I Knew I Loved You

I usually am not the sort of person who runs out to buy the latest book as soon as it comes out. Quite the contrary, I'm usually the one who flips through the book at the bookstore, borrows my friend's copy and checks out finished projects on the web before I hand over my hard earned money to own a book. However, as soon as I heard that Veronik Avery had a book coming out, I had to have it. I have only knit one of her patterns before (Polka Purl Dots from Interweave Knits Spring 2004), but I love every design of hers that I have seen. I got Knitting Classic Style a couple of weeks ago, but here is the review.



This book is beautifully produced. It has gorgeous pictures that display the knits beautifully. It was edited by Melanie Falick and is beautifully organized like Interweave Knits (my favorite mag!). You can see the layout of the pages in the picture above.


The pattern above is for the warm shawl pictured to the right. It is knit in my favorite yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk. It is easy to knit, but the results are stunning.


The three patterns below are among my favorites. From top to bottom: Bias Shell, Latvian Fingerless Mitts, and Layered Skater's Top. These patterns are classic, but modern at the same time.




I really like that there are patterns for men that come in smaller sizes. DNA is a small man and in this sexy vest below actually comes in a 34" size that would fit him perfectly. The men's patterns in this book are also masculine and in styles that a real man would wear.


I am really impressed with this book. It was worth every penny!

Come Undone

This week my favorite podcasters and I were on the same track. There are times when, despite high hopes, knitting just does not work out. Maybe you looked at the cute blonde 90-pound model and thought, “It looks cute on her. I bet it’ll look cute on me, even though I’m not blonde, 90 pounds or six feet tall.” Please, tell me this has happened to you before and that I’m not the only one. Jenny and Nicole offer several good suggestions for these disappointing projects including giving them away and felting them.

Early on in my knitting career, I knit several projects like this and they sort of lay around while I waited to grow a foot taller and lose 30 pounds. Somehow, these two things have not happened. So, I’ve decided to accept my body and knit sweaters that are more flattering on ME. This decision has lead to quite a bit of ripping lately.


Back in 2003, I knit this lovely number called Cleo from Knitty magazine in Tahki Cotton Classic. It looks great on Amy (the designer), but really didn’t work out so well for me. So, this yarn has been repurposed and will become a lacy yoga mat bag for my friend Katarina with whom I did yoga in grad school.





I also have ripped the first sweater that I knit without a pattern. It’s not fancy and it probably wasn’t too smart to knit a summer tank in aran weight cotton, but at the time I thought it was so cute. Then it got stretched out and I never wore it. I’m still deciding what to do with this Rowan’s All Season’s Cotton.


I gave away a top knit from Rowan's R2 Paper to Laura (Sorry, no pic!). The next project to be ripped is Pia from Rowan 35.