Knit Simple Spring & Summer 2016: A Review

Knit Simple has released their Spring & Summer issue for 2016. Let's take a look at the simple knits therein.

I like the concept of this striped child's hoodie, but I wish it was a little more finished. The hemline looks like a mistake.

Very cute faux denim jumper!

Quite like this backpack. I don't know if it's lined, but if it isn't, I'd recommend lining it with a sturdy fabric and possibly interfacing for strength and durability.

Rather a cute little fringed tank for the pint-size nouveau hippy in your life.

The pillow with a pocket for toys is a nice concept, but this particular execution of that concept leaves something to be desired aesthetically.

Kind of cute and fun.

Quite attractively striped. There's definitely an art to creating a good striped knitwear pattern.

Not bad. The shaping is good, and echoing the openwork stitch used in the shoulder area in the hem unifies the design.

This is very simple, but not bland (check out the hem detail), and the shaping is good. Use a beautiful yarn for this one and it'll be quite a polished, useful piece.

Rather a nice lace poncho that should be handy for the beach.

This one needed more work, because I'm looking at it and thinking, "And...?





These are all lovely. The one on the bottom right is probably my favourite, and the one on the bottom left is probably the one I like the least.

I like the cushion, but the long tassel braids on the afghan would drive me crazy. Not to mention that they would lend themselves rather too well to pet ingestion and sibling pummeling.

I can't get behind the concept of a floor doily.

This is a rather nice-looking bag, but those are distractingly ugly handles. If I couldn't find better handles than that, I'd make some by knitting or crocheting over some very strong cord.

This is dead simple, but by the same token it will look good in quite a lot of living rooms.

Nice-looking bathroom mat. The yarn and the grid design of it work well together.

Good looking pillow. That swooping stitch is something new.

Not sure how I feel about this one. The stitchwork is rather interesting, but the long vertical lines give it something of a dragged out feel. I think I might like it better if it were shorter and in a brighter colour.

Very pretty lacy top with excellent shaping.

Sharp little shawl. This would look good with a denim jacket and other casual clothes.

I think I might like this one better if it were done in a yarn with a smoother texture and if it had better finishing around the edges. As it is, it has that "clawed by a cat" look.

Classic Breton-striped sweater. Though I don't know if that garter stitch line in the middle of each stripe is adding much to the effect. Plain stockinette would look just as good if not better.

A lovely cowl.

This one's a bit "I'm going to take these odds and ends from my stash and just make this one up as I go" (not that there's anything wrong with that), but it's cute and useful enough.

Knit Simple Winter 2015: A Review

Knit Simple has released its Winter 2015 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





A selection of fairly traditional afghan patterns. Any one of these would be quite attractive and serviceable if done in a beautiful yarn. My favourite is probably the ripple stitch afghan.

This coat would ordinarily not be in my wheelhouse at all, but I like it. There's something so rhythmic and pleasing about the colour blocking that even the dropped shoulders work. The design has both a sharp graphic appeal and elegantly relaxed lines (love the collar). The one tweak I might make is to do something different with the buttons, such as adding more.

While this poncho has clearly been shaped with some care and has some good points, it's still too big and shapeless to flatter its wearer.

So blah. This is like oatmeal with nothing but oatmeal in it.

The contrast colour pocket lining and button band are supposed to be design touches but they make the sweater look poorly made and unfinished. This design needed to be taken several steps further.

These mittens would be cute on a five-year-old.

These mittens need some detailing. Any detailing. Well, maybe not a single big heart on the back of each mitten.

The striped version isn't bad. A grown woman could wear these without feeling like she might have to hand over her adult card.

Okay.

Presentable.

Not a bad pattern, though that thumb does appear to be weirdly larger than necessary.

These look more than a little roughly designed to me.

Classic cabled mittens with a good shape.

These look weirdly disjointed and disproportionate, as though the cuffs and the hands don't belong together.

I like the hat and the cowl, but not together. The change of direction in stripes is making me all twitchy.

This looks too slapped together. And too Charlie Brown.

Good stitchwork and yarn combination.

These pom pom boot toppers would be kind of cute on a kid, but they will also get incredibly filthy very quickly.

Okay. Just okay.

This looks like a child whose parents got behindhand on the laundry and sent her off the school in the Christmas tree skirt.

Rather an effective combination of stripes and mosaic stitches.

Quite liking these pillows. They have a very modern, graphic appeal.

Too afghan-like. If your couch can look better in something than you can, it's probably best to let the couch have it.

This is... okay. I'd like to see it in a more sophisticated colourway.

Love this afghan.

Big needle knit cowls can look good with the right outfit, but they really aren't my style or my kind of knitting. This one looks as though Vickie Howell stuck her head through a cat-created tangle of yarn.