I’m beyond excited to be back to YouTube with a making vlog! I’ve been feeling called to share more long form videos like this for some time and I’m looking forward to finally getting it off the ground and hopefully getting into a regular flow in this medium.

Below are links, pics and descriptions for everything I talk about in this week's video and if you have any questions at all about anything I chat about please don't hesitate to reach out to hello@knitcollage.com. We're always happy to talk about yarn over here! Okay, let's dive in:

Walking on Sunshine Sweaters

Time Stamp: 1:05

Pattern Designer: Cheryl Kubat

Yarn: Daisy Chain in colors "Secret Garden Green" and "Grand Prismatic"

This design was part of our Fall 2024 Knitalong and it will be coming back this spring once we get more Daisy Chain yarn in stock, either as part of the KAL if folks vote for it or as a standalone release. Check out the Ravelry page here.

Le Triangle Granny Shawls

Time Stamp: 3:56 (Original) and 5:32 (Knit Collage Version)

Pattern Designer: Aimée Gille (pattern)

Yarn: Chelsea Yarns Après Ski Advent and various Knit Collage yarns (see this blogpost for a detailed list of yarns and color order used)

For my original version, I think I made it a bit bigger than the pattern called for because I wanted to use all of my advent yarns. I didn't think too much about color order because the yarns all went so well together. For my version in our yarns, I went with a rainbow of course!

Stay Cozy V-Neck Sweater

Time Stamp: 7:08

Pattern Designer: Shaina Billow (pattern)

Yarn: Summer Camp Fibers Boucle Dk in "Summit Turquoise" and Dream Suri in "Palooza"

Katie from Summer Camp fibers helped me put together this color combo for this sweater at Cakepalooza in 2023 and I'm obsessed. These specific colors were limited edition but she has lots of other great options on her site! My gauge is a bit off so it has a super oversized fit that I love as a layering piece for traveling. It feels like a fancy version of your favorite sweatshirt.

Sunbeam Stripe Cardi

Time Stamp: 10:16

Pattern Designer: Cheryl Kubat (pattern)

Yarn: mixed Knit Collage stash yarns

I've knit this sweater a few times but this time I was going for a muted rainbow gradient and I love how it turned out. There are two sleeve options for this pattern. I went with the larger bubble sleeve but there is also a tapered option. 

Easy Street Sweater

Time Stamp: 12:39

Pattern Designer: Amy Small and Susan Hislop (sweater kit and pattern)

Yarn: Knit Collage x Moondrake Co Collab Spun Cloud Light in Ultraviolet Unicorn

I designed this sweater in the fall and have been living in it ever since. I love it in our limited edition collab yarn that we did with Moondrake Co back in August. The neon sherbet rainbow vibe just feels like me. It feels like an instant outfit without having to think too much and it’s a really great layering piece since it's so lightweight. 

Bonfire Shawls

Time Stamp: 14:13 (OG version), 16:20 (Light Version), 17:10 (Stash Shlanket Version)

Pattern Designer: Annie Lupton of Boho Chic Fiber Co

Yarn: Knit Collage Spun Cloud in "Bodacious Pink" and a Mini Skein Sampler Kit in "Bouquet"; Knit Collage Serenity Boucle in "Fatigue Green" and "Surfs Up Blue" and Wildflower Yarn in "Reflection Pool"; Knit Collage Spun Cloud in "French Vanilla" and handspun yarns from Little Fern Fibers and She is Marguerite.

I made these three versions of the Bonfire Shawl as part of our knitting Challenge that just wrapped up on March 14th. I love this pattern so much. It feels like a quintessential Knit Collage pattern that is great for yarn mixing and creative modifications. For the challenge, I re-filmed the classes for the original version because my teaching style has evolved a lot in the last 5+ years since I first created the course, and I also created a video course for the Light worsted weight version. For my stash version, I wanted to do a much larger shlanket (aka shawl/blanket) version so I'm using at least 10 contrast color rows instead of the 5 called for in the pattern. The yarn from Little Fern Fibers was gifted to me and made using my yarn scraps that I sent her to spin. I got the gorgeous handspun from She is Marguerite this fall at Rhinebeck.

Faye Fringe Minis

Time Stamp: 12:31

Pattern Designer: Amy Small based on the original Faye Fringe bag by Anna Skala (mini pattern)

Yarn: stash yarns or 1 mini skein sampler kit

These miniature versions of the Faye Fringe Bag were definitely some of my most loved projects from 2024. They only take about 2-3 hours to knit so I went a little crazy with it. They're the perfect size for your phone, keys, wallet, lipstick—the essentials. They feel like candy when you make them and each one is an experiment with color and texture.

Enchanted Forest Sweaters

Time Stamp: 22:18

Pattern Designer: Cheryl Kubat (pattern)

Yarn: Knit Collage Serenity Boucle in Periwinkle, Polar Bear and Ice Green; Knit Collage Serenity boucle in Parchment Heather, Polar Bear and a one-of-a-kind skein dyed by Jake Kenyon

Cheryl and I bought this sequin skirt in Telluride last summer and she designed this sweater to go with it. It's a perfect match! I love how you can dress it up or down and I love the statement snowflake. I made my first (the periwinkle one) as part of the Fall Knitalong so I made it exactly to pattern, but for my second one I modified the neck by binding off more stitches on the shoulders for a smaller neck opening and picking up less stitches for the neckline. The snowflake yarn is a one of a kind color that Jake Kenyon dyed for us when he dyed under the moniker Kenyarn. It was a test skein for a collab yarn we did. We didn't end up going with this color but I almost wish we had because I love it so much.

