My Finest Plaid Pullover, Vogue Knitting, Winter 2014/15

Vogue Knitting Winter 2014/15
copyright SoHo Publishing

I think I may have hit the pinnacle of my plaid knitting.  How am I going to top this?

This was a thrilling project for me, not just because of the fabulous outcome.  This was the first time that a magazine editor approached me, asking for a contribution.  Just what every designer dreams.  Just at the worst possible time.

The call to discuss my contributing a plaid design to VK's winter issue came in late July.  In the week between the first call and working out some design issues, we sold our house and simultaneously bought a new house a state away.  My two teenagers were thrown into hysteria, as we had to be settled in Wisconsin by the start of school the day after Labor Day.  And, I was under so much pressure I was mainlining the Maalox.

But, those kind editors at VK smiled upon me and gave me a very generous six week deadline.  This was very good, as I literally could not knit for the three weeks before the move.  I was so busy packing I had almost no time, and just could not physically knit when I had a moment to sit.  So much for Elizabeth Zimmerman's admonishment to knit on with confidence through all crises!

So, we arrived in Wisconsin, dropped the boxes, and I knit.  So, as you look at this lovely sweater, you are literally seeing the first three weeks of my life in Wisconsin.  Looks great!

Make It Work

This fall I took a break from knitwear design work as I was working on improvements to our new home.  So, I took the rare opportunity to knit a sweater for me.  I also used the opportunity to  use some stash yarn acquired from String Theory in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  This project proved more of a stretch than I had anticipated, but I am happy with the results.

As I said, I  bought the yarn at String Theory over a year ago.  I purchased it to use up store credits from their summer sidewalk sale.  (You de-stash, they sell it and you earn store credits.  Great concept.)  I just love the teal color of this Feederbrook Farm worsted weight BFL.  I knew it had to be a sweater, although I generally prefer a dk or lighter weight for my own sweaters.  But the biggest issue was that they did not have enough of the teal for a sweater quantity for me.  There was a lovely dark green color, and in a fit of inspiration, I decided that I could use green for the bands and cuffs. The first 'make it work' moment.

The second 'make it work' moment occurred this fall when I had decided on a pattern for this project - Sablier by Nell Ziroli - and pulled out the yarn to wind it.  One of the teal skeins was definitely not like the others.  When shopping, I had just grabbed all the hanks, assuming they were the same dye lot.  Not so.  So, with more Tim Gunn inspiration, I decided to knit the back in two row stripes of the off shade and the others.  It had to be stripes, because there would not have been enough to work the entire back in the single skein, and the two colors were different enough that to try to transition from one to the other in a single piece would have been obvious.  It also would have looked odd to try and knit one sleeve with this skein.  But, since all the cabling was on the front of the cardi, and the back was plain stockinette, I thought it could work.  

I think it worked.  From the front you have lots to look at - cables, button band, collar, color contrast - and from the back you have some subtle interest from the stripes.  I love the pockets on this design, as I seem to be all about the pockets lately.  (As does the rest of the knitting world.)  My Sablier has not gone into heavy rotation, as it is, indeed, a little heavy for indoor wear.  But with a windchill of -23 F today, I think I will wear it to my afternoon knitting group.  If I am brave enough to venture out, that is.

Downton Abbey, Season 5 and a Coupon Code

My design: Modular Lace Blouse

Last night (Sunday), was the long