Episode 170 is packed with fun highlights including a feature interview with the talented Latvian crochet designer Linda Skuja who’s elegant designs push crochet to new levels! We also have four projects to share in Bring & Brag and Under Construction, as well as a short tutorial on the popular Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit. Finally, Madeleine takes you on a fun trip to Northern Italy where she and Ryan spent their summer holiday learning about the history of Venice and touring a Parmesan cheese factory before Ryan ran his ultramarathon in the Italian Alps!
Linda Skuja - Elegant Crochet Garments
We first met and interviewed Linda Skuja at the Munich Knits Festival back in late November 2025. When you first see Linda’s sweater designs, you would swear they are knitted. But they’re not, they’re crocheted. Linda is a Latvian crochet designer who has really pushed the boundaries of crochet, showing just how beautifully soft and drapey crocheted garments can be.
Her signature techniques include crocheted short rows and three-dimensional stitch patterns, which she uses to create elegant and innovative designs. Linda introduces her first book, Crochet Sweaters with a Textured Twist, and explains the techniques she uses to create different patterns. She also points out the similarities and differences in what you can achieve through crochet versus knitting.
Linda also advises on which yarns are best suited to crochet including twists that work better for left- versus right-handed crocheters. Even how you pull yarn from the ball can add or remove twist, changing how the yarn behaves as you crochet.
Finding Linda Skuja
- Website: www.lindaskuja.com
- Ravelry: Eleven Handmade
- Instagram: @linda.skuja.design
Patron Discount - Linda Skuja
Linda is kindly offering our Fruity Knitting Patrons 25% off all of her self-published patterns in her Ravelry store. There’s a stunning range of designs to choose from, from breezy summer tops to cosy winter sweaters. So enjoy browsing her store, and a big thank you to Linda for this very generous offer! Discount details here.
Support Fruity Knitting
We invite you to support the show as a Fruity Knitting Patron!
By making a small donation of only 5 USD a month, you already help us to continue bringing out more episodes full of knitting inspiration and education from around the world.
Shetland Patrons - Online Knit & Chat
Shetland patrons, join our online Knit & Chat session on Sunday, 11 October 2026! Event details here.
If you haven’t joined one yet, our Knit & Chat sessions are warm, welcoming online gatherings of our Shetland patrons who join us from all around the globe. It’s a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, share your knitting tips and tricks and connect with each other. We can’t wait to see you there and hear all about your latest projects!
Listen to previous live events featuring a special guest here.
Bring & Brag
Ooey Gooey by Andrea Mowry
I’ve finished my Ooey Gooey sweater by Andrea Mowry! The colorwork on the yoke was inspired by modern graphic rugs, with their bold, wavy lines. The small round dots underneath look like drops of liquid. When worked in rich, saturated colors, they can even look sweet and gooey which is why Andrea Mowry named this sweater Ooey Gooey…
It’s designed for a sport-weight yarn, with a gauge of 24 stitches per 10cm. I’ve used our Fruity Knitting Sport, which worked beautifully for this sweater and we’re now offering Ooey Gooey kits on our website artisanfibres.com .
I’ve used our Mulberry Dusk as the main colour, which is a rich blend of black, pillar-box red, and pink. The black fibres give it depth, while the red and pink add rich highlights. For the contrast colour, I chose our Wild Mint. I’m really excited about this combination. I think these two colours work beautifully together and really bring out the best in each other.
This is actually the first Andrea Mowry design I’ve knitted, and I really enjoyed it. I also made a few modifications. For example, I added a few more short rows to raise the back of the collar and I left out the colourwork along the sleeves to simplify the design. I talk about all my modifications in detail during this episode.
Ooey Gooey kits
- Get your own Ooey Gooey kit in Fruity Knitting Sport.
Available in different colour combinations!
Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit
Madeleine has finally gotten the chance to knit with Mulberry Dusk from our Fruity Knitting Sport collection, which she feels is the perfect colourway for autumn. Because her baby is due in a about two weeks, she chose a small and simple project: The Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit.
It’s an elegant stst hat with a triple layered brim that keeps your ears perfectly warm, even on cold windy days! Even though this pattern looks super simple, it does have a more unusual construction that may confuse you when first reading the pattern.
Tutorial - Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit
PetiteKnit’s patterns always come with a series of YouTube tutorials, but they’re all in Danish with English subtitles. So, Madeleine created a little Oslo Hat tutorial in English to help English speaking knitters understand the construction and some of the techniques used.
This includes using the German short-row method to turn your work and knit in the opposite direction, changing the right and wrong side of your knitting in the middle of the hat. Confused? No worries! You’ll understand it once you’ve watched the tutorial 😉
Baby Sweater by Debbie Bliss
I’ve been working on a little project on the side for my very first grandson who is due this October! This is the ABC sweater by Debbie Bliss from her ABC Layette set. It’s a cute little Raglan sweater with stripes down the body and a solid colour for the arms and buttons on one side to make dressing and undressing easier.Â
Madeleine and Ryan have already picked out a name for him and it starts with H. So, that’s the letter I’ve added to this jumper using the duplicate stitch!
Travel Vlog - Summer in Northern Italy
Madeleine and Ryan spent a week in northern Italy for their holiday earlier this year and Madeleine took the opportunity to document some of the highlights along the way to share with you. In this little travel vlog, she takes you to the city of Venice to learn about their mask wearing traditions and the incredible number of cisterns that helped provide the population of Venice with clean drinking water for near 1000 years.
She also takes you to the outskirts of Parma where they toured a traditional Parmigiano Reggiano cheese manufacturer. Finally, they head up into the mountains where Ryan runs a 120km long ultramarathon and Madeleine does some #extremeknitting next to a glacier!
What we are wearing
Andrea is wearing her Jean Cardigan by Kolibri by Johanna during the interview and her Ooey Gooey Sweater on the couch.
Credits
- Der Herr der Diebe written by Cornelia Funke and narrated by Rainer Strecker, chapter 1, Released on: 2009-07-29, ℗ Jumbo Neue Medien & Verlag GmbH, Auto-generated by YouTube.
- 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
- Baba O’Riley by The Who, from the album Who’s next, Released on: 2003-01-01, â„— 1971 Polydor Ltd. (UK), Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
- Montana Skies, Malagueana Live, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License
- Van Morrison, Moondance (2013 Remastered) from the album Moondance, â„— 2013 Warner Records Inc., Auto-generated by YouTube
