Book Review: Interpretations by Joji & Veera
The Interpretations collection has landed in the shop in it's beautiful new printed form. You may have heard of the Interpretations collection by Joji Locatelli and Veera Välimäki as Volume 1 was released as an e-book in February 2014 and then Volume 2 in January 2015 and then last week they released Volume 3 and Pom Pom Press did what they do best and printed books of all three volumes.
Interpretations is the story of two friends and how they each interpret a set of themes in their own way to design a piece of knitwear. Each book has six themes, or words that are meant to inspire the design process. Both Joji and Veera each design a garment or accessory based on their interpretation of this word and (one of the things I particularly love about this concept) is that they also write a bit about what the theme means to them and how it became what it is now is.
Having had all three volumes with me all week now, I've had a chance to really dive into each and what I find both fascinating and inspiring is that you can watch their design styles grow along with their friendship. Both Joji and Veera have very distinct design aesthetics in their own right and it's lovely to see how they play off each other in this printed format - something you don't really get from an e-book. (I might as well now confess that I am still a big fan of a proper book)
It will take me ages and ages to dive into each and everyone of the patterns that I find gorgeous or have added to my knitting queue in this week so I'll just pick out a couple here to show off because I suspect they will be on needles very soon.
Breathing Space by Veera in volume 3 speaks to me on many levels. It reminds me a bit of her Color Affection Shawl pattern from a few years ago in how she uses stripes of color to create shape. I'm also just generally a sucker for stripes, anything I can use more than one color in is a winner in my book. The structure of this sweater is very wearable and should be quite flattering on many body types and shapes. So many choices of yarn that could be used for this pattern too, it's designed in Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light which would be amazing and drapey but I could also see Townhouse Yarns Grafton 4-ply being an amazing choice or for a slightly more elegant version using Kettle Yarn Co. Islington.
Expressive by Joji also from volume 3 is such a gorgeous shawl. This pattern isn't a typical choice for me but I'm very drawn to it's airy and gauze-like look with just a bit of frilliness in the picot edging. I can't put my finger on it but this just evokes thoughts of cool summer nights walking around a new city while on vacation. The Fibre Co. Meadow would be a great yarn option or perhaps Shibui Knits Cima - both super soft and drapey.
From volume 1 there is a lot I love but Fine Tune by Joji is a great, colorful cowl with great geometric stripes. (See again, with the colors and the stripes). So many options for this pattern, a great way to use up some leftovers from other projects as you'll only need about 200m of four colors. It'd be a great project to incorporate the SweetGeorgia Yarns Party of Five packs as well. There's a version on Ravelry by evieandlilly with the bright purple color Birthstone from The Uncommon Thread that I just adore. Lots of colors, lots of options, love this pattern.
And last on my list (for now) is Above the Horizon by Veera from Volume 2. I love a good hat and surprise, surprise this one is in two colors with stripes. It's a nice light weight hat done in fingering weight yarn, so perfect for Spring. This would look great knit with two solid colors or with one solid and one variegated yarn. There are so many yarns this hat would look great in but looking over at the shelves now I'm particularly drawn to a Dreamboat and Nightshade version in SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock and in Hedgehog Fibres Sock Ghost and Birthday Cake.
All three books are now available online and in the shop and each book has a download code so you'll get the e-book on Ravelry as well.
-Carmen