Jessica McDonald chats about her Winter Woods pattern release

by Catherine Dupuis February 6, 2023

It’s Winter Woods release day and we are so excited to have Jessica McDonald sharing her design inspiration and color selections for Hudson and West Forge on our Blog. I was fortunate enough to preview knit this gorgeous pattern. Look for lots of great photos and inspiration on instagram @jessicamknits and @knitworthyyarns.

Here is what Jessica had to say!

Hello there! My name is Jessica McDonald, and Tori kindly invited me to share a bit about my latest sweater pattern, Winter Woods.

Winter Woods is inspired by exactly what its name is! The colorwork begins with gentle swags of pine boughs. The following section was supposed to be tiny snowflakes, but after knitting it, all I could see was little kitty footprints in the snow. We have several cats, and this colorwork motif looks identical to their pawprints.

The main feature of the yoke is a large snowflake that encircles the lower part of the yoke. Bold and beautiful, its effect is stunning. Below the large snowflake, gentle little snowflakes drift down onto the body and sleeves.

A lovely mock neck collar makes for a warm and cozy sweater. If you would rather, you can always fold down the mock neck to create a folded collar.

Winter Woods is knit seamlessly from the top down in the round. Short rows are worked immediately after the neckline to create a wonderfully fitting neckline.

Winter Woods uses an unspun yarn at a weight equivalent to worsted weight. A lovely yarn choice would be Hudson & West Forge. Forge’s blend of Merino and Corriedale nicely balances softness and stitch definition. The color range available makes it a perfect choice for colorwork.

The colors Camel and Fawn will give you the closest color palette to the sample. Other lovely color combinations you might like to try are:

- Red Feather and Fawn

- Barn Red and Dusk

- Charcoal and Ash

- Mallard and Aspen

My basic advice is to choose one dark color and one light color. The sample uses the darker color as the main color and the lighter color as the contrast color, but don’t feel that you have to follow that with your own sweater. Using the light color as the main color and dark color as the contrast color is also stunning.

You can find Hudson & West Forge here on the Knitworthy Yarns website.

The pattern for Winter Woods can be found on my website and Ravelry Designer page.

Happy knitting!!

Jessica