A Look Back: 2017

Like so many of you, I have continued my obsession with knitting and yarn.  I think there has to be some kind of Ravelry record set this year for the number of patterns published.  It seemed like everyday new patterns were popping up on the Ravelry Pattern page.  It was hard to keep up.  I have enjoyed checking out all the new patterns and yarn throughout the year and the size of my queue is ridiculous.  There are just so many patterns I want to knit.  I think we can all agree that 2017 will be remembered as the Year of the Fade thanks to Andrea Mowry.

I present to you my annual round up of favourites for 2017.

Best Yarn Shop:  Haus of Yarn, Nashville, Tennessee
The variety of yarn, the size and warmth of the store, and quantity of knitted samples was impressive.  I would highly recommend this store to anyone visiting the Nashville area.  You can read about my visit here. 

Just a sample of what Haus of Yarn carries (Wool & Boon and Old Rusted Chair)

Feyre Shawl by Shannon Cook:  one of the many samples at the store

Best Sweater/Cardigan:  Camira by Carol Feller. 
I love this cardigan's unique construction and how well it fits.  It is a sweater I wear on a weekly basis, and I think it would look great knit in many different yarns.  

Camira by Carol Feller

Best Yarn Brand:  Woolfolk
I have knit a number of accessories in this yarn and love everything about it.  It is incredible to wear, and my dream would be to knit a cardigan in this yarn.  I would never take it off.

On the C Train knit in Woolfolk Fär

Best Yarn Colour:  Maize by Tanis Fiber Arts (Purple Label)
One of my favourite things to do is to photograph yarn.  When you have a colourway that looks like this, it is an absolute joy.  Tanis outdid herself when she created this colourway specifically for Knit City 2017.  

Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label:  Maize colourway

Best Knitted Accessory:   Deep Woods Toque by Kiyomi Burgin. 
My favourite accessory was a hat I knit for my daughter, using Tanis Fiber Arts' Purple Label Yarn, combined with Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock.  I love everything about this hat.  The colour combination and finished product makes me so happy.

Deep Woods Toque

Yarn That Impressed Me:   Gauge Dyeworks Merino Twist Classic (colourway All Together Now) 
I knit Martina Behm's very popular Hitchhiker using this beautiful colourway.  I love how the yarn colour switches back and forth.  I think the dyer behind this yarn is super talented.  Just have a look at the shawl below to see what I mean.

Gauge Dyework Merino Twist Classic

Hitchhiker Shawl

Best Knitting Instagram Feed:  1. Clara Parkes (Instagram stories)
If you haven't checked out Clara Parkes Instagram stories you definitely should.  She is so witty and her stories always make me laugh.
2. Instagram Photos:   As for Instagram pictures this is an impossible choice.  The amount of talent on Instagram is incredible and inspiring (and a bit overwhelming trying to keep up to be completely honest).  Some of my favourites are:  espacetricot, quinceandco, boylandknitworks, happycactusdesigns, soveryshannon and mysocalledhandmadelife.

Best Knitting Magazine:  Laine Magazine
This Nordic knitwear magazine showcases impressive patterns by talented designers, as well as interesting articles.  It is an enjoyable read and totally worth every cent.  If you haven't had a chance to look at a copy yet, you can check out the patterns from the magazine on Ravelry.  

A few of my favourite publications

Best Knitting Vlog/Podcast:  Melissa and Lisa of Espace Tricot wins hands down for me this year. 
This definitely was the year of the podcast. There are so many talented vloggers out there, but the owners of Espace Tricot (a Montreal yarn store) are consistently enjoyable to watch.  Each time I watch their podcast I always learn something new, and end up adding patterns to my queue.  I find them so entertaining and talented.  

Favourite Designer:  Andrea Mowry  
I have yet to fade anything, but I admire Andrea's talent and prolific designing.  I have many of her patterns in my queue and will definitely knit a few of her designs in 2018.  Here is one of Andrea's patterns called Goldfinch that I knit this year.

Goldfinch by Andrea Mowry
knit in O-Wash O-Wool Sport

I am also super impressed with Caitlin Hunter and her unique designs.  I am excited to see her new designs in 2018.

Best Yarn Show:  Knit City in Vancouver
I have to be honest and admit that I only went to one show this year, but wow, it was a great one!  Everyone involved in Knit City was super friendly.  There was so many talented designers and dyers, as well as amazing classes by talented teachers. Vancouver is my favourite Canadian city to visit too. If you can only go to one show next year this is the show you need to get to.

Designs by Sylvia McFadden

I think it was a great year in the knitting world.  I am excited to see what new designers emerge in 2018 and what's hot.  What were some of your favourites?

F.O. Camira by Carol Feller

I can't tell you how much I enjoy knitting a sweater or cardigan which is constructed in an unique way.  For example patterns such as Hitofude by Hiroko Fukatsu, Japan Sleeves by Joji Locatelli, and Capall Dubh by Carol Feller are examples of beautiful patterns with interesting constructions that I have knit.

Once I saw Carol Feller's gorgeous cardigan for this year's KAL (knitalong) I joined right away. I knew I was in for an entertaining knit.  I was not disappointed.  The directions were broken up into four clues and were very clear.  Additional help, if needed, was available in the discussion boards and that made the project so easy and fun to follow.  Here are the details:

Pattern:  Camira

Camira front view

Camira back view

Designer: Carol Feller

Sweet Fiber Yarns Merino Twisted Worsted

Yarn:  Sweet Fiber Yarns Merino Twist Worsted (100% Merino 183m)
5.5 skeins

Colourway:  OOAK 

I have been a long time fan of Sweet Fiber Yarns and was lucky enough to snatch up six skeins of this yarn at the Knit City yarn festival at the end of September. (I used the word snatch as it was an extremely busy booth and these were the only skeins of this particular colourway).  It is very hard to capture the correct colour of this yarn, but the swatch below gives you an idea of the gorgeous mix between purple and  blue. 

Needles:   4.5mm & 4mm

Ravelry:  Camira

Added Notes:

1.  The construction of this cardigan was unique and very entertaining. The directions were broken down into four clues. The first step was to knit the center column of the back. 

Clue 1

Next the sleeves were constructed coming out from the center column. The bonus of this step was having the sleeves done so early in the pattern.

Clue 2

Then stitches were picked up around the front and the back and the rest of the body was completed for Clue Three.  For the final clue the collar and button band were knitted.

 2.  I did not want my cardigan to have too much positive ease and kept that in mind when choosing the size.  Prior to blocking the sleeves were a bit snug and the sweater length was not quite as long as I wanted.  But as with anything knit with superwash yarn, the cardigan grew with blocking, and I am very happy with the resulting fit.

3.  I tried to take some photos of myself to show you the fit.  My son usually helps me out when I need a photo taken of myself but he was not available to help.  Luckily I finally bought myself a tripod and I braved the cold weather to try and get a decent shot of myself. The following was the best one out of the bunch.  All the ones with my face in it consisted of me with either a weird expression on my face or the photo was not in focus.  I definitely need to practice! 

I would highly recommend this pattern as it was a very fun knit, but not difficult at all.  If you are nervous about knitting this cardigan, there are lots of photos and support given in the Discussion Boards, that should answer any questions you may have. Enjoy!