It’s been a cold spring here in England. I have not yet been able to leave my woolly hat and mittens at home when I go for my walks on the beach. Despite the cold it has been incredibly sunny; I can’t remember the last time we had rain. But today has been much warmer and I’ve been thinking about what I will knit this summer. So, I have found a warm spot in the garden while I flick through Rowan’s Knitting & Crochet Magazine Number 69. How lucky I am that those lovely Rowan people sent me a copy!

Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine Number 69

This season the magazine is divided into two pattern stories – Nostalgic Style and Cotton Classic. It also has a feature called Sweater Girls which looks at the 1950s fashion trends where sweaters were close fitting with longer, ribbed hems flaring out just below the waistline – sounds great to me! The pattern story, Nostalgic Style, borrows these 1950s vintage fashion trends but adds an up-to-date twist to create 29 patterns for men and women. Let me show you a few of my favourites and, in the process, see if I can identify the one I would like to knit this summer.

The first one I like is Anastasia by Georgia Farrell knitted in Summerlite 4ply.

Anastasia by Georgia Farrell

It looks quite neat and simple but with a section of diamonds across the upper chest and back cleverly achieved by some contrasting stitches.

The next one to catch my eye is Anna by Martin Story again knitted in Summerlite 4ply.

Anna by Martin Story

It’s a simple cardigan in terms of shape but you could do so much with it. Knit it up as the pattern suggests or change the colours of the diamonds to suit your taste. How about leaving out the orange, pink and yellow shades and substituting these three for just one colour from the Summerlite 4ply range? I think I would go for Periwinkle.

Rowan Summerlite 4ply shades

I also quite like Deloris by Kaffe Fasset knitted in Kidsilk Haze.

Deloris by Kaffe Fasset

It might just be a little too loose fitting for me though and it does appear to be very see-though. Looks fun though!

Dottie by Martin Storey knitted in Cotton Glacé looks like another simple cardigan but with attractive lace panels running down both the left and right front.

Dottie by Martin Storey

You could knit this cardigan several times over in a variety of colours as Cotton Glacé comes in 27 different shades.  I need a white and a blue cardigan so I fancy the shades Bleached, Aqua or Azure.

Rowan Cotton Glacé shades

I also really like Madeleine by Galina Carroll knitted in Kidsilk Haze.

Madeleine by Galina Carroll

Look at that wonderful almost city-scape like image along the hem and the sleeves. The effect is quite stunning! I feel you will need to pay close attention to the chart when knitting this up. I also noticed that the yarn is held double-stranded which would mean the finished garment would not be see-through as the previously mentioned Deloris.

My favourite of the lot is definitely Kathy by Lisa Richardson knitted in Summerlite 4ply.

Kathy by Lisa Richardson

I love the shape, the neckline and the check pattern which has so many possibilities. The pattern is knitted using the shades Aunbergine and Langoustine but I am considering a more subtle pairing such as Pure White and Blossom. I would prefer Pure White and a very pale blue but I think Periwinkle is too dark for what I have in mind and Duck Egg might be too muted. Another interesting combination might be Pure White and Buttermilk – too subtle maybe? You definitely have to knit up a swatch first before you buy a whole sweaters worth.

So, that’s my choices from the Nostalgic Style story and I haven’t even mentioned the designs in the Cotton Classics story; maybe I’ll leave that for next time.

So, what do you think of my choices? Pease leave me a comment by scrolling down to “Leave a Reply” below.

Click the link below if you want to take a look at all the designs:
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 69

Thanks for reading my blog all the way to the end!

Esther x