Whenever I write one of these posts I get in trouble from my friend Lorna because I’m putting temptation in her way. Like she couldn’t find these things by herself and isn’t a fine enabler in her own right.

Although I’m going to schedule this post for later, I’m starting to write this a couple of days after the latest Twist Collective has come out. There’s lots of lovely stuff. Lorna: Look away now.

As always I’ve hurtled through the patterns and ignored the considered and well written articles. They can wait. For now I want to know: what of the Things I want to Knit?

We start with the very first thing. Well, sort of. Folki is designed by Cirilia Rose who has recently leapt higher on my ooh-it’s-her scale from her participation in the Fiber Factor (sic) (ooh, which it turns out, there’s an update of I haven’t watched – must catch up with that) so when I saw who the designer was, I was intrigued. And then a little disappointed. The styling is fab. I like the detatchable cowl *very* much, especially the fur trim, but I can’t imagine having the tenacity to make such a plain tunic. To be honest, I’d rather buy a plain tunic from the shops and edge it, and pair it with the handmade cowl. That way you get to wear the outfit without the bitter taste of having the labours of Hercules behind you.

In other news, I recently caught up on the BBC series Atlantis. I originally heard the trailers on the radio a couple of months ago which was the clip where Hercules denies kissing a goat, and thought I’d like to watch it. It’s the kind of thing Steve would hate. So I’ve been able to watch the first 8 episodes in peace & quiet. Undemanding entertainment, I’d say. Recommended for low-effort viewing.

I like Concertina – this seems like a really good way to incorporate a “special” skein of yarn without having an outrageously expensive and overly busy cardigan. And the colour contrast appeals to me.

In light of my aside above about Atlantis, seeing a design called Peloponnese which is Greek styled and a cardigan just seemed too good to be true. This one needs to go on my “to-do” list I think, although by the time I get to it I may have moved on yet again… Although the success of my Ski Jacket, which I haven’t properly blogged yet, which has the same structure as this, leads me to think this is a good bet.

Torque is awesome. If my civil engineer sister didn’t live in Melbourne I might well tackle this for her. I feel like it might be a bit too irrelevantly themed for anyone else. But I love it.

I’m liking Thorntower, although it looks as though it has mutton-leg sleeves. Even though it doesn’t. That could be problematic. I hate mutton-leg sleeves. Also, I’m struggling to see past the colour they’ve made it in. Which is one of my least favourite colours. Unless it’s a Korma sauce.

I would quite enjoy the travelling cables and potentially flattering shapes of Quill if it weren’t for the derisory look the model is throwing straight down the lens. I’ll just move along, then…

Sulwen is in my current favourite colour and for some reason I don’t feel as though it would be as unflattering as other non-scoop sweaters I’ve commented on lately. I like the arms and body being textured differently, and have got past my fear of lacy knitwear being draughty (my Poplar & Elm cardigan has demonstrated that it is not, if executed in toasty hazy yarn)

I find myself wondering if I can carry off Calabash. The Patterns emulate a scoop neck without exposing the scoop, but it still has yarn creeping up towards the chin which, if you haven’t got much of a chin (as I haven’t) can be problematic. Again, if they made everything in grey I’d have to add it to my Ravelry queue, it seems. Plus, the cables are look like braids if you don’t look too closely.

I may never make Piscataqua because saying it is such hard work. I hardly gave the first picture (which is on the page before the one I linked to, here) a second look – meh, another cabled hoodie. But the back view is what sold me. I may have actually gasped. I love that tail detail. But making a hoodie for the sake of what’s on the small of your back seems misguided. Will think on it – I like its Celtic air. Although I’d have to do it in a darker colour, Minty green is in no way suitable for me.

Tarian, aside from sounding like a Narnia character, struck me as being a nice simple sweater. Which, given the different textures on it is frankly a bizarre reaction. Maybe it’s the calm look on the model’s face. That must be it. Just to labour the point, I think this would look lovely in a pale grey colour.

I paused for a significant length of time on Tuin. I even clicked through to More Information, because I wanted to see what the front was like. I really love this, but I can’t explain why. I’ve sworn off cowl/turtle/polo necked sweaters but for this one I might be willing to make an exception. It’s a thing of beauty. Almost worth turning the heating down so that I don’t top it off with a bright red face. I will have to have a think about how I might make this work…

If Lorna is still with us, it seems like the editors can read your mind – well nearly – as this article about altering sleeve lengths would have been extremely helpful …er …two weeks ago.

And finally, Pixie Farts might have to be made, if only so that I can make the kids giggle. I’ll have to rename them Pixie Parps, but to be honest, I think the alliteration makes that a better name.

Overall, another winner I think. The team have made some changes to the layout which I’m not convinced by, to be honest. The main image set re-sizes to the width of your screen and the banner menu at the top is quite deep, which means that the bottom third of the page is cut off each time I change page. And I can’t be bothered scrolling down for *each* page. A “full screen” view which was more like flicking through a magazine would be *awesome* – where it was maximised to the height of your viewing area rather than the width. Also, the descriptions in the magazine of each garmet has been _really_ pared down. To the point where I was expecting to see “Socks” or “Sweater” as the description. There’s probably hard science in you sell more if you get people to click through for more details , but I felt somewhat short-changed, like they could have included *something* about what was special about each pattern.

Still, I’m not complaining – I haven’t parted with a penny yet and for a free online magazine it’s totally excellent quality and as I think I’ve demonstrated above, with quite a few fab designs to choose from.

Now, excuse me while I go and knit some mini Christmas stockings…