Carol Feller

When Gabriela and I attended Knit Camp in Scotland last summer, one of our "tutors" ( as they are referred to in Scotland), was a delightful young Irish woman, Carol Feller. We had not heard of her, but her class sounded very interesting; a vest, knit sideways, with adjustable short row shaping in the mid section to create a flattering custom fit, fascinating cap sleeves also done with short row shaping similar to a sock heel. The vest was called Raspberry Layers, shown below modelled by Carol herself.

Raspberry Layers

Being EXCELLENT STUDENTS, Gabriela and I, and our new friend Jenny from South Africa, arrived early, took our seats, organized our knitting paraphernalia and were ready to patiently wait for the class to begin. Carol arrived, with bags of yarn and a friendly smile and " Hello, are any of you my assistant for the class?" We answered "Hello, but no, we are students." She looked a little panicked, class was due to start in about 10 minutes. (A little side note: We had a blast at UK Knit Camp, but it became a study in poor organization and a nightmare for many of the tutors) We asked if she needed help which she quickly accepted. Gabriela and I began hand winding skeins of yarn for the class. Carol went searching for the missing class notes which the organizers were to have had copied and ready for her. (A scenario we saw played and replayed all week. The poor teachers.) Gabriela & I hand wound all the yarn, Carol returned with the missing notes and a wonderful class started. Fifteen minutes into the class the missing assistant arrived!! The class was wonderful and really interesting. We got a taste of the unusual structural design elements for which Carol has become known.

Upon our return from Knit Camp , we were delighted to discover Leitmotif, a Carol Feller design on the cover of Interweave Knits, Fall 2010. Karen had fallen in love with it and was planning a KAL.

Leitmotif front view

Leitmotif's beautiful cabled back view

If you are interested in viewing all of Carol designs, her website is stolenstitches.com
Her design approach combines her training as both an artist and a structural engineer, emphasizing seamless construction and clever shaping techniques to create flattering, tailored
garments with interesting shapes and textures. Her patterns for men, women, and
children are widely published in books and magazines, including Knitting in the
Sun (Wiley, 2009), More Knitting in the Sun (Wiley, 2011), Twist Collective,
Interweave Knits, Knitty, and Yarn Forward.

Carol's designs can frequently be found in Interweave Knits. Her little Draped Vest appeared in Spring 2011. Use of short row shaping is common in Carol's sweaters.

Spoked Cardigan was the cover garment for Interweave Knits Weekend 2011. Designs knit sideways are popular with Carol.

A close up of the detail on Spoked

Carol can also be found in Knitty. Below Iced from Knitty First Fall, 2010.

Many of Carol's sweaters are one piece top down designs. Iced is knit top down and then the front bands are picked up and knit later. Carol uses a lot of "seamless construction" techniques so when you are finished knitting you are done!! Iceling Hat & Cardigan, how cute.

You can find ICED at

http://www.Knitty.com/ISSUEff10/PATTiced.php

I have been eying this pattern for some time now because we have several chunky yarns the perfect weight, especially Berroco Vintage Chunky which comes in several great colours.

Iceling is available in pattern version.

The most recent Knitty, Deep Fall 2011 has a great cabled mitten pattern, Ambroso.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff10/PATTiced.php

Carol has also included a fingerless version.

Ambroso mitts can be found at http://knitty.com/ISSUEdf11/PATTambroso.php

Carol also has several patterns. Adrift, knit with lace weight yarn as a vest.

The pattern also includes a 3/4 sleeve version.

Carole is fond of stoles;Maelnad

Centrique with instructions for a large and a small version. Carol has both charts and written instructions for her lace. I have knit the small version of Centrique and it was one of the most well written , clear, patterns I have ever had the pleasure to knit.

Nepal Wrap

Captiva

She is also fond of fine yarns.Talamah below is knit topdown in sock yarn.

So is Eilonwy

I was thrilled to see Carol publish her first book. If you enjoy cables, you will love this book. In addition to the 20 patterns for garments and accessories for men women and children, Carol shares the rich Irish history of knitting and tweed yarns.

From her blog, Carol at Trunk Show and book signing in her home town of Cork, Ireland.

Carol has four sons. CONTEMPORARY IRISH KNITS has patterns for all ages, several nice children's designs. Now that I have a grandson, Caherciveen below is very tempting. It is sized from 2 years to 12 years.

Dangan below is either a shawl

or smallish lap blanket.

I have totally fallen in love with Glengesh below. As soon as my Christmas knitting is done, I have some beautiful red tweed just waiting.

One of customers has a lucky granddaughter who will be receiving a gift of Listowel from Grandma.

The cover garment , Kilorglin has some of the most beautiful cable combinations I have ever seen. Carol does love cables.

As I was drafting this blog, Interweave Knitscene winter 2011 arrived. Among its many beautiful designs, Wragby Cardigan from Carol Feller. Wragby on Carol.

Wragby in Knitscene.

Looking over the pattern for Wragby, Gabriela discovered that Wragby is more or less a worsted weight version of Iced (knit in chunky). Other than the yarn weight there is only a small difference in the shaping of the front band. Gabriela will be offering a class on Top Down Knitting in the new year which offers Iced and Wragby as a choice of class projects. Winter 2012 classes will be posted very soon.

I haven't knit a sweater in a long while. I think that might change soon.

If you are interested, we have Carol's book and several of her patterns available.

Beth