Many people think of spring as the season of renewal. I tend think of fall as the season of new. It’s probably a holdover from school days, when fall meant new clothes and new shoes, new teachers, new books, sometimes a new building and always new classes and new things to learn. I still think of fall as a freshening breeze, crisp days and cool nights, crunchy leaves and Siamese-cat-eye-colored skies, renewed vigor and, of course, the beginning of knitting season.
Have you thought of new projects for the coming year? Turtlenecks are making a comeback – love them or hate them?
Big cable knits are still everywhere.
Tunics are still being shown
but there are a few shorter styles.
Color work is popular – graphic intarsia as well as stranded or striped.
Classic fisherman rib is always popular
and can also be not-quite-so-classic:
All the images above are from Nordstrom’s website. If you want to spend $450 – 1200 on a sweater, you can have them, no knitting involved! I use their website for inspiration for what I’d like to make this fall. We all have different body types and issues, but for me, I’m reluctant to wear big chunky tunics (I look like the Hobbit) or turtlenecks that are too high or bulky (a hold-over from my hot flash era) or big graphic images (not wanting to come off as the side of a really short barn).
I would like a shorter cable knit, though, and I’ve always liked this one, which I think is a good transitional style for fall. I would make it as shown, in Luma, Fibre Company’s wool/organic cotton/silk blend:
in Plymouth’s DK Merino Superwash.
I also like this one, maybe scaled down a bit:
in Ella Rae’s Classic Sport, a nice woolly kind of wool.
I wouldn’t mind a turtleneck this year, as long as it wasn’t too overwhelming. I’m old, so I have neck issues along with my hot-flash PTSD. Maybe this:
because it’s done in lace weight and the collar is loose. It would be incredibly yummy in Road to China Lace.
And this looks wearable and comfy:
I may experiment with two strands of Lang’s Lusso (coming soon to the shop, with wool/silk/camel/mohair- yum!) held together. Debby Andrews is currently knitting this sweater in Lana Grossa’s Arioso, which will be absolutely lovely, too.
As for colorwork, I love the sweater that Karen is going to be teaching this fall – more about that next time! – and I also love this light little striped pully. Some color packs of Fino are coming soon and I think this would be fabu using one of Fino’s lovely semi-solids along with a color pack:
Fisherman’s rib really is classic, but it’s a time-and yarn-intensive stitch. How about this cute capelet instead, in a rich color of Worsted Merino Superwash? Or I might try it in one of my favorite combinations, Fine Donegal (wool/cashmere) held together with Herriott Fine (baby alpaca/nylon), tweedy and lush all at the same time:
There are so many things to get excited about for fall…can’t wait!
