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

Fashionknitsta Thursday: 2/25/10

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!

-Lindsay

Fashionknitsta Thursday: 2/18/10

Hello everyone! Sorry for the unexpected mini-hiatus last week, the arrival of the remainder of the Shibui Sock really made for a crazy day.

Today I have some very exciting news, we are now carrying a line of patterns by a designer I bet a lot of you are familliar with, Ysolda Teague! If you haven't heard of this fantastic Scottish designer, I really recommend checking out her website for some great inspiration. A couple of my favorites are the Snapdragon Tam and Flip-tops set:



I'm always on the lookout for a good flip-top mitt pattern and these guys are perfect. The recommended yarn is Madelinetosh DK, which I like, but I'd love to do this set in Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds DK or Shibui Merino Kid.

The Tiny Shoes:

No matter how old you are, shoes really do make the outfit. Demonstrating that perfectly, these little Mary Jane style booties knit with fingering yarn would be such a special gift for the tiniest fashionista in your life. A pair of these Tiny Shoes could be knocked out in an evening, and I already have a recipient in mind (done in Shibui Sock in Honey, definitely) for the first pair.

Straun:

I can't even count the number of times people have come into the store looking for a pattern for a beanie with a brim. The perfect winter accessory for outdoor pursuits, Straun would make a great gift or be fun to make for yourself. The pattern calls for a DK or worsted weight yarn (depending on how cozy you'd like it to be) and I would love to do it in Shibui Merino Alpaca or Malabrigo Twist. This hat would be super warm around the ears because of the doubled hem, and the brim, which could be potentially intimidating, is surprisingly easy to add.

It was hard to keep it down to just a few choices, all of her pieces are so beautiful! You can see the rest of her line with everything from hats to lace wraps to adorable knit animals available at Knit Purl here.

Some of you may remember way back in November when I blogged about a great little sweater that could find it's way into anyone's wardrobe, Hannah Fettig's Lightweight Pullover.


I'm very excited that we now have this pattern in stock! I still would love to do it in Isager Alpaca 2 (color 13!) which would be the perfect weight for a transitional fall piece, but I'm kind of day dreaming about a springtime version done in Shibui's new Staccato yarn. A blend of Superwash Merino and Silk with just a touch of nylon for strength, it would be absolutely gorgeous in this pattern.

The next pattern I have to share today is the Tuesday Night Cowl by designer Susan Lawrence.

This lovely (and free!) pattern reminds me a lot of the Burberry Inspired Cowl (also free on Ravelry) I saw a few weeks ago, but this one has instructions for worsted, aran, and bulky weights. The Burberry Inspired version was written for bulky only, which I find can sometimes come out a bit stiffer and dense than I would like. This pattern would be gorgeous in Malabrigo Twist or Rowan Lima.

For your inspiration today I have an amazing blog to share with you from a Fashion Designer and Fiber Artist out of Minneapolis, Annie Larson. Her blog, Swank Dollar is full of her amazing machine (and some hand) knit creations. My roommate Sarah was kind enough to show this to me the other day and I've been thinking about it ever since.



I don't know very much about machine knitting, but this definitely inspires me to look into it. It's so interesting and fun. Her blog again is linked here if you want to check it out. Unfortunately I can't find that much info about her or the yarns she uses or anything, but its neat to see how much freedom you could have with a little imagination. Ok, just one more, but only because it's really just too precious!



And with that I will leave you for another week. Check back next week for another edition of Fashionknitsta and, until then, stay chic blogfans!

-Lindsay

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: 1/28/10

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! I've been so excited to share these with everyone that I think we should just jump right in.

The first thing I have to share today is Imagine Knit's Elsa Tunic by designer Jamie Thomas. I think this is a relatively new pattern for us, I hadn't seen it before a couple of weeks ago and began pestering Sara to get it online (thanks Sara!).

I really love how versatile this could be, you could easily make it longer or shorter and color can go so far with this simple design. The yarn it calls for is Habu Tsumugi Silk (a yarn I've always been interested in) held double. Elsa takes at most 3 cones of the MC and 2 cones of the CC so even for the largest size this is still a less than $75 project. I wish I could find a picture of the back of this pattern, they use a ribbon for the neck ruching and it looks so beautiful tied in the back. I'd love to have this this little tunic for spring and summer, a shorter version would look great with jeans or dressed up for work, while a longer one would be a fantastic warm weather dress.

About a week ago I discovered Paris-based artist Aurelie Mathigot and I have been very anxiously awaiting sharing it with you.

These images are of her 2005 crochet installation "My Bedroom". I absolutely love the details, especialy on the dresser.

Gorgeous, just gorgeous.

On her website she says her work is "inspired by the notion of recovery and the necessity of talking about everyday life in another, new, way". She describes a few reoccurring themes in her work like "the will to hide, the need for isolation and for being overwhelmed by the textile material."

Of all of her work, this piece encompasses this idea best. "My Bedroom" was created during a 2 month stay in Rio De Janiero, and expresses “a quiet extravagancy” that came from her need for security in response to the “intense colors and violence” from the city.

These are two more of her pieces, on the left is part of her Food series and on the right is part of her installation "The Dinner". I wish I could find better pictures of this one, I think it is my favorite of her work. Just for fun here is one more of the food series (I love the lacy hamburger box top!):



The last thing I have to share today is the work of Melanie Porter. I happened upon her website a few days ago, she worked for years as a knitwear designer and now restores and reupholsters old chairs completely by hand. Here are a few examples of her absolutely beautiful work:


This makes me really inspired to recover all the chairs in my house. It would be so fun (and quick!) in Shibui Highland Wool Alpaca. If these interest you as well I would recommend checking out her website to see these and more.

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did! I'm already looking forward to what I have found for next week's post (just a hint: crocheted snow!). As always, check back then for another edition of Fashionknitsta. Until then, stay chic, blogfans!

-Lindsay