Strands of Joy

I've spent this year working on a huge project. Not only did I start designin full time after New Year's but I also signed a publishing contract with Laine at the beginning of January. And right now, as you're reading this, the pre-orders for my debut book have started.

Strands of Joy features 20 versatile colourwork patterns, including sweaters and cardigans as well as an elegant dress, a warming hat and a kid's pullover. The patterns are worked seamlessly from top down. Cast on a mindless two-colour project or let your mind find peace in more complicated knits that require you to stay focused.

Adult sweater and cardigan patterns come in 9–12 sizes and all are graded to fit up to a 62" bust at minimum. The kid's pullover is graded from 6 months to 12 years. And, the book also has one men's pullover and a men's cardigan pattern in it.

Anna Johanna is a knitwear designer from Muurame, Central Finland. She is known for her often-romantic knits with much love for details, textures and colours. Since 2020, this former statistician has been designing full-time. Strands of Joy (Finnish title Onnensäikeitä) is her debut book.

This hardcover book contains: 

• 176 pages
• 20 colourwork knitting patterns (10 sweaters, 7 cardigans, 1 dress, 1 hat, 1 kid's pullover)
• weight: approx. 900 g / 2 lb
• print only, no digital download code available

Printed in Latvia.  

Official release date 19 February, 2021. The pre-orders start today but the book comes from print in February and will be sipped to customers then. I know many were hoping for the book to make it in time for Christmas so all orders from my webshop will receive a pdf card you can slip under the Christmas tree.

You can find a limited batch of the pre-orders on my webshop, You can also get the book over on Laine webshop and lots of their stockists.

Timjami

I've got a new sweater pattern to kick off December.

What: Timjami / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 4.0 mm
From: Tukuwool Fingering + ITO Sensai, 190 + 60 g

I often find inspiration for designing in the yarn itself. That's definitely what happened this time. The Finnish yarn brand, Tukuwool, got two new beautiful green colorways this fall and I fell head over heels for them. This greyish green is called Rohto. What made the colorway especially enticing was the fact that my LYS was full of silk mohairs to pair it up with. I couldn't pick just one so in the end I took three green silk mohairs with me to go with Rohto and started scetching ideas for a sweater.

And so, Timjami came to be. The name is Finnish for Thyme. Timjami is a relaxed, loose sweater worked seamlessly top-down. The design has long raglan sleeves with cute little lace and bobble pattern worked along the raglan seams. The sweater has a  V-neck and a cropped hem with no waist shaping. The sides of the sweater have a bit of twisted ribbing, as do the hem, cuffs and neckband.

The sweater is worked with two yarns, holding the fingering weight main color yarn together with one of the lace weight contrast colour yarns and fading the contrast colour. I worked a couple stripes at the colour change to get a bit of a fade going on but this sweater would work well with clear colour blocks as well. I used three different colours of silk mohair but you can use as many as you like.

I finished my sample in the late summer and I've used it A LOT. Timjami is a very versitile sweater: it goes equally well with jeans and skirts. The best sweaters are the kind that you can pull over any clothes to keep you warm.

The pattern comes with sizes XXS-5XL. You can find Timjami on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts.

I'm taking part in a Finnish online craft fair this weekend and hence, today on Friday, you can get Timjami and all my pullover patterns for -15% with the code PUSEROPERJANTAI.

On Saturday, use the code LANGANJUOKSU to get 20% discount on all my colourwork designs and on Sunday, the code LANGANKIERTO gets you 15% discount on all my lace designs.

Sleight of Hand

So it's not one but two new patterns this week! It's time for the third and final design of my mini sock collection.

What: Sleight of Hand / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.25 mm
From: Wool Me Once Fibers Gold Glitter Sock, 47 g

In the summer, I got the urge to knit socks. The sock fever wouldn't go away with just one pair so I ended up designing a mini collection - all ankle socks with sweet picot trims.

The collection was inspired talented Finnish indie dyers (and my need for ankle socks). I also named all the designs after the colorways I knit them with.

