| Pluie Cardigan by Alex Capshaw-Taylor | |
Get Enthused and Go to It!
With so much potential, there are seemingly endless possibilities for using your handspun yarn, and yet, sometimes, it is hard to find a project worthy of your handspun. So, where to start? The Fall 2012 issue of_ Interweave Knits magazine has an abundance of beautiful knitting patterns that just may get you to pick up your needles and put your handspun yarn to good use. Don't feel intimidated by what may seem like elaborate knitting patterns,Interweave Knits editor, Eunny Jang, is here to share her positive approach to tackling projects that test your knitting skills._
| Petite Four Pullover by Heather Zoppetti | |
| Big Tile Pullover by Margaux Hufnagel | |
| Aspen Satchel by Erica Schlueter | |
Eunny Jang: I'll say something right now: I don't believe in knitting being hard or easy.
Some projects require more concentration to make them come out right than others do, but I'm a firm advocate for the idea that anyone who can knit a stitch and purl a stitch can make pretty much anything he or she wants to. The first try at a new technique might look a bit wonky (that's what swatches are for!), but if you have good instructions—in person, on paper, or on-screen—and take it one step at a time, looking at your work and really thinking about what you're doing, you'll be able to do it, and do it well. I promise.
"Easy for her to say," you're thinking. But it's absolutely true. All knitting is just knits and purls and variations on them—maybe you need to knit two stitches at once instead of one, or insert the needle a little differently, or use two different colors of yarn, or rearrange the stitches before you knit them or purl them. Maybe you need to bring the yarn over the right needle before you knit the next stitch. A lot of things can influence how a stitch behaves and what it looks like, but the core is always the same: wrap the yarn around the needle (or scoop it up) and pull it through.
If you can do that, the really heavy lifting of building a coherent fabric, you can change and vary the movement however you want. All it takes is enthusiasm and a willingness to make mistakes. Luckily, our materials are mostly renewable: you can ravel your work and try again. This is a luxury—I learned that not all crafts are as forgiving of trial and error and experimentation last summer, when I tried my hand at building some simple furniture. Mistakes in woodworking are expensive and wasteful. Not so with knitting—so take advantage of it. Get enthused and go to it.
_Interweave Knits _is all about celebrating the enthusiastic knitter. We want to give you knowledge and ideas, new techniques and refinements to old ones, and projects that stretch your knitting skills. We want to give you the tools to really think about your knitting and to make your own discoveries. You just need to bring yarn, needles, and gusto—we'll do the rest.
This Fall issue of _Interweave Knits _is packed to the gills with fresh projects to bust any knitting rut: pretty fall-ready openwork to deep, luscious cables; fun low-relief textures to delicious knits that show off what old-school wool can do; and finally, simple-to-intricate colorwork patterns that will delight color lovers.
The projects in this issue cover a wide range of knitting techniques. Pick something you've never done before—intarsia, maybe, or slip-stitch knitting, or Aran-style cables, or controlling colors in a long-stripe yarn-and dive in. I'm rooting for you.
And be sure and subscribe to Interweave Knits today so you don't miss out on anything!
Happy knitting,
P.S. To see more of this issue check out the preview!