Check Out the We Are Knitters Collection with Ella Emhoff

Ella Emhoff is a designer and textile artist who also happens to be the daughter of the Second Gentleman of the United States. Her designs are whimsical and often use lots of scraps so they’re super colorful and fun. She actually collects yarn leftovers from friends and other projects to make simple dresses and other projects that are a happy riot of color, and how nicely they all seem to turn out is inspiring me to try to knit something with all my random little odd balls. Stay tuned.

She’s teamed up with We Are Knitters to present a collection of kits that are a little less colorful, but still super cute and wearable.

There are four designs to choose from:

A granny square crocheted bonnet
The Isa skirt, which has a drawstring waist and a slightly flared hemline
The Beanie tank set, which includes a stockinette stitch, racerback, cropped tank top and a ribbed bandeau you can wear on top
The Baxter sweater, shown here, a cropped, boatneck sweater worked in stockinette stitch in pieces with a tiny split hem on the sides

The Baxter sweater is my favorite of the collection. It’s worked in cotton yarn on size 8 US knitting needles, and it definitely looks like something I would like to wear. I wish it were possible to just buy the patterns since I already have plenty of yarn, but these projects would be fun to get for a friend as a gift, or give as a gift to yourself!

You can check out the full collection at We Are Knitters here. If you don’t already follow her on Instagram, her posts are a lot of fun (she has a personal account and one that is more knitting focused, but they both have a fair bit of knitting content).

[Photo: We Are Knitters]

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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