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Newsletter - September 2013
Welcome!
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Fall is off to a rollicking good start with designers adding lots of cool weather designs and the fibre folk stepping up the cozy quotient. The inspirational and prolific Ilga Leja is our Designer of the Month. Our Collection is customer-requested bulky jackets. We're featuring a landmark book from Cabin Fever with a choice of 1700 (that’s not a typo) accessories. And be sure to read the Clothroads story about the Tajik spinners, the yarn they create, and the gorgeous creatures that supply the fleece. As always, let us know what you think of this issue. Email me, Gayle Clow, at newsletter.editor@patternfish.com and send any other questions about Patternfish to Phil at support@patternfish.com Follow us on ... |
Prime Minister's Choices
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This is a great design and pattern for a stylish beginner; all you need is an amazing yarn. The original is not around any more, but it was a cotton/viscose tape that worked up to 15 sts to 4"/10cm on a 6.5mm/US10.5. Try your favorite heavy worsted that works up to around 16 sts to 4"/10cm in st st, and swatch. Aim for a bit of drape. |
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Canadiana (the Hudson's Bay stripe of the man's cardi and blanket), via an American designer and the marvellous Lopi wool from Iceland. These are great winter pieces that never date, and guess what? The design is actually the same for each, though the shawl collar is doubled on the fair isle version. |
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This exquisite design can be worked as a shawlette or full-fledged shawl with allover lace. I love how the edging integrates with the main pattern-- it's just perfect. And I like having the option of working a little lace, or a whole lot, depending on your mood or yarn weight. Not a rank beginner pattern, but not hard, either-- something for the enthusiast. |
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More Canadiana! I don't know how many knitters would have started their careers with this design-- probably many thousands. Great on men or women, terrific for colourplay, and there's a kids' version available, too. Founded in 1857, Briggs & Little is Canada's oldest woolen mill, and you can smell the lanolin in the sturdy Heritage yarn used here. |
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These are terrific fingerless mitts, simple and interesting and elegant. They use a sportweight yarn at a traditional sock tension for extra warmth and stitch-poppery. Vasil has written this pattern for the Magic Loop technique, but of course it's perfectly doable with two circulars or four or five DPN's as well. I also like that you don't have to go back and do extra work on the thumb when you're finished. |
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I just love this cardi. I mean, by all means make the coat version if you prefer it-- but the cardi knocks me out. Very simple but really distinctive, and the raglan decreases are so pronounced that they are a design element all on their own. And chunky yarn is so cozy and quick to knit... and there's only one button. |
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When Véronik Avery designs socks, they stand out. Without the picot hem, and in a colour that pleases him, they would work perfectly well for men, too. We love the cable panel splitting in two to run down the sides of the foot and along the heel flap edges; as a detail, it's at once commanding and subtle. |
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And here is calm loveliness, relaxing to work, with stitch detailing at the lower fronts that is just absolutely perfect. Top-down. Lacy eyelets at the raglan increases. As shown in this natural colourway, its perfect manners are rustic; in a solid dyed colour, you'd have a different kind of quiet phenomenon altogether. |
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Classic but unboring, unisex, quick to knit, vest, shawl collar, V neck, cardigan-- are we missing any important elements? Don't think so. |
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Because it's just amazing. And much simpler to knit than it appears. And it demonstrates the wonder of colour and fibre (but only if you like silk and wool) and multidirectionality and flatteringness, and if you think about it, there are really only sleeve seams to sew and the front borders to work, so there's not much finishing at all. Sheer beauty. |
Editor's Choices
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I can’t imagine a woman who wouldn’t be delighted to have a pair of these gorgeous Turkish Ballerinas from Louise LaMarche. They would make great gifts. They’re warm and fashionable, the tidy i-cord trim ensures that they will stay put, and you can make them in just about any size. |
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Here’s a little polo that exudes French style with top down construction and no sewing. Garter stitch bands combine with stockinet stripes that meet at the raglan sleeves seam. Be sure to check out the black and white version. Tres chic for ages one through six. |
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I’m not a shawl knitter. There’s been just one shawlette in my life, a Carol Feller design, but this one, Lori Law’s Tilia shawl, has grabbed my attention. The delicacy of the body of the shawl in contrast with the spiky border attracts me. Plus, there are just two main and one border charts and they are big. Then there’s the silk and seacell yarn, perfect for the design. |
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I am a huge fan of vests and the minute we put this Classic Elite Yarns pattern on Patternfish, I fell in love with it. It has all my favourite things: it’s a vest; it has seed stitch; it has a shawl collar; it’s knit in one piece to the underarms; the yarn is alpaca and wool. Love, love, love all of it. And, in my opinion, it’s an easy pattern, not intermediate. |
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What fun, upside-down cables! Lisa Suzanne, designed by Beth Brown-Reinsel, is an Aran top down knit. It’s created in one piece and then seamed at the sides and sleeves, so best it's best to make this in the winter months. It’ll be like an afghan in your lap. I like the sense of completion that beginning and ending with small cables at neck and hem gives the project. |
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Here’s a pattern I chose for a young friend I’ve known since she was a tiny little girl. She's a new knitter and I’m thrilled. She’s just finished her M.A. and has gone to Tuvalu, not too far from Fiji, to work. She intended to learn to knit socks on her long flight, but I thought that was rather ambitious so I chose this beautiful, but not difficult, Trellis Scarf from Anniken Allis, for the trip. The socks can wait ‘til she gets there. Note to self - knit this scarf for me! |
Landmark DesignsNeed An Accessory? From Cabin FeverNeed a choice of 1700 accessories? No one really needs that many, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that many right at your fingertips? Especially if those 1700 patterns are no-sew, worked in the round. Is anyone making gifts this year?
