Emily and I are both the kind of people who are inspired by places. We have even written 3 books particularly inspired by place: Pacific Knits was inspired by the good old PNW, Handmade in the UK was inspired by Emily’s move to Edinburgh, and Road Trip was inspired by the wonderful vacations we have taken to Tofino and the Rocky Mountains.
3 books inspired by place
So, when the lovely ladies at Knit Social invited us to contribute designs to Cascadia, a collection inspired by our home, we had to say yes! Emily and I set to work jointly designing a sweater, Britannia.
Britannia is a beautiful beach, located just off the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler. It is an idyllic location on Howe Sound, from which you get that iconic BC view of ocean, forest, and mountains. It was settled long ago as a mining community and the beach is very near the old copper mine. My kids have enjoyed the tour of the (now closed) Britannia Mines. Panning for gold anyone? Checking out giant tires?
For our sweater, we wanted a garment that embraced what we each love: cables and lace. A bold central cable is flanked by panels of simple open lace. Britannia is a perfect sweater for layering, and, while it appears fancy, has straightforward bottom-up construction.
For the yarn we chose a subtle hand dye by SweetGeorgia yarns. It has all the lovely depth of colour of a hand dye, without detracting from the stitch patterns in this sweater. Emily is wearing ‘lettuce wrap’ and Hunter is wearing ‘goldmine’.
I knit up a Britannia for Hunter’s Christmas sweater this year, also in SweetGeorgia Superwash DK in ‘slate’. She has been particularly smitten with this years sweater, wearing it all the time! It is such a joy when they love the hand knit you made for them.
So, if you are looking to push your skills a little this year (the year of something new), try the Britannia sweater! Cables and lace, who could ask for anything more?
More TCK knits inspired by place:
April 15, 2016 @ 2:50 pm
Hi! So happy I found you. I am wanting to ask a question but can’t figure out the best place to do this. I am a beginner. Just finished a scarf, leaf pattern up both edges with cable up the center. Once finished, the pattern instructions say. “This scarf is sewn up the center cast on edge. This allows the leaves to appear opposite from each side.” I do not know what this means. I am most grateful for any help you can give me. Your patterns are stunning you are my new fave. Thank you.
April 18, 2016 @ 1:33 pm
Hi Judy,
I don’t know if this is the right answer, but in the past I’ve emailed them my questions and received help pretty quickly.
Hope that helps,
Danni
April 18, 2016 @ 5:36 pm
Hi Judy – I’m sorry, I don’t really know what that means. Is it knit flat and sewn up at the end?
April 15, 2016 @ 6:38 am
Just LOVE the combination of cables and eyelets! Gorgeous!
April 14, 2016 @ 11:29 am
I don’t know how you find the time to knit so much and be such an amazing mom! Your little one has grown so much since I saw her photos at Christmas time! Do you have any tips for someone that hopes to learn how to knit faster? Would love to read a post about that one day! Lovey photos, beautiful sweaters! You must get so many oohs and ahhs when you walk about town together in your matching jumpers!
April 15, 2016 @ 10:20 am
Hi Kathy – I don’t know about amazing…I do alright ;-)
For speed knitting i can only pass on what I hear, I’m not a super speedy knitter myself. The key is to cut out any unnecessary motions and knit with the smallest possible movements. My dear friend Liisa teaches speed knitting around town though and she is the best!
April 14, 2016 @ 8:29 am
Another beautiful design, with inspiring & lovely photos. Thank you so very much!