Episode 107 – Cocoknits

We’ve had a short break and we are excited to be back in Episode 107 with another varied program for you. Today’s feature interview is with Julie Weisenberger, the founder of the company Cocoknits. Many of you will have heard of the Cocoknits method which is a top down and seamless method of sweater knitting with a very particular way of constructing the shoulders. We are also very excited to be taking you to a small town in the Alsace region of France called Colmar. Colmar is a perfect chocolate box village with an abundance of charm. It has cobblestone streets lined with half-timbered medieval and early Renaissance buildings. There will also be an update on Andrew’s lace project, I’ve finished my L’Anse au Loup and I’ve prepared a short tutorial on steek sandwiches for you. It’s another very full program!

If you’re located in Denmark and not able to watch the normal Episode, please try this link – for Denmark only. (This problem is due to an ongoing dispute between YouTube and Koda, the Danish royalties collection agency. We have created a new version of Episode 107 without some of the music to get around this problem.)

Cocoknits Founder Julie Weisenberger

Julie Weisenberger is a knitwear designer and the founder of the company Cocoknits. Julie has developed a seamless, top down and tailored method of sweater construction which she calls the Cocoknits method and it’s described in detail in her book Cocoknits sweater workshop.

This tailored shoulder construction is Julie’s signature technique. During the interview she shows us exactly how it’s done and all the ways you can modify it. We also see lots of different Cocoknits designs. I think they should appeal to a broad range of knitters because they aren’t technically difficult to knit and they are easy, wearable pieces that are simple to modify to fit your body or style well.

Julie has also developed a line of high-quality tools to make the process of knitting these Cocoknits sweaters very pleasurable and much easier. Julie is particularly passionate about her tools and really lights up when she’s talking about them.

Julie has been in the knitwear industry since the 1980s. She’s seen a lot of changes over this time, she’s also had a lot of teaching experience and what drives her is helping knitters to become very happy and successful garment knitters.

Finding Cocoknits

• cocoknits.com
• Instagram

Patron Discount – Cocoknits

Julie is offering Fruity Knitting Patrons a 25% discount on all patterns available via the Cocoknits website. This offer is valid until 2 October 2020, full details here.

L’Anse au Loup by Jennifer Beale

I’m very happy to show off my finished L’Anse au Loup by Jennifer Beale. It has been a super fun design for me to knit and I really love how unique it looks. It’s definitely a modern looking garment but it also has a slight costume feel about it, which is very much my style.

Steek Sandwich Tutorial

As I said many times before this garment is a study in steeking. After completing it, you will have lost all fear of the technique. Steeking is great for eliminating any purling during your colorwork but the down side to steeking is that you have slightly bulky, frayed edges that need to be properly finished.

At the end of each cuff you end up with 4 steek ends and Jennifer finishes them very creatively with a steek sandwich. This is one of my favourite parts of this design. I have made a tutorial showing you in an abridged version how that is done. You’ll really enjoy seeing that and once you know how to do it, it’s the kind of technique that can be applied to all sorts of things.

Bowie top by Lisa Richardson

Andrew is continuing to make progress on his Bowie top by Lisa Richardson. Here is the completed back piece which, as he’s said before, is around 25,000 stitches of stocking stitch. Andrew has persisted with his flicking technique and thinks it’s getting pretty good, but hasn’t dared to time himself again. At this point he doesn’t think the stopwatch is his friend.

Paisley Kofte – Sidsel Høivik

I’m always so excited when I start a new project and I’m especially excited if I’m knitting it in a radical green with iridescent pops of contrasting color, which is exactly this project. The design is called the Paisley Kofte by Sidsel Høivik, who we have featured on the show a few times. The jacket uses three stunning greens together, so I’m in heaven. A lime green, an apple green and an olive green.

Colmar & the Isenheim Altarpiece

Many of you really enjoyed seeing our short segment on Strasbourg in the last episode so we are very excited to be taking you to a small town called Colmar in the Alsace region of France.

Colmar has cobblestone streets lined with half-timbered medieval and early Renaissance buildings. It’s also the birthplace of Bartholdi, the creator of the Statue of Liberty. We’re going to take you on a walk through the colourful streets, show you some of the most stunning sights and also take you to the famous renaissance masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece.

There is a very interesting story behind this altarpiece, and since many of you have been enjoying Andrew’s short detours into obscure topics, he’s going to tell you about this story as well.

We were wearing

• Andrew was wearing Guido by Carlo Volpi
• Andrea showed off her L’Anse au Loup by Jennifer Beale, but that’s all. (Turned out it was pretty warm today…)

Music Credits

• J. S. Bach, The Well Tempered Klavier, Prelude No. 3 in C-sharp major, BWV 848, performed by Kimiko Ishizaka, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
• Henry Eccles, Violin Sonata in G minor, performed by Thrax, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
• Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor ‘Pathetique’, Op. 13, Adagio Cantabile, performed by Paul Pitman,  Creative Commons Public Domain 1.0

Image Credits

• Images of the Isenheim Altarpiece are Public Domain.
• Image of ergot fungus in barley is Hordeum vulgare Claviceps purpurea 23-7-2009.JPG, by Dominique Jacquin, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported