Sockupied – Spring 2011!

Sockupied Spring 2011 is here. It’s great, even better than the last one. Along with the product reviews – all aimed at sock knitting, there are interviews and of course the patterns. But this emag is different. Along with the interviews there are videos. Interaction all over the place.

Little bits and pieces about the designers and editors, lots of links to references. Tutorials and videos of tips and techniques as well as ground breaking new ideas in sock knitting.

This emag, priced at $14.95 is different from the rest of the emags on the market. You won’t find any ads for cars, or laundry soap or even Trident gum. Nothing but knitting. All knitting all the time.

Read along as needles and yarns are compared and contrasted. Learn different ways to construct your heel, as well as the confidence to tackle your own ideas. The different cast ons and bind off tutorials are worth the price alone. There are 5 patterns, all with interactive links, tutorials, videos, slide shows, and designer info. There are reviews of the Knitting Workshop DVDs as well as Knitting Daily DVDs and video previews of the same.

Pretty enticing stuff, you can’t even imagine interactive features that these emags from Interweave don’t have. Of course, the heart and sole of any pattern book. 5 different patterns, with variations. One men’s sock pattern, one that could swing either way, and the rest for women.

My favorite? The Latvian Inspired socks, but I also had fun with the interactive argyle designing section. Did I forget to mention that? Do you like to mix and match colors? Yeah… that’s in there too!

Next Pattern:

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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