Happy Thursday everyone! If you're in PDX I hope you're enjoying this beautiful day, it's really looking like Spring!
If you've been keeping up with the recent current events, i.e. the Olympics and Fall 2010 Fashion Week you may have noticed the same trend we have, a resurgence of Fair Isle and cozy knitwear! Sara has blogged a bit about it when she featured the Peruvian Alpine Skiing Team uniform and we've all been very excited to see it! With all this wonderful sunshine lately I've been trying to get into a Spring feeling and so far it's really not working out. Really, how could it with amazing patterns like this one by Helena Bristow based on the official US Olympic Hat designed by Ralph Lauren available (for free!) on Ravelry:
Love the moose motif! This little beauty is done with a worsted weight yarn so it would go super fast, I think because color is such an important part of this I'd stick with Cascade 220 Superwash (sadly not on our website, but available in the store) to get really clear reds and blues. Keeping in the Fair Isle spirit, one of my (and everyone else's it seems!) favorite pieces from this years Olympics was this great sweater for the Canadian Olympic team by the Hudson Bay Company: I haven't stumbled upon a pattern based on this one yet (big surprise, right?) but I hope its on the way. Until then I suppose I'll have to be satisfied with this pattern for coordinating mittens.
EDIT: Shortly after finishing this blog, on a whim I decided to take another look. This isn't exactly what I was looking for, but its pretty great. I'm not sure how I ended up at Canadian Living Magazine, but they had a beautiful pattern available for free by Paton's Design Studio for His and Her's Reindeer Sweaters!
Whoever was coming up with concepts for these Olympic looks was obviously on the right track as this knitwear and Fair Isle trend was present all over this years Autumn/Winter runways. In my opinion the D&G show at Milan Fashion Week was by far the stand out for this trend. Here are a few of my favorite looks:
I just love how they put the twist on the classic look of this traditional design. It was such an interesting move to incorporate the printed Fair Isle motifs on chiffon, but pair it with such a substantial knit leg warmer. In the third look I really love the juxtaposition of the leather with the little knit rib trim.
After a quick Ravelry search I found a couple of things that will I am hoping will get me started on the accessories I'll need for fall. The Oslo Legwarmers by Martha Mertzig is a step in the right direction, as well as the Cotton Reel Mittens pattern by Ysolda Teague that we just got in.
It was nice to see that there were options in this trend for men as well. Also at Milan Fashion Week Gucci showed a nice chunky Fair Isle Sweater:
I found a similar pattern on Ravelry (for free!) appropriately named The Dude by designer Andrea Rangel.
If you're looking for something a little more tailored, British designer Lou Dalton showed a more traditional approach at London's Fashion Week:
Just beautiful, I love the classic look of a Fair Isle Vest.
As far as knitwear goes, Fair Isle wasn't the only trend to be see on the runways. Everyone from Michael Kors to Lacoste to Pringle of Scotland were showing knits:
Michael Kors
Lacoste
Pringle of Scotland
These are all lovely, I'm especially interested in the big chunky scarf at Lacoste, but by far the stand out of this season in the knitwear world was Prada.
Absolutely beautiful, the entire collection is wonderful (so Mad Men!) so I suggest taking a peak at the rest of it if you're interested. These pieces were really standouts, the cabled dress in the second image is beyond words and I love the stockings and the chic headbands. I'm going to have to get started on a pair of Cookie A'sRhiannon Socks immediately (definitely in Isager Alpaca 2 to get the wooly look!):
And one of these babys. This pattern, Julia's Cabled Headband is a free Ravelry download by Paulina Chin. My search found that there are quite a few cabled headband patterns on Ravelry so if you like the look, there is a lot to choose from!
Before this post gets too out of hand (I really could go on for days!) I probably should get back to shipping. I hope everyone gets to enjoy the sun today (hope it stays through the weekend!), as always check back next week for another edition of Fashionknitsta. Until then, stay chic blogfans!
So, by now, you may have seen our Provisional Cast On tutorial. If not, check it out, since it seems that Sandy Kay and I are odd ducks (well, you knew that already) and we do it differently than anyone else. And, as you never know when the odd technique will come in handy, we've decided to start documenting our own unique tips and tricks. Expect to see about one a week - hopefully every week.
The first tip/ trick thing came about because I just started a Ruffled & Ruched Scarf and, in a pique of curiosity, checked other Provisional Cast On methods online. And, d'ya know, I didn't find anything like ours. Weird. But, in any case, we'll be writing up tutorials as we come across techniques in our own staff projects that warrant attention.
Shown above is my IP scarf. Say 'hi' to Eva in the background. Next week we're hoping I'll be along enough to demonstrate how to pick up a Provisional Cast On. I'd better get knitting, eh?