The third and final design in the collection is Sleight of Hand, named after this stunning golden colorway Ochrus Pochrus. I fell head over heels in love with this golden glimmering Gold Glitter Sock by Wool Me Once Fibers. It's got my favorite high twist merino base with gold stellina for a bit of sparkle.

Sleight of Hand socks are worked cuff-down. They start off with a sweet picot edge that is worked with a provisional cast on. The socks are embellished with cables and cute bobbles. The socks are worked in reverse stockinette stitch to make the cables really pop. Not to mention how luxurious the stockinette stitch on the inside feels against your skin. The heel is a simple and fun short row heel.

In fact, all three designs in the collection feature a different heel construction, making this collection an excellent opportunity to practice heels. All three patterns come in three sizes, 64, 68 and 72 sts.

You can find all three sock patterns on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts. You can buy them individially or as an e-book. If you've already bought Kvartsi and Ripple socks, Ravelry should give you a generous discount for these. 

Basic

It's been a while since my last cardigan pattern but that's what happens when you write a book full of patterns! (I'll let you know the publishing date as soon as I have it.)

What: B.A.S.I.C. / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.0 and 3.25 mm
From: Lumoava Jakki, 310 g

Back in spring, I got a sweater quantity of delicious yak blend from a Finnish dye studio, Nettilanka.fi. The yarn is a wonderful blend of SW merino, silk and yak which gives it a truly special sheen and drape. Not to mention this perfect natural brownish grey shade. I definitely wanted to design a pattern where the yarn would be the star. And so B.A.S.I.C. came to be.

I'm not one for mindless knitting as it bores me but I think I managed to design a really basic looking cardigan - you know, the kind that goes with all of your clothes. But while it looks simple, it's a really interesting knit.

The cardigan is plain stockinette stitch with 3/4 length sleeves, a round neckline and some waist shaping. The buttonbands are worked simultaniously with the rest of the cardi and they are twisted ribbing. The cardigan gets its polished look from the cute picot trims.

This type of cookie cutter picot edge is achieved with working a folded hem with a 'k2tog, yo' row in the middle. And because picot edges are easiest to work with a provisional cast on, this cardigan is worked bottom up! This way you can work the hem and cuffs with a provisional cast on and will only have to use sewn bind off for the neckline.

This was an especially interesting design as I don't usually work bottom up but I still wanted to have proper shaping for the sleeve caps and shoulders while still having as little seaming at the end as possible. And I'm super happy to tell you I managed to shape the shoulders without breaking the yarn in between even once. So after the shoulders you will have just one final end to weave in. Victory! The body of the cardigan is worked from the hem to the underarms and then placed on a holder. Then, both sleeves are worked to the underarms and finally joined together with the body to work the top of the cardigan in one piece.

This turned out such a sweet little cardigan and you can no find it on Ravelry, PayHipistä and Lovecrafts. The pattern includes sizes XXS-5XL. Finally, use the code BASIC to get 15% discount until the end of the week.

Ripple

I've had this insatiable hunger for knitting socks since summer. No wonder once pair just wasn't enough! I decided on designing a mini collection of three sock pattern. The first pair, Kvartsi, I published in September and now it's time to release my Socktober pattern, Ripple.

What: Ripple / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.25 mm

From: Aara Tunto, 55 g

I was inspired to design a little mini collection of sock patterns and started to build it around the idea of ankle socks with cute picot trims. And all the samples are knit from beautiful handdyed yarns by talented Finnish indie dyers.

A year ago at our local knit fest, I fell in love with Aara Tunto sock yarn. It's a wonderful fingering weight, high twist BFL/nylon blend. The Blue Faced Leicester is soft wool but more durable than merino so I love to use it for socks. It's soft but not too slippery. I've named all the patterns in the collection by the colorways I used to make my sample socks and Ripple got its name from the Tunto colorway Väre, which means ripple in Finnish.

