California Revival Knits

Remember I said I had a treat in store for you? Well, today I'm delighted to be hosting a stop on Stephannie Tallent's California Revival Knits blog tour! Of course there'll be a giveaway, but more of that later.  

Any book inspired by the Mission, Spanish Colonial and Spanish Revival architecture of California is bound to make me sit up and listen, as it immediately brings to mind the wildly colourful images of its signature style - tiles, stucco and wrought iron and... sun! Stephannie obviously spent plenty of time researching her sources as you can see here in the interesting pics of the artisans at work in the factory. 

So what's on the page for the knitter?  Well a quick tot up reveals two sweaters, two cowls, two tams, two pairs of socks, four pairs of fingerless gloves, a shawl, a cushion, and a pair of cosy mittens.  Techniques covered are lace, intarsia, fairisle, beadwork, picot edging and twisted stitches and Stephannie generously includes a section on her design process - the creative road travelled from Spanish tile to fingerless knitted glove. 

Beautiful images show off the designs to great advantage both from an aesthetic angle and from the knitter's perspective. The charts are clear and also add a colourful splash within the patterns. 

Undersea Garden Cowl, inspired by the kelp which
grows in abundance along the Californian coast.

Stair Steps Tam, inspired by the different
tile patterns on staircases

Quatrefoil Fingerless Mitts look to decorative
iron and metalwork for their inspiration

Peacock Shawl worked in alpaca silk, with its
lace pattern replicating peacock feathers 

So these are my faves, but there are lots of other goodies in there too. If you can't wait to see the rest you'll just have to get yourself a copy - you can order from Co-operative Press right now, either print or digital. Co-operative Press and Stephannie Tallent have been kind enough to donate one for me to give away. So if you're feeling lucky, all you have to do is leave a comment below, telling me why you'd like to visit, or what you like best about California and I'll be randomly drawing a winner next Monday, 14th May. 

Next on the blog tour is the lovely Ann Kingstone, and if you'd like to follow the rest of the tour, here are the other stops:

9 April  Yarn on the House

25 April  Go Knit in your Hat

30 April  YarnAGoGo
30 April A Smaller Life

2 May  Ramblings

7 May More Yarn Will Do The Trick

10 May Ann Kingstone Designs

11 May Feralknitter

16 May Knitting at Large

18 May  Rachel Erin
23 May Knitting with Sandra Singh
28 May Wisehilda Knits

6 June Knitting to Stay Sane

Date tbc The Knitgrllls Podcast