SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE WINTER WRAP-UP - what's hot!

Threads & More in Brisbane

The Southern Hemisphere winter has been a mild one and our Northern Hemisphere friends will probably not like hearing of our days in the region of 20+ degrees Celsius … Even with these temperatures our retailers have still enjoyed a busy winter. I interviewed some of them to help you predict some trends for the Northern Hemisphere winter…

One of our stockists summed up her winter as 'gimmie chunky texture that's oversized and relaxed!' Alix at Threads & More in Brisbane told us that classic yarns such as Patons Inca were extremely popular for crocheting gorgeous single colour throws. Textured knits in big collage stripes trended high this winter, as did cables - something that she thinks will continue into next winter. Cabled, textured knits paired with simple leggings and boots make for a classic casual look 'perfect for the relaxed Brisbane fashion set'. Threads also raved about the popularity of the designs of Stephen West - and we are excited to see the finished product from their following of his latest KAL using our Limited Edition colours! You can see Alix in his Safety Scarf which was fantastically popular around their knitting table and even inspired them to dye their own neon yellow yarn to make a statement piece – it certainly is!

Alix in her Safety Scarf by Stephen West

Alix predicts the trend for extreme knitting will transcend into garments with super bulky yarns allowing for quick accessory knitting to adorn necklines across winter. And the love of variegated yarns will continue to make simply constructed garments look amazing … we are taking note Alix!

Down in Canberra, Renae at Suzy Hausfrau said her most in demand yarn
this winter has been Quince & Co with their beautiful simple aesthetic look. She felt that there was more colour trending back into everyone's knitting baskets however grey is still her most popular colour regardless of the brand. Renae said that towards the end of winter orange was starting to be asked for…

Renae of Suzy Hausfrau

The designers that Threads and Suzy's customers are following are Veera Valmiki (for her Color Affection and Stripe Study Shawl, her amazing children's garments, and the divine Paris cardigan) as well as some of the Aussie designers who are starting to design for overseas yarn companies - Kirsten Johnstone and Alison Brookbanks. Both of these designers have very subtle, beautiful designs which are always elegant and wearable. Michele Wang's work with Brooklyn Tweed has everyone excited especially as her wraps and sweaters are lovely and lightweight which is great for the warmer winters. Alix and Renae – you will be excited to know that Michele is working on something with MillaMia yarn – to be announced shortly!!!

The stand-out MillaMia pattern amongst Southern Hemisphere customers was the Bella Jacket with its wonderfully flattering short waisted body shaping and beautiful box neck detail. It was knitted up in Putty time and time again with a pop of bright Daisy, Peacock or Fuchsia to highlight the gorgeous warm neutral. Winter 2013 in Australia and New Zealand was all about the adult collections from MillaMia though Bright Young Things, one of the first of the childrens collections remains a firm favourite.

The most interesting thing about this season from my point of view is how popular the Limited Edition colours have been – and this is at the end of our busy season, before Flight of Fancy had been released. Demand typically tapers off along with the rising temperature but that certainly hasn't been the case this year!

So now it is 29 degrees outside… It's predicted to be one of the hottest summers on record and already we have seen 38 degree days! Let's see what that does to yarn sales!!! Enjoy your winter!

(posted by Kirsten)