I didn't want the designs in the collection to be too much alike so I got carried away trying out different heel constructions. That makes this collection a great way to train your heel knitting skills. The first pair, Kvartsi socks, had my go-to French heel and Ripple socks feature a 'strong heel'. In a strong heel you work in the round while making gusset increases and once the leg reaches the sole, you will work short rows to make the heel turn in a similar way as in a French heel.

Ripple socks start with a picot edge and the instep is adorned with intricate lace and cables. The cables are repeated on the sides of the socks and the gusset increases slowly push them further apart. Once there's no more room on the instep for another pattern repeat before the toe, these stitches are worked in stockinette stitch. 

I'm just head over heels in love with these socks and they became a treasured pair in my sock drawer. I sure hope you like them as much. The pattern comes in three sizes, 64, 68 and 72 sts. You can find the pattern on Ravelry, PayHip and Lovecrafts.

And that's not all! I know many of you fell in love with the muted turquoise color of my sample pair and I've got good news for you: I've added yarn kits to my web shop! I chose three of my favorite colors from Aara and you can buy the yarn and get the pattern on top. The kits will be available until the end of the year or until they're sold out.

In addition to that muted, greyish turquoise colorway, Väre, I chose a moody dark purple called Kriikuna and a light, peachy pink colorway, Ilta. I don't know about you but I want to knit these socks in all three colorways!

And since I'll be releasing three sock patterns through autumn, I figured we should start a KAL. You can take part on Instagram or on Ravelry and all three patterns (Kvartsi, Ripple and the third one coming in November) are eligible for the KAL. The KAL will last until the end of the year and each finished pair will get you a ticket for the prize drawing on New Year's Day. You can take part chatting in this Ravelry thread or over on IG, using #KRSsockKAL.

Btw, if you've already bought Kvartsi socks on Ravelry, you will automatically get 25% off Ripple.

Hohde

Feels like it was ages ago when I started designing a sweater for the Christmas edition of Taito magazine. And it is - I cast on a year ago in December! But this week, finally, the magazine is being delivered to subscribers and I get to share this design with you all.

What: Hohde / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.0 and 3.5 mm

From: Aara Koto, 366 g

It's always fun to write patterns for magazines, especially when they offer a theme or a mood board to give you inspiration. The theme for the Christmas magazine was 'together' and I immediately started thinking about sweater that would have a certain ease to it. Something that is really comfortable to wear that you don't have to think about. But also something stylish enough to worn on Christmas.

I had decided on a relaxed pullover and wanted to use Finnish yarn - preferably not only dyed here in Finland but also using Finnish wool for the yarn base. My wish was easily granted as I realised the Aara Yarn (sport weight, 100% Finnish wool) yarn had the exact colors as the magazine mood board. Also, I'm pretty sure you've seen how into stranded knitting I've been lately so it was a no brainer that this one would be a colorwork yoke sweater.

So there you have it: Hohde is a stylish pullover with a stunning colorwork yoke. The sweater is worked top down and it has long sleeves. The body of the sweater has a slight A-line shape, making it super comfortable to wear. There's a little piece of the yoke colorwork repeated just before the hem ribbing.

The yoke design is an abstract fan pattern but it reminds me of a fantastical peacock with gold dust in its tail feathers. The sweater uses three colors and there are couple rounds using all three at the bottom of the yoke but I promise you they're well worth the effort.

One of my favorite details in this design is the folded ribbing at the neckline. It gives such a neat finishing touch. The neckline, hem and cuffs are all worked in twisted ribbing.

I love to photograph knits in places where the background has the same color scheme as the knit but this time we really hit the jackpot with this tunnel. The graffiti not only mirrors all the colors in the sweater but also my jeans top - and even in the same order! It's almost as if someone had painted the concrete with my sweater in mind.

Hohde sweater is featured in the Christmas edition of TAITO magazine in Finnish but the pattern will be available as an individual download (and in English) in spring 2021.

Some of the photos are courtesy of the talented producer, Sonja, from TAITO magazine.