Fashionknitsta Thursday: 12/3/09

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here at Knit Purl the holiday season is in full swing making me (and I hope all of you!) feel extra inspired. Thanks to a long weekend of pursuing the internet from bed, I have tons of things to share with all of you on this lovely Thursday.

The first thing I have to share is some wonderful photos of the "Fashion Collective" event that took place at the Armory on October 12th. Artist and costume designer for Portland Center Stage, Fuschia Lin, showed a retrospective of her work from 1999 to present. We first got word of this event when Fuschia commissioned one of our lovely customers, Laura, to knit a custom pair of toe socks for one of her designs. Knit with Koigu KPM Solid color 1150 and Shibui Silk Cloud in Blossom held together, these really turned out to be a wonderful addition to the collection.


Here is a link to a review of the show from the Portland Mercury by Marjorie Skinner. In addition to her work for Portland Center Stage, Fuschia has designed costumes for Bjork and Karen O., has sold her designs in Paris Boutiques, and has been featured in a number of magazines making her a real treasure for Portland. Thank you so much for sharing these with us, Fuschia!

Last week while visiting my parents I found the cutest Fair Isle Cowl that I am still kicking myself for not taking a photo of. It's from H&M which unfortunately does not have an online store, so I'm still working on tracking down a picture of one. Anyway, I have blogged about several cowls in the past, but it had really never occured to me to mix that trend with the comeback Fair Isle patterns are making right now. I took my search to Etsy and, of course, found some wonderful things. My favorite are the designs from Elf518's shop including the pattern for this absolutely adorable owl cowl:

She doesn't have a pattern for this one, but I really love it and couldn't not share it:

Ok, so I know those really aren't very traditional, so if you are looking for a more classic I also found a great pattern on Ravelry for only $3. Alicia's Fair Isle Cowl by Sheila Joynes:

This one is much more along the lines of the one I saw, I think it would be really nice (and quick!) out of the Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Tuareg with Sunset as the accent, oohhh or the Madelinetosh Tosh Merino...there really are a lot of options with this one. I shall have to ponder.

Next on the agenda today is a really fantastic Etsy store, Spinthread, that our fabulous felting teacher, LeBrie Rich, showed me. The piece she was calling to my attention were these super funky Pom Pom Neck Huggers:

Really fun (and really easy to make!) these accessories would be a great conversation piece as well as keep you nice and toasty. Now, these are really neat, but the embroidered jewelry she has really caught my eye:


Hand embroidered and backed with lace, these geometric necklaces are such a beautiful and unique take on the floral and gem bib necklaces we have been seeing so much of lately. In addition to the necklaces she also has brooches and earrings in the same style, definitely a shop worth checking out.

There is so much more I want to share with you all today (for example, knit plankton!), but shipping calls and I shall have to save them til next week. Hope everyone has a lovely (and warm!) weekend ahead of them, stay tuned for next Thursday's edition of Fashionknitsta and until then, stay chic, blogfans!

-Lindsay

Fashionknitsta Thursday 10/22/09

Looks like it's a double blog day here at Knit Purl, as Sara said earlier last week we were all a little out of the game. Sorry about that, but it just means I have twice as much to share with you today!

I know this is a little late, but on October 9th I was lucky enough to be able to attend The Procession, a wonderfully staged presentation of Dayna Pinkham's hats paired with the fashions of local designers including our lovely neighbor Elizabeth Dye of The English Department.
Here are a few of my favorites from the show:



Just beautiful. The first image is Elizabeth Dye's Nevermore which I recommend everyone go and check out while she still has it in the store.

Now onto some more knitting related matters. A few days ago LeBrie, our sensational felting teacher, shared the most amazing Etsy Store with me. Isobel and Cleo makes truly exceptional couture knitwear garments and accessories. Upon investigation it seems they use a really nice mix of machine knits with hand knit details. These tights make me want to just knit my legs little Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca* homes and never take them off.

*yes, I know the originals are merino, but I have an alpaca problem.

There is also a lovely modern interpretation of a shirt dress done in pima cotton, which makes me really think of the possibilities of the Rowan Purelife Cotton 4 ply.

I think this is definitely a shop anyone looking for great inspiration should check out.

So by now I think everyone knows that in addition to my alpaca addiction I also have a ruffle problem. I'm so glad that Sara shared this top from Anthropologie:


and brought this pattern for the Akomeogi Tunic by Olga Buraya-Kefelian from the Summer 09 Interweave Knits back onto my radar:


When I first saw this top I immediately fell in love. It's done in Louet Euroflax Sport Weight linen and because I love the look and drape of this as-is, I think I would stay with that yarn (but I think I would choose French Blue...or maybe Charcoal).

I'm really glad that Sara has an Anthropolgie addiction (and also glad we haven't ever shopped together because I can see that would be dangerous) because she also brought this dress to my attention:


Then she shared this pattern with me for the Maid Marion Dress by Sarah Wilson and I almost fell out of my chair:

and I have to include a shot of the back because really love the drop:


I know that this isn't an exact match, but I think the resemblence is uncanny. For a few weeks I have been searching for a great pattern to fill what I think is a lack of cute knit dresses (the cabled turtleneck styles a-la Michael Kors do not count, we've seen those) and especially cute knit dresses that can work for spring. The original was made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids, I think I would probably do some combo of Shibui Sock and play with the colors. Maybe the do the body in Midnight and the band in Honey with stripes of the Honey at the bottom? Hmmmmm... I could really get into that.

