Happy October, lovely knitters!
Fall is one of the best times to be a knitter, don’t you think? Crisp air, the excuse to pull all of the hand-knits out of the closet, and (of course) casting on new projects. With the book now officially out in the world, I thought it would be a good time to do a little round-up of what I’ve had going on this fall – and what’s still to come.
Most recently, I spent the weekend at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival. I stay with the same group of dear friends each fall, and words fail to capture how amazing and renewing it is to be with them. I hope you have the chance to spend soul-filling time with your own nearest and dearest. It’s such an incredible gift.
Plus, they help me buy yarn:
(From top to bottom: The complete haul, including some luscious Springtide Cashmere from Maine & buttons; Canon Hand Dyes minis kit; ultra-springy Foxhill Farm cormo.)
One of the big things going on in my work right now is that I’m working on adding cowls to CustomFit, in preparation for adding different types of sweater constructions. (I know that sounds a little weird, but trust me – cowls are totally a stop on the way to drop shoulder and raglan sweaters.) I’m so excited to have a different type of project in the site – and on my needles! So I really leaned into what would make a fun cowl project in my shopping this year.
make. wear. love. design collection
The 2018 make. wear. love. retreat happened in September, and each year I do a design collection for the retreat. This year, the sweaters all explored my feelings about how nurturing knitting can be:
The Rocky Crest Pullover is a super-comfy drop-shoulder turtleneck with an allover lace pattern on the body, and solid Stockinette sleeves. I think the simple patterning is a nice match for the speckled “Confetti” colorway of The Uncommon Thread’s Everyday Sweater, and I’ve really been enjoying wearing it since the retreat ended. There’s just something extra-cozy about all of that soft lace.
The Dockside Cardigan is a classic, tailored cardigan with a large fold-over collar. It uses The Fibre Company Aranmore in the color “Odhram”, a super-soft tweed. I’ve added some diagonal ribbing patterning to the sweater’s hem and sleeves; here’s a picture of that detailing on me:
The Bayview Cowl, out of Indigodragonfly Wingenhooven DK, is this year’s Indigodragonfly design. I love everything about this sweater – the deliciously soft puddle of yarn around my neck, the drapey folds of fabric through the body when I wear it in a relaxed or oversized fit, the swing of the slight a-line shape. I mixed up the subtly-shaded yarn with a double moss stitch on the edges. It looks almost Impressionist to me.
It’s always hard to leave Maine at the end of the retreat, but I’m comforted by the fact that I have some great sweaters to remind me of the sun and the ocean through the wintertime.
You can find the make. wear. love. retreat patterns individually, or as a less-expensive collection, in the shop.
The Ultimate Sweater Book
The book is officially out and about, and you can find it wherever books are sold. I’m so thrilled with the book’s reception so far – this felt like a real capstone, to me, and I love that you all love it. The patterns are up on Ravelry, and I thought it would be fun to share my author photo out-takes here on the blog.
We wound up going with a picture of me in the Meadowbrook Cowl:
But I also took pictures of myself wearing The Basic Yoke Pullover, The Basic Drop-Shoulder Cardigan, and The Penobscot Pullover:
Fun, huh? It’s still on my list to get together a bunch of detail photographs, and back views, to load into Ravelry – maybe once I’m home from my next few trips.
I’m sure every author you follow online has said something along these lines, but let me add my voice to the chorus: If you like the book, please consider leaving an Amazon review? Positive amazon reviews do more to support a book’s success than just about anything else.
That’s it from here for now – what are your weekend plans? Any fun knitting to do?
Amy Herzog Designs