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Meet the New Editors at Interweave Knits and Knitscene

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lisa shroyer interweaveAs I told you a few months ago, Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits’ editor since 2007, left the magazine with the summer 2013 issue. Knitscene editor Lisa Shroyer has moved up to edit that magazine, and Amy Palmer has taken over as editor of Knitscene.

If you’d like to know more about these ladies, you can check out Lisa’s and Amy’s introductory posts on Knitting Daily.

I always think it’s kind of fun to watch how magazine change with different editorial leadership. IK and Knitscene are two really distinctive magazines that have somewhat different audiences with different tastes and styles, so it will be interesting to see how new editors change the look and feel of these knitting publications.

As an aside, I thought for about half a day about applying to run Knitscene. Wouldn’t that be an awesome job?

Comments

  1. I quit my subscription to IK a couple years ago, asked for a refund. Too much negative ease and proportions that made even the models look fat. For awhile IK was adventuresome. Than . . . every issue just made me angry. I found the brand new issue at my library in South Lake Tahoe, CA, the subscription dedicated to the memory of some well loved knitter. I sat there and relished every single page. So many interesting ways to keep warm. Love the black and white mittens, the baby jacket. Lovely! Welcome, Lisa! Now about that white cabley sweater in the picture . . .

  2. I have had the opposite reaction to the Fall 2013 issue of Interweave Knits, and I didn’t even know Eunny Jang was not longer the editor. Right now I am glad I did not renew my subscription, but instead opted to buy individual issues for a while. There was not one single pattern in there I would make for myself, though there were pretty things. They all seem designed for super-skinny fashion models, clinging to the body everywhere. Any that did not, I did not find attractive. And there really didn’t seem to be too much variety in the projects, either. As someone who has lost a massive amount of weight, I do not want body-clinging patterns at all. The next time, I will be smart enough to thumb through the issue so I won’t waste what little money I have on a magazine I regret buying.

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.