The latest book from Cabin Fever, "Need An Accessory?", has just that many options. There are patterns for hats, mittens and mittlets, a bag, a capelet, an infinity scarf, and a cowl. They can be made in your choice of nine yarn weights from sock to chunky and in 10 stitch patterns (lace, cable, knit/purl, and slip-stitch colour variations). It’s all beautifully organized to make your choices easy to find and easy to make, if not easy to decide on. Deb and Lyn Gemmell, the Cabin Fever sisters, are well known for their top-down, no-sew garments for babies, children, and adults. "Need An Accessory?" is the fifth in their series of "Need A ...?" books, all no sew, knit in the round. Patterns for Men
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Designer of the Month: Ilga Leja
Ilga Leja is Patternfish's designer of the month for September. What comes to mind when a designer gives her patterns the names Queen of the Waves, Sea Urchin, and Waves of Lace? What do you think the designer was looking at when Brickwork started to form on her needles? What other interests does a designer have when Antonia, In the Piazza, and Counterpoint are driven from inspiration to pattern?
Leja says, "Nature, music, fashion, photography, architecture, just about everything inspires me. I work from what pleases me, moves me, what gives pleasure. I work entirely from what I like. I hope that customers will also like what I like, but I do not focus on that." And that’s what makes a good designer. Ilga Leja fell in love with knitting from the moment she learned to do it. Experimentation and designing followed and her talent was such that other designers, like Lucy Neatby, encouraged Leja to publish. Courage was needed to leave the security of a salaried position as a librarian and embrace the creative life. She did it and she loves it. Beyond enjoying Leja's very wearable, feminine designs, we can be inspired by her perspectives on life and designing, "A large part of my work is about play. I have fun with yarn and colour and texture. And just see where it all takes me." "Knitting is a creative pursuit that also has the ability to connect us to one another in important ways. My wish is that through my designs, knitters have the opportunity to experience and marvel in that connection." Here’s more from Leja- Were there things in your life you needed to change, to learn or unlearn, to become a designer? I had to learn to take risks, to be prepared to make mistakes, and to allow the design process to happen, to not try to control it. Because I wanted to make designing my full-time occupation, I needed to leave my former job, set up a home office, and learn how to work in a completely different way. Which designs are your customers’ favourites? Bermuda, for sure. Many LYSs use it to teach short rows and knitters have embraced it for its different colour possibilities. Antique Lace, one of my early designs, continues to be popular. More recently, Arpeggio has proved to be a best seller.
Which designs your personal favourites? The Lady of the Forest will probably always have a special place in my heart. It was one of my first designs and helped to establish me as a designer with my own aesthetic. The Straw into Gold shawl and In the Courtyard vest are both pieces that I wear quite often, too.
The internet has become so important to selling knitting and crochet patterns. Are there any aspects of it that you think are harmful? The benefits of the internet far outweigh any harmful aspects. Because of the internet, I have been able to promote my design work throughout the world, something unheard of even 15 years ago, unless one became a celebrity like Kaffe Fassett. How do you think the knitting/crocheting/fibre world will change in the next 10 years? The internet and technology in general will continue to provide different ways for people to learn the craft and to share their experience of it. Great strides are also being made in creating new fibre blends. This will continue, no doubt, and knitters can look forward to new and different yarns to play with. How did you come to the decision to list your patterns with Patternfish? Patternfish came highly recommended to me by Kathryn Thomas of Fleece Artist. (Thomas, a yarn visionary, is a good friend and I love to use her yarns in my designs.) It was also early in my career when Julia approached me and I was happy to submit my designs. It was a venue for promoting my designs and an opportunity to collaborate with a team of people who shared my own goals. 
