Georgia On My Needles

I have a new design out this week! It’s the Georgia Cardigan and it’s in the Fall issue of Knitscene Magazine. This open-front cardigan will make an excellent transitional layering piece. The brioche collar makes it feel really cozy, but it is still lightweight enough to be worn on cool summer evenings or crisp Fall days. One of my friends of a certain age suggested that it would be nice for “ladies who make their own summers.” I was thinking of the mild Louisiana winters when I designed it, and missing being wrapped up in warm knitwear during the freezing Wisconsin winters.

Copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

Copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

When I requested a fingering weight single to make the sample, the editor suggested Be Sweet Skinny Wool, and I jumped at the chance to try it! Be Sweet is a company that works with job creation programs in South Africa to employ artisans, mostly women, to create beautiful yarn and textiles. Skinny Wool is a fine Merino single, hand-spun and hand-dyed to create a soft, delicate yarn in rich colors, with slight variations due to the hand-dye process. It is also luxuriously soft, and a pleasure to knit! The other yarn used in this pattern is Mango Moon Capra, which I talked about here. Together they make a regal combination, especially in these colors.

Georgia Cardigan-back

Copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

There is a lot of stockinette in this piece, which is actually great if you like to knit and watch movies, like I did when I was knitting the sample. Worked from the top down, the shoulders are shaped with different increase rates to create a curve rather than a diagonal line, as in a classic raglan. The back is nipped in with dart-like decreases, and increased again to be wider at the bottom. The fun part comes when the body is finished and you get to pick up a few hundred stitches around the front opening to create the brioche collar!

Copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

Copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

This issue of Knitscene is now available in the Interweave store, or at book stores and yarn shops everywhere. You can also get a 1 year subscription for a considerable savings, and you just might see another design from me in the Winter issue!

Thank you for knitting!