Stitching in the Stacks

Cooperative Press (and Sarah Barbour)'s latest book, Stitching in the Stacks, has just been released. I'm just stoked to be a part of it.

My contribution to this project is the Jessamyn Mitts, inspired by Jessamyn West. I've admired Jessamyn for some time now, so I was thrilled to hear that she would be getting involved with the book too. Not only did she provide the foreword for the book... She also wrote it while wearing a pair of the mitts bearing her name. :)

Photo © Caro Sheridan
The pattern is a fun knit, if I do say so myself - quick but engaging. I've made two pairs so far (one for the book, and one as a gift for my mom). In DK yarn, they really knit up in a flash.

It features an unusual stitch pattern with lots of texture created by increases & decreases, which also form the thumb gusset and wrist shaping. The right and left mitts are mirror images of each other - the stitches form a stair-step pattern. Plus, they’re worked in Debbie Bliss Andes, the cushiest most gorgeous alpaca-silk blend yarn.

This book has been a long time coming, and besides my own pattern I'm thrilled to see what the other designers have come up with. There's functional librarian gear (Kindle cover or French Press cozy, anyone?), and garments & accessories both practical and fanciful.

It has patterns inspired not only by classic pop culture librarians like Barbara Gordon and Mariam "Madam Librarian" Paroo, but also real-life librarians. Flipping through the book, I've learned about incredible women such as Belle Greene and the Pack Horse Librarians.

You can buy Stitching in the Stacks digitally on Ravelry or at the CP shop, where you can also pre-order the print version.

~Joyuna

Kickstart it: Ricefield Collective

I'm rather late to the party on this one, but there's still a few days left to support this neat project - Ricefield Collective.



This project has already been funded, and it's no surprise why - the project appeals to both knitters and, er, 'muggles' since they are producing both patterns and finished objects. Ricefield Collective aims to teach a group of women in the Philippine province of Ifugao to knit to supplement their income, so they can continue to live in the region their families have lived for generations. Further funding will allow them to employ more Filipina knitters and establish a full-time base in Ifugao.

Backer rewards include both finished hats, and patterns inspired by the lines of the rice paddies. I'd already seen someone's Upward Hat on Ravelry a while ago, but didn't know anything about it, so I was really excited to discover the source of that neat pattern!

~Joyuna

Review: Pure Wool by Sue Blacker

I recently got Pure Wool: A Knitter's Guide to Using Single-Breed Yarns.

As the title suggests, the book is all about knitting with single-breed wool yarns, and recognising the unique qualities of each breed. I've been spinning for a while now, but only recently have I begun really appreciating the wide range of wool available. And recently, mill-spun yarns showcasing individual breeds have become more common, allowing non-spinners to discover the world of wool in the same way.

It's not a massive book - weighing in at 144 pages, it pales in comparison to my Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook, but Pure Wool has a different focus. It doesn't try to be an exhaustive resource for every breed of sheep. Instead, Sue Blacker has chosen 16 breeds found in the British Isles and focuses more closely on their strengths and weaknesses.

The book contains 21 patterns tailored to certain breed-specific yarns. Most of the patterns are quite simple and I didn't find many of them too inspiring - but I didn't buy the book for the patterns. I will say they all look quite knittable and wearable, but many are garments and knit in pieces, so not really up my alley.

I think this is a beautiful sweater, but it's hard to tellHowever, there is a nice Guernsey which is knit in the round, and there is also the Climbing Vine Cardigan which looks lovely, from the one photo of it - though I would have liked to see other views of it. (I find the photo issue particularly concerning because there are photos of garments scattered throughout the book which are not even included as patterns - I would have appreciated a second view of a pattern which is actually included)

This is a nice sweater knit in Manx Loaghtan yarn... but the pattern isn't included (you can find the Chevron Cardigan pattern by Rita Taylor on Blacker Yarns' website)The photos are generally high-quality, and well-composed, though the darker yarns lose some detail which is disappointing. Each breed of sheep has a page showing the fibre in its raw form, prepped, and spun (and sometimes dyed).

My favorite part of the book is the charts in the back - an easy quick reference to the qualities of the wools, substitutions, and the natural colors in which each breed can be found. I'm a sucker for charts and graphs, and these brief charts pack a lot of information into a small space.

~Joyuna

Christmas Pressies

I had the most wonderful Christmas - though I am spending it in the UK, away from my family in the US, I have spent it with my 'British family' - being my partner's lovely parents, sisters, cousins, grandparents, aunts & uncles, all of whom have made me feel so incredibly welcome.

What was on my Christmas list this year? I could have asked for practical things like clothes, toiletries, cookware... nahh. I took this opportunity to clean out my Amazon book wishlist.

