Men!

I'm a big fan of men. (I particularly "like" the one I live with who told me the other day he enjoys coming home and seeing fresh flowers in the front hall as he walks into the house. 

Men are a bit like hen's teeth in the knitting world but their contribution "by weight" ;) is vast. So today, a little nod to the men who enrich my knitting life...

Asplund (Sweden)

This guy's knitting is high art. He doesn't pick up a needle without creating something remarkable. I've tried to adopt his approach of playing around with a pattern until each element is just as you want it to be. 

In his most recent pullover he followed a pattern for a stockinette sweater but finished it with the inside out. Such a manipulation would never occur to me. 

Brooklyn Tweed (Jared Flood) (USA)

If you stop by here with any regularity you know I'm having a "thing" with BT patterns. Interesting to knit, always on trend and they're graded so as to give me a reliable fit. Knitting Gold! As of yet I haven't tried his yarns but as we finally have a source for them here in Canada I'm hoping that will change soon.

Patrick Madden (Toronto)

An integral part of the downtown Toronto knitting community and driving force in the Toronto Knitter's Guild, the course on finishing I took with him a few years ago bumped the quality of my finished product up a whole bunch of notches. It also gave me newfound respect for the virtues of the knitted fabric that comes off my needles, the importance of treating it accordingly and the opportunities that lie within doing so.

Beyond that I still swoon thinking of a chunky, marled, zipped jacket he knit himself and wore in the DKC fashion show. It made me want to stop knitting for myself and just focus on pieces for My Beloved. (If you click on the link for this sweater and scroll down you'll see a shot of him in that very fashion show.)

(BTW he'll have a booth at this year's Yarn Frolic as he's recently started an on-line yarn business - Signature Yarns.)

Steven Self (USA)

When I found Steven's Ravelry page I was thrilled to see a blog went with it because I wanted to know more about his projects. The things he knits himself look stylish and interesting to knit yet they look like reasonable men's wear without seeming tedious to knit up.

I've found he sees potential in patterns I've previously dismissed, interpreting and wearing them in a way that makes them fully compelling to me.

As a bonus he's always got an entertaining comment to leave when I post to my blog. Blogger gold that is!

Stephen West (Netherlands)

If there is one knitter I'm aware of that makes knitting look crazy fun its him! Right? This guy literally sets the bar on knitting outside the box while (usually) making very wearable pieces at the same time.

Benjamin Hole (England)

 A "new guy" to my "knitting world".  This interview with him gives a little peek into the process of starting a new line of wool yarn. I love how he "talks" about being surprised by the appreciation his product is receiving from the "yarnophile" community around the world.

His instagram feed makes me seriously think of signing up myself just to follow his bucolic pics of sheep and life on his farm.

In closing,  a little nod to another knitter's "Beloved". Last June the GTA knitting designer Lorraine Condotta spoke at the DKC and her husband was there as her tech support. He was utterly engaged with and involved in facilitating her presentation - the centrepiece of which was a power point presentation that brought the whole thing to life for everyone in the room.

Bottom line, when I think about it, my knitting life sure benefits from the men (few in number though they may be) within it. Thanks guys!

Have a great weekend everybody!