So as a final inspiration of the day, I will share with all of you something that our wonderful graphic designer Jenny showed me this morning:



These treasures are the work of designer Patty Benson of Papaver Vert. Jenny showed these to me via a feature about her on Design Sponge (a really fantastic blog I really recommend you checking out), and then I went on to check out her website and she really makes the most amazing felted home accessories. Sandy Kay saw me oohing and aahing over these and brought to my attention the pattern for these great little bowls featured in the brand new Interweave Holiday Gifts 2009 which we just got in stock:

These would be so fun to make with or without the lace detail and I think they would be almost easy enough to come up with without a pattern just using Lamb's Pride Bulky or Cascade 220 doubled. I'm really inspired to go home and knit covers for all of our plants now, I hope you are too.

And so with that I leave you for today, thanks for putting up with our tardiness and stay tuned next week for another Fashionknitsta Thursday. Until then, stay chic blogfans!

-Lindsay

socks and the News

Wow. Progress has been made. The Holiday Special is out and I can actually see the 'wood' surface of my desk in a few places. Jenni isn't so lucky at the moment, but I think we'll be able to see her desk sometime this week. Maybe after Thanksgiving.

Today I have some cool staff (and patron) projects to share with all y'all. First, we have Mike's sock, made with ShibuiKnits Sock in "Dragonfly". He wrote up the pattern and gave it to us to share, which we have since managed to lose (it's on a scrap of yellow, lined paper if you happen to see it lying around...), but here is the finished sock for your viewing (if not knitting) pleasure:

You never know, though, the pattern may yet show up on the blog. We just have to find it first.

Right. Continuing on with the sock parade, here's (short) Sandy's cashmere sock:

Knit with ArtYarns Cashmere Sock in color #2244, using the Waving Lace Socks pattern by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Press' Favorite Socks. There was a slight hiccup in this project. The finished sock ended up way too big for the size 4 foot it was intended for. Ouch. It's now a shop sample, if you want to come by and pet it. Or sympathize with Sandy's pain.

And while we're on the subject of store workings, I have photos from LaBrie's Nuno Felted Scarf workshop last weekend:

Yes, you are actually seeing drop-cloths on the floor. It looks like they had a lot of fun, though! The workshop was focused on a particular Japanese felting technique (nuno), in which wool roving is felted over loosely woven silk fabric (a silk scarf in this case). It makes for a beautiful, gauzy, and warm finished fabric. The process involves water and a lot of agitation, hence the blue tarps everywhere.

I hope some of the participants will bring their scarves in for us to admire...

Anyway. We're doing another Nuno Felted Scarf workshop on December 13th, because we couldn't fit everyone into the one last week. So, if you're interested, I'd recommend you register now before the next workshop fills up, too.

Next on the list of things to cover, our In the News bulletin:

1. Update on the Jared Flood Lecture. Slight recap: Jared Flood (brooklyntweed) has agreed to lecture on January 8th (I think I mentioned this). At the moment, we have narrowed the choices of venues down to two suitable options and are now looking at the logistics aspect of all this. I swear to you, we're working tirelessly on this and will have registration information up soon.
2. We just got another Oleana shipment in. I succumbed, and bought one of the felted wool blankets. It's so soft and lovely that I couldn't resist. There are also several new styles of wristers and scarves in stock, for those of us who only buy cold-weather garments when it's cold enough to wear them (ask me how I'm familiar with this habit).
3. We are currently out of stock of both the Elfin Santa Hat and Beaded Silk Star Christmas tree ornament kits. Honestly, I don't think any of us were expecting to sell out in a day. We have lots more of the yarn on order, but... well, there's going to be some delay before the ornaments are on sale in the store again. Sorry about that!
4. We will be closing early tomorrow, at 5 pm. Also, we will not be open Thanksgiving Day.
   

And, last but not least, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Woolly turkey and new bags.

I bet you think we've got a new breed of fiber-producing animal lined up for your knitting pleasure. Alas, no. We do have, however, a fantastic new window display for the holidays. LeBrie Rich, felter extraordinaire, spent all of yesterday setting this lovely nonperishable holiday feast:

If you live in town, you really must come by and see this - even the salt and pepper and the candles in the chandelier are felted! It's just delightful. And if you're now thinking, "Ooh, I'd like to felt some mashed potatoes!", we are hosting several workshops with LeBrie this fall. Just check out the class list for more information.

On the subject of bags (long-time patrons know that we're a little bag-crazy here), we've got two new ones for you. Now, neither of these are on the website (yet!), but if you simply must have one now, drop by or phone and we'll hook you up.

First is the Namaste needle binder:

Not only can it store your needles and notions, it also has space enough to carry a project or two. It's the perfect traveling knitting bag. And it comes in three colors. Of course, since it's by Namaste, I doubt we'll keep it in stock for long. Remember when we had to start a waiting list for the Malibu?

Oy.

Moving past that trauma, we've got a revamped Lantern Moon project bag for your knitting pleasure:

The new and improved Maya. And, let me tell you, it is improved. Better, more durable (and attractive!) fabric and exterior pockets make this perfect for small projects like socks and baby garments. This will be another one that'll fly off the shelves, easily.

Of course, we just got the preview for the Winter line of new Lantern Moon products, and I cannot wait to start showing those off to all y'all. Mm mm mmm.

But that will have to wait until later.