alina for YOTH

// A little peek inside the collaboration between YOTH and their current featured designer. We chat with the talented makers, get to know them better, and discover how their collab came to be.  //

Tell us a bit about yourself & share one thing that may surprise us about you.

I am Alina, who accidentally fell in love with knitting 9 years ago.  I balance my day job with my knitwear blog, The Gift Of Knitting, and create knitting patterns for garments. I can't imagine my life without knitting anymore and I truly hope to preserve this excitement and love for this craft for many many years to come.

Surprising fact: I never thought of myself as a creative person in any way before I picked up a skein of  yarn. It quite literally changed my life.

What do you love about knitwear design?

Endless opportunities the thread of yarn can take. You are in control of the fabric it will become and the shape it is going to take - that fascinates me. And I love that there is nothing in knitting that you can't learn and master. It just all comes to patience and the love for this craft.

How would you describe your new pattern, the Alina cardigan, that you designed for us?

I'd like to think of it as a wardrobe staple with the interesting twist. I love finding that balance when the process and the result compliment each other. It should be a piece that you can easily wear in your everyday life, but which also has some points of interest that will keep you engaged in the process of knitting it. I hope I was able to achieve it in the cardigan.

Which part of the sweater design is your favorite?

That moment when you catch the "aha" moment after weeks and weeks of swatching, you finally KNOW what this yarn is going to be. I  am very critical of my work and it takes me so much time to come up with the idea that I think is worth putting into life, that when the decision is made, it is a huge relief for me and inspiration to move further.

Any tips for knitting this sweater?

Don't be afraid of playing with cardigan's length – the top down construction will allow you to adjust it to your own taste.

Get some cute markers – you will need lots of them when you get to the cable section ☺

kate for YOTH

// A little peek inside the collaboration between YOTH and their current featured designer. We chat with the talented makers, get to know them better, and discover how their collab came to be.  //

Tell us a bit about yourself & share one thing that may surprise us about you.
I'm a mom of 4 boys and I started designing while I was working on a (totally unrelated) PhD. I did go on to finish my degree but by then I was enjoying designing so much (and the flexibility to be with my kids) that I ended up going to that full time. I started out designing easy hats for babies and kids but quickly moved on to more complex garments and pieces for all ages. I have been at it for almost 9 years now. I live in the South where the yarn shops are a bit more spread out, but I love traveling to meet up with knitters and friends at various shows or to teach. Fun fact: when I was in 8th grade, I lived in the midwest and wrestled on the boys wrestling team for a season :)

What do you love about knitwear design?
I love the creativity but I also love the MATH. Yup, I am a total math nerd. Grading is like puzzle for me and I love the satisfaction of getting a wide range of sizes figured out even in more complex designs.

How would you describe your new pattern, the Kate sweater, that you designed for us?
I would describe it as intriguingly flattering and wearable on so many body types. It was one of the most challenging designs I've created to date and I think it is much easier to knit than it was to do all that math, I am so proud of how it came out!

How did you approach this design? And, what was difficult to tackle with this project?
Veronika gave me a couple of guidelines and I remember her saying something like "you know, do a complex raglan, do what you're good at" and then I went to google complex raglan because I was not familiar with that term. Ha! Turns out it is indeed something I have done all along I just didn't realize there was a term for it. I really wanted to have a few different stitch patterns going on so I created a huge swatch to experiment before settling on how I wanted to do it. I knit the first few inches of the sweater several times because I kept changing my mind on where I wanted the pieces to go and how the ribbing would bleed into the cables. The most challenging aspect was trying to figure out how to actually write out the pattern. Normally that part is easy for me but this design is a little extraordinary and did not fit neatly into my standard template.

Any tips?
Read ahead but don't overthink it! All standard knitting rules apply! There are some rounds where you just might have to follow along very closely and trust that it is going to turn out alright.

mill house

Summer is gone, the chill is in the air in this part of the world and our Endless Summer shawl series has arrived. We have a beautiful new pattern named Mill House that we launched today. It's our little treat to you each year: two free shawl patterns to share, knit and gift during the season.

Mill House is an exquisite pairing of our newest cotton/wool blend yarn base, Best Friend, alongside some of our best friends in the yarnie world, Magpie Fibers Swanky Sock and Spincycle Yarns Versus or Dyed in the Wool. The yarns and the knit one below stitch pattern make this wrap a show stopper. Plus, the pattern comes in three sizes, so you can find just the perfect fit. We hope you love this simple wrap as much as we do.







Hugs & stitches!

-Ve

daughter

Our newest yarn base to arrive. When we first started this journey, wet behind the ears and not knowing anything, we always knew deep down that we wanted to partner with companies that are doing good things and that we find a personal connection with. This has not changed. We are definitely more seasoned now, and we still believe that choosing partnerships that are meaningful is one of the most important duties that we have as small biz owners.

Cestari Sheep & Wool Company, is one of those such friendships we have made and we are proud to bring you a beautiful new yarn base thoughtfully named Daughter. This base represents the good behind wool farming and yarn producing in America, the roots that family owned businesses create and the love that goes into the pride of work behind a wool made here. Francis, the accomplished and skilled man behind Cestari, along with multi-generations of his own family and staff created this incredible down home yarn base specifically for us and we couldn't be more happier with the outcome.

Daughter is an airy woolen spun 3-ply Rambouillet and Merino wool blend that rides the border of DK weight and Worsted. The simple goodness of this yarn is the slight slub and thick/thin nature of the plies. The Merino that is blended in, provides the YOTH softness you love and the woolen spun nature of the yarn makes it light and wonderful to knit with. It's a hard working yarn that you want to knit cabled sweaters with, hats for days and accessories to keep you warm.


We chose to start a new tradition in colors and skein outputs for this base. The yarn comes in two skein sizes: Daughter, 150g skein that boasts 330 yards, and Daughter Mini, its smaller skein self at 75g and 165 yards. It's available in three beautiful and all time classic colors (for now!): Natural Vanilla, a clean natural cream that's been left undyed, Natural Chocolate, a gorgeous signature Cestari medium heathered undyed brown & Black Truffle, a deep dark solid black that has been dyed by our lovely dyehouse we partner with.

Five of our fabulous Stockists have chosen to be a part of this new yarn launch, so be sure to visit them, support local and squish the new yarn in person: Tolt Yarn & Wool, My Sister Knits, Wool & Honey, Knitting Bee and Brooklyn General.

We hope that you love Daughter as much as we do and thank you for supporting YOTH in all that we do. We feel honored and lucky to be a part of this journey each and every day.

-YOTH Team

P.S. Watch for newly reworked YOTH patterns that knit up beautifully in our new Daughter over the next couple of weeks!

shells & tide

Dropping in today to post the last of the Endless Summer shawl series for 2016! It's a bit late coming, but a beauty, and perfect for the cooler weather that's arrived here. I hope that you enjoy this large chunky lace wrap, knit out of our worsted weight Father yarn in our beloved Blue Raspberry color. Thinking about it... this wrap would make the perfect gift for a deserving knitwear recipient this upcoming holiday season. Or, you can always make one for you and one for them!















Happy knitting!

-Ve