John Arbon - Annual Vol. 5

For The Annual (issue five) we are harkening back to those nostalgic memories of holidays by the seaside – sandy toes, stripy swimsuits, pastel-coloured houses, penny machines on the pier and chippy tea with lashings of ketchup. Those long lazy weeks where the only thing one had to worry about was (in predictably British fashion) whether or not the sun would finally peek out from behind those clouds, pop its hat on and come out to play.

Within the 124 pages filled with ‘Seaside Kitsch’, we're indulging our inner children with an old-school annual brimming with puzzles, illustrations, articles and brand-new patterns – six knitting and one crochet. Aleks Byrd joins us to explore how to play with colour, and we’re introducing you to another one of our mill machines – Gino, the cone winder. 

The playfulness of this issue of The Annual is echoed in delightful beachy illustrations strewn throughout the pages (do look for a cute little creatures frolicking about!) and the types of patterns we’ve selected. While still being extremely wearable, all seven patterns include a unique, joyful element – from shapes inspired by a parasol, the unexpected direction of stripes, to waves shimmering across a wrap.