home and away

Summer Knitalong: Home and Away – Share your knits

September 30, 2015

The Summer knitalong had an incredible energy…so many folks joined in knitting a pattern from Hannah Fettig’s most recent book Home and Away…and they were ALL lovely. It seemed that out of all the patterns, the Lesley pullover was the most knit, with the most unique being that from Whitney @whit_knits who handspun the yarn for her Lesley. I think a close second was the Boothbay cardigan, with another unique take from @garmenthouse, who added a purl stitch here and there to create a beautiful stitch pattern.

It was wonderful to see everyone’s such positive response to this beautiful collection of patterns and come away with a new hand knit for Fall. I just finished my own Georgetown this past week and it may just be my new favorite sweater, it’s so versatile and the Quince and Co Owl I knit it with was just the blended tweedy-type goodness I longed for in my wardrobe.

And for those of you still finishing your projects or wanting to knit something from Home and Away…Quince and Co has a “Knitbot Knitalong” starting tomorrow…so keep your eye on their Instagram @quinceandco and blog for more info!

Tomorrow we start Fall Woolful Knitalong…so make sure to join along as we knit a pattern (of your choice) from Cecelia Campochiaro’s new book Sequence Knitting. More info to come this week on our picks, suggested yarns and such.

And without further ado, here are the lucky random winners and prizes for the Summer knitalong…

$25 Quince and Co gift card – Jennifer Fleck @jenninmaine
$25 Quince and Co gift card – Michelle Hughes @thevintagejunky

$25 Woolful gift card – Marie Carter @mariecarter
$25 Woolful gift card – Eve @thimbleandacorn

$25 Knitterly gift card – Ruth Werwai @rwerwai
$25 Knitterly gift card – Kristin Tolle @kristin_tolle

If you’re one of the winners, shoot me an email at hello@woolful.com!

Thank you so very much for being a part of this and supporting amazing designer’s like Hannah. Can’t wait to get going on the next one from Cecelia!

@whit_knits and @garmenthouse

@lmelnick12 & @evergreenviolet

@_claire_brennan_ & @kristin_tolle

@thevintagejunky & @barnescountry

@thimbleandacorn & @woolful

@randkin & @woolenviolets

*header photo by the lovely @dreareneeknits

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Knitting

Seamed vs. Seamless: A discussion on construction with Hannah Fettig

August 5, 2015

We’ve just begun our second month in the Home and Away Woolful Knit-a-long, and of course there’s still time to join, heck I am just swatching for mine now! There have been some wonderful shares on Instagram (via #woolfulkal) and shares on the Ravelry group so make sure to check those out. I’ve loved seeing so many different projects in both seamed and seamless construction, from both beginners and seasoned knitters. I’ll be knitting a seamed Georgetown for the very reasons Hannah talks about here…

The word is out: one of the awesome features of Home & Away is that you can choose to either knit your sweater in pieces and then seam them or knit it seamless in one big piece.

There is no wrong choice, as either way will yield the same result. If you’re wondering, there are advantages to both methods which you can consider.

A seamed sweater, knit in pieces, makes your project more portable. Also, the seams in your completed sweater will add structure and stability. Knit fabric by nature wants to stretch. Seams keep everything in place. When you have a floaty open cardigan such as Hancock you might not be as concerned about structure. It can still be important, especially if you are working with a fiber that stretches, such as alpaca, cotton or a superwash wool. Good shoulder seams can be important as the entire weight of the garment hangs from these points.

Seamless sweaters have their own advantages, too. Good seaming takes time, and with minimal finishing to work once the seamless sweater is complete, that’s time saved. Another advantage of a seamless sweater, particularly a sweater knit from the top down, is that you can try it on and adjust the fit as you go. For these reasons, a seamless sweater can be a great choice for a first time sweater knitter.

There is a thread in the Home & Away group dedicated to seamed vs. seamless construction. Do you have a preference? Join the conversation! -Hannah

Seaming can be a bit nerve-wracking, especially if you’re a new knitter. My first sweater was seamed and to be honest when I chose the pattern, seams hadn’t even occurred to me…I was a bit naive. As I approached the time to seam and finish, I remember being nervous, but confident that if I took my time and watched plenty of YouTube videos I’d be ok…and I was! Taking proper time to seam your garment is key and having insight into both the benefits and know-hows of seaming helps tremendously. While watching how-to videos is still a great resource, there’s an even better one (in my opinion). Karen Templer of Fringe Association has done several very helpful posts on seamed and seamless construction as a part of her #fringeandfriendsknitalong that took place last year when many folks knit the Amanda cardigan. I highly recommend checking out these posts if you’d like to go a bit deeper on this seamed vs. seamless discussion.

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Knitting

Styling your knits: An exercise with Hannah Fettig

July 8, 2015

The Home and Away Woolful Knit-a-long is off to a radiant start, and you can still join if you’ve been hoping to! It’s been so great to see all the beautiful images on Instagram (via #woolfulkal) and shares on the Ravelry group. I’ve been super anxious to cast on, but alas it will have to wait until this weekend when I have the yarn and a moment to swatch. In the meantime, Hannah has some great tips on styling and choosing the right yarn…

My wardrobe is pretty minimal. This is partly from necessity, as we’ve always lived in old New England homes with very small closets. But in reality even if I own 20 shirts, I only truly wear 4 of them in high rotation. Is this the case for you, too? Go to your closet and set these much loved and worn pieces aside. Arrange them into outfits, top to bottom. Do you notice any patterns? For instance, is there a lot of the same color showing up? Are they all the same fabric or cut? Now, with these outfits in mind, you can start making your pattern selection. Which design from Home & Away will best work with the outfits you’ve put together, the outfits your wear most often?

Once you’ve selected a design, it’s time to choose a yarn and a color. For myself, it really helps to make yarn selections in person. Hopefully you have a local yarn shop that you can go to. If you don’t and will be ordering online, Ravelry can be very helpful. You can look up a particular yarn and then choose to see all the projects that have been posted on Ravelry in that yarn. This gives you a chance to see what the yarn and various colors look like knit up into garments.

When substituting yarn for the ones used in the book, keep in mind the fiber content of the original yarn. It’s listed in each pattern. The majority of designs in Home & Away are knit in 100% wool. Quince & Co. yarns are quite light and airy, squishy, sproingy (if that’s a word, ha!) When considering a substitute yarn that includes a blend of other types of fiber, or is perhaps a denser wool yarn, think about what the finished knit fabric will be like as a result. If you’re not sure, you can ask your local yarn shop owner or ask the community in the Woolful KAL Ravelry group. Clara Parkes Book of Yarn is a very helpful resource on understanding fiber in yarn, too.

Every design in Home & Away is something I would personally wear. And I styled the outfits, so that’s how I would wear them! However, these garments could be styled in many ways. I look forward to seeing how you all incorporate them into your wardrobes. Get knitting!!

*Next up, some sneak peeks of the giveaways for the knit-a-long.