Book Review – Elemental Knits: A Perennial Knitwear Collection

Elemental Knits is for women who aspire to be ever stylish, more comfortable, and less wasteful. With knitwear designer Courtney Spainhower, you’ll craft an appearance that truly reflects your spirit with a collection of 20 knitting patterns designed to enhance your wardrobe year-round.

• Knit with intention, selecting patterns and fibers for their wearablity, versatility, and how they enhance your existing wardrobe.
• 20 patterns explore a range of knitting techniques with features suited to each season–texture and cables for autumn, allover patterning for winter, garter and lace for spring, and colorful accents for summer.
• Revel in gorgeous details that take these garments and accessories from functional to essential in a way that will have you wearing them year after year.
Enrich your hand-knit wardrobe with intentional projects that will act as wardrobe staples for years to come with Elemental Knits.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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