Why do I like the new Debbie Bliss magazine?

First of all, because it features a gorgeous collection of knits in grey:

Secondly, because of this jacket:

And finally, because of an adorable section of child knits, specifically blankets:

In reality, the first issue of Debbie Bliss has more than these three highlights; it has a beautiful collection of “romantic” cardigans, a selection of knitted men wear, as well as knitted objects for home and for children. It also features 2 illustrated lessons of lace-knitting, clean and clear design, and great photography. More previews are available on their website. Overall, it is a very nice first issue – I am looking forward to the next one.

Discovering

I really like finding out new things and the past several days were filled with happy discoveries.

Here is the first one:



Hemingway's "Super Stitches Knitting"- a gift from my non-knitting coworker. I have been looking at stitchionaries available at the bookstores and on Amazon for a while. I am not ready to design my own sweaters yet, but I would like to try my creativity and knit a scarf or a headband using different stitches. "Super stitches knitting" seems to be perfect for that. The book is divided into sections including: "knit and purl", "lace", "fair isle", and so on. It also has a section with tips and instructions on casting on, binding off, colour-work, and fixing errors (that one will be useful). I can not wait to create my own project using some of the stitches from the book and I think I know what it might be.

The second discovery was a long awaited first issue of Debbie Bliss magazine.


There are several interesting items in this magazine and overall presentation and design are very beautiful. I think Debbie Bliss magazine will be one of my favorites.

The last 2 discoveries were online magazines. The Inside Loop - UK based knitting magazine and Knotions. Both look very interesting and I will be spending some time reading the articles and choosing patterns I like.

There was actually another discovery or should I say an acquisition (yet another gift) but I will dedicate a separate post to it once I take proper pictures.

Good weekend

How do you know that you had a good weekend? You definitely had a great one if you spend it looking at these:


And playing with these:

I will write a separate post about books and magazines (I got most of them in Toronto) but here is a closer look at my new stash addition.

Here is my first tenсel yarn:


After a bit of research I found out on this website that:

"Tencel ® is the brand name for a fiber called lyocell. Lyocell is a cellulosic fiber made from wood through a proprietary TENCEL® production process. TENCEL® is a man-made fiber but natural in origin. This means it is very comfortable to wear because it is breathable and absorbent, like other natural fibers. TENCEL® is durable and this means that the clothes last."

I can not wait to try knitting with it. I think those colours would look great in a lacy shawl or stole.

And here is a beautiful German wool-based sock yarn called "Strumpfwolle".


Although I have a lot of sock yarn and not enough time to knit it all up I obsessively check out the sock yarn section in every stores. This yarn comes from a cute boutique "Les Laines Saute-Mouton", located in Saint-Lambert (one of the small cities, or should I say boroughs, constituting the South Shore). I really like the way colours change from one to another creating subtle, yet impressive, palette. One of the projects I have in mind for this yarn is a pair of gloves or maybe fingerless mittens.


And finally a skein of Noro, bought at "Les Laines Saute-Mouton" simply because it is Noro and it is pretty.

Knitters'

No knitting pictures today. I am a very very slow knitter these days. However I picked up a copy of Knitters' magazine couple of days ago.

They have shawl patterns as well as an article by my favorite Cat Bordhi about sock knitting (what else). The issue also features several nice summer tops and since I am too chicken to knit a big sweater, a nice top or cardigan could be a fun project.
Here are some of my favorite designs. I will appreciate any suggestion and colour changes:





To see all the designs from this issue of Knitters' click here. You can also browse through past issues to find a model you like.

And I can not not show you a beautiful sock pattern by Cat Bordhi:

They are called "Spring Thaw Socks" and it seems like they are made of snow, first spring leaves, and snowdrops.

It is quite obvious that all the images in this post are taken from Knitters' website.

YEY for Verena.

North American knitters can finally enjoy European designs from Verena magazine!

My mother used to sew. It was common for women in the USSR because the choice of ready-made clothes was limited and not the best. By the time my sister was born my mom was so good that people had a hard time believing that the clothes we wore were handmade. Mom would modestly say that she is not a good seamstress (she was good, believe me), but rather she had good patterns and instructions. All her designes came from Anne Burda's magazine which was very famous in the Soviet Union. These magazines were staples in Russian households at that time. Women would lend their magazines to friends, trade them, copy patterns for others, and the lucky ones would actually get a xeroxed copy of an article (they were expensive and not all the issues were available). The beauty of Burda's designs were their timeless elegance and classiness so it did not matter if the patterns were a couple of seasons or even a couple of years old.
My mom's magazines were carefully stored, and could be looked at at her presence, on a hard surface (to avoid any damage - after all they were simply stapled together), and only after I would have wash my hands. She did not like to lend them to people and did not allow anyone, but herself, to trace the patterns.
Some of mom's friends would knit and they were the lucky owners of Burda's younger sister - Verena. Verena's models were always classy and were far from simple knitted socks and sweaters that grandmothers would make. At the same time, just like Burda's items, they seemed to be easy to make and had planty of instructions. Another thing about all Burda's magazines is that their designs would fit a regular-framed woman, the one that has curves. However, for those who found them too big or too small there were easy instructions for adjustments of the patterns.

Five years ago I was contemplating the idea of sewing and the first thing I did, naturally, was to buy a Burda magazine. Just like in childhood, I would carefully flip the pages looking at designes and patterns, imagining which ones I'll do first. I was SO excited to have my own little collection of those precious gems. Unfortunately my sewing enthusiasm died after my first skirt; the process was too tedious and uncreative, but I believe I'll get back to it one day.

When I started knitting the first reflex was to buy a Verena magazine. I was very deceived that none of my favorite magazine stores or bookstores carried them. Moreover, none of the store-owners knew what I was talking about. I "googled" the name of the magazine, tried searching representatives, but could not find anything in Canada or the US. As it turned out, Verena was simply not available in North America until recently.
The beginning of Summer marked the first North-American issue of "Verena". If you do not know about this magazine I highly recommend you checking it out - you would be pleasantly surprised with all the interesting and creative projects. Check the book, yarn, and magazine stores - I already spotted a copy in one of Montreal's yarn stores!