May 2024

Newly-published books

At Home With Margaret Holzmann is a book of patterns for eye-catching blankets using unexpected shapes. Since stitches are squareish, we're not used to seeing them as part of perfect circles and beautifully curved flowers. From a distance, some of Margaret's designs could even be mistaken for quilts.

The blankets are made using modular knitting, where you don't work the full width of the fabric, but assemble the fabric from smaller pieces, a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. The techniques required aren't too tricky. You shape pieces using techniques like decreases and short rows, and join pieces together by picking up stitches or with a 3-needle bind off. A couple of designs in the book use intarsia, but apart from that you only need to knit with one color per row.

The book only includes patterns—there are no photo tutorials or chapters dedicated to techniques. But for more unusual techniques, there are short written explanations within the patterns. I found her explanations clear, but if you do get stuck, there are videos on Margaret's website for some of her other modular knitting designs, though I couldn't find any specifically for the patterns in this book.

I found the diagrams in the book intimidating at first, but they made sense when I started knitting. The diagrams convey a huge amount of information—the order in which to knit hundreds of pieces, where to pick up stitches, where to bind off, and which colours to use. So perhaps it's not surprising that they didn't seem completely clear when I first looked at them. However, the diagrams are meant to be used alongside the written instructions, so I decided to try 'Profusion', a blanket made of interlocking flowers.

I successfully made my first petal and picked up stitches as directed for a second petal.

Looking at the diagrams again, I found I could now understand what they were trying to show. That small amount of hands-on experience was enough to demystify them.

In my view, At Home With Margaret Holzmann is a fun and mind-expanding book of patterns. It pushes the boundaries of conventional knitting, exploring new directions. While it's not for novices, I think that anyone comfortable with basic knitting and willing to experiment could find it enjoyable and achievable. Imagine having one of these blankets on your armchair—I think I would forever admire how essentially square stitches can make those beautifully curved shapes.

New and discontinued yarns

New

Amano Yarns
Riti Light – Sport – 100% Merino Wool – 2 ply – Solid colors, Semi-solid colors, Multicolored

Araucania
Abrazo – DK – 65% Organic Cotton, 23% Bamboo Viscose, 12% Sea Cell – Plied – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Austermann
Svea – Worsted – 50% Cotton, 35% Baby Alpaca, 15% Nylon – Fuzzy chain – Solid colors

Borgo de'Pazzi
Bagnolo – Sport – 100% Mercerized Cotton – Plied – Solid colors

Brooklyn Tweed
Imbue Sport – Sport – 100% Merino Wool – Plied – Heathered colors

Caron
Colorama Bamboo Blend – Worsted – 60% Acrylic, 20% Bamboo Viscose, 20% Nylon – S on S plied – Solid colors

Cascade Yarns
Botanika – Sport – 100% Organic Cotton – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Speckled colors

Colinette
Jitterbug Sock – Fingering – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Tightly plied – Multicolored, Tonal colors

Cygnet
Colourful DK – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Multi Tweeds Chunky – Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Dale of Norway / Dalegarn
Eventyrlig Garn – Aran – 70% Superwash Wool, 30% Nylon – Plied – Solid colors, Dotted colors, Self-striping

Dornröschen-Wolle
Krauses Alpaka Bouclé – Worsted – 89% Alpaca, 11% Nylon – Bouclé – Multicolored
Leinen trifft Wolle – Light Fingering – 70% Wool, 30% Linen – Plied – Semi-solid colors

Ella Rae
Eco Cotton Tweed – DK – 48% Acrylic, 48% Cotton, 4% Other (Unknown) Recycled Fibers – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Sunburst – Aran – 100% Cotton – Plied – Multicolored stripes

Fleece Artist
Zephyr – Sport – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multicolored

Gepard Garn
Cotton Cut – Super Bulky – 91% Cotton, 9% Nylon – Faux fur – Solid colors

Green Mountain Spinnery
Cozy Cotton – Aran – 80% Targhee Wool, 20% Organic Cotton – Tweedy – Semi-solid colors

Hazel Knits
Woolly Blue DK – DK – 100% Blue Faced Leicester Wool – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors

Hobbii
Florence – Aran – 100% Linen – Plied – Solid colors
Olivin – DK – 50% Cotton, 50% Linen – Plied – Marled colors
Seashell – Sport – 40% Cotton, 35% Viscose, 25% Linen – Z-plied – Solid colors

Isager Strik
Soft Fine – Lace – 63% Alpaca, 26% Silk, 11% Yak – Brushed bouclé – Semi-solid colors, Undyed

Jody Long
Bubbakins – DK – 100% Acrylic – S on S plied – Solid colors, Self-striping (gradient transition)
Delish – Fingering – 50% Merino Wool, 50% Mulberry Silk – 2 ply – Solid colors

Juniper Moon Farm
Ultimate Pima – DK – 100% Organic Cotton – Plied – Solid colors

