Every year around this time we get a new shipment of African Baskets. Colours, shapes and sizes are always a surprise and we think this year's collection is especially beautiful.

Cones of Habu Cotton Gima stand tall and cheerful, waiting for transformation into spring and summer garments. Gima means “fake linen” in Japanese and this paper-like 100% cotton yarn does have a linen-like feel. The perfect warm season fibre, this versatile yarn can be used single or double stranded and has crisp stitch definition but softens beautifully with handling and washing. Cotton Gima also makes a wonderful warp or weft for weaving. Our two-colour Crocheted Mobius Cowl was inspired by the fun pattern from Churchmouse Yarns. Interested in exploring crochet? The mobius cowl would be a great project once the basic stitches are learned. Consider joining our mini-workshop on Sunday, May 12 for an introduction to the craft of crochet.

Colours of spring . . .

Sally Melville has authored many fantastic knitting books, from beginner-friendly manuals that focus on the simple beauty of the knit and purl stitch, to collections of stunning garments for all ages. Knitting Pattern Essentials fits somewhere between: it contains instructions for eight feminine garments, but the majority of the book is a how-to guide for drafting knitwear to fit our unique bodies.

In her introduction, Sally clarifies: “This is not a design book. Design is different from drafting, and this book is about the latter – the practical mechanics and support material that bring your vision to life.” She goes on to explain that we-the-readers are the designers: working from our vision of a finished garment to choose special yarns or colour combinations, decide on stitch patterns, and create swatches of fabric that has the drape or crispness to match.

The first chapter, titled Preparing to Draft, explains angles and curves in knitted fabric, introduces the measurements needed to either copy an existing garment or create one from scratch, and contains an excellent set of basic silhouettes that demonstrate the effects of different sweater lengths and shaping on our overall visual proportions.

The next six sections walk us through the steps of drafting basic body shapes, shoulder and neck variations, hem and sleeve options and alternatives, side shaping, and cardigan styles. The book focuses on sweaters or garments that hang from the shoulder, as Sally believes that drafting almost any other knitted item will be easy once we have the skills required to draft a sweater.

Within each basic sweater shape, we are asked to fill in a worksheet with gauge information from our swatches and body measurements, and then we are guided through simple calculations that will produce pattern instructions. By combining a basic shape with our unique measurements for side shaping, hem and sleeve styles, we learn to draft original patterns for ourselves!

This book is written in an easy-to-read conversational style, and while Sally shares some of her personal preferences about garment construction and combining style elements, we are left empowered to stray from her path as we follow our inspirations. Highly recommended for intermediate and advanced knitters ready to draft their own designs, this is still suitable for adventurous beginners ready to leap into personalized knitting. Contact the shop to reserve your copy!

- Christa Giles

And here's Harriet in the dusky mauve Skinny Cotton (Zinc 304).

Join us next week for Gramps, a fun “Beyond Beginners” sweater class. You'll learn all the techniques needed to construct a top-down (seamless) baby or child's sweater, including short-row shaping, picked-up button band and collar, buttonholes, pockets and more. Details can be found here in our Class listings. Call or stop by the shop to register.

And check out the Die Cut Vest cover feature in the newest issue of knit.wear.