Snowflake Baby Set - Knit Now Magazine

Knit Now magazine launched in October, a new and very welcome concept in the world of knitting and craft magazines. There are too many publications out there which are aimed at beginners, but which make the mistake of assuming that new knitters want to create shapeless, unfashionable garments and accessories, often in novelty yarn. However, Knit Now have wisely decided to keep their patterns chic and intelligent - beginner friendly but not patronising. The magazine's focus is on accessories, meaning that it's the perfect read for people like me who have hundreds of odd balls of yarn and nothing to do with them. They intend to publish hat, sock, scarf, shawl, glove, bag, toy, home and baby patterns, but no full size garments.

I was really excited to see my pattern, Snowflake Baby Set, published in the first issue. This is a set of cardigan, hat and mittens, sized to fit 0-3 years. I was inspired by all the Nordic patterning in the shops at the moment, and wanted to create a child sized design which incorporated some of these elements. The Snowflake set features traditional Nordic stars in Fair Isle or stranded knitting. It's a unisex design, with a buttoned raglan sleeve cardigan that will suit a boy or girl. In my sample I used Patons Diploma Gold DK, a washable wool mix yarn that is soft enough for baby knitting, but has enough wool content to work well for the stranded design. I chose the strongly contrasting colours of red and off-white, but this could look equally good in a monochrome combination of navy or black with white, or in two softly muted shades of grey or blue. You could also use a yarn such as Sirdar Snuggly DK if you prefer not to use wool.

How adorable is the model they used in the magazine? She's just the cutest! I also recommend, from that issue, the gorgeous Autumn Forest Gloves by Kyoko Nakayoshi. She's a designer I have a huge amount of respect for, producing lovely designs which are always so simple and elegant. I love her use of cabling in particular.

If you'd like to knit the Snowflake Baby Set for yourself, I think you can still get back issues of the magazine - go to their website for details.