Fashionknitsta Thursday: 3/4/10

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.

Designed by Heather Desserud, this free Ravelry pattern is done with fingering weight yarn. Again, making color the first priority I'd use Jameison's Shetland Spindrift.

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!

Done originally in a chunky Shetland, I would love to see these in Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky or Shibui Highland Wool Alpaca.

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.

The pattern calls for bulky yarn so Rowan's Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky would be a gorgeous choice.

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's Rhiannon 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!

-Lindsay

Challenging ourselves.

The Knitting Olympics are more than halfway over (can you feel the pressure mounting?), but we refuse to be overwhelmed... yet.  Lindsay and I are making merry progress (as you shall soon see) and, well, everyone else are being very nice by not mocking.  Sandy Kay is almost participating in that she's trying to knit up a Skif sweater in record time (don't ask) and has been going a little swatching crazy.

Now, normally, we wouldn't share swatches (who'd care, right?), but these are special little squares of handknit curiosity.  They're each an experiment in the field of yarn chemistry.  If you, like so many of us, have been intrigued by assemblage's beauteous Thursday vest and Paper Crane cardigan patterns, this next bit might just interest you. 

Skif Swatches All together	Punta Yarns Montoya Beach Held single, knit on 4mm/ US 6's
Habu XS-55 Linen & A-177 Merino One strand each, knit on 5mm/ US 8's	Habu XS-55 Linen & N-76 Tsumugi Silk One strand each, knit on 5mm/ US 8's
Habu XS-55 Linen (double) Knit on 5mm/ US 8's	Habu XS-55 Linen (single) Knit on 5mm/ US 8's

If you want to drop by the store and feel them, we'll have them (and many more Habu swatches) on hand for fondling.  Not in Portland?  Well, each photo has a mini review attached.  Just click on it for more information!

Next, on our list of staff doings, we have Eva's cashmere/ silk mitts:

(or, well, mitt)

Yarn?  The delicious and decadent Swiss Mountain Cashmere & Silk by Handmaiden, in the color "Ocean".  Eva is following the Ayanna Mitts pattern but (be warned) had to go down two needle sizes (to US 1's) to get gauge - this yarn has got bounce.  It'll be worth it, though, as the finished mitts are going to be gorgeous. 

Now, onto the Olympian knitting!  While Lindsay and I might be the only staffers crazy enough to attempt the Games, we're at least making progress.  Lindsay's Vintage Baby Cardigan is actually starting to look like a cardigan!

She's certain that she'll be able to finish be the Feb 28th deadline and still manage to make a set of matching booties (Ysolda's Tiny Shoes) as well.  It's gonna be awesome.

I, myself, am not quite so far ahead as Lindsay, but am dutifully trucking along.  My Gansey Vest (self-designed pattern, sorry) is coming along:

Though I am not to the half-way point as I would like.  Soon, though.  This might turn into a slightly different project to make my deadline.  It was going to have a hood, but that's looking less likely right now...

And while I am on the subject of my Knitting Olympics project, I simply must share with you the best cable needle EVAH:

Lantern Moon's rosewood (or ebony) cable needle set.  I, in all honesty, didn't did not like using cable needles and would just go needle-less - until I tried these.  They are just perfect.  Smooth but not slippery.  And, to hold your stitches in place, there are these clever little grooves in the middle that make sure the cable needle doesn't slip out, even if it's smaller than the working needle.  They are just AWESOME and easily win a 10 out of 10 from me.

I had to share that.  Surely there are many knitters out there who have suffered from escapee cable needles (shudder) or from ones that are too sticky and stretch out your knitting (grr) and are either: a) constantly trying new cable needles and being disappointed or, b) trying to go needle-less (which doesn't really work when you get to cabling more than 2 sts).  These Lantern Moon cable needles are the solution and everyone should try them.

In other Knitting Olympics, or would it be Olympic Knitting?, news - have you seen this?  The Peruvian Alpine Skiing uniform:

 

Which features traditional knitting motifs (including Llamas!) in honor of Peru's rich knitting tradition.  Read the article (and see the close-up!) here.

Lastly, we have some Store News to share...

• Wanted: Sample Knitters.  See here for details.
• Finishing 101 is tomorrow night.  Taught by me.  I'll be covering picking up stitches along a straight seem (along both garter stitch and stockinette edges) and a curved seam.  Swatches are required.  See the class description for details.  It's only $15 and you get to learn several new techniques!

 And that is everything.  Check back on Thursday for another fantabulous issue of Fashionknitsta!

Fashionknitsta Thursday: 2/4/10

Hello, everyone! Hope your week is going well, it's been pretty great here at the store and I have a bunch of wonderful treasures to share with you all today.

If you saw Sara's last post (love the Geodesic Cardigan!), you'll know that around here we are really starting to think about Spring time knitting. I'm blaming a lot of it Kirsten Johnston's pattern Thursday. We just got the shop sample of this knit up last week, and I can't help but daydream about it everytime I walk by.


The original is done in Habu Ramie A-166 and Habu Super Fine Merino A-177. I've always wanted to work with the Habu Ramie, so I think if I did this I'd have to make two because I also can't help thinking about it in Malabrigo Lace Baby (maybe held with Isager Alpaca 1?). This isn't up on our website yet, but it will be soon. Thanks in advance, Sara!

