Introducing…Tundra: Elements!

You may have seen the ad featured on the back of Interweave Knits’ Harry Potter Special Edition magazine. We’re so excited to be getting so many inquiries about the Tundra: Elements collection! We just got word from the printer that we will have copies in hand by the end of September, so in the meantime, we thought we’d take a closer look at the sweaters.

Tundra: Elements is a collection of eight patterns based around a “choose-your own-adventure” theme, like the very popular children’s books that inspired the original idea for the collection. The basic sweater, Packard, is named after the original author of the series, Edward Packard, and the rest are named after the titles of his books. The Collection is a great example of how choosing colors and switching up a design feature or two can really change the whole look of a sweater. Each of the sweaters are made from Tundra, our bulky 12-14 st/4″ blend of 60% alpaca, 30% merino wool and 10% silk, and is geared toward the beginner sweater knitter using stockinette, ribbing and garter, minimal finishing and easy-to-follow instructions.

Packard is the “blank sweater”. It’s a basic raglan crew neck, knit from the bottom up in the round. All of the sweaters follow this basic shape, and the variations are created by the elements that are included. Here are the sweater options and the elements that are added:

Anchor Mine: pockets and hood:

Batterslea Hall: varied width stripes and v-neck

Dragonslark: button-placket yoke and oversized short-row neckline

Sugarcane Island: cowl neck

Reality Machine: shawl collar and elbow patches

Luckiest Day: hemline placket, turtleneck and striped sleeves

Echo Lodge: striped body and henley button placket

Maura knit the sweater samples on her train commute to work, on a weekend trip to the mountains, during her move across town, on a plane across the country and sitting on a balcony overlooking the beach. They’ve gone on so many adventures, and we can’t wait to see where your knitting takes you. Keep an eye out for more details about the Tundra Adventure Knitalong that we’ll be announcing soon!

{Photography by Amanda Stevenson 2013}