Knitty First Fall is Here, with a New Server

Everyone who has ever tried to visit Knitty on release day knows it can be an exercise in frustration. Pages are often excruciatingly slow to load, and when I write about the new issue I usually throw in a disclaimer to the effect that it’s often slow for the first couple of days.

First Fall went live yesterday, and it actually seemed to go off without a hitch. That’s because Knitty has a new and improved server that can take the heavy loads a lot better.

And this is an issue you’re going to want to check out, especially if you’re a bit of a geek, since Neil Gaiman is the cover model this time (he’s wearing the Baker Street scarf, featured in Joan of Dark’s really cool new book Geek Knits, which I should have a review of really soon).

Other fun projects include Nim Teasdale’s Dragon’s Breath cowl, a fun lacy project worked in a lovely gradient yarn; the casual, textured Jamestown pullover by Amy Christoffers, sure to be a favorite come fall; Allie Matthews’ Saint Remy pullover, a top down circular yoke sweater with colorwork inspired by Van Gogh; the gorgeous Nelina cardigan by Corrina Ferguson, which uses unconventional raglan-like construction and shows off a semisolid yarn beautifully; and the Knit-stitch Felted Tote by Carolyn Noyes, which uses colorwork and decorative embroidery to form a fabric that looks like giant knitting.

In addition to the patterns, you’ll find an article on weaving scarves and plenty of great reviews of books, Craftsy classes, products and more.

Anything from this issue hitting your queue? (I’m pretty smitten by Nelina, I have to say.) I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo by Kyle Cassidy 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.

Lots of craft designers are understandably frustrated about the proliferation of AI “designed” patterns and photos of projects that have no basis in reality. People who don’t know how to tell if a project is AI are often also frustrated when they see a picture for something but there’s no pattern because it’s not real, or they buy a pattern that doesn’t actually explain how to make the thing or ends up looking totally different from the picture.

Some designers have taken it upon themselves to try to make some of those AI patterns that we see online, often with hilarious results.

Katherine Foster was inspired by a famous AI elephant to make what she calls “AIlephant,” which is now a free knitting pattern on Ravelry.

Her prototype uses worsted weight yarn, but you can use whatever yarn you like to make different sizes of elephants.

The elephant features a cable running down the trunk and a different cable pattern on the back. It’s worked in pieces that are joined and stuffed as you go. It uses German short row shaping on the body and includes written instructions as well as a chart for the cable patterns.

Reading through the pattern, it sounds a little fiddly, which makes sense because it was designed to look like a pattern that isn’t real. But it’s doable, as evidenced by the handful of projects you can find on Ravelry. The ears on her version aren’t quite as big and round or maybe don’t sit in quite the same place as the AI version (which if you haven’t seen it there’s a photo of that on the projects page, too). But it’s a pretty honest replica of a dishonest photo, and a really cute elephant in its own right.

If you make this one I would love to hear about it!

You can grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Katherine Foster]

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