Mixtape Sweater ~ Long Sleeve + Scoop Neck

Time Stamp: 25:07

Pattern Designer: Susan Hislop and Amy Small

Yarn: Knit Collage Mixtape yarn (coming spring 2025!) in Wild Child

I designed this sweater in partnership with Susan Hislop to go with our new Mixtape yarn that is coming out this spring. Mixtape is a funky mix of our Serenity boucle, Spun Cloud Light and Wildflower cotton yarn, all together in one ball of self-striping color explosion. We designed this pattern to have lots of customization options. For this sample I chose to do a long sleeve and a scoop neck. This colorway is going to be called Wild Child and for some reason it reminds me of leopard print but like, a hippie version of leopard print if that makes sense.

Mixtape Sweater ~ Short Sleeve + Mock Neck

Time Stamp: 27:00

Pattern Designer: Susan Hislop and Amy Small

Yarn: Knit Collage Mixtape yarn (coming spring 2025!) in Kaleidoscope

This is the short sleeve and mock neck version of the Mixtape sweater in the super bright color "Kaleidoscope". We'll have this new yarn coming out in April in 4 colors (pictured below clockwise from top left): Wild Child, Kaleidoscope, Alchemy, and Ocean Calm.

Needle Felted Spun Cloud Light Raglan Cardi

Time Stamp: 29:48

Pattern Designer: Amy Small (Pattern coming Spring 2025! Name TBD)

Yarn: Spun Cloud Light and a Needle Felting Kit (coming Spring 2025)

I designed this sweater heavily inspired by the fit and silhouette of our Everyday Yay Cardi, which uses our bulkier Spun Cloud yarn. It's a simple top down raglan cardigan with a tailored fit, and it's the perfect canvas to get wildly creative with the needle felting kits we have coming out later this spring. The kits have 16 different fiber colors so you could go bold and bright like me, neutral and everything in between. Think painting with wool––it's the best.  I got the special buttons I used at Vogue Knitting Live (VKL) from a maker called Of June and they're covered with this really cool vintage fabric. Love.

Alpine Bloom Hat

Time Stamp: 33:20

Pattern Designer: Caitlin Hunter aka Boyland Knitworks (pattern)

Yarn: kit from Barrett Wool Co in the "Pear and Brink" color

I love this hat and wear it all the time. Flowers AND bright colors? It's the perfect hat for me. I got this kit from Barrett Wool Co and it's still available! Link above. 

Alpine Bloom Sweater

Time Stamp: 34:21

Pattern Designer: Caitlin Hunter aka Boyland Knitworks (pattern)

Yarn: Limited Edition Hand dyed sock yarn from Hellomello 

For my Alpine Bloom sweater I went super bright and used some special yarn I got at Rhinebeck this fall from a maker called Hellomello. The yarn is limited edition hand dyed, milled in New York, and I love how vibrant it is. It's making me so happy to knit and, soon, wear. I'm doing the lightweight Alpine Bloom pattern but adding long sleeves. There's also a sport weight version of this sweater called the Autumn Alpine.

Pope Basic Yoke Mohair Sweater

Time Stamp: 37:14

Pattern Designer: Pope Vergaras (pattern)

Yarn: Dk Mohair from Lili Loops

This WIP is bittersweet because I'm actually going to end up ripping it out due to size and gauge issues. It's bigger than I ultimately want it to be so I'm going to go down to a size 1. I'm definitely going to reknit it though because I truly love this pattern in this happy, super bright pastel yellow from Lili Loops. I got this yarn at VKL and their booth was a standout experience for me (pics above.) I loved so many of their colorways and I highly recommend. 

Larkin Baby Sweater

Time Stamp: 38:46

Pattern Designer: Larkin Knit Baby Sweater by Park Williams (pattern)

Yarn: TBD but I'm choosing between Manos Del Uruguay Marla and Spin Cycle Dyed in the Wool for the color shifting yarn held with fingering weight and mohair yarns from Camelia Fiber Co.

This pattern is a go-to gift knit for me and I'm about to cast one on for my son's woodshop teacher who is due very soon. I love this pattern because you can make it with almost any yarn and it's a very quick knit.

Book Recommendations

Finally, here are two books that I'm feeling super inspired by at the moment. The first was recommended to me by our tech editor, Pia, and it is Alice Starmore's Charts for Color Knitting. I finally got my hands on a copy and I feel my design brain exploding just flipping through the pages. I find this book so beyond inspiring. I would love to spend an entire day with it and a pile of yarn, just knitting swatch after swatch. I think that would be my perfect Desert Island activity.

The second book is The Sock Project by Summer Lee. I'm really drawn to this book visually and love the idea of challenging myself to knit outside of my comfort zone with some of these designs. The snowflake colorwork socks are really calling out to me and I can just picture them with my brown Arizona Birks in super bright colors. I’ve never done a colorwork sock but it feels like an exciting challenge to keep up my colorwork momentum from my Alpine Bloom projects. I love Summer’s eye for color and her photography. I’m super into the whole vibe and even if I don’t end up casting on soon I’m just enjoying being inspired and dreaming up potential color combos from my stash.

Thank you so much for tuning in and I hope you found some inspo for your next cast on. I’m hoping to get more regular and consistent with this. I’m even creating a little knitting nook in my house to be a future filming space. I’m diving all in! Thanks for coming along for the ride. Happy Knitting!