Every time I think that I’d like to finish writing a knitting book I started years ago, one of my friends publishing a book that makes me realize my attempts would be lame comparatively.

Kyle-Envy

Kyle Kunnecke’s latest endeavor is the publication of one of my favorite books on knitting patterns, Urban Knit Collection.

Overview:

# Patterns: 18 (2 Wraps, 8 Sweaters, 4 Scarves/Cowls, 2 Hat,s 2 Gloves)
Writing Style: Technical, sophisticated,
Design Style: Combination of textural and color patterning, geometric and whimsical and very deco

I love Kyle’s aesthetic eye for design and this book is chock full of all that I love in his work.

My three favorite designs in the book are:

I’m struck by the color choice and the strong graphic of this sweater design.  The designer makes this a more simplified project by only adding the colorwork on the front (also known as a coffin sweater), and the designers choice of yarns (Rowan Felted Tweed) makes this a luxurious choice for a project.

Color choice for these mittens by the designer is perfect and still creates the opportunity to play around with different color combinations to make this design your own.

The Zephyr scarf caught my eye in multiple ways.  First of all  the drape of the scarf is perfect…using a Merino/Silk blend of fingering weight yarn on a US4 (3.5 mm) needle works perfectly with the stranded colorwork to create a fabric that is lofty, soft and warm.  The way Kyle used the yarn, allows you to experience the luster of the wool/silk blend as well.  And finally, I find the Art Deco graphic design to be a strong, masculine design for a stunning final garment.

If you haven’t added Kyle’s book to your knitting library by now (and I know a LOT of people have recommended it before me), I highly recommend that you make this book a priority to purchase.

In my mind, it will do two things…first, it will give you and awesome resource for future projects and project ideas, and second, it will encourage Kyle to keep designing.

Current Knitting

I’ve decided to try knitting up a few pairs of gloves for my craft show pursuits, and I’m happy with how long one glove has taken me to knit (less than 3 days).

This is Aaron’s pattern (Choose Your Own Cable Adventure Gloves), modified in a few ways, but I love how fitted this pattern makes the glove.  It fits a human hand exceptionally well.