Knits in Action

We have some modelling today, first of all by a boy and a bear. Felicity hat in Mirasol Miski, and ad libbed scarf in Kid Classic.

And now by two boys. Two Felicity hats in Mirasol Miski. These are very effective on the snowboard slopes, I understand.

Aren't they cool? All three of them. Jigsaws at the right (scroll down).

And yes, there has been rather a lot of playing with this, thanks to all of your ferocious enabling, for which I am eternally grateful (see comments, last-but-one post).

And yes, I did get iSteam, and I think it's been worth every penny of 59p.

I also got a knitting app, but it remains to be seen whether I will be any better at tapping than I am at clicking.

And I finished its little coat.


Comments
Thanks for the recommendation for French Girl Knits, Cinders. I'll keep an eye out for it. It looks too fiddly for me (I like fiddly shawls, but not fiddly garments: I think the anxiety about fit is too much to bear.)

Thank you, Amy - you're very kind. I'm glad to know you're there.

Thanks to everyone else who dropped in while I was thinking; you are appreciated.

I did try a Mallory, Joan - the first one. I always read books in order, which is tiresome of me but I can't help it. I enjoyed it but couldn't keep track of who was who: this might have been down to my brain fog rather than the author's abilities and I'll certainly read more.

Knitting Mags
I've given up looking so hard for The Knitter. If I come across one, well and good. It's interesting that they've put so much energy into distributing it in the US (Borders, and Barnes and Noble), but not got it into the chain that covers a lot of Scotand and is the largest chain in Britain. I check my local one every time I'm passing and although they have swathes of Knitting, Simply Knitting and on and on, there's no Knitter (can't someone think of more distinctive titles?). I expect Smith's have it, so I'll check next time I'm at the station. I hadn't realized it was monthly and I'm amazed that the UK market can bear as many monthly knitting mags as it does; presumably the same companies are advertising in all of them?

On the subject of distinctive titles, what about 'Designer Knitting', the new name for Vogue Knitting outside the U.S.? They must have been up all night thinking of that one, and the cover looks as if it was designed at gunpoint. I always get the sense that the people who produce VK do so under very difficult conditions, where they're not allowed to talk to each other and no-one has access to a computer. I don't mean that I think it's really like that, just that it seems that way, and there was all that strange business last year when the new editor was disappeared.


The webpage is full of bells and whistles, but is seldom up to date (the About Us page has the old editor's name!) - it doesn't have a direct link to Knit 1, or Knit Simple amongst other things (podcasts are hidden under Web Exclusives); the blog is intermittent to say the least, and the stuff they send out on their email distribution list is frankly poor. They seem to be really struggling and at times it's as if there's a Svengali working there, plotting its overthrow. Interweave Knits do it so much better, particularly the Knitting Daily stuff, which is frequent and lively.

The complication is that Conde Nast own the rights to the name 'Vogue' and Soho Publishing have to pay to use it, but that's not difficult to explain and they could try: perhaps the next issue will have an editorial which includes some effort to make readers outside the U.S. not feel as if they have been cast into the outside darkness. I hope so, and I hope they get their act together, because we can't afford to lose them.

Classes
If you're an Annie Modesitt fan and you're in the UK, you might be interested in this, which I spotted while I was wandering recently. I don't think Annie's mentioned them on her blog yet.