What Would Jane Austen Knit?

I'm an unabashed reader of novels, sir, but I don't think it has clouded my judgement.*

   Jane Austen Knits 2012 from Interweave Knits is here! What a treasure this magazine is. Eagerly anticipated & well worth the wait, there are thirty one gorgeous projects in this issue.  But don't mistake this for just another knitting magazine. This is a tribute, an honoring of a remarkable author & her characters and their lives. It is a celebration of a time, of a culture, of real places infused with richly imagined fictional lives. Jane Austen Knits celebrates history and fantasy, people and places real and imagined & then playfully brings us back to the 21st century with patterns that are nostalgic but not fusty. 

 Designers like Annie Modesitt, Joanna Johnson (one of my favorites!), Bethany Hick and many, many more grace these pages.  Submissions for this issue were off the charts and they are beautiful.  Patterns include reticules, shawls and wraps, cabled sweaters, gorgeous hats and cardigans. 

 I keep thinking the timing for Ravelympics Knitting could hardly be better! With the Summer Games in London this year, what fun to plan to be knitting these British inspired patterns.

 Margaret Dashwood Shawl by Joanna Johnson

Stop in soon to get your copy of Jane Austen Knits Summer 2012, they're in the shop on May 21. And, Cheerio!

*Fanny Price in the 1999 film adaptation of Mansfield Park