To be honest – the heating in our shop is not ideal for the really cold winter days – especially if you are sat still in the back room with admin all day, but who cares when it is the perfect opportunity to snuggle up in our favourite knit wear? Like today, Natalie in a gorgeous colour work cardigan, George who just finished his Speckle and Pop Mystery KAL in his awesome shawl (I just posted a picture of this over on our Instagram if you’d like to take a look), and me wearing my just finished East or West.

The East or West Pullover is a design by Joji Locatelli from her latest collection with Veera Välimäki Interpretations Volume 4. I really enjoyed working on this project as I happen to be a proper construction geek, and the East or West (as its name suggest) completely changes direction half way through. First you knit the center front and back panels from the shoulders down, then you work from the side of the panels shaping the sides and sleeves of the pullover.

As I prefer – there’s not much sewing involved – you only have to graft the side seams, which means that the pullover when finished appears seamless, which is another design feature that I really like. The East or West is an interesting knit, still easy enough to do watching your favourite series, which is exactly what I did when starting this project during my summer holidays.

I am particularly pleased with the yarn choices I did for my project. For the main two colours I chose to use the wool/linen blend Lyonesse by Blacker Yarns it gives such a well defined stitch, it is crisp with a rustic feel due to the qualities of the linen, still lovely to wear next to the skin as the wool gives softness, and warmth too. For my turquoise pop of colour I used some Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles left overs I had from a different project, in the colour Wish.

Joji and Veera are celebrating the five year anniversary of their collaborations next year and I really can’t wait for the Interpretations Volume 5 to be released from Pompom Press, I know I’ll be hooked so quickly, I just love their designs. BUT – sweater season is definitely upon us and I’m planning my next project, and speaking of which, there is another incredibly exciting publication from Pompom Press being released these days, their first hardback book is just around the corner to be delivered to us. Bristol Ivy has finally gathered all her amazing ideas and talent into this one book – Knitting outside the Box – and I have already picked my favourite and next project. Just look at this sweater, my heart literarily skipped a beat when I noticed the Arbus – I can’t wait to cast on!