Design Your Way to New Zealand!

Vogue Knitting is celebrating its 30th anniversary in lots of big ways, but one of the biggest was just announced. The magazine is teaming up with Zealana, a luxury New Zealand yarn company, on a design contest, the grand prize of which is a trip to New Zealand.

The contest is open to all knitters with an interest in design (there’s a separate student contest for those in high school, university or a fashion school) and is looking for hand-knit garments for women sized small to medium based on the Craft Yarn Council’s standard sizing charts. At least half of each design must be made with Zealana yarn.

Submissions in the form of color photographs are due by Nov. 30, and each designer may submit up to four projects. Finalists will have to mail their projects and the ball bands of the yarn they used to New York, and the winners will be announced at Vogue Knitting Live in New York next year. All finalists will be featured in Vogue Knitting, and the grand prize winner will receive a five-day trip to New Zealand that will include a trip to the Zealana factory and a wildlife sanctuary.

The winning design will also be styled and photographed for a feature in Vogue Knitting and to be used in promotions for Zealana. Other prizes for runners up include gift cards, gift baskets and tickets to Vogue Knitting Live events (though they are responsible for their own transportation and accommodations).

This sounds like a really cool contest. Too bad my book is due two weeks before the deadline!

If anyone decides to enter, I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo by Zealana.]

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

Have you read?