Switching seasons, the next thing I have to share today is a great winter piece from Coco Knits:

This wonderful accessory is the Fleeced Earflap Hat by Julie Weisenberger. It's done with a chunky yarn, they suggest Lamb's Pride Bulky, but I would love to see it in Malabrigo Chunky or Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Bulky. It's never too early to start thinking about holiday gifts for next year and this would be a great one for anyone. It has sizing for men and women and comes with all the instructions to knit in the fleece.

For all the CocoKnits fans our there Julie will be visiting us next month for a Meet and Greet on March 5th and will be giving a Finishing and Design Workshop on March 6th.

The last pattern I have today is from a designer I have blogged about before and absolutely love, Jane Richmond.


Sedum is a free pattern on Ravelry, and for some reason (maybe the grey sky?) it's really jumping at me today. I would absolutely love to make this cardigan in the natural Blue-faced Leicester of Rowan British Sheep Breeds Chunky. It would be so cozy next winter!

While wandering the internet this week, I discovered artist Michelle Vitale Loughlin's work and really fell in love with it - and her. In her earlier work she experimented with mixing fibrous materials and painting, influenced by her seamstress grandmother who emigrated to the US and sewed American Flags to make a living.

In 2004 she received the Puffin Foundation Grant to purchase a knitting machine and has since been creating mostly large-scale, site specific architectural forms; such as this piece, Water Falls, which is currently on view at the Huterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey.



Knit on an industrial knitting machine with silver synthetic fibers, Water Falls is in response to the 200 foot waterfall adjacent to the Hunterdon Art Museum. With this piece Loughlin wanted to portray how man-made objects and nature are no longer separate by including debris in with the pristine image of the falls.

It was kind of tricky to find out more info about Michelle, as her website doesn't seem to be up right now. I did find a few of her other works online that I'd love to learn more about, including this piece from 2007, Arc:



I wish I had something to link to for her.  If you're interested, I would attempt a Google search; and, hopefully, her site will be back up soon. I actually happened upon Michelle's work via fiber artist Abigail Doan's blog, and was intrigued by her own interesting work as well.


The first of these images is her piece Crocheted Snow 01 from 2005 and the second is Primavera 02 from 2006. Doan describes herself as an "art-farmer living part of the year in an urban nest [New York City] and part of the year on a farm in Tuscany".

Most of her work is very focused on her interconnection and experience with nature and plant materials. The very ephemeral feeling and interventions with nature remind me very much of the work of Andy Goldsworthy. Really gorgeous pieces, she has a fantastic blog featuring her work and the work of others that I definitely recommend checking out.

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend and, as always, check back next week for another edition of Fashionknitsta. Until then, stay chic, blogfans!

- Lindsay

Fashionknitsta Thursday: 1/14/10

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope your week is going wonderfully. I'm very excited to share with all of you some wonderful things I found this week.

The first find I have is the work of a really wonderful Dutch designer, Christien Meindertsma. I have seen her work from time to time, but until recently had never really looked deeper into her design philosophy. The thing I found most interesting was the ongoing Flocks project. Taking a "slow design" approach, the focus of her work is the connection between the farmer and the final consumer. In projects like the One Sheep Cardigans and she worked with one farmer to create pieces from a single sheep. The finished garments include biographies of the animal, their eartags, and any prizes the animal has won.

She has also made these beautiful mittens from the fur of one rabbit.

My favorite of the projects is the Aran Rug, knit from the wool of 18 merino sheep, it is an interesting exploration of scale. A traditional Aran motif is magnified and repurposed into a cozy rug.




Absolutely beautiful work. More information about the designer is available at her website and more info about the Flocks project specifically is available here.

The thing that first brought Christien back into mind was my friend Amanda sent me a link to her Urchin Pouf's. These beautiful home accessories are available for $1,600 for the larger size at Design within Reach, but I knew I had seen a free pattern for them somewhere.

A quick Google search brought me to Pickle's blog, run byAnna and Heidi Pickles, for this wonderful version (also available on Ravelry):


I would love to have a couple of these for my living room. You hold a super bulky weight yarn triple stranded and then stuff them with an old duvet. I cannot stop day dreaming about doing these in Shibui Highland Wool Alpaca in Seaweed, ooohhh, and Mulberry.

I couldn't help but keep browsing the Pickles blog for a bit, and I came across this really cute vest:


The pattern for the XS-M size Wild Vest is available for purchase from their website, or the large size is available for free. It looks like its done with about a DK weight yarn held double. I'd love to see it in Rowan Wool Cotton or Felted Tweed. Ooohh, or the texture might be absolutely lovely in Shibui Merino Kid.

Anna and Heidi's blog is definitely worth checking out, its full of fun (and lots of free!) patterns and great ideas. Their Ravelry is also a good place to hunt. I'm finding I could do an entire months worth of blogs just with their stuff. I mean, just look at this beautiful crocheted lampshade (also a free pattern!):


And this gorgeous and simple wedding bolero!

I really suggest taking a peak at their stuff, it's really, really lovely.

Finally, just for funsies, I have found a really cute Etsy store with adorable patterns for the critter or science lover in your life. The Crafty Hedgehog is a really fun little shop with a range of things from patterns for these little guys...:

...to ready made hand knit lab rat disections:

(they also come in a frog version)

Shipping calls, so I must leave you with that for today. Have a great weekend, here's to hoping it won't be too dreary. As always, check back next week for another edition of Fashionknitsta. Until then, stay chic, blogfans!

-Lindsay