We are please to welcome Andrea Rangel back to our blog for Brooklyn Tweed Month.   Andrea is an avid knitter, designer and teacher and has most recently written AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary: 200 Modern Knitting Motifs





Is there a colorway you find yourself using over and over again? Or a particular color you are excited to knit with next?

I’ve knit with Fossil in Shelter and Loft on so many projects. I don’t tend to think I want white projects, but it’s just the perfect shade of neutral without being too starkly white. It’s in Arbre, a pi shawl; Maurits, a cowl; Shilshole, a hooded pullover; and the Knitter’s Dude, a cardigan; I don’t have a sweater that’s solid-color Fossil, but now that I’m talking about it, I think I need that. I also have a sweater quantity of Arbor in Tincture, which is this saturated gold/lichen color that’s like a special treat waiting for me. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I know it’s going to be good.

Arbre shawl by Andrea Rangel.   Photo by Jared Flood.
Knitter’s Dude cardigan by Andrea Rangel


What's your most recent Brooklyn Tweed knit?

While I was in Shetland in June, my hat (Weathered Mountain, knit in Brooklyn Tweed Loft) kept blowing off my head in the high winds, so I used a skein of Shelter in Cast Iron I had in my luggage (for just such an occasion, of course!) to knit myself a heavier, more secure hat, the Mill Hill Toque. It’s got a turned up brim and is worked in ribbing, so it stayed on brilliantly!


Mill Hill Toque by Andrea Rangel

What's the first thing you knit in Brooklyn Tweed?

I totally remember my first encounter with BT yarns. It was at Knit Purl in Portland just after the yarn had became available. I bought a sweater quantity of Shelter in Almanac with a couple of skeins of Hayloft for accent and knit my Amira sweater. I was instantaneously in love and am obviously still regularly knitting with their yarns all these years later.


Amira sweater by Andrea Rangel


Do you have a favorite base?

I actually do, and it may be my favourite yarn of all time, though I feel weird saying that. I adore Loft so very, very much. It’s so magical how light it is, the colors are completely perfect, the fabric is wooly, but also soft enough to wear next to my skin. I think I may actually have made more things with Shelter, but Loft brings me such pleasure.


How do you think Brooklyn Tweed has made an impact on the hand-knitting industry?

I don’t know everything about the industry, but it seems that it’s become more diverse with increased interest in woolen spun, non-Merino, USA-made, and breed specific yarns since Shelter first emerged. I think Jared’s captivating style and aesthetic had a hand in that and really brought new kinds of yarn to our attention. The beauty of Shelter and Loft also encouraged us to appreciate a woolen spun wooly yarn that wasn’t Merino-soft, but had different virtues. It made me think more about what kinds of yarn I use and helped me expand my palette.



Skull & Bones sweater from Andrea's new book AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary: 200 Modern Knitting Motifs