Tag Archives: meg swansen

Back in stock: Schoolhouse Press.

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Some of our favorite Schoolhouse Press titles are now back in stock!

The Opinionated Knitter is a collection of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s original newsletters and the clever designs within. It also includes updates from her daughter, Meg Swansen, and new photos of these classic designs. This is an inspiring book, and a bit sentimental for me – Zimmermann’s “Fair Isle Yoke Cardigan” was my first-ever colorwork sweater, igniting a curiosity and preoccupation that persists over a decade later.

Mary Rowe’s Knitting Tams is full of fair isle tam patterns using one of our favorite yarns, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. Anne made this one, which hangs on the wall of our shop with so many other colorwork hats. Even in this distracting context, Anne’s tam stands out, knit in cheery colors and featuring a bird motif near the brim, which some insist is a dinosaur. Either way, it’s a fun hat to knit, and has inspired some to knit through the whole book!

Meg Swansen & Amy Detjen’s Knitting With Two Colors is neither a book of sweater patterns nor a book of colorwork charts, but truly a book of techniques, a slim paperback volume that is absolutely bursting with information. Pick up this book for technical detail on steeking, guidance on altering existing colorwork patterns and designing your own, along with the hows, whys, and whether-or-nots of various hems, borders, and necklines. If there’s an ambitious colorwork project in your future, this book should be in your hands.

We’ve also got EZ’s famous “Baby Surprise Jacket” back in our single pattern binders, and a BSJ class in the works for the new year – swing by the shop soon to browse books and patterns!

Knitscene and Vogue Knitting.

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Two new magazines arrived last week, as if to say, “It’s time to knit ourselves some yellow sweaters!”

This issue of Knitscene features a tutorial on correcting lace mistakes and a bundle of brightly colored garments, like this chevron striped top in Malabrigo Mechita.

Vogue Knitting is focused, meanwhile, on cable knitting, and Meg Swansen’s column is all about caring for woolens.

Look for these and other new books and magazines on the teacart here at our shop. See you there!

Vogue Knitting.

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The latest issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

Look inside this issue of Vogue for summer knitting patterns and inspiration, and especially for lace garments.

This issue also includes features on the revitalization of the UK wool industry and the knitting tradition of Sanquhar, Scotland, a region famous for its intricate colorwork mittens.

Meg Swansen shares one Sanquhar-inspired cowl, and another makes good use of Fibre Company Canopy Fingering.

The show-stopper of this issue comes from none other than Norah Gaughan, and if you’ve seen her most recent book, you wont be surprised to see that it’s absolutely covered in beautiful cables.

We were especially excited to see that it’s made with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, a springy Targhee wool with excellent stitch definition. Look for it in our DK weight section here at the shop, and look for Vogue Knitting on the teacart with the latest publications!

Back in stock: Schoolhouse Press.

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Every so often we find ourselves running low on books or patterns from Schoolhouse Press, and when it’s time to reorder, Anne and I love checking their website for a new book or pattern that we might bring in along with our old favorites.

We had run out of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s classic “Adult, Baby and Child’s Surprise Jacket” pattern, along with her grandson Cully Swansen’s The Complete Surprise. The first two volumes of Barbara Walker’s treasuries had sold out over the holidays, as had Mary Rowe’s book of fair isle tams. All of those had to come home to our shelves, but we wanted a little something new, too.

This new-to-us issue of Wool Gathering caught our eye, perhaps because of the fair isle that we love so well. These 8 hats are knit in a variety of gauges and styles, all cleverly designed by Meg Swansen and her late mother, Elizabeth Zimmermann. Look for them in our Schoolhouse Press pattern binder, by the front window.

We try to keep most, if not all, of Zimmermann’s books in stock here at the shop, along with a variety of other Schoolhouse Press publications. Come by the shop to browse them all!

Vogue Knitting.