Moving on. We just have to share with you the cutest little baby sweater. Several of us staffers here helped Lynne translate the British knitting terminology from the pattern (it's a Debbie Bliss) and all feel that it was completely worth the time and effort:
It's so schweeet! The pattern is the Hooded Jacket from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby book. It's not a hard pattern, by any means, just a little different for American knitters. Lynne certainly seemed to think it was worth the effort, too.
Next, I have two staff projects that will also feature into upcoming tutorials (so exciting!). The first is Darcy's Thursday vest:
Being knit with Habu Textiles Superfine Merino A-177 in Charcoal/ #6 and Habu Textiles Ramie Cork A-166 in Black/ #10. When Darcy finishes the knitting, we'll do a quick tutorial on handsewing handknits - i.e. creating the "dorsal fin" cowl on the front.
Then we have Sandy Kay's February shrug, which is actually a modified Skif June:
(It's the red-orange shrug on the pattern)
This one is going to be a doozy. Sandy choose to combine Habu Textiles XS-55 Linen Lace (yum) and Tsumugi Fine N-76 in #39. The hand is unbelievable, and the color? Just magnificent.
She's currently at the arm increases and making rapid progress. This thing is going to be gorgeous. And when Sandy finishes knitting, we'll do a quick tutorial on sewing handknits with a sewing machine! Sandy Kay is planning to bring in her Bernina. That'll be interesting.
Now, lastly, do you know about the upcoming Portland Yarn Crawl? You probably do, since we've mentioned it twice in two newsletters and on the blog, on twitter, and on ravelry. But, just in case this is the first you've heard of it...
We've been having a lot of fun teaching our Happy Hour classes every week and one thing we've noticed, Sandy Kay and I, is that there are so many ways to do different techniques that you can always learn something new (especially from one another!). For instance, the way Sandy Kay and I perform a Provisional Cast On is completely different from what you'll find on KnittingHelp.com or Knitty.
Since so many of our customers are web customers, we thought it would be a good idea to create a tutorial once a week (or so, permitting) to share the many tips and tricks we've discovered. This week we're going to show you our own unique method for Provisionally Casting On.
A Provisional Cast On is used when the cast on edge will later be picked up or worked again, such as in the Ruffled & Ruched Scarf. As I was just about to start such a scarf (for a friend), Sandy Kay and I took the opportunity to shoot this tutorial.
When working a Provisional Cast On, always use a smooth and even waste yarn. Sandy Kay prefers a cotton yarns, I prefer superwash wool. The yarn shown is Cascade 220 Superwash. The main (or "working") yarn is Shibui Baby Alpaca DK. The tutorial is embedded as a slideshow below. If you would like to see each individual image, check out our Provisional Cast On set on Flickr.
Note: our method is a variation of the traditional Long-Tail, or left-handed, Cast On.
Text instructions:
Using both yarns held together, make a slip knot.
Place the slip knot on the right knitting needle.
Using thumb and forefinger, tighten slip knot.
Place working yarn over forefinger and waste yarn over thumb.
Using the waste yarn as the "tail", twist waste yarn with thumb and place over the right needle. Continue to hold the loop in place with thumb.
Using the right needle, catch the working yarn and pull it through the waste yarn loop.
Using thumb, pull waste yarn loop up and over working yarn.
Drop waste yarn from the right needle.
Tighten the stitch using thumb to snug the waste yarn up against the needle.
Repeat from Step 5, casting on as many sts as pattern calls for. DO NOT count the waste yarn slip st from Step 1 as a stitch.
Note: when working the first row DO NOT knit the waste yarn slip knot on the first st, simply pull it off the needle at the end of the row.
Over the next couple months, we'd like to cover the following techniques:
Picking up a Provisional Cast On (that's going to be really important for the next step in the scarf!)
Sewing handknits with a sewing machine (for Skif sweaters, etc)
Sewing handknits by hand - i.e. for the Thursday vest.
Joining new yarn the quick and easy way
A whole new jogless stripe method
Casting On in the round seamlessly
Stuffing a hand-knit toy without lumps
The whole point of this series is to provide knitters with new/ different methods to complete projects. If you have a request for a tutorial, please let us know! Leave a comment or send us an email at info(at)knit-purl(dot)com. We're always glad to take suggestions and would love to know that someone out there found this useful :)
Hello and happy Thursday everyone! I had a great blog planned for this week and then this happened:
"This" is about 100 Haapsalu Shawl books that arrived ahead of schedule and now need to be shipped. If you ordered one, be excited! They will be arriving on your doorstep soon!
Just for fun, here is a video of Rachel John's 1000 Strands Extreme Knitting project.
I think "Extreme" is definitely the right word! More info about this project and more can be found here. I'll be back next week with another edition of Fashionknitsta (promise!) and until then, as always, stay chic, blogfans!
