Interweave Knits, summer 2022
This issue offers two themes that are bad design in my eye. One is optical art, the kind of art that was a trend in the 1960s, but before that was considered bad idea because it seemed to wiggle or crawl, both disconcerting in a fabric. You can see an untroubling example in the cowl on the cover: Qualyn Stark’s Vasarely Cowl in a caramel and black in Rowan Cotton Wool, a DK weight yarn. The little squares grow and shrink as they revolve around the cowl, but cowls tend to rumple up, few people will sense the movement in the pattern. Laid flat, it does indeed wiggle weirdly.
The Morellet Top in blue and gray by Lana Jois does have some effect of movement on the eye. Its center also lies somewhere on the right side of the waistline which is not usually where we hope people to be focusing. It is done up in Brooklyn Tweed Dapple which is a DK weight yarn of wool and cotton and is a 3 out of 4 for difficulty. Retinal Tee is another novelty design by Blazenka Simic-Boro done in Lana Grosso Ecopuna, another DK weight yarn blending cotton, wool and alpaca, and a 2 out of 4 for difficulty. If you don’t like the way the stripes cut up the design, it would be easy enough to choose the narrow or the broad and carry them across what is a simple rectangle tee.
The more successful examples in the optical art section are the shawls which include the yellow Visual Tempo Shawl in Anzula Luxury Fibers Croquet. Here the undulating pattern resembles the natural movement of waves and the yarn is a merino silk blend in a DK weight.
The other theme is sweaters that are more interesting in the front than the back. I suspect the idea is that way you can wear a lace pattern and not feel immodest as people can only get a peak at your bra straps, but why would you want everyone finding you more interesting from behind? You see here Giverny Top in a very pale blue by Donna Estin in BC Garn Bio Balance, a fingering yarn which blends organic wool and cotton. The lacing is only for show and only extends up a few inches in the back. It is 3 out of 4 for difficulty. Then in a taupe color called Walnut, you see the Morisot Tee by Susanna Ic done in the lace weight yarn Purl Soho Seagrass which blends cotton and alpaca. It is a simple rectangle and a 2 out of 4.
In addition, there are two articles. One is on makers and the problems they encounter in running a small business--labor and materials are not the only thing to calculate--by Ashli Ree. And a technical article on parallel versus rotating floats in stranded knitting by Roxanne Richardson which offers a nice combination of photos and sketches to clarify.
In total, there are 3 shawl patterns, 1 socks, 1 cowl, and 7 sweaters, most of them sleeveless of cap sleeves. But as I know from checking out patterns on Ravelry.com, an online community that needs only a simple registration, yarn workers take patterns and do as they like: re-size, re-shape, etc. Although I can’t see myself making most of these patterns, I can see taking certain stitch patterns and shapes and doing something with them. That is the pleasure of creating.
You can find this issue at your Local Yarn Store, or here online: https://www.interweave.com/product/interweave-knits-summer-2022-print-edition/
Ravelry can be found here: https://www.ravelry.com/
