The first signs of fall are appearing in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. There is a crispness in the air, the light is changing and leaves are just beginning to turn. Residents are locking into oil prices, stacking wood and bringing their wooly winter wardrobe out of mothballs with thoughts of conserving precious fuel for a certain cold winter. Our thermostats will be set as low as we can bear but the fashion conscious among us will stay stylish while adapting to any variety of climate changes. Why not try layering handknits?

Our turtleneck pullover is easy to knit and basic to every sweater lover's fall wardrobe. Doreen, knit in Air™, is roomy enough to wear over a thermal undershirt, yet soft enough to wear right next to your skin. It is a great first sweater project for the scarf graduate. You will enjoy knitting this light and airy Air pullover on #11 needles. The project can be finished in time for sweater weather.

Vests are a favorite of many because they can pull together some of the plainer pieces in your wardrobe. Our model has layered an Air surplice wrap vest, Wilshire, over an ultrasuede shirt and trousers. The attached I cord belt wraps around several times to finish the look. This outfit will take her comfortably to work or on a drive to the country for apples. To knit this beautiful shawl-collared cabled vest, you must have some experience, but your finished piece will have a very refined look.

Not feeling up to knitting a garment? Then try our Air shawl/scarf, Westerly. Simply master the easy Bramble stitch and you can knit this shawl. If you want to tie it as shown on our mannequin, you can add the easy I-cord tie with trendy pom pons. We show it with a crinkled shirt and pants, wrapping the tie around several times for a pulled together look.


Air has a fashionable "felted" look while maintaining the stitch definition and drape of a knitted garment. Leave it to the Italian spinners to develop a wooly yarn that's as light as air. It is created by infusing a fulled wool into a nylon netting. With this type of "meringue" wool effect yarn, you can knit a garment that weighs far less than expected on #11 needles. To view our web gallery of all of our existing Air patterns, click here. Air Web Gallery



Sanfra from Atlanta wrote to ask: "I have been hearing about felting knitted yarn these days and I am very puzzled. This may date me, but I come from a generation of knitters who were careful to look for handknitting yarns that wouldn't pill or felt. Why do people take perfectly good knitted woolen fabric and abuse it in a machine so that it will shrink, fade and loose all it's elasticity?"

Sanfra, Thanks for writing in. I too have found the felting phenomena very puzzling. I am a garment knitter and a sewer. I also enjoy creating handbags and accessories. I love knitted fabric because it appeals to all senses. I look for qualities like drape and stretch in a knitting yarn. However, just recently I have begun to understand the attraction to felting in that it breaks rules, allowing for creative alternatives to the norm. These days I also find myself choosing a crochet hook to make a stable, unchangeable fabric. Hats, shoes and bags call for fabrics such as this. Accessories that are traditionally made of leather are perfect items to be felted or crocheted.

A beautiful handknitted sweater with stitch patterning can define the body far better when allowed to drape. Care must be taken to handwash or gently launder these garments so that they will maintain their finish and fit. A felted fabric is slightly compromised in order to create a fixed structure. If you are willing to let go of the lustre, drape and soul of your knitted fabric in order to create rigidity, then felting is a solution. Yarns that felt are yarns that are almost completely wool and haven't been treated to be machine washable. Some Berroco yarns that I have felted are: Vibe, Hip Hop and Medley.