Featured Project: Spring Garden Tee in Cricket

As a new-ish member of Team Anzula, this past February was my first experience at Stitches West. Because we only work directly with our yarn shops, Stitches West is our opportunity every year to meet directly with you, the knitter/crocheter/spinner/weaver. It energizes us to see the projects you make and to talk about the craft with you.

​© grandmastatus 2013

After meeting so many wonderful people and seeing all the Anzula they took home, I found myself wondering what amazing items everyone worked from their skeins. Thanks to Ravelry I was able to meet Cecilia, a Stitches West shopper who created a beautiful Spring Garden Tee from Cricket.

Cecilia was originally shopping for Oasis, but when we didn't have a sweater's worth of the colorway she wanted she shifted her focus to Cricket. Unable to choose between 1 Red Shoe and Madam, she says she chose Madam because it is “more of a rich subtle color” rather than “bright and outstanding.”

​© grandmastatus 2013

With Cricket in hand, she had to find a new pattern. She chose the Spring Garden Tee from Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting. It's a lovely delicate tee with lacy cap sleeves and a lacy detail around the bottom. It's elegant alone, or also fabulous styled with a simple ribbon or other thin belt.

Visit our website to find a local or online Anzula retailer. ​If Cricket is not available at your LYS, you can place a special order through any store that carries Anzula. 

Simon Sweater by Faina Goberstein

This year the Anzula booth at Stitches West was full of not only more yarn than ever, but also more patterns and samples. One that drew a lot of attention all weekend was this new design by Faina Goberstein, the Simon sweater.​

​© Faina Goberstein

Knit in Oasis, this sweater runs toward the masculine but is certainly versatile enough to be worn by anyone.

Simon is a classic sweater that Faina says is easy enough to be a great travel project. Yet it was created with enough detail to keep the knitting and finished sweater interesting.

​© Faina Goberstein

Oasis is a silk and camel blend, making it a great choice for those who avoid wool. Faina also has a wonderful, slouchy hat pattern created from Oasis, called Al Fresco.

​© Faina Goberstein

You may also know Faina from her Craftsy class, Sizing Knitwear Patterns.​

​You can find your LYS that carries Anzula here, or see where to buy online here. If you aren't finding the yarn or colorway you desire, any of our shops can place a special order for any of our yarns or fibers.

Casting On the Little Cable Knee Highs

​We have started our Little Cable Knee High knitalong, and we hope you've chosen to join us! If you haven't cast on yet, don't worry. We are all at different knitting levels and speeds so we'll be continuing the discussion for a while over in the Anzula group on Ravelry.

​Sylvia's Chiva sock is off to a great start!

The Purl Bee's pattern is written for double pointed needles. Most of us here use circular needles, so a few stitch markers are helpful for following the pattern to mark where Needle 1, Needle 2, and Needle 3 start.

Becca chose to start her sock like she starts hexipuffs!​

This sock pattern starts with a provisional cast on. On this count, we were divided. Some chose to do this, starting with a crochet chain as explained here on the Purl Bee, or shown in a video here at New Stitch a Day. This method from Knitty was also used. Some chose to do Judy's Magic cast on instead of a provisional.

Meg used the provisional cast on technique from Knitty to start her sock.​

One of the most important things to do before you get too far into the sock is to make sure that your gauge is correct. If you aren't sure, you can measure your gauge to make sure that it is the recommended 8 1/2 stitches per inch. Here's a little guide to measuring gauge from the Purl Bee.

Rather than make a swatch for these socks, we all jumped in and started knitting the pattern. More than one of us had to frog and restart to get the proper gauge. Gauge will vary a little when knitting in the round rather than knitting flat, so make sure that if you decide to swatch, to do so in the round.

Or just try the socks on. As you knit, the socks feel so luscious that it's hard to resist trying them on, anyway. Charlie made several modifications to her sock by trying it on frequently and adjusting as she went, so it is a perfect fit!

​Charlie used the provisional cast on for her Petunia sock.

Have any other questions about knitting these socks, or any observations or tricks? Come join our thread on the Ravelry group.