Letter from the Editor

I would like to thank the designers for this issue for their patience. I like to give the designers as much time as possible to complete their projects, typically eight to nine weeks if all goes well. It didn’t go all that well for this issue, and some designers had only four weeks.

We require that designers suggest three possible yarns for their design in the proposal. Once the contents for each issue are set, I work with the designers to select the color(s) and number of skeins of the yarn needed for the design. Within a week or so, I contact the company that supplies the yarn. Sometimes the company is unable to provide the yarn for a variety of reasons: colors are discontinued, the warehouse doesn’t have the yarn, the dyeing process is too lengthy, and so on. And that is why I ask for three yarn suggestions.

Getting yarn for this issue was much more complicated, due to several factors. The major reason is the changing tariff situation which has a huge impact on our industry. For those of you who are interested in reading about this, Kelbourne Woolens has a blog entry which explains how tariffs impact yarn companies. Changes to the yarn industry itself have added to the confusion. Recently, many independent yarn companies have been acquired by Local Craft Group. As a consumer, you wouldn’t notice this. The websites of the affiliated companies look the same, but it does change how yarn is distributed. As more companies come under the Local Craft Group, it takes a while to get procedures set up. For this issue, I had requested two yarns from different companies, but the orders were processed at a central location, and whoever processed the ordered decided I had made a mistake and cancelled one of the requests but neglected to tell me. It was easier to order a different yarn from a different company, and Leslie Gonzalez worked at warp speed to get Still Leaf to me. Add to all of this the rotating postal strike in Canada, and it is surprising that all of the designs managed to arrive in time for the photo shoot. Thanks for listening! Now on to this issue.

This is the issue where we provide the pattern for the upcoming KAL. Therese Chynoweth designed A Study in Contrasts which uses Universal’s Bamboo Pop. Like last year’s Pick Your Pattern you can customize your sweater by choosing a long or short length, long or short sleeves, and a slipped stitch or mosaic colorwork pattern. Worked top down with raglan sleeve construction, there is minimal finishing.

The Fall 2025 issue was all about hats, so there were not many sweater designs. We have more than made up for that in this issue. In addition to the KAL, there are cabled, lace, intarsia, and yoked designs. Colony Park by Celia McAdam Cahill is a study in a different type of yoked sweater: a cardigan with a V-neck. It accompanies an article about yoke sweaters. Donna Estin provides an interesting take on the intarsia technique in her article Shaped Intarsia. The Holt pullover demonstrates how effective this technique can be. Two more traditional uses of intarsia are Ribbons All Around by Tonia Lyons and my Asteres Major. Since I am clearly a glutton for punishment, I also did a baby/child version of the sweater…36 stars, 5 yarn tails per star, for a total of 180 yarn tails.

For those of you who like cables, you have to check out Saudade by Debi Maige or Desmond by Debbie West. Either would be a great project for the winter. Ashwini Jambhekar’s Trellis is a lace design with a beautifully shaped waistline. Holding a strand of sock yarn with a strand of silk mohair to create an intricate lace design, Red Velvet by Quinny Zhang lives up to its name.

If you are interested in reversible knitting, you must read Mary Forte’s Needle Tip which discusses a method for picking up stitches that makes both of the sides quite attractive. Mary doesn’t claim credit for inventing this technique, but I’ve never seen it before. She wrote the article to accompany Weston’s Starfleet, a baby blanket that is reversible and truly amazing.

Of course, there are patterns for accessories, perfect for holiday knitting. Heather Storta’s Icelandic hat, Hlýtt includes photos of the samples being worn on Heather’s trip to Iceland. Also, remember the Fall 2025 issue is full of accessory patterns as well.

These are just a few of the patterns you will find in this issue!

I’d like to thank Mary Cherrey for joining me at the photo shoot and for the gift of her sourdough bread for both me and Theresa.

Email me with suggestions, questions, comments, and complaints at aholladay@tkga.org. Also, please share your efforts with us on social media! We would love to see your projects and add your photographs to the patterns. I’ve listed ways to find us below. (Thanks to Donna Estin for managing our social media, in addition to everything else she does!)

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