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

[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!