Meeting an Idol

I was so excited to meet Ysolda Teague at our knitting store a couple of weeks ago! She is as charming and lovely as you would expect. She gave a talk about how she got started as a knitting designer and about her current projects, including choosing colors for Scrumptious yarns by Lantern Moon used in her designs for one of her new books, Saturday Treat. I’ve been using the deep purple colorway in Scrumptious Sport Weight to knit up Cria from Ysolda’s book, Little Red in the City. With yarn this weight, it certainly isn’t knitting up quickly but it’s very enjoyable. Ysolda’s top down design with set in sleeves is ingenious and elegant. The cardigan looks so beautiful and I’m enjoying the process.

Seeing Ysolda in person was a real treat for me and I enjoyed her visit immensely. I admire how hard she works travelling around to the various knit shows – Vogue Knitting Live in New York, TNNA in Phoenix, then Stitches West in Santa Clara – and talking about her designs. She was losing her voice after being at TNNA the entire weekend! I was very inspired by Ysolda and loved seeing her designs knit up in “real life.” It makes a difference to see and touch the yarn and relate to a three dimensional object rather than just looking at photos and designs in a book. There’s no substitute for holding a yarn in your hand and really seeing the color and feeling the fiber for yourself.

So, back to knitting on my lovely sweater that will be a sample for teaching at Jessica Knits next month. Little Red in the City is a wealth of information for helping knitters make a sweater design fit correctly. After measuring yourself, you plug in numbers from a chart that Ysolda has provided for each pattern. All of her techniques are taught beautifully in the front of the book with lots of photos. It truly is a must-have for your library. If you’re not familiar with Ysolda Teague, check her out on Ravelry.com. She also has a website and blog where you can follow her travels and adventures.

Happy Knitting!