Wednesday 10 January 2018

Cast On Winter 2017/2018: A Review


Cast On has released its Winter 2017/2018 issue. Let's have a look at it.





A Vest for Gus. This vest has a chain of cars worked in purl stitches on a stockinette background. It's a cute idea, but the cars are so difficult to see.





Apurimac Hat. This one is fun and bright and irresistibly eye catching. The colour palette is also beautifully worked out and it's technically very accomplished.





Black and White Hat. This is so smart. I love the herringbone pattern.





Black and White Mittens. I'm not quite as thrilled with the mittens as I was with the hat. Pointy mittens always look absurd to me, even though I know it's a traditional style of very long standing.





Bubbles Tunic. I'm not sure this one is quite working. The overall style has a rather severe look and the bubble motif is a little too random and simplistic to work with it. I do like the idea of the contrast buttons at the cuffs and side vents that tie in to the intarsia design on the yoke, but I'd replace the bubbles with a more detailed motif.





Caprice. The combination of the confetti yarn square collar and cuffs against the gray body of this sweater is not working for me. It looks like something worn by a Puritan-era family oddball, such as daft Aunt Chastity, who thinks it's hilarious to recite the Ten Commandments out of order and lock people in the outhouse.





Celtic Night Cowl. Nice design, and I love that it's done in a off-beat colourway meant to represent the Northern Lights.





Destiny Fair Isle Tam. I think I like this one -- that tartan band is really well worked out -- but I wish I could see it a bit better in order to be sure.





Dragonfly Top. Oh, this is fabulous. I'm not sure I've ever seen dragonflies used as a motif in fair isle, but now I suddenly want to see more of them. The colour scheme has a misty, dreamy quality that works really well.





Dragonfly Ski Headband. I'd be inclined to work this as a tam rather than as a headband, but again the dragonfly motif is certainly very lovely regardless.





Icarus Infinity Scarf. This is quite an delicately elegant piece.





Nikko Cardigan. I'm not really liking the toggle closures on this one, as it has too crude a look for an otherwise fairly polished piece. I'd replace them with some attractive buttons, and fix the dropped shoulders, though admittedly they are only slightly dropped and could be left as is.





Nosegay Cardi. This is really lovely. I like the combination of the floral sprigs with the lattice-like lace, which gives it such a "summer afternoons in the summerhouse" feel.





Wheat Chain Socks. These are quite handsome.





Where the Snakes Went Poncho. The design is quite cool and even elegant... but as someone who is not a friend of the poncho, I can't help thinking what a nice afghan this would make.





Winter Morning Cocoa Socks. Very much like these. The snowflake and bare trees motifs encapsulated in diamonds is a really fun, creative take on the argyle sock.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for another interesting review!

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  2. I agree with your critique. One thing I noticed about the "misses" is that they would be easy to modify.

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