Pattern Roundup: New Summer Sweaters!

There have been so many amazing new sweater and top designs released this summer. I thought it would be fun to take a tour through some of our favorites. Click the photos to go to the Ravelry page for each design.

We'll start with some knit now, wear now tops that are perfect for summer:

Dockside by Andrea Sanchez is knit in Vera, a sport-DK weight silk and linen blend. It's shown here in colorway Gravity.

Santa Cruz Cami by Stephannie Tallent is another great summer tank knit in Vera . We'll be taking a closer at this design on the blog in the very near future.

Mazy by Janet Brani is a perfect summer overlay. Crocheted in Ava, this adorable top can be worn over tanks to add a layer of cute with out adding a layer of heat.

Speaking of adorable, how cute is this?! Shortbread Cookie by Mona Zillah. You can knit up your own cuteness using Cricket, our super soft, DK weight, merino, cashmere, and nylon yarn.

Up next, Dear Prudence by Afifa, knit in Ava. Bright yarn and lacy sleeves make this a totally wearable summer top.

Violet's Wonderful Life by Laura Patterson, also knit in Ava, was featured in The National Needlearts Association Fashion Show this summer.

Back to Vera, Flamingo Pink Tee by Andrea Sanchez is reminiscent of her Dockside top and sized for little ones. You'll find this in the June 2016 issue of I Like Knitting.

Vaara by Sachiko Burgin and published in Pom Pom Quarterly has been so popular this summer. Knit in Vera this casual top wears cool and pairs with jeans, flowing skirts, and shorts of all varieties.

Like I said, it's been a great summer for sweaters! What's on your needles? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

On our next Patter Roundup we'll take a look at sweaters to knit now and wear this Fall and Winter. There are a ton of great sweaters for men, women, and children so get ready to expand your queues!

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Designer Spotlight: Karen Whooley

Hello Everyone!

I am Karen Whooley, indie designer and instructor from Everett, WA. I started crocheting in 1974 and knitting in 2004. It took me so long to learn to knit because once I learned to crochet from my grandmother, I had a hard time learning to knit as I was so used to having my yarn in my left hand. Everyone I knew was a thrower. In 2004 I learned to knit continental at a local yarn shop. And what was my first knitting project? A sweater for my husband!

I have been a crochet designer since 1998 when I sold my very first patterns to Annie’s Attic. (Now Annie’s) I started designing knit patterns in 2010. I have been a national crochet instructor since 2004 traveling all over the USA teaching technique and project classes to crocheters and knitters. Though I am now comfortable as a knit designer, I leave teaching knit classes to the wonderful knitting instructors already out there.

Although I work with a variety of yarns, my favorite yarns to work with are lace and fingering weights. When I learned to crochet more than 40 years ago, my grandmother taught me the art of Italian Lace. By the time I hit 12 or 13 I was so sick of lace that I gravitated to sport and worsted. But in the last 10 years or so, I have gone back to my roots and teach as well as design in the finer weights of yarn.

I do have to say that my favorite Anzula yarn is Breeze. The silk/linen blend in a lace weight yarn is perfect for a crocheter! In fact, you will see a design coming out in that yarn spring of 2017! But if I had to pick an Anzula Colorway? Honestly, I cannot pick one. Lottie, as seen in in my new pattern Imaginant, is absolutely to die for! I love Opal too. And Persimmon is another favorite. And any of the shades of blue.. Blue is my favorite color.

Currently I have 3 knit projects cast on and 2 crochet projects on the hook. The three knit projects ae for family.. 2 pairs of socks (one for 18 year old daughter and one for 20 year old son) and a sweater for my aforementioned son. The crochet projects include a sample for one of my classes and a new project for a forthcoming book that I cannot share with you yet!

Now let's talk about Imaginant. Imaginant brings together the ideas of a shawl worked side-to-side, worked all in one piece and includes the edging as part of each row. Once you have completed the pattern, the shawl is done!

When I conceived Imaginant, I was crocheting a lot of shawls from side to side. I love the idea of making the entire shawl from one end to the other, with all the stitch pattern changes and the edging all in one piece. Imaginant is the first shawl I have designed in knitting this way and I love how it turned out. And I think it is my favorite knitting pattern I have designed to date! I chose Anzula’s Luster because I love the silk in it and the lovely squish factor it has. And the colorway Lottie? Lets just say I saw it live for the first time in January 2016 at the TNNA Show in San Diego and I fell in love. I already had the pattern written then, but was shopping for colors. One look at Lottie and I knew it was a match made in Heaven.

Imaginant is a lightweight shawl with a simple lace pattern that even a beginning knitter will find easy. My favorite part is that it only uses 2 skeins of Luster so when you are done you only have 4 ends to bury. But the fact that the pattern customizes so easily, you can either reduce or increase the size simply by adding or removing repeats is my favorite part of the pattern. The pattern is completely charted, but also has written instructions so you can knit up the shawl with whichever instructions make more sense to you!

I hope you enjoy Imaginant as much as I do. Until the end of day pacific time Monday, August 8, 2016 I am offering 35% off the pattern! Just go to this blog post on my website to get all the details! And be sure to let me know when you’ve made yours! Link it up to the pattern page on Ravelry or send me a photo any time!

I mentioned earlier that I have another pattern coming out in the spring using Anzula’s Breeze. It is actually one pattern in a book that will launch in early 2017. I can't share much more about it yet, but if you sign up for my newsletter, you will be among the first to know when it comes out and all the details before the actual launch. You will also be the first to know when my next patterns are released this fall (there are 4 before the holidays!) I am also on Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or I blog on my own website at http://karenwhooley.com. I hope you’ll say hi to me which ever is your favorite place!

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Pattern Spotlight: Roxanne by Heddi Craft

Heddi Craft of Heddi Craft Designs joins us with the story of her new shawl pattern, Roxanne, which was released last week:

I first learned about Anzula yarns at the 2015 STITCHES West show. I was almost unable to choose from amongst all the lovely colors and fibers. However, Meridian drew me in with its beautiful sheen and drape. I used my precious skein to create the prototype for my Kerti Shawl and found that it was an ideal yarn to work with because of its subtle color variations and crisp blocking. The generous skein gave me plenty of yarn to experiment.

Early this year, my local yarn shop held a trunk show for Anzula and I purchased another skein of Meridian, this time in the sky blue Alice colorway. Two months later I learned that my midwife, Roxanne Cummings, who was with me for the birth of all three of my children, had passed away. I knew that skein needed to be knitted in her honor-- it represented the springtime sky and the hope and light that my midwife brought to so many families in my area.

In designing this shawl, I chose patterns that evoked growth and change. Working on the shawl became a part of my grieving process. Even when the design had setbacks and I had to rework the border, I found that I didn't mind-- it gave me more time to spend with the fond memories of my friend.

Roxanne Shawl in Meridian, colorway Alice

Meridian is quickly becoming my favorite lace-weight yarn and was the perfect yarn for this project. In addition to opening up and blocking beautifully, the tencel gives it a shine and brightness, the alpaca provides softness, and the little bit of nylon gives it strength. Light, softness, and strength were what Roxanne brought to my births as well, so it really was an ideal match. the tonal dyeing technique that Anzula uses really adds to depth to the shawl without distracting from the lace design.