Welcome to the first stop on the November Knits blog tour! We’re happy to share our four designs for the book with you.
Kate: For my contributions to the book, I was immediately drawn to the Ivy League chapter – color work and tongue-in-cheek preppy is, as many of you know, totally my “thing“. I knew I wanted to design smaller accessories for this chapter and focus on stranded color work, partly because I think accessories are a great way to add color to a wardrobe and partly because a lot of people are still a little wary of color work, so I thought both projects would be great way for people to step up their repertoire. Although more than two colors are used in both sets, only two colors are ever used per round, making it the simplest form of color work!
The Hilton Field Cowl is a reversible three-color cowl designed using The Fibre Co. Canopy Worsted in orchid, fern and quetzal. There are a lot of great techniques packed into this little accessory – a provisional cast-on, jogless stripes, stranded color work, and kitchener stitch.
Its small size is perfect for throwing in your bag; the double layer of warmth created by the fabric guarantees protection from whatever the weather brings.
I find I always want a cosy, comfortable hat on-hand during the fall and winter, as putting one on immediately warms me up, and I cannot leave the house without mittens, as there is something about them that add an element of coziness that immediately gets rid of the chill. The Morris Cove Hat and Mittens are a traditional Fair Isle inspired hat and mitten set featuring The Fibre Co. Organik in seawater, arctic tundra, oahu, lichen, and atoll.
The use of only two colors per round makes either project ideal for first-time color work and the jogless stripes at the top of the hat, mittens, and thumbs finish off the set with ease, eliminating the need for decreasing in Fair Isle and adding additional visual interest.
Courtney: I live in Philadelphia, but my family is on the eastern shore of Maryland, in Washington DC and spread across Texas from the East to the Valley. I like a lot of layering options, especially in the fall and winter when we’re traveling around for the holidays. It might be 30 degrees in Philadelphia and 70 degrees when we land in Dallas! As a result, I love warm cozy knits that can be shed quickly, like light and warm cardigans, shrugs and legwarmers. As a result, the light, feminine layers of Southern Comfort was an obvious choice for my contributions to the book.
For the Spanish Moss Legwarmers, I had been swatching and developing this lace pattern for over a year. Its first incarnation appeared in an article in Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2011 about stitch pattern design called Gift of a Stitch. I then adapted the pattern for the Carina beret, which was released last Spring. Its last and final tweak became the pattern for these delicate lace legwarmers.
By simply moving the last yarn over of the chevron I was able to make the motif look like a little vertical row of hearts, subtle but very sweet. I live in legwarmers in the fall and winter, even when I’m visiting family in Austin, and these are perfect for a southern climate, as the yarn overs allow for a bit more air, while the wool, alpaca and bamboo yarn, The Fibre Co. Canopy Fingering, provide maximum insulating coziness!
I designed and knit the Tallulah Shrug traveling from Philly to Los Angeles and it was a perfect travel project. For the lace pattern I wanted something that would be easy to knit on larger needles, and a lace pattern that would be easy to memorize and read well in a large scale gauge. This fits the bill, and it was the perfect layer for unpredictable weather.
The Road to China Worsted is knit at a loose gauge creating a fabric with even more drape than usual. The pattern is written for only one size, but can be easily sized up: simply add one repeat to the beginning and end of the row to add width, and add more repeats vertically for more length. (Tip: the lace repeat is 14 sts. To add two repeats you’ll add 28 sts to the total number you cast on.)
In conjunction with our stop on the tour, we’re delighted to be giving away a signed copy of November Knits and 2 skeins of Canopy Fingering to knit the Spanish Moss Legwarmers.
Just leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite season – winter, spring, summer or fall – and why. Comments will be open until 12 noon EST on October 13th and one random winner will be chosen from among the comments!
Comments are now closed. Thanks so much to everyone who entered! We will announce the winner on Monday. Good luck, everyone!
Make sure to check out the lovely post on the Green Mountain Spinnery blog about the not one, but two!, gorgeous designs featuring their yarn in the book.
My favorite season is spring because I love to watch plants rejuvenate and grow again. Also daffodils are one of my favorite flowers and they bloom in the spring.
