The Rhinebeck Sweater Book and Other Great Patterns

There are so many new patterns cropping up on Ravelry that I wish I didn't have to work and could just sit and knit all day!

Here is a list you should check out.

First up is Ysolda Teague's The Rhinebeck Sweater book and e-book.  If you go to her website you can look at all the patterns and preorder.  Pumpkin Ale is one of the patterns I am excited about.  This book contains patterns by many of the top knitting designers like Thea Colman, Gundrun Johnston, and Cecily Glowik MacDonald just to name a few.  The book and e-book will come out November 6th.

Another pattern that I quite like is called I Heart Cardigans by Tanis Lavallee (of Tanis Fiber Arts). This lovely worsted pattern has cables and looks like the perfect fall sweater.  Love it!

I am a big fan of Amy Herzog (who by the way has a cardigan pattern in The Rhinebeck Sweater book) and she has come out with a pattern called Dalriada in sport weight yarn.  It looks like a very flattering style of cardigan that will suit many different body shapes.

Gabbro by Carol Feller is another sweater pattern that looks lovely to me.  It is a fingering weight sweater with some pretty lace work.

And then there is CustomFit which is a new venture by Amy Herzog.  Basically you pick your yarn, knit a swatch, take your measurements and through Amy's program a sweater/cardigan will be designed for you to your exact measurements.  I am on waiting list to do that as they are unrolling the program slowly.  You can see what some test knitters have made using Amy's program here.

I find the knitting industry so exciting right now.  There is so many ideas, designs, yarn choices...the possibilities are endless.  It really would be a great industry to work in and I envy those that do.

Pull Me Over in progress

As for my knitting status I have stalled on my Pull Me Over sweater pattern. I decided I really wanted to do long sleeves and I ran out of wool.  A new skein of Madelinetosh 80/10/10 worsted is on its way to me so until then I am working on a fun little pattern called the Inspira Cowl using some Classic Elite Yarn Liberty Wool.  It's a fun pattern and is knitted with two different coloured multicoloured skeins so the yarn colour you are knitting with keeps changing.  Here are my details here.

Inspira Cowl

So happy knitting to all of you.  What patterns are you excited about?

Knitter's Fair 2013

This weekend I went to the Knitter's Fair in Waterloo.  This is a one day yarn shopping bonanaza where various vendors bring their yarn to one location so that shoppers like me can spend way too much money and buy more yarn than they need.  I was so excited. Every year I go I bring a list of the kind of yarn I am looking for to keep me focused.  This year I wanted to find some sport weight yarn to make some of the fabulous cardigans I see cropping up on Ravelry.  Do I stick to my list?  You can guess the answer to that.
Well I did buy a sweater's worth of sport weight Madelinetosh Pashmina in baroque violet.

This is the first time I have ever bought Pashmina and I have to say it is incredibly soft and will make a stunning cardigan.

I also bought Madelinetosh DK in copper penny.  Although it is not sport weight it was such a beautiful fall colour I couldn't resist.

I also couldn't resist two skeins of String Theory Caper Sock in Skye and Avalon.  If you have not yet tried this yarn I highly recommend it.  Soft, beautifully dyed...it is a real treat to work with.

My last purchase were three skeins of Classic Elite Yarns Liberty Wool to make an Inspira Cowl.  It is a free pattern on Ravelry and I thought it would be fun to knit with such colourful yarn.

I was really missing the Tanis Fiber Arts booth as they did not come to this show.  It is one of my favourite Canadian yarn lines but Tanis had a baby in the spring and chose not to come this time. Hopefully she will come back next year.  Next time I will show you what I have been having fun knitting.