Interweave Unveils New Website, Merger with Patternworks

Interweave, the multi-craft publishing company that’s been a part of F+W since 2012, announced an “updated and reinvigorated” Interweave with the launch of a redesigned website.

At the same time, the company announced a merger with Patternworks, an online fiber arts company that also produced a mail-order catalog. Visiting the Patternworks website now brings up news about the merger with an Interweave URL.

The former daily websites and blogs have been recast under the Interweave name (so KnittingDaily.com no longer goes to that URL but to interweave.com/knitting). Each of the major categories Interweave publishes content about — knitting, crochet, beading, jewelry, spinning, weaving and needlework — has its own section, as well as a shop, which includes Interweave patterns and products as well as yarn and other items that would have been sold by Patternworks.

It’s not clear whether the daily updates from each of those former sites will continue, but the Patternworks post mentions “high quality content being published multiple times a day.”

I think this is an interesting strategy and I’m not sure what it means for the company, though diversifying their offerings with the connection to Patternworks seems like a good plan. I’d love to know what you think!

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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