Today I will conclude my wee designer series with some of my favourite designers of clothing and accessories for grown-ups.
Anyone who knows me at all will not be at all surprised that the top of the list here for me is
Ysolda Teague, in fact I have already blogged about my love of her designs
here. The latest offering from Ysolda is her absolutely fabulous and much anticipated book
Little Red In The City. Yes this book contains some lovley knitting patterns but it also contains a plethora of really useful information. You know how so often books are jam packed with information that you feel should be useful but you never really use? Well this book isn't like that at all. I pre-ordered my copy of Little Red and waiting almost patiently for it to arrive in the post. I am sad to say I haven't had as much time to read it as I would have liked but it goes through everything you need to know about making a garment that actually fits! You know maybe take some of the guess work out of it and avoid the weeks of knitting only to end up with something that looks like an expensive sack or you can hardly squeeze into? There is also information on yarn choice and substitution and various knitting techniques. I can see this becoming my 'go to' knitting reference book. All that said we musn't forget the patterns and I have definite plans to knit
Cria at some stage and probably some of the others as well.
Next up on my list is
Gudrun Johnston of
Shetland Trader. Once again there are many of Gudrun's designs in my knit queue but the ones closest to the top are
Laar,
Shalder and
Moch Cardi. I am seriously thinking of adding her book "The Shetland Trader - Book 1" to my christmas wish list as well. Although I love the accessibility of downloaded patterns and that I can carry them all around easily in my iPad there is nothing quite like flicking through a real live book and looking at the gorgeous pictures and layout etc to make me really want to knit something :-)
One of my most recent designer discoveries on Ravelry is the very talented young designer
Lily Kate France of
Joli House. Her designs are fresh, fun and funky and I can't wait to knit
Wray which would have to be my favorite so far.
Finally on this list is
Hannah Fettig of
Knitbot. I love the simplicity of Hannah's designs and the drape and shape she can get from the yarn. I recently finished one of her designs, the
Whisper Cardigan, and I know I will be knitting more in the future. In fact the book that she has just released in conjunction with Alana Dakos who I mentioned yesterday may well be on my christmas list as well. A couple of my fav designs from
Coastal Knits are
Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah and
Gnarled Oak Cardigan by Alana.
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| My Whisper Cardigan |
There are many other designers on Rav who I have discovered as well but the list is way too long and this doesn't even touch things like shawls and socks but it would go on forever.
So what is at the top of your "I really want to knit for me" list? Let me know and be sure to check back tomorrow for a giveaway along this recent theme of mine.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/betty-jean-mcneil-cardigan is the next one I want to knit, once I've finished my Central Park Hoodie. Hmm, then again, I don't have to be monogamous in my cardigan knitting, do I? Especially as I already have the yarn, I only need to buy the pattern.
ReplyDeleteit's a hard choice ... i want to make a cardy for myself and love the look of "cria" and "moch" but I'd also love a "Benji" pattern.
ReplyDeleteFYI I found you via TNN and I'm shortlette on ravelry. Thanks for this chance.