Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Refined Knits

I received another book for review a couple weeks ago - Refined Knits by Jennifer Wood - and it has some truly lovely designs. It's chock full of beautiful patterns,ranging in difficulty from simply elegant accessories to expertly cabled sweaters.

Refined Knits

Estee CowlEstee Cowl

I wrestled with which her designs to knit first and eventually settled on the Estee Light Cowl, with its airy pattern of eyelet lace alternating with four-stitch cables. I pulled a ball of yarn from my stash that had been languishing there for six years. It's Fiesta Yarns Boomerang in a subtle mix of cream and khaki - enough variation to add a bit more interest to the fabric without taking away from the stitch pattern. In fact, the differing gauges of the lace and cables did a wonderful job of breaking up the colors in the yarn to prevent any awkward pooling. The pattern and chart were well-written and easy to follow. The only modification I made was to do an extra half-repeat of the chart because I wanted a slightly wider cowl, and because I had enough yarn to do so.

Estee Cowl

Estee CowlEstee Cowl

I am typically a fairly monogamous knitter, but have recently indulged in a few... diversions. Now I really must be getting back to my current design project. I imagine though, this book will be staying on my coffee table a bit longer, within easy reach to be flipped through again between those seemingly endless bouts of ripping and re-knitting that go hand-in-hand with the designing process.

6 comments:

  1. Another beautiful scarf ! Not only does the pattern breakup the run-on colors of the variegated yarn, but the yarn coloration enhances the lacy pattern.

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  2. This is sooo luscious. The yarn color lends itself perfectly to the lacy pattern. I don't knit and so I deeply admire your creations.

    On a side note, (I hope you don't mind).... I saw something last week and I IMMEDIATLEY thought of you. It might be a bit "odd" for some, but it totally fits your knitting and upcycling theme.... Here is a link to the article: (Again, I hope you don't mind. Feel free to delete it if I have overstepped you posting guidelines!)

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/645733/Romanian-woman-vest-made-out-hair-combed-for-20-years

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    Replies
    1. Oh man, that's crazy awesome! With as thick as my hair is, I could probably have enough collected from my brush within 2 years instead of 20. Now I just need to learn how to spin...

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