With a song in our hearts (click above to join in!), we welcome MDK Field Guide No. 10: Downtown.
Who’s going to take us on our trip downtown?
Isabell Kraemer, the beloved designer of sweaters and accessories. Knitters recognize her signature style at a glance, whether it’s a pullover, cardigan, or irresistible wrappy thing.
In MDK’s 2018 March Mayhem tournament of patterns, Isabell’s Humulus pullover was the champion. Out of 64 patterns in this crazy competition, each of which was a stone fox of a knitting design, knitters chose Humulus.
To see an Isabell Kraemer pattern is to want it: to knit it, and to wear it. The designs that work so well for Isabell herself somehow work well for a lot of other knitters, too.
Isabell’s cosmopolitan designs are comfortable everywhere, doing everything. They are casual, but considered. They are garments of confidence and ease. In other words: we all need to make one!
Let’s take a peek at the projects in MDK Field Guide No. 10: Downtown.
Petula Pullover
A band of geometric color makes this a very modern yoke. Knit from the top down, this sport-weight sweater works with pretty much any combination of two colors you can think up: dark with a light yoke, light with a dark yoke, subtle or wild as you wish. Ann couldn’t help herself: she’s already knit one, and can’t wait to show it off. It’s been killing her not to wear it!
(The yarn: Jill Draper Mohonk.)
Bottom Line Pullover
So simple, so artful. Isabell has created a sweater in fingering weight wool, with the result being a forever sweater that lets Jill Draper’s Mohonk Light shine in all its tone-shifting glory. The top-down construction means you’ll get to a finished sweater with minimal finishing required.
(The yarn: Jill Draper Mohonk Light.)
X-Factor Cowls
Juicy corrugated goodness here, in a dimensional ribbed design. You can nest one inside the other if you’re looking for extra style and coziness.
The drawstring is bonus fun to make (a hand mixer may be involved) and to wear.
(The yarn: Jill Draper Kingston.)
The Yarns
In one of our first conversations with Isabell about this Field Guide, we asked her what yarns would she like to work with. Her response? She had a few skeins of Jill Draper’s Mohonk on her desk and was dying to design with it.
Hey, we said, we love Jill Draper’s yarns! We carry them in the MDK Shop! It felt like it was meant to be, and before long, each of the three projects was made in one of Jill’s distinctive, U.S.-grown yarns. With this Field Guide, our selection of Jill Draper yarns and rich, hand-dyed colors expands to make us a one-stop shop for knitters in search of perfect sweater and accessory yarns.
Jill’s yarns are versatile and knitterly, full of personality. They’re also not that easy to find, outside of fiber festivals or Jill’s own studio, especially not in the range of colors you’ll see in the MDK Shop.
Fun to Come
You may ask: will there be a knitalong?
Our answer: can Petula Clark carry a tune?
Come April, we’ll be organizing ourselves for epic knitalong fun from Field Guide No. 10, with Isabell herself along for the ride.
Get Your Copy Today
We hope you’ll order up a copy of Field Guide No. 10, in print and/or digital format, right away.
Collecting MDK Field Guides is fun. With each new volume, you’ll encounter the work of the most exciting designers working today, presented with snappy writing, lush photography, and true love of knitting. You’ll learn, and laugh, a lot.
Purchasing Field Guides, yarns, and gear in the MDK Shop is one of the best ways to support our free daily content, here and in your inbox every morning. We’re grateful to you all for making it possible for us to keep doing this thing we love, every day of the week.
More to come! Off we go!
Congratulations! Ordering today!
Yippee! Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Isabell Kraemer AND Jill Draper? Be still my heart!
Amazing! I must run up to my LYS to pick up my copy .
Perfection!! Isabell Kraemer and Jill Draper… a knitter’s dream!
Speaking of March Mayhem, when does the 2019 version start?
The magnificent day is almost upon us! Next Friday, March 15 is Bracket Reveal Day. We are so excited–can’t wait to show you.
Wow! I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. So excited!
Love the sweaters!!
TEN!!! This is so exciting.
Thanks for a morning with Petula!
I’m goin’ DOWNTOWN!
You bet I’m ordering this guide and the other 2 I don’t have.
I’d like to make the Bottom Line Pullover as my first ever sweater project, but without the book, I don’t know how many skeins to order. How do I figure out how much I’ll need? I wear size XL.
Me too! The XL takes 5 skeins.
(The XS takes 3, the S M & L take 4, and the XL and 2X take 5.)
Thanks! Now to decide which color…..
My first sweater was an IK design! Come to think of it, so was the last sweater I completed. Her pattern instructions are excellent – I have no doubt you are going to love the first sweater experience with her, and you’ll love the FO too. I still wear my first sweater from a couple years ago (even though now I wish I had chosen different yarn colors – yet I still wear it. A testament to her design for sure.) Happy knitting!
These are beautiful! What a fantastic collection.
My fave FG yet! Now if I could just get over my what size-to-make/will-it-look-good-on-me double-hump! It’s a very big hump with a pre-hump called measuring-an-ever-growing-form (which-really-grew-this-winter-before-I-noticed. Neat trick, eh. I have many tricks like that!
(Oh, commenting reminds me of a Gaughan FG sweater question I have for the Lounge….)
I feel you, Marilyn! You know what gives me the strength to cast on: looking at the hashtag #petulapullover and #bottomlinepullover over on Instagram. Isabell’s incredible testers have already made beautiful versions and it is so fun to see them wearing them. Right away I knew I wanted to make my Petula loose and long, and my Bottom Line a bit more trim-fitting and hitting at hip, just below waist.
Oh my! I just looked on Ravelry and there are already 15 Bottom Line Pullovers there. So inspiring: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bottom-line-pullover/people
And 16 Petula Pullovers: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/petula-pullover/people
Isabell’s testers are simply the best.
This is my song of cheer ! Skate City would play it endlessly and you have also chosen my favorite, very favorite designer. What would life be without knitting
L. O. V. E.
Just saw Ann’s Petula on Ravelry! Wow, love those colors
Love the patterns. My mom loved that song and played it all the time I never saw a video though, the floating heads are a bit disconcerting though!
I have never done a knitalong. How do they work?
A knitalong is a bunch of people deciding to knit the same project, or a pattern from the same book, at the same time, cheering each other on and comparing notes (in various online venues) as we go. Our knitalong for Field Guide No. 10 will start in April. It’s going to be super fun. Stay tuned for details.
It’s the fault of March Madness that I knit the Humulus last year. It’s one of my favorite EVER knits. I wear it constantly. Then I went on to an in-progress Jaycee. And I just finished (an hour ago) Angels and Cowboys. Cannot go wrong with Isabell. I’d also like to throw out there that the sizing is really good on her sweaters. I knit an XL in Humulus and it is *perfect*. As far as I can tell so far with sleevless try-ons the Jaycee is also perfect. I’m very excited to see this new Field Guide! <3
hi there, kay and ann! i read your letters every day and at midnight your time i bought, and have now received my copy of-this wonderful field guide. thank you for all your work a nd creative joyin putting this together—i’ll happily knit these lovelies by isabell. i also want you to know that because you mentioned ‘stone fox’ regarding last year’s competition i borrowed john renolds gardiner’s book from the library. i’d never heard of it before. what a wonderful, uplifting story of doing the right thing and making dreams come true! very uplifting! thanks for your part in all this.
Do you ship to India.
Ready to make Bottom Line pullover, but what is ease information. Also trying to download, and not working. But especially need ease info. Thx.