I have a lot of reading ahead of me! A fantastic selection of books awaits me, mainly dealing with historical and traditional knitting. I am thrilled. I haven't had time to give any of the books a full read-through, but I have flipped through them. Here are some first impressions of the books:

Creating Original Hand-Knitted Lace by Margaret Stove - What a gem. I actually really like the anecdotes she includes in her writing, taking this journey with her as she converts some native New Zealand flora into lace. I can tell I'm going to really enjoy this book.

Cornish Guernseys and Knit-Frocks by Mary Wright - This is a small book but extremely interesting and full of photographs. The photos are old, of course, but I would've liked to have seen more detail in dark areas (since nearly all the guernseys shown are in navy blue or slate grey) - I think that in at least some of the cases, this is a fault in the book printing, rather than the source photographs. However it's an extremely interesting little book, with some traditional Cornish gansey stitch patterns included (made of knits & purls and some with cables - all both charted and written), and well worth adding to your collection.

Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller- This is a formidable volume - a big, heavy book with nearly 300 generously sized pages. I look forward to giving this one a proper read, because I can see there's too much to just summarize it in a few minutes. There's history, technique, construction, design... Just about everything you need to knit Shetland lace. Plenty of charted stitch patterns and edgings with some explanatory text about each - where to use it, how to modify it, or other useful things to know.

Shetland Hap Shawls Then and Now - Though a much smaller book than its neighbor Heirloom Knitting, it packs an impressive amount of information - dozens of beautiful photos, many pages of text as well as charts (both lace charts and stripe charts). I've been planning to make a hap-style shawl for myself, so I was especially pleased to receive this.

Knitting in the Old Way - A very interesting book that I really need to delve into further. A range of ethnic designs, from arans to Cowichan sweaters to American folk motifs adapted for knitting. All about sweaters, but a good reference to have.

Real Shetland Yarns - This isn't really a knitting book, per se, but I got it after reading Kate Davies' rave review on her blog. I haven't sunk my teeth into it quite yet but it does have some breathtaking photos in it.


An even more special gift also arrived for me recently. I hold the belief that the best presents aren't the ones you ask for, but the ones you didn't even know you wanted. When someone knows you well enough to pick out something even better than you could yourself - those are very special gifts indeed.

I was fortunate enough to receive such a gift this season. A little package from Edinburgh, from my most excellent friend Shobha.
This is a ball of St Kilda Lace, a blend of Boreray and Soay wool - the Boreray undercoat being from the very special project to produce a run of Boreray knitting yarn.

It's the most beautiful mid-grey, and soft, way softer than you'd expect a blend of two primitive rare sheep's wools (and yet, as I explore sheep breeds, I keep saying that - why do I always expect rare breeds to be rough and scratchy? Just because they're not merino?). I have no idea what I will make with it - I have to find a perfect pattern. For now I'm more than content with having it as a pet skein to keep and cherish for a while.

~Joyuna

Review: Knit Your Own Scotland

I recently received an adorable new book - Knit Your Own Scotland. It's just what it says on the tin - a book of 14 patterns for making your own various Scottish things.

The authors, Jackie Holt and Ruth Bailey, are costume designers by trade - and this shows in their fine attention to every last detail in the designs. For instance, each of the humans included goes off of a basic doll pattern (which I may also use for future, non-Scottish projects) - but each has their own face, some have a unique head, and every one of them has several of their own clothes. Take a look at Robert Burns, for example, clothed in the height of 18th-century fashion with his waistcoat, jacket, breeches and boots:

Just about every Scottish icon you could hope for is included: From Robert Burns and Nessie, to a Saltire flag and highland cow, to Scotch whisky and teacakes! They're all really cute and some are just exquisitely detailed.

Can you believe those teacakes are knitted and not real?
The suggested yarns for the book are all quite easy to find - Rowan, Sirdar, Debbie Bliss and the like. One thing that tripped me up at first is that amounts of yarn are not listed unless it requires more than one ball - but this makes sense as a space-saving measure when the toys are small and only need a little yarn. Needle sizes are given in mm and old UK sizes (the smaller the needle, the larger the number).


I've started knitting my own Highland Cow, one of my favorite British animals (fuzzy and ginger and hair all in his face, what's not to love?).
The instructions are easy enough to follow, with numbered rows and stitch counts every time there are increases or decreases, which makes it easy to catch a slip-up. There are a few abbreviations or pieces of phrasing I found non-standard (like 'inc in next' for kfb), but there is a list of abbreviations in the back.

You can purchase Knit Your Own Scotland on Amazon.co.uk, and it has just been released in the US - find it on Amazon.com here.

You can also find additional pictures and a very special add-on to the William Wallace doll at KnitYourOwnScotland.co.uk.

Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the publisher.

~Joyuna

Free Sheep Breeds class at Craftsy

In celebration of Wool Week, why not take a moment to get to know some sheep? Over the past few days I've been viewing Know Your Wool - a free class on Craftsy.

