Vogue Knits for Winter

Since finishing all my Christmas knits, I’ve been knitting accessory projects from the more recent Vogue Knitting issues.  Sometimes their pattern collections hold nothing of great interest for me, but lately they’ve had some really nice patterns, for which I’ve had the perfect yarn!

Fall 2010

First, let me say that I am addicted to British-inspired knitwear.  Hello, my name is Bennett, and I have a problem!  For this reason, I found this issue was fantastic with all the Fair Isle patterns and Union Jacks everywhere!  Most enticing was a fair isle slouchy hat patterned in vines and flowers.  This hat was love at first sight.  I had visions of myself roaming around downtown with it, where strangers ask me where I got this fantastic hat and I tell them that I knit it myself.  Vogue knitting calls and asks me to become a sample maker and pattern contributor.  I quit my day job and spend the rest of my life knitting.

When trying to find the yarn to make this perfect child of fashion and warmth, I realized that the yarn it is originally knit in, Knit One, Crochet Too’s USDK yarn, is no longer sold anywhere in the right colors.  The closest yarn weight/colors that I could find were in KnitPicks’ Telemark yarns.  (Incidentally, this yarn was fantastic!  I was a little unsure of what I was going to get, but each skein was of good quality, and the yarn itself was very similar in feel to Cascade 220, but in a sport weight).  As I knit, I started to realize that the hat I was making was becoming increasingly larger than the picture of the hat in Vogue.  At this point I decided that I would just shrink the hat down a little for a better fit, since I was knitting in wool. 

From this project I have learned that either I knit bigger than gauge when working with Fair Isle charts or, Telemark is not the same weight as USDK.  Also, I have trouble working a rib pattern in Fair Isle that has any elasticity.  I still love my hat though.  Especially when it does not fall off my head!

Holiday 2010

A few years back, at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair, I purchased 5 skeins of Cuzco sport weight alpaca in cream.  I had this vision of myself knitting this beautiful halter top from Vogue’s fall 2004 issue and wearing it to winter parties.  This did not happen for one major reason; I chose to knit the garment a size too small.  About halfway through knitting miles and miles of tiny cables, I tried it on, only to make that realization.  Some knitters would keep going and give the halter to someone else.  Other knitters would rip back and start over again.  I threw the knitting back in a bag for the next 4 years.  It turns out that this was a good turn of events, as I now know that 100% alpaca worn next to my skin is very itchy.

I never forgot the yarn, though, and would idly think of it when flipping through patterns until this year’s holiday issue in Vogue.  There is a picture of a model in fancy party dress (what parties do these holiday models go to?) with a light, lacy golden cowl.  Do not ask me how I knew the alpaca would be perfect for this pattern, but it was.  I flipped back to the pattern requirements to find that not only was the yarn was the exact right size, but I had enough of it!  Fate takes a hand.

The pattern called for me to use bigger needles and double the yarn throughout.  It knit up very quickly, even through the increasing lace pattern.  The finished product did not look very impressive, but I remembered my earlier foray into the magical world of blocking, and did not lose heart.  Once blocked, the lacy leaf pattern of the cowl came out beautifully (although Vogue did not recommend blocking, I do!).  But don’t let the lace fool you; the cowl is very warm too!

Winter 2010

The Cover of this issue appears to be a warrior winter princess in a beautifully cabled cream hat in worsted weight yarn.  My interest was drawn and I cast on with a Cascade 220 Quatro in blue (I love a cream winter princess hat as much as the next girl, but I don’t have cream worsted at the moment). 

The finished hat is beautiful and looks (except for the color) just like the hat in the magazine.  The pattern itself was fairly easy to follow, but I do wish there were pictures of the hat from the back, as well as graphic indications of how to sew the hat together.  I felt as if the pattern writer had put a great deal of trust in me that I would look at the hat pieces in my hands and figure out what to do with them.  Admittedly, I did figure out what to do, but I like a little more direction.  The body of the hat knits up fairly quickly, and would look pretty as a hat by itself, without the flaps (maybe I’ll try that later this week).  If you don’t like seams, I wouldn’t recommend knitting this hat, as there are 5 finished pieces which you seam, plus 3 pom-poms.