In the Spotlight

A Passion for Cables

Joyce Wu is truly passionate about knitting, and her projects almost always involve cable patterns. "I love working with cables because it makes knitting more challenging and provides depth and texture to the piece," she says.

Just released, A Passion for Cables (#3866) features 14 of Joyce's cable knit fashions, ranging from a skirt and tops to dresses. The high-fashion styles feature all the popular necklines and sleeve lengths. There are sleeveless, short sleeve and long sleeve styles, with necklines that vary from halters to V-neck, mock turtleneck, turtleneck, split neck, and more.

Intrigued since childhood by the "fantastic" knitting of her grandmother in Taiwan, Joyce taught herself to knit eight years ago. "I attempted to learn how to knit three times, at the age of 7, 12, and 19," she recalls. "The first two times, I couldn't get it – so I quit. Finally, on my third attempt over college winter break, I picked up the needles again. I followed the instructions in I Can't Believe I'm Knitting (by Leisure Arts, great coincidence, eh?) and I was finally knitting."

Since then, she's knitted more than 70 pieces, including dresses for her eight bridesmaids in 2005. Although she made the wedding pieces on her knitting machine using sport-weight yarn, Joyce prefers knitting by hand with chunky yarn or double strands and size 8 to 11 needles. "I don't have the patience for really fine knitting," she says.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Joyce is vice president in global sales and trading for a major financial investment company in New York. "My job is very intense, very fast-paced, and knitting keeps me sane," she says. "I knit A LOT."

A great feature of hand knitting is that you can carry it with you everywhere, she says. "It's amazing how much time you have to knit. I travel a fair amount with my work, so I knit then, and also when I'm sitting around with friends. I even take my knitting to concerts – my husband hates that, but I have a short attention span and tend to get sleepy if I'm not busy."

Joyce says she loves the complexity involved in incorporating cable patterns in her knitting. "I don't like changing colors, so the cables give some nice texture to the piece," she adds.

A Passion for Cables (#3866) is the second Leisure Arts book of Joyce's designs. The first was Trendy Knit Tops (#3604), published shortly after Joyce attended the Craft Yarn Council's 2002 Knit-Out in New York and introduced herself to Susan Sullivan, our Senior Publications Director.

Susan was immediately interested in the fashion-forward designs Joyce showed her because of a recurring feature: most were knit in the round with circular or double-pointed needles for a quick, seamless finish. And with chic details such as spaghetti straps and asymmetrical styling, Joyce's designs made it clear that knitting is not just for grandmothers anymore.

With this latest collection of Joyce's designs, cable-shy knitters won't have to shy away, Susan says. "They are mostly straight, body-hugging styles, which means there are very few times when shaping (with increases or decreases) will interfere with the cable pattern," she says. "Also, many are worked in bulky yarns using large needles, so the knitting goes much faster than usual."

For a quick and easy introduction to Joyce's cable designs, enjoy the free instructions for her dramatic Scarf Halter from Trendy Knit Tops.

If you've never tried cables before, there's a helpful practice project in I Can't Believe I'm Knitting (#4062). Then if you're still a cable-fraidy cat, watch this fall for our sequel, I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Cables (#4281). Check out our DVDs, too.