The class is taught by Deb Robson, one of the authors of the incredible Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook - so you can be sure she knows her stuff.

Deb's beloved Suffolk sheep. Source.
In the class, Deb gives a brief overview of different types of sheep, how they differ, and how to use them. The first few lessons of the class are great because they're entirely craft-agnostic -- whether you're a knitter, crocheter, spinner, weaver, or anything to do with yarn at all, they will be useful for you. Later lessons dealing with swatching and garments are more knitting-orientated, but the core concepts can still be extended to any fiber art.

Even if you don't spin - especially if you don't spin - this class should be useful & interesting to you, since it focuses on breed-specific yarns, and even has a section on how to find them through fiber festivals, local yarn stores, and online.

I found the class really informative and a great introduction to the world of sheep. It's great that it's free, on one hand, but on the other hand I would've gladly paid for a more in-depth look! I suppose the next video on my list should be Handspinning Rare Wools...

~Joyuna

Kickstart it! Doomsday Knits

Most excellent designer Alex Tinsley has teamed up with Cooperative Press for a really exciting project: Doomsday Knits!

Doomsday Knits is just what it says on the tin: Knits for a post-apocalyptic future, in whatever form that may take. Zombies, robots, nuclear fallout... Basically these knits are futuristic, dark, cool-looking, possibly a bit impractical and definitely a whole lot of fun.

But they can't fund it on their own - which is where we come in. There are a whole bunch of excellent rewards, from patterns to designer buttons to discount tech editing! You could even get all of Alex's patterns she ever releases, for the rest of eternity ;)

But it's not just about the prizes. Good ideas deserve to be supported, which is why I'm voting with my dollars and backing this Kickstarter.

~Joyuna

Knitting for Victory: Kickstart it!

I've found a fascinating knitting Kickstarter - Knitting for Victory, America's Knitting History 1916-1945.

This looks to be a great, informative book about the Production Corps - knitters for victory in the first and second world wars. Not only will this be a history book, but it will also feature 25 updated patterns from the time period. Sweet!

I love knitting history, vintage patterns (er, sometimes) and knitting Kickstarter projects - when I donated to the Cooperative Press Kickstarter campaign, not only did I get a great informative book, I got warm fuzzies in helping out an awesome publishing company - and every time I see what Cooperative Press has been up to, I know I made the right decision!

There's just under two weeks left to fund it, so get in there are knit your bit!

~Joyuna

The Best of Knitscene

I was sorting through my queue on Ravelry lately (13 pages isn't too much, is it...?) and I found something interesting - a whole bunch of patterns in my queue are available in a single volume - The Best of Knitscene (Rav).

So if you've wanted to knit the Central Park Hoodie, Geodesic Cardigan, Heather Hoodie Vest, Molly Ringwald top, Opulent Raglan, or Riding to Avalon, now's your chance to get them all and others at a steal of a price.

This is a seriously fantastic collection of patterns - I was already planning to make the Geodesic Cardigan (with the Wollmeise Lace I got at Knit Nation) and I have at least 4 of the other patterns in my queue. The a la carte price is fine if you only want to make 1 or 2 patterns, but you can't beat the bundle price of the book if you want to make lots of them, like I do.

The Best of Knitscene is available in hard copy or as an eBook. I got the eBook version because I'm impatient ;) It was available for instant download right after payment.

Not only does the book contain 20 patterns, many of which I want to knit, but it also includes articles from past issues of Knitscene and a profile for each designer. I may write up a full review once I've had the time to read through it all... I am looking forward to it!

~Joyuna

Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design - Review

As part of Knitgrrl's Kickstarter campaign for Cooperative Press, I got a digital copy of The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design. This was a real bonus, as I was intending on buying the book myself. :)

The book starts with some marketing nuts and bolts - social media. With such a rapidly changing field, it's difficult to keep on the cutting edge in a book. The data is mostly up to date, but with a few minor things that have changed since publication (like automatic re-tweets on Twitter, for instance, and several references to the now-defunct AKD - Association of Knitwear Designers). There are also a few mentions of flash-in-the-pan internet phenomena - for instance, a subscription service which was started last year (!!), Patterndraft, which now has disappeared!

While the core ideas of the book are solid, I worry that parts of it will be less and less relevant as time goes on. Unless there are plans to release a new edition every so often, some sections will no longer be relevant, say, five years from now. Think about it: a little over five years ago, Twitter didn't even exist (it was launched in July 2006). Luckily, a digital copy can be easily updated as trends progress.

The book also covers more timeless topics, such as maintaining a professional persona, setting up multiple streams of income in addition to selling patterns, copyright, and formatting patterns. It's all really useful information - a lot of it I already knew, but some of it was new to me. Intriguingly, tucked in an appendix at the end of the book is a Book Proposal Template - a sample book proposal with notes about writing your own. If you dream about submitting your own knitting book to a publisher, this is a heck of a start.

