Interweave Knits Spring 2016: A Review

The Spring 2016 issue of Interweave Knits is out! Let's have a look at it, shall we?

Nash Island Shawl. A lovely piece of work.

Krokos Shawl. Another nice shawl, this time with a geometric eyelet pattern.

Catskill Pullover. Very much like this one, with its smart herringbone texture and good lines. I might raise that slightly dropped shoulder just a titch.

Hampshire Shawl. A nice-looking piece. Though I will have you know that this is not what farmgirls wear when they slop the hogs.

Blue Ridge Sweater. I like this one. There's something quite pleasing about how the lace and bobble pattern is shaped into a simple ballet neckline.

Yorkshire Capelet. Not a bad piece, though it doesn't seem to belong on this particular outfit.

Phi Cowl. The other day on Twitter, a knitwear designing friend's husband scoffed that this thing is a bib and that no one would wear it, and I have to agree.

Slippery Slope Socks. The sherbet colours are pretty and the design is cool.

Spectrum Pincushion. This is a cute idea, would use up some scraps, and as a bonus, might also help its user to remember which colour schemes are analogous and which are complementary.

Spectrum Pouf. This might be a fun piece for a kid's room.

Dorchester Pullover. Very pretty -- I love the scallop stitch front panel -- but I think I would either shorten or lengthen those sleeves. That's an awkward length.

Promenade Coaster & Trivet Set. This look a little too craftsy-kitschy and grandmotherly for my tastes, but I suppose a lot would depend on how one styled one's table. A bowl of waxed fruit and an oilcloth would take these coasters in one direction, and a funky tea set and a distressed wooden table in another.

Caldecott Jacket. This is a lovely, polished piece with one distracting flaw: the front closure sits so poorly. I'd fiddle with it and perhaps add an inner fastening to make the underlying front edge sit properly and to take the stress off the outer buttons.

Orangery Shawl. This could have looked Christmas tree skirty, but it's so carefully shaped and the colourway is so well chosen that it ends up looking like quite a visually interesting and polished-looking shawl.

Hobnail Coasters. This coaster is such an inventive and skilled piece of design that it is in much less in risk of looking kitschy as the previous coasters did.

Park Lane Coaster & Trivet Set. I'm afraid we're back in waxed fruit and oilcloth territory again.

Deanery Street Centerpiece. This one is a bib for your cake plate. I don't see why a cake plate needs a bib anymore than a grown woman does.

High Tea Doily. This is a lovely piece of work, though I don't know who uses doilies for anything these days.