Botanical Style

Do you ever just look at a designer's collection of patterns and go, 'Wow! I really dig their style!'? I feel like I do all the time and it never fails to inspire me. Today a long-awaited package arrived in the mail from Hunter Hammersen over at Violently Domestic:

Full info about the book here.

(Sidenote: it was pretty hilarious to receive a rather nervous text from the Fiasco along the lines of "ummm... what's Violently Domestic??" when he picked up the mail. Mwahaha!)

The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet is a beautiful self-published book of patterns available both digitally ($18.95) and in printed form ($26.95, includes the e-version as well). I recommend the printed form because it is a truly lovely book and there's nothing quite like flipping through page after page of gorgeous patterns. I also just adore the concept of this book, as well. Hunter provides a quick look at the history of curiosity cabinets and I enjoyed reading how she interpreted the botanical prints she used for inspiration into knitted garments. The book includes 20 patterns, 2 patterns (1 sock, 1 accessory) inspired by each floral print.

My top 3 favorite patterns from the book (all photos from their Ravelry pattern pages):

Rubus suberectus socks

Linaria bipartita socks

Chrysanthemum frutescens socks

Most of the patterns involve of lace and chart-reading, and the details are just so, so lovely. A look at Hunter's designer page on Ravelry will show you that she has a definite affinity for knitted accessories of many types, but especially socks. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that I adore nearly every single one of her sock designs. The crazy part? I HAVEN'T KNIT ANY OF THEM YET! I've just admired them from afar, purchased them like crazy, and have not yet knit a stitch. This must be remedied as soon as possible, right? I think my first project will actually be a hat, though, because I really like the stitch pattern and just ordered some CY Traveller yarn with my Afghans for Afghans donation gift certificate:

Chrysanthemum frutescens hat

Do you find you tend to love all or just some of a designer's patterns? What makes them stand out for you? Which ones are some of your favorites? Do you even have to knit them to be a huge fan?