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Woolly Thoughts Design to Fit eBook - Review

As a new designer, I've been devouring everything I can find on designing knitwear - up to now, I've been designing what I know: small accessories - hats, mitts, socks, shawls. But eventually, I want to take it to the next level and design garments. Lucky for me, there are a number of books on this subject. They are mostly aimed at the home knitter rather than the knitwear designer, but the fundamentals are still useful. I already read and reviewed The Knitting Architect, and the next book I've been reading is Design to Fit by Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer, the design duo otherwise known as Woolly Thoughts.

The Woolly Thoughts team are best known for their mathematical and modular patterns and their books Woolly Thoughts and Second Thoughts.

Design to Fit is a book of two parts. They were originally published separately as Creating Knitwear Designs and Making Knitwear Fit. Now, the two sections of the book are entitled I Have Designs on You and I Have the Measure of You.

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Goodies from Knitcircus :)

I got back from my USA trip to find a few packages waiting for me. One was from Knitcircus Magazine -- I made third place in their Health and Love Scarf Design contest with my 'Hugs & Stitches' design concept.

My package came sweetly wrapped in tissue paper.

What did I get? A set of stitch markers from Lima Pop Shoppe, and a signed copy of The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design. I actually already have the ebook, but it is nice to have a hard copy! And I know I'll get use out of the stitch markers.

Big thanks to the team at Knitcircus! I was thrilled to be selected.

~Joyuna

USA Haul: Knit Picks books & notions

I got a few other things with my Knit Picks order, too:

I got a set of T-pins for blocking, since all my old ones were rusted (even though they were nominally rustproof...).

I got a view sizer, which is a combination of a needle gauge and a gauge measure -- it's got all the needle sizes, including the in-between sock sizes 1.5 and 2.5 (2.5mm and 3mm, respectively). It also has an inch and centimeter ruler with a see-through window marked with lines at 4" and 10cm, for easy tension measuring.

And, I got two books - one stitch dictionary and one lace pattern book.

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Design book - The Knitting Architect by Sion Elalouf

I've been reading up on design a ton recently, trying to perfect my technique and learn some new ones as well.

The full text of The Knitting Architect is provided on the Knitting Fever website here. Paperback and spiral editions are also available via Amazon.

The Knitting Architect seeks to teach the American knitter (as opposed to the European knitter, who has generations of tradition and 'knitting intuition' behind them) to think beyond the confines of a pattern and simply pick up the needles and knit a well-fitting sweater. The author's thesis is that generally speaking, in Europe, the method of constructing a sweater has been passed down through the generations, while Americans are fairly new at the craft. So, Americans are more reliant on patterns to tell them explicitly what to do, while European patterns leave more to the reader (take a look at any of the Norwegian DROPS patterns, for instance, and you will see what a European-styled pattern is like!).

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Cooperative Press Kickstarter Campaign

There are just a few days left in Cooperative Press' Kickstarter fundraising campaign - they've already met their initial goal, but the more money they can raise, the more indie knitting design projects they can put out!

I've already kicked in my bit, and I strongly encourage you to do so too. Besides the warm fuzzy feeling, they're also giving out some really special thank you gifts - you can donate a little or a lot. Donating $10 or more gives you a copy of the The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, or donating $175 gets you a pair of handknit socks ;) The prizes are all across the board (I'm really excited for the knitwear design guide, and there are also some pattern offers up for non-designers) so there's lots to choose from.

Do take advantage of this - not only are you supporting publishing opportunities for indie designers (more publishing opportunities = more cool patterns to knit), but you can also snag some nice rewards.

~Joyuna

Paris for fiber artists, part 1: Shopping

I'm back from my holiday in Paris, and it was an incredible time. I went with my boyfriend and we did all the major tourist things, the monuments, the museums, and whatnot.

Since I only had four days, and I was with a decidedly non-fibery man (despite his having made me two scarves in the past), I didn't get to do too much crafty stuff. For one thing, I didn't visit any Paris yarn shops. There were several that I considered visiting, including La Droguerie, which has its own line of yarn and patterns, and L'OisiveThe, a tea room which also sells hand-dyed yarn imported from the States. But the truth was there simply wasn't enough time for them, and most of the yarn in Paris was stuff I could buy either locally here in the UK, or online. Maybe next time I'll do a Paris yarn crawl, who knows.

However, I did do some shopping while in gay Paree, and one of my quests was for Japanese knitting books. I found two Japanese bookshops in Paris: BookOff, which specializes in used books, CDs, and DVDs, and Junku. Both are fairly close to each other - BookOff is just a few streets off the Place de Opera, and Junku is on the Rue des Pyramides.

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