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The Winter 2016/2017 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

This issue focuses on surface design and embellishment, from colorful cables to reversible brioche to graphic fair-isle and intarsia.

I’m always curious to see what technique or idea Meg Swansen writes about in her column for Vogue; this time it’s all about neck treatments for sweaters, and particularly about how to design and knit them in the round.

This issue also features an insightful interview with knitwear designer Julie Weisenberger, also known as cocoknits, the maker of our favorite, most in-demand notions.

Look for Vogue Knitting on the teacart here at the shop, where the latest books and magazines are gathered to inspire. Come in for a browse!

Vogue Knitting.

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The Winter 2015/16 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

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The Swedish Bohus knitting tradition is one thread that runs through this issue, popping up in articles and patterns alike.

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Founded by designer Emma Jacobsson in the late 1930’s, Bohus Stickning designed luxurious handknit garments into the late 1960’s. Those garments were knit by women in Bohuslän, Sweden, and marketed to a wealthy international audience, creating a distinctive colorwork style along the way. Read more about Bohus in this issue of Vogue.

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Look for this issue of Vogue Knitting on the teacart here at the shop, among the latest books and magazines. See you at the shop!

Vogue Knitting.

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The Early Fall 2015 issue of Vogue Knitting has arrived here at the shop, right in the middle of a heat wave that makes “Early Fall” seem particularly far away.

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This issue has plenty of patterns to fuel your cold-weather knitting fantasies: cabled cowls and mitts, classic colorwork, textured sweaters, and a collection of cardigans from independent knitwear designers, the likes of Veera Välimäki and Amy Christoffers.

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Amy Christoffers’ design is a cardigan knit in Berroco Maya, a cotton and alpaca blend chainette yarn, lightweight enough to pull on in chilly air-conditioning during the warmer months.

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There’s some good reading material in this issue, too. Meg Swansen’s column shows how to do a continuous border on a cardigan, and another article offers tips for faster knitting.

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Come by the shop to pick up a copy of Vogue Knitting, and enjoy our air-conditioning while you plan your next project!

Vogue Knitting.

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The Spring/Summer 2015 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

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This issue features an article on sizing oversized sweaters, helping to make sense of positive ease.

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Meg Swansen’s column is all about decreases, and choosing the best kind for the project at hand.

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Besides the articles, there are plenty of patterns: a spread of sporty stripes, colorful tees and tunics, and plenty of those oversized sweaters I mentioned earlier. The colorblock sweater below is knit in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, a worsted weight blend of cotton and wool.

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This colorwork jacket was knit in Fibre Company Savannah, a sport weight blend of plant and animal fibers that is perfect for Spring stitching.

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Look for the latest issue of Vogue Knitting on the teacart, among the new books and magazines. See you at the shop!

Vogue Knitting.

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The latest issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

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This issue features a great article on Barbara Walker, author of the amazing four volume Treasury of Knitting Patterns published by Schoolhouse Press.

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As a nod to Walker, many of the patterns in this issue include two-color mosaic motifs, a genre of stitch patterns to which she has contributed tremendously.

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Mosaic knitting is created by slipping some stitches and knitting others, working with just one color on any given row.

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Meg Swansen’s Vogue column covers increases this time around, the how, when, and why of them.

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Come by the shop to pick up a copy of Vogue Knitting! We hope you find your winter knitting inspiration here.

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Vogue Knitting.

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The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

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Inside, you’ll find patterns for a mix of garments and accessories for warm-weather knitting: openwork tops for layering in transitional seasons, lightweight scarves and shawls, bright color-block sweaters, and a series of three-season hoodies.

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I noticed a favorite yarn in this issue, too–one skein of the delightful Fibre Company Meadow, knit up into a floral lace scarf.

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We always like to see what Meg Swansen is writing about in her Vogue column–this time, it’s tips and tricks for lace-knitting, a topic well-suited to the projects in this issue.

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Look for Vogue Knitting on the teacart among the latest books and magazines. See you at the shop!