have a look at Aurora Borealis Mittens, written by Shannon Okey and published by Cooperative Press, the publishing company that Okey founded.

In the interests of full disclosure, before I get started on the review, I should probably say that Shannon Okey and I are both longtime members of Metafilter.com, though I don't think we've ever had any more direct contact there than that of commenting on each other's posts. But as I informed myself a little more about Okey's work preparatory to writing this post, and found out that, besides heading up her own publishing company, she has a long string of craft books to her credit and was formerly a columnist for knit.1 as well as editor of the British knitting magazine Yarn Forward, it amused me to recall that the Metafilter community, at least in its early years, was sometimes considered by outsiders to be a bunch of slacker nerds typing away in their mother's basements with Cheeze Doodle-stained fingers. While we may have some members like that, we also have a lot of very accomplished members who, like Okey, are very productive high-achievers in real life with their own not inconsiderable online following. Not incidentally, the crafting community is well represented on Metafilter.

But to get to the review. Aurora Borealis Mittens offers some sound and even creative advice on technique, offering knitters a number of ways to customize its patterns. There are no fewer than seven cuff options detailed in the opening pages, along with mitten-specific advice on how to swatch and wet block, and a tip on how to economize on expensive hand-dyed yarns (by sharing a large skein with another knitter who is also making mittens).

Solveig Mittens. Pretty, and super warm, thrummed mittens. I like that an old rose was used for the thrummed stitches, as they look like little hearts.

Sigrún Mittens. These mittens are actually liners intended to be worn inside another pair of mittens. Very practical for those whose blood tends to run cold.

Fannar Mittens. These mittens are felted and can be embroidered after being felted. They're very plain. These are meant to be worn as an outer mitten (with or without a liner) so I'd want to either use the embroidery technique or go with a more interesting yarn.

Thora Mittens. From the pattern description in the book: "These mittens are named after a specific Thora: Þóra Borgarhjörtr, one of Ragnar Loðbrók’s three wives. Ragnar, who you may know from History Channel’s excellent series Vikings, was actually a historical figure, and married to one of my foremothers." Way to name drop that impressive little ancestral factoid into your mitten pattern book, Okey! Pretty pattern. I think I would want to make the cuff a little longer than they are on the samples. These are longer length mittens than is usual (Okey is making sure there's no bare wrist exposed between the wearer's sleeve and mitten cuffs, which I'm on board with), and the short cuff makes the proportions look a little off to me.





Nordic Stars Mittens. These are back of the hand and palm-side versions of this pattern, done in different colourways. It's a pleasingly intricate pattern.

Aud Mittens. Love the play of colour against the pale bluish-gray background here.

Halldora Mittens. The pattern in this one (and the zig zag stripes on the palm) shows to good effect in the white and teal used here.





Aslaug Mittens. Love the contrast from front to back and detailed cuff used here. Don't love the pointy mitten tips. I know that's a standard feature of mitten design, but it always looks so silly and awkward to me.

Eydis Mittens. The black devices are supposed to look like spears but look a little too much like spiders to me here. If they look that way to you too (and you're not into spiders), going with a different colourway should solve that problem.

Astrid Mittens. These have a striking, graphic appeal to them.

Iðunn's Garden Mittens. The colours used here are gorgeous and work really well with the floral pattern. They make Iðunn's garden sounds like a fabulously exotic and vivid place that I would want to visit.

Freydis Mittens. Very pretty and inventive interpretation of the snowflake pattern.

Sindri Mittens. Bold star pattern, and this colourway really makes it pop.

Dagmar Mittens. "Flowers reaching for the sky" on one side, and "a restrictive gate" on the other side. These seem like the perfect things to wear on a skating rink date with a beau one is feeling iffy about.

Gulla Mittens. Pretty pansy and striped pattern mittens.

Nordic Stars Tam. And finally we have a bonus hat pattern, to help you use up the yarn left over from your mittens, and that you did not want to have to share with another knitter. You could adapt this pattern to suit any motif from any of the patterns above.

Conformity and Deformity and other Knitting Fables

Sim, Mim, and Jim felt their planned road trip to New York (and subsequent intended taking of the children's public broadcasting scene by storm), required just the right knitwear.

Pippa was thrilled that she had found a way to marry two of her greatest loves: knitting and rug hooking.

Ursula's latest design was not only a deconstruction of postmodern society's tension between conformity and deformity, but also a vehicle for smuggling contraband across international borders.

Frazer struggled not to cry as he walked down the runway. He'd finally realized that his girlfriend's conception of high fashion sailing attire meant she did not and never would share his passion for and rudimentary knowledge of sailing. There are no butterflies at sea.

Melantha and Lance loved their new double bikini and felt it did almost as much to strengthen the bond between them as their cherished two-seated Love Toilet.

Thomasina, whose ears were very sensitive to the cold, had long been working towards her design goal of making a chic, adult version of earmuffs, and thought she'd finally nailed it. Putting the connecting strap under the chin instead of across the head had been key.

Hope, whose design muse was Frida Kahlo, had created the latest in a series of looks that represented what she thought Frida Kahlo would be wearing if she were alive today. This particular one was "what Frida would wear if she were into pom poms and were having everyone over to drink pitchers of Agua Frescas and watch Orange is the New Black".

Fawn's design muse was Judy Jetson, and this was her "Judy is stricken by a migraine and the pain relieving ray gun is broken" look.

Gramps had just reassured Chet III that of course his will stipulated that his extensive collection of knitwear and silk scarves as well as the buttoned red leather wing chair were to be part of Chet's inheritance.

Jamie and Dolores, two public school teachers currently on mandatory leave of absence and "under observation" at their local hospital's psychiatric unit, used their craft time to create caftans that were visual representations of sieve-like young minds, futile blackboard scribbles, and worn out blackboard erasers. Those hospital gowns were pretty depressing and embarrassing, after all.