Over the last couple of years, I’ve come to appreciate comfort knitting. In my personal knitting, I used to go for the biggest, hardest, most intricate patterns I could find—double-sided lace, wacky shaping maneuvers, funky construction. More recently, I simply haven’t had the mental energy. Don’t get me wrong, I still love all the odd and innovative things; but by the time the weekend rolls around, I’d love something just a bit familiar to work on. Enter Wool & Pine.
I’ve gone on and a bit about their patterns in the last few months. They’re always clear, readable, intuitive (at least for me) and include fun tidbits of technique that I haven’t tried before. Most of their designs are fairly orthodox: raglans, circular yokes, drop shoulders. But there’s always some surprise detail, whether it’s an unusual stitch pattern or a finishing tip that makes the resulting garment just a little more polished. Knitting one of their patterns is always a learning experience for me, as a designer and as a knitter. And while this isn’t necessarily relevant to the patterns themselves, Abbye Dahl is one of the best knitwear photographers in the industry, hands down.
All this reflection is coming out of me today because I’ve been planning my personal project goals for the next year. I love diving into the world of indie designers and digging up obscure patterns by smallish designers in the same league as myself, and I’ve wondered if I should dial back the Wool & Pine a bit and diversify. (You’ll see why when I show you all the Wool & Pine I’ve been up to…) There are only so many hours in a weekend, and there are so many under-appreciated designers that deserve time on the needles—too many to spend all of my precious knitting time in one place.
I’ve decided to try and do both this year. I have several patterns in my queue by less well-known designers, and either the yarn to make them or a bit of budget set aside to get it. Ditto for Wool & Pine. I have bags in my stash to collect scraps for more Sea Glass Tees, because I wear the one I have everywhere, every chance I get. One of my SweetGeorgia coworkers and I are planning to make Prismatic Sweaters together this year, so that we can match whenever I manage to take that trip to Vancouver that we’ve been talking about since I joined SweetGeorgia as a Designer in Residence last year. All this fits into my overall goal of incorporating more handmade garments into my wardrobe this year (sweaters, not just accessories) and buy fewer store-bought clothes. My brother wrote a paper on fast fashion for his economics class last semester and I helped; it kind of freaked me out.
So in celebration, here’s a little Wool & Pine parade for your viewing pleasure. It’s going to be a fun year.