Congrats on the book! It’s lovely. My favorite season is summer — long days, warmth, and the feeling or reality of summer vacation. 🙂
My favorite season is autumn … especially now that I live where it actually gets noticeably cooler and the leaves change and the wood smoke is in the air. I grew up in San Francisco, where every season is sweater-weather. Now here in Virginia, the fall just screams for wool and cowls and cozy sweaters and leg warmers …
Love the fall!
My favorite season is autumn/fall because the weather gets cool enough to break out all the woolies (either to wear or to knit)! Also, the foliage in the northeast is so pretty – full of color and life. The trick-or-treaters are often such a treat for the eyes as well!
Thanks for such a lovely giveaway!
Rav ID: kellknit
Oh definitely fall! Tis the season of new beginnings for me! 🙂
Fall! You get a relief from the hot summer weather and get to break out all the cooler weather shoes/clothes/accessories that you won’t get sick of until halfway through winter.
It is so hard to pick one season! I do love the crsipness and color of fall. And, it is of course, the advent of thr true knitting season.Thanks for the chance to win!
Fall by far! I am ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS cold, except in the fall. It’s a very strange thing. I love the cool crisp weather and the changing of the colors. A lot of the Fibre Company colors actually remind me of this which is probably why they’re my favorite yarns to knit out of. That and the melt in your hands butteryness of course! Can’t wait to get my hands on this book =)
I’m probably going to buck trend here and say my favourite season is spring – the new colours, the variability of the weather, just as you are starting to think it’s too hot/ too cold, it changes dramatically. But the sunshine! after a long winter it is the best feeling
I really like the spring. I like that everything is coming to life again after a cold break. 🙂
I love spring. After months of bare trees, grey skies and dirtied snow, its great to see the start of green leaves and colorful flowers! Great book- congratulations!
fall and winter are my favorites, as i am totally a cold weather person. since i ride my bike year round, i am a happy slave to properly worn layers.
Hands-down – spring… the fresh smell and colours of nature re-awakening get me every single time. Gorgeous patterns!
Summer, I was born and summer and its still my fave. I love longer days with more light and warm air, I love sitting on my patio with my knitting and a glass of Iced Tea. I love picking fresh produce from the garden. I love seeing my cats find a good sunny spot and soak it all up.
Fall is my favorite season. love the cooler temperatures, the pretty colors and the crunch of leaves underfoot! …congratulations on the book!
Hands down fall! I love the chill in the air and the colors in the trees!
I love fall. After months of hot Texas weather the cooling breezes of change feel so good.
I love fall! It’s knitting season after all.
Fall! I love the drastic change in weather, the colors, KNITTING, and then my birthday happens to be in fall as well. LOVE the shrug pattern!
Fall is definitely my favorite season because it starts to cool off, but, it’s not too cool, yet. The holiday season is still ahead, and I like that sense of anticipation.
I love winter! Family birthdays in Dec including mine, plus Christmas. I live in India and the only time it gets a little itty bitty bit chilly is in December and January when I can finally get to snuggle up in light woolens.
I love fall – leaves changing colors, a slight chill in the air, and pumpkin-flavored everything!
My favorite is definitely fall because of the colors, the scent, the harvest, and finally getting to wear my hand knits.
Definitely fall for me–plenty of layering and wool, and great colors everywhere!
Like a good New Englander, fall is my favorite season! It contains Halloween, my favorite holiday, the beautiful autumnal colors I like to wear (and dye my hair to match) year round, and the weather is perfect for layering knitwear. I have a growing collection of accessories and it’s the best time of year to cycle them through my wardrobe.
I love summer – windows open in the house, sitting out on the deck with a good book, the smell of mown grass in the air. And – best of all – my son is home for three months!
Love the fall. The crisp air, the smell of woodsmoke, heaven.
I love fall when the leaves start to change their colors and the temperatures are moderate again so you can open the windows and let the breeze blow through.
I love fall- for its crisp air, baking and knitting sweater season.
I love the spring, the budding trees and all the possibilities make me happy.
Winter is my favorite season, even if I spend it trying to get warm. It’s just the coziest time.