Did you know that the new Spring Twist Collective would go live today? We did, as we are up on our Twist Collective stalking skills. Don’t feel bad about stalking an online magazine. They make it very, very easy. Clearly, they want us to follow them incessantly, wondering anxiously when the next issue full of magical patterns would arrive. If you would like to stalk Twist along with me, just follow these easy steps (or, you know, just wait for it to come out):
1) A month or two after the last issue has been released, I start combing the Twist collective site to find out when the next issue will come out. This is how I stumbled upon their Media Kit, which not only tells you when the next issue will be out (Tentative date for the Fall issue is August 1, if you were curious), but it also includes a list of projects and what yarn they use. This is smart, because it gives the yarn companies the heads up for advertising. But for me, it made me wonder if that “Women’s Lace Tee” in “Madelinetosh Pashmina in Posy” would be the right fit for the 3 skeins of “Fragrant” that I have at home…Looks like Raina by Marnie MacLean is just perfect! We have quite a few colors of Pashmina in right now, which one would you use?
I also have to admit that I started to wonder about the knitted lampshades…
2) Before the issue goes live, those clever Twist folks start posting random pictures over on their Facebook page. That’s where I got the first glimpse of the Devonshire Cardigan by Pam Powers. It’s even more adorable in color. I love the lacey detail, and I think that this would be stunning in Elsebeth Lavold silky wool (some colors still on sale!)
3) About a week before the issue goes live, the patterns start appearing on ravelry without pictures, but all the designers are listed. I was super excited to discover that one of our favorite people, Olga Buraya-Kefelian, had a pattern in this issue! Carillon is adorable, those lovely, little folded details have Olga’s fingerprints all over them. This top would be really divine in Fibre Company Road to China Light.
4) If you want to be a true stalker, you can stay up to midnight the night before the issue comes out and keep refreshing your screen. The Wollmeisse stalkers tell me that there is some program that you can set to wake you up when a website refreshes, but I have to admit that I am not that dedicated. The patterns will still be there in the morning. In fact, I went to bed last night at a normal time last night and Kel saw the new issue before I did. 😉
Some other favorites from this issue include Ormond by Faina Goberstein, which is exactly the kind of spring cardigan that I have been looking for. The O-Wool Balance is ideal for this project, and I have been itching to knit something in one of their new colors (Charorite is just gorgeous).
I can’t even decide which of the shawls I like best in this issue. Trousseau by Carol Feller is so pretty and feminine, I think it would make a great addition to any spring outfit. Vesna (also the Russian word for Spring) by Susanna IC is a detailed Estonian lace pattern with the option to make a long rectangular stole, as well as a crescent shape shawl. Either of these patterns would look spectacular in the fiberphile super squish lace or sock that came in earlier this week.
Of course, if you can’t find something here that strikes your fancy, I’m sure that Miss Babs has something that will be right up your alley in her trunk show this weekend! Come visit us and share your spring knitting!