Welcome to SpinKnit 2011 from Interweave!

Look at the cover! Spindle, plus sheep equals hat! Love. It!

Well, we all know there’s more to it, that’s why the folks at Interweave bring us these mouth watering magazines! In this issue articles discuss traditional textiles (cedar fibers) from the Pacific Northwest (Forks, WA to be specific – sound familiar, Twilight fans?) and Mexico, the science and skill that go into creating beautiful, yet functional spindles, sheep that are double coated and subsist on seaweek (yes, really!), and a spinning technique called “tail spinning”. Patterns too! I love these books, even the ads are enticing. And, since it’s an EMag, it’s totally interactive.

Click on the links that give you videos and slideshows on spinning trees into yarn. And I’m pretty sure that if this pail of spindles arrived at my house I’d think I died and went to heaven!

I just love reading about the rare sheep breeds, you know the ones, they take what little food they can find and turn it into the most exquisite fleece imaginable, and the shepherds and shepherdesses who tend these flocks, where they are, how they live, it’s all in here, and great reading.

And then when you think you’ve extracted every ounce of yummy goodness out of this emag, there’s the video at the end. Watch the lamb races, and the poor sheep mothers who have to try to keep up with them. Cute!

Available as a digital download for both PC and Mac, you HAVE to see this one!

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?