Review: knitscene Summer 2012, a Secret FO, and a Birthday.

Although the digital version has been available for weeks now and I found it in print at my grocery store last week, today is the official newsstand release date for the summer 2012 issue of knitscene.

I was pleasantly surprised with how many of the patterns I liked in this issue. I won't talk about all the ones I liked, but I will highlight a few. The first one is the cover pattern, the Cara Cara Pullover by Amanda Bell. It's a pretty simple design, but I love that the kangaroo pocket in front and the neckline are done in seed stitch. If/when I knit this, the only modification I think I'd make would be to extend the sleeves to full length.

The Westport Shawl by Sarah Wilson was another favorite of mine. I really like the little textured bumps in the stockinette portion of the shawl. This is very high on my to-do list now.

I thought the Halesia Hat by Catherine Shields was pretty clever. Leaf motifs are very trendy right now in the knitting world, but a lot of times they are done using lace. This hat has large leaves created with knit stitches on a purl background instead and is very cute.

The last pattern I wanted to show is the Ginkgo Camisole by Andrea Babb. Finally, something in here I could possibly wear in the summer! It's pretty simple, but I like how light and airy it looks and the bits of lace detail at the bottom.

There were some patterns I didn't like, as is the case with every knitting magazine. There is a section called "Just Slightly Askew," which features asymmetrical designs. I think asymmetrical patterns can be quite interesting, but in my opinion, when the patterns are "just slightly askew" like these are, they look more like they were made incorrectly rather than intentionally off-balance. The tank with the twisted strap drove me absolutely crazy, because while it looked cute, that one strap looks like it got twisted by accident. In this past Sunday's TheKnitGirllls podcast, I laughed when Leslie talked about this pattern, because she said if she saw someone wearing this and didn't know it was intentional, she'd probably try to twist the strap back around for her.

In other news, I have a finished project, but I can't post it here. It's for my mom's birthday, and since she reads my blog, I can't go blowing the surprise. Her birthday isn't until mid-December, so it will be a while until I post about it on the blog with (hopefully) some modeled shots, but for now I'll give you a Ravelry link since my mom's not on Ravelry: link

Finally, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to my little guy Othello. He's the oldest of the two kitties, and he turns two years old today! Here's a picture of him when he was just seven weeks old:

Awww.