Katia
Le Bambou – Sport – 50% Cotton, 50% Viscose – Plied – Self-striping
Recy Tweed – Worsted – 28% Cotton, 28% Nylon, 25% Acrylic, 10% Silk, 9% Linen – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Summer Pon Pon – DK – 70% Viscose, 16% Polyester, 14% Cotton – Chained – Multicolored

King Cole
Simply Denim Dk – DK – 50% Acrylic, 50% Cotton – Plied – Dappled colors

Laines du Nord
Summer Nuance – Fingering – 100% Cotton – S on S plied – Self-striping
Summer Sock – Fingering – 88% Cotton, 12% Nylon – S on S plied – Self-striping

Lamana
Roma – Sport – 80% Cashmere, 20% Silk – Fuzzy chain – Semi-solid colors

Lana Grossa
Glamcot – DK – 60% Tencel / Lyocell, 40% Cotton – S on S plied – Solid colors

Lang Yarns
Wool Addicts Artsy – Worsted – 67% Cotton, 33% Acrylic – Chained – Self-striping (fair-isle effect)

Lion Brand
LB Collection Botanic – Worsted – 100% Tencel / Lyocell – S on S plied – Solid colors

Mirasol Yarn
Pima Paka – Sport – 100% Organic Cotton – Plied – Solid colors

Moda Vera
Aries – Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors

Noro
Kompeito – DK – 35% Cotton, 35% Silk, 30% Nylon – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Regia
Energy Flow Color – Sport – 42% Superwash Wool, 33% Cotton, 25% Nylon – Plied with a bouclé thread – Self-striping

Rico Design
Luxury Natural Silk Blend – Heavy Worsted – 50% Silk, 30% Wool, 20% Cotton – Tweedy – Semi-solid colors

Schoeller + Stahl
Tropic Cotton – Sport – 100% Cotton – Plied – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Ístex
Fjallalopi – DK – 100% Icelandic Wool – Single ply – Solid colors, Heathered colors

Discontinued

Austermann
Season Alpaca – Aran – 29% Cotton, 26% Nylon, 25% Baby Alpaca, 20% Wool – Bouclé – Marled colors

Big Twist Yarns
Cuddle – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors

Borgo de'Pazzi
Babe – Lace – 50% Llama, 50% Merino Wool – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors

Cascade Yarns
Boliviana Chunky – Bulky – 100% Merino Wool – Plied – Solid colors
Cartwheel – Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping (gradient marl)

Cleckheaton
Nourish – Worsted – 100% Cotton – Chained – Solid colors
Ravine Tweed – Aran – 49% Acrylic, 27% Wool, 10% Alpaca, 10% Silk, 4% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors, Multicolored

Estelle
Llama Natural Chunky – Bulky – 80% Merino Wool, 20% Llama – 2 ply – Undyed
Llama Natural Worsted – Worsted – 80% Merino Wool, 20% Llama – Plied – Undyed

Hand Maiden Fine Yarn
Prosecco – Fingering – 50% Merino Wool, 30% Mohair, 20% Silk – Tightly plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multicolored

Hobbii
Evergreen Organic Wool – Fingering – 100% Merino Wool – Plied – Solid colors

James C. Brett
Magi-knit – DK – 90% Acrylic, 10% Nylon – Plied – Self-striping, Jacquard

K+C
Cozy Fleck – Super Bulky – 50% Superwash Wool, 45% Acrylic, 5% Viscose – Single ply – Tweed colors

Lana Gatto
Avoriaz – Sport – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Single ply – Self-striping
Class – Aran – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Angora – Plied with a soft haze

Lion Brand
Baby Soft Light – DK – 70% Acrylic, 30% Nylon – Plied – Tonal colors
Mandala Sequins – DK – 98% Acrylic, 2% Polyester – Sequinned – Self-striping with sequins

Moda Vera
Daisy – Aran – 41% Acrylic, 23% Metallic, 18% Nylon, 12% Mohair, 6% Superwash Wool – Fuzzy chain – Solid colors with metallic
Mawson – Super Bulky – 50% Acrylic, 25% Alpaca, 25% Wool – Single ply – Solid colors
Mega Tweed – Jumbo – 97% Acrylic, 3% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Wonder Wool – Jumbo – 100% Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Mondial
Kashmir X – Worsted – 97% Cashmere, 3% Wool – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors, Heathered colors

Panda
Magnum Soft 8-ply – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors, Self-striping

Patons (Australia)
Regal 4-ply Cotton – Fingering – 100% Mercerized Cotton – Plied – Solid colors
Wanderer 8-ply – DK – 100% Corriedale Wool – Plied – Marled colors

Premier Yarns
Wool Select – DK – 75% Acrylic, 25% Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Universal Yarn
Uptown Super Bulky – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – S on S plied – Solid colors

If you'd like to get in touch, please send a mail to hello@yarnsub.com (you can simply reply to this mail) or find me on Instagram.

See you in June!

Wendy

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