Gallery 3: Knit Designs

I started designing sweaters as soon as I learned to use my first machine because there was nothing out there! Many of the garments I did while I worked for Studio were machine knit adaptations of hand knit designs to show off the ability of the SK860 mid-gauge machine, which is still my favorite machine. I also did a lot of original designs for hand and machine knit publications.

handmade

Handmade: Passap sweater for Handmade Magazine in 1984.

heirloom

Heirloom: This sweater was done for Heirloom Yarns right after the punch card chunky machine appeared on the scene.

threadspattern

Threads Pattern: I designed this pattern to coordinate with the publication of Hand-Manipulated Stitches. Deborah Newton did the hand knit directions.

farmyardsweaters

Farmyard Sweaters: (1) This trio of children’s barnyard designs was knitted by machine, but written for hand knitting. (Family Circle Easy Knitting, fall 1999).

farmyardsweaters

Farmyard Sweaters: (2)

fingerpuppets

Finger puppets: These puppets were included in an article about knitting to sell. (Family Circle Easy Knitting, Spring/Summer 2001).

shortrowedpuppets

Short Rowed Puppets: I had always used this project to teach short row techniques to machine knitters. I re-wrote the directions for hand knitters when it was included in the Family Circle Easy Toys book (2005).

reptilesweaters

Reptile Sweaters (1): This second collection of sweaters for Family Circle was also knitted by machine, but written for hand knitting. (Knit Simple, Spring/Summer 2004).

reptilesweaters

Reptile Sweaters (2)

machineknitamerica

This sweater with double bed cables on a purl background and texture inside the diamonds was featured on the cover of Machine Knit America in 1996.

ladderleaves

Needle-woven ladders decorate this sweater I did for the June 1992 issue of Fashion Knitting.

pinktwistedstitches

Twisted stitches have always been one of my favorites. Here they a pattern of diamonds, some of which have popcorn and cable textures within. This photo appeared in as part of a really nice article Machine Knit America did about me.

poppysweater

I’ve never been especially focused on pattern knitting, but I enjoyed designing and knitting this one with fine black wool and copper metallic. There are also about 600 small black Austrian crystals heat-set into the centers of the flowers. It appeared in the Fall/Winter 1994 issue of Studio by White Design Magazine.

snailhats

Snail Hats: (1) The machine knit version of these hats appeared in the Fall/Winter 1995 issue of Studio by White Design Magazine. The hand knit directions were in Holiday 2007 issue of Knit Simple.

snailhats

Snail Hats: (2)

feltedteacozy

Felted Tea Cozy: I submitted my design for a felted, short rowed tea cozy to Vogue when they called for entries for this Knitting on the Go book and was thrilled with the cover! (2005).

llamavest

I did this vest for Knit ‘N Style, April 1998 out of – what else – alpaca. I love the picot crochet edging.

fancyearflaphats

This pattern, with ideas for variations, was published in Simply Sensational (a special Studio LK150 publication). The brim is a very wide hem that is stuffed with fiberfill for an over-sized effect. The little girl, Tara, still models for me. Maybe you've recognized her in the Cuff to Cuff or Saddle Shoulder books?


For a while, Knitter’s Magazine was very interested in trying to reach machine knitters and while I was at Studio, I kept them supplied with designs simple enough for the Bond or the LK 150.

placeforthings

This sweater was the inspiration for a whole issue of Knitter’s that they called Fakes and Funnies (issue #29, winter 1992). The body of the sweater is a 3-color tuck stitch. The carrots were all knitted separately and sewn on – all 24 of them!

basketofflowers

This was one of my all-time favorite sweaters. The stitch is a woven stitch design based on slipstitch that automatically scalloped the lower edges. The flowers were embroidered on last. (Knitter’s issue #39, Summer 1995).

littlegirlbluesweater

Little Girl Blue: Simple, latched up ribs create this smocked effect. (Knitter’s issue #38, Spring 1995).

mozambiquemosaic

Mozambique Mosaic: This sweater was knitted on the LK150, with all of the patterning hand selected. Because this is mosaic or 2-color tuck knitting, it really isn’t that much hand selection. (Knitter’s #36, Fall1994).

twistsandtuckssweater

Twists and Tucks: This is another favorite sweater. Latched up tuck stitches separate columns of closely twisted stitches. (Knitter's issue #34, Spring 1994).

zigzagsweater

Zig Zags: This LK150 sweater was a lot of fun to do. All of the zig-zag pieces were knitted first and then re-hung on the machine with knotted I-cords between. The dips (are they zigs or zags?) were filled in with short rows after the last border. (Knitter’s issue #35, Summer 1994).

knittersfeltedhats

Early in the felting faze, I did these two hats for Knitter’s (winter issue 1997) with both hand and machine directions. They were featured again in the Book of Hats that Knitter’s published later.