Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2012 is out, and great day in the morning, I have two designs in there. Now, this is the first time my designs have appeared in a print magazine, so please excuse me if I gush a bit. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.

All the lovely photos are ©Interweave Press.

First up, the Herringbone Mosaic Cowl.

Worked in Zitron Gobi, a warm, drapey Aran weight alpaca/camel/merino blend, this cowl is way easier (and faster) to make than it looks. It’s done in mosaic knitting — a type of slip-stitch colourwork — so you’re only working with one colour at a time. The cowl was designed to be a good first project for learning mosaic knitting, and the magazine also has my tutorial on the technique. Seriously, you won’t believe how easy it is. Promise.

The second pattern is the Ullared Cushion, designed for their Scandinavian Holiday Home section.

This one is a bit challenging unless you’re used to stranded colourwork; if you like that technique, it’s a lot of fun to make. It’s done as a tube, and then half the stitches are bound off and the other half worked in corrugated rib to make the button band.

Once the button band is done, the cast on edge is seamed closed. It’s horribly immodest of me to say, but I love this thing so much I think I need to make another one for my work room, kind of now-ish.

The people at Interweave were a pleasure to work with, and very patient with my many, many questions. I couldn’t be more pleased with how the whole process went, and with how they made everything look.

There, that was only a bit gushy, surely. Well, probably more than a bit. Do forgive me. It’s been an exciting day.