New Knits

[callmemadam]

Isn't this fun? It reminds me of the balls of rainbow wool I used to buy for 3d in the little wool shop at the end of the road. We often used it for French knitting, in the days when cotton reels were made of wood and you could bang nails into them. After Christmas I finished two projects I'd put aside while I made presents and then I wanted something really bright. OK, it's more socks but they will be jolly cheerful and by buying the yarn I'm helping my local shop stay open.

I've given in and bought The Knitter.



It costs £6.00 but it's full of serious patterns and I like nearly everything in it. Query: why do the editors of new magazines feel they have to print letters from Mrs Madeupname demanding a magazine just like this one?
Here's a pattern I particularly like, though not the ribbon.



The recommended yarn is Rowan Kidsilk Haze but the pattern says any 4ply mohair would do. I have enough mohair yarn in my stash for a dozen little tops like this and I made a tension square to try it out. Ouch! The tension was fine but I don't think I could stand to knit a whole sweater with it. People who have used and love Kidsilk Haze: does it knit smoothly without hurting your fingers or splitting stitches? If so, I'd be tempted.

I'm also wondering whether to take up the subscription and save money on future issues. Hmm. They might go bust. I might not always like the patterns. I burnt my fingers with Yarn Forward and only ever received one issue!

Comments

[sillymouse.livejournal.com]

I loathe and detest knitting with kidsilk haze and have vowed never to do so again, much as I love the results.

I doubt The Knitter will go bust - it's Future Publishing, who also do Simply Knitting and 90% of the cross stitch magazines.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like another pattern in the mag which calls for Rowan Cotton Glace; I *know* I can't knit with that.

[sillymouse.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of doing that lacy top in a 'normal' laceweight - it wouldn't be quite as ethereal, but it would still be very very light and drapy.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Good idea. I was trying to think of an alternative yarn because I really like the pattern.

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I love self striping sock yarn! It goes so quickly, waiting for the next colour to appear. The Kaffe Fassett ones by Regia are especially nice.

I liked The Knitter, although it's not a patch on Interweave, or the new version of Knit1, which I've just picked up - much smaller and thinner, but so much more content! I'll probably give the subscription a go though, £5 for three issues has to be a bargain. And it's a big company (the same lot who do Simply Knitting) so hopefully won't go belly up just yet.

Yarn Forward do seem to have pulled themselves together, there's a proper team producing it now, not just Kerrie, and it's been coming out on time for the last few months (it's gone monthly now) and can be found in supermarkets and newsagents - I don't quite trust them with a subscription yet!

Kidsilk Haze is lovely to knit with, very soft and not at all splitty. Not cheap though.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I love this yarn; it's really fun to use. It is Regia but not Kaffe Fassett. I'm pleased that our little shop is stocking Regia. The owner does struggle so she tries really hard to supply what people want. Hers was the final voice persuading me to buy The Knitter.

I've never heard of Interweave or Knit1; they sound worth checking out. There are two different subscription offers on TK: the three for five pounds and then x one and another different version which only runs until the end of Jan. I've been trying to work out which is the best value. I've seen Yarn Forward in Smith's but I won't buy it because I haven't forgiven them.

That's one for Kidsilk and one against. The top only takes three balls.

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

Interweave Knits is my favourite mag, there are usually lots of really good and original patterns in it. It's not that easy to buy in a shop in this country, although Borders usually have it - I have a subscription via P&M Woolcraft. The local newsagents has Knit1 and Vogue Knitting, which is handy.

I'm going to try the three issues for £5 deal for The Knitter, hopefully by issue four I'll be able to decide whether it's worth keeping up.

KSH has very good yardage compared to some other mohair type yarns, which makes it better value. It's very soft to use.

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

Interweave is very nice. I need to get my cash together and buy a few back issues because there are some patterns in them that I want.

Our subs offers baffle me, and I work here. The gift changes every two months, and they're forever running different promotions... I guess it must work!

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

We'll know more about how it's doing when we get EPOS figures back; the first issue is still on sale so we won't know for a while yet. However, it seems to be picking up subscribers at a reasonable rate. There are some really nice patterns in issue 2 (look out for the purple variant of the angora scarf - I knitted that one!)

Kaffe has some new sock yarn colourways coming out (not sure if they're in the shops yet) and a couple of them are really lovely.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Temptress!

New KF sock yarns: goody!

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I didn't dislike The Knitter, it just didn't grab me - it felt like a bit of a triumph of style over content though, and there's nothing I'm desperate to knit in it. Are you (and the TK team) reading the thread in British Knitters on Ravelry about it? There's some really good comments there, especially the ones that keep coming through - no one's gone overboard with the criticism, thankfully. I'm definitely going to keep buying it for the next few months though.

I bought one of the newer Kaffe sock yarns at the K&S show in Harrogate, it's one of the ones with waves in it, I'm saving it to knit whilst watching tennis.

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

We read the Ravelry thread. I never get involved in magazine-related threads, not even for my own publication. That way lies aggro! The Knitter was good; I don't think I'd have paid for this issue myself, although the next issue focusses a bit on colourwork and they've got some nice-looking bits scattered around the office. If I were shopping for it, I'd flick through it in the shop and base my buying decision on the patterns month by month.

One problem Ravellers do have is that they assume all knitters are like them. A lot of older knitters aren't computer literate and so their needs don't get discussed. We have a lot of readers who want to use as cheap a yarn as possible don't like really complex patterns.

I love Ravelry. I just stick to the knitting and stay away from the mag threads!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Wonderful socks. I've added it to my knitting folder.

[cornflowerbooks.livejournal.com]

I've so far tried two shops for The Knitter and drawn a blank.
As to KSH, I've used it a lot (incl. a complicated lace scarf) and had no problems.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I bought mine in W H Smith's. Do you have them in Scotland? I'm envious of people who can buy Vogue Knitting from a local newsagent.

Thank you for the KSH input. Working that pattern with the mohair I have, I had problems with K2Tog.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered what rainbow wool (as featured in Milly-Molly-Mandy) was like!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I don't expect rainbow wool changed much between Milly-Molly-Mandy's time and mine. It was lovely! Came in small balls and produced random colour, not clever self-striping like the yarn I'm using now.