Editor’s Note - Before patterns were readily available on the internet, I bought Leja’s Fluid Linen, a favourite then, a favourite still. How long ago that seems now. Find all of Ilga Leja’s patterns here. |
We welcomed three new designers in August.
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Mags Kandis is a wildly creative designer who began designing knitting patterns and producing her 1824 Wool and 1824 Cotton decades ago. Canadians first discovered these icons of the fibre world but the word soon spread. Kandis designed under the Mission Falls name, producing patterns both classic and innovative. Patternfish is proud to now have Kandis's patterns available to download, exclusively. |
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TrishD’s story of her Evolution as a Knitter appeared in our August newsletter. Her Trellis Baby Blanket is her very first design but the word is out. She has more on the way. Trish’s pattern includes every detail you could want; she’s meticulous. |
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Even if you’re not much of a sock knitter, take a look at Susan Woodley’s Squigglez. She says they are socks to make you smile and she's right. Squigglez features knit-through-the-back-loop columns traveling down the leg in off-set or syncronized columns, and the heel can be an unusual or traditional gusset. Woodley calls the easiest version K.I.S.S. (Keeping It Simple Squigglez). |
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One Skein/Stash Busters
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The three patterns in this month’s selection may have been chosen for their varying texture. There are tendrils and beads on a feminine cowl, a smooth, almost glassy reversible shawl that would make a great scarf, too, and a crunchy looking lace and garter stitch cowl knit in super soft yarn. |
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Clothroads
Anyone interested in indigenous artisan textiles and supplies from around the world will surely be fascinated by Clothroads, a company devoted to the very best of these. Marilyn Murphy, a partner at Clothroads, says, "ClothRoads curates the best of indigenous artisan textiles and supplies from around the world. Their sales benefit the artisans and their communities, promote empowerment and economic security for women, and foster appreciation for handmade objects, traditional techniques, and fine craftsmanship." And, as the website says, "Every product has a story."
When I saw the exquisite yarn for sale and read the story of the Tajik spinners in Central Asia, I had to introduce Patternfish members to these gorgeous products and how they came to be offered to knitters, crocheters, and weavers. Murphy shared the story and chose some designs particularly suitable for this yarn.
"When Wisconsin-based sociologist Liba Brent started working on development projects in Central Asia in 2009, little did she know how passionate and knowledgeable she would become about fiber and yarn. And not just the end product, she learned about the entire production and market chain including goat breeding, fiber collection, processing and marketing.
"The Asht region of northern Tajikistan is the center of Angora goat production and many rural women in the region have been spinning mohair yarn for the Russians for decades. The original development project focused on assisting Tajik farmers in raising quality angora and cashgora goats, and to work with spinners and knitters in producing luxury mohair and cashgora yarns and knitted items for export. All of this was planned to improve the livelihoods of farmers and to offer customers quality, fairly-traded products made from these natural fibers. To date, the women are spinning high-quality mohair yarn, are knitting socks and sweaters, have started weaving and dyeing this lustrous yarn into blankets, started carpet weaving with it, and in Krygyzstan, have begun felting.
"Only the best quality Angora kid fleeces are used for spinning this high luster, strong yet soft, lace- and fingering-weight mohair yarn. When knit and washed, it is so warm and luxurious that just having a lace scarf or shawl made out of one skein would be enough to keep the chill away. You be the judge as to whether these artisans have made their goal of producing the most beautiful mohair in the market. This season’s natural-white kid mohair yarn is available through www.ClothRoads.com."
Murphy thinks these Patternfish designs are especially suitable for the yarn. Me, too.
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Collection of the Month
We’ve had a special request for "beautiful bulky knit jacket/coat patterns", and, as is often the case, we are happy to oblige.
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From the Ambassador's Desk
- Gayle Clow
This is my favourite part of the Clothroads story, details about the empowerment of the women and the pride of the men.
"The spinning quality has improved, along with the status and self-confidence of the women. Their craftsmanship of spinning, knitting and weaving has made them "famous" in their families and communities. The husband of the lead knitter says he cannot go anywhere without being asked about his wife and if she would be willing to train someone to knit. He himself is also very proud of her. Of course the fact that these women earn income is also a big part of this. Earning their own cash has a huge impact on the self-confidence of the women."