Happy Knitty Surprise Day

Today is Knitty surprise day, which means a couple more patterns have been released to get you stitching this season. (Note, if you are reading this on Wednesday, their servers may be a bit slow to load because the patterns are new, but be patient and you’ll get there.)

The Fifteen Love Pullover by Brittany Wilson is a pretty three-color top worked from the top down with a kind of slim, retro fit. There are times when you’ll be fiddling lots of strands of yarn, but the effect is well worth it, I think.

In addition to that one, there’s a new sock pattern, Neldoreth by Rich Esnor. These dramatic cabled socks look to me like what Tolkien’s elves would wear if they wore socks; the designer says the name actually comes from “the beech forest on the banks of the River Esgalduin that formed the northern and lesser part of the Kingdom of Doriath in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.” So I was pretty close.

Do either of these catch your eye or are you knitting anything special to celebrate spring? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo by Brian Wilson via Knitty.]

Looking for knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Looking for pullover and sweater patterns? Check these books out.

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Beautiful people and beautiful sweaters combine in Lasse L. Matberg’s Viking Knits. The book includes more than 40 Scandinavian inspired knits for men, women and children featuring textured stitches and colorwork.

Matberg is known as The Viking and has worked as a chef, naval officer, fitness instructor and model, as well as being on a couple of reality TV shows. He comes from a long line of makers and his book was first published in Norwegian in 2021 and has since come out in an English version.

The book is divided into sections including everyday sweaters, knits for the great outdoors, stylish knitwear, Norse sweaters and accessories. Some of the patterns use the same designs in different versions for men, women and children. I counted seven projects rated for beginners, 19 for intermediate knitters and 17 for experienced knitters. The more difficult patterns tend to have allover colorwork or stitch patterning.

The pattern stitches and colorwork are shown in charts, with a little bit of text to tell you how to make the garment. Most of the book is sweaters, but there are also hats (sometimes coordinating with sweaters), scarves and a couple of sitting mats.

You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry. Some of my favorites are the more basic ones, such as the Power Sweater, a close-fitting (sized for men) ribbed sweater; the Heart Sweater, a raglan with allover lice stitch; and the Midsummer Sweater, with textured stripes and a henley neckline. I also like the Breeze designs (there are versions for men, women and children) that have colorwork diamonds on them.

Sizing on the garments varies, but there are six sizes for the men’s patterns (noted as small through XXL and then Lasse sized), six for women (XS to XL) and three for children (age 2-4, 6-8 and 10-12).

The yarns used in the book aren’t available in the United States but you can find suppliers here if you want to use the same yarns. Otherwise the book gives a lot of details about yarn content and gauge so you should be able to find good substitutes wherever you live.

If you have Norwegian or Scandinavian heritage or just like the look of cozy textured or colorful sweaters, this book is a lot of fun, and the eye candy is pretty great, too.

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 43 patterns. Published in English in 2023 by Search Press. Suggested retail price $29.95.

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