I have been so excited about New England Knits since we first started seeing pictures from it and I finally got my very own copy!

We’re all pretty excited about it here – in fact Kate & I unknowingly both tweeted about how excited we were about it. I went to the coast this weekend & with the cool weather there, it was perfect time to thumb through it & think about all the lovely cardigans I want to make!  And goodness, I think I want to make every single project in this book – something I haven’t seen in a book for a very long time – well that doesn’t include cute toys like Knitting Mochimochi! 🙂

My first project ended up actually being a hat – I love to make & wear hats and this one was so great!

It’s the Brattleboro Hat – I had some blue Malabrigo in my stash so I cast on for it right away and finished in just a couple of days – so much fun!  I have a thing about buttons – I keep collecting them and now I am constantly in need of finding projects to put them on.  Here are the ones I used for my hat – they are adorable buttons from Blue Manatee Buttons

Then I frogged a project in Swish Bulky Merlot Heather I had started & didn’t like anymore – and decided to cast on for my first sweater out of this book:

It’s the Salem Hooded Jacket – I’m not sure which Salem in New England they are refering to but Salem MA was one of my favorite places to visit when I lived in Massachusetts.  So I felt I had to make this one (plus – hooded!  I love hooded cardigans!).  And I really like that most of the cardigans in this book instruct to start with the sleeves (I’m doing both at once using Magic Loop).  Of course, you can always start many sweaters with the sleeves but rarely do patterns tell you to. I just hate being near the end of a sweater & then getting stuck in sleeve land!

But of course I couldn’t stop with just one sweater planned – I had to think about the other projects I want to make.  Like Kate, this was my first time choosing new colors for the yarn lines (and naming them – way too much fun) and I’m loving the new Gloss colors.  All the weights of Gloss are some of my favorite yarns in the world and I’m so excited for these new colors!

I love the Greenfield Cardigan – the leaf detail is so lovely!  I think Gloss DK will work nicely – I gathered a couple of my favorite colors because I’m having a hard time deciding on which one!

Really, an argument can be made for any of these – green is my favorite color, followed by a close second by blue.  I’ve been more & more attracted to yellow and the cream…well, you can’t really go wrong with a lovely neutral.

Then I pulled out my favorite new colors Gloss HW – I love how squishy it is and all the projects I’ve made so far out of Gloss HW are items I wear constantly in the winter. 

These are totally different colors but I love them too!  And again, I love the sweet detail on the bottom of this Fairfield Sweater – and look!  More places to use my button collection.  I’m thinking the orange will make a great fall sweater.

Did you get your copy of New England Knits yet?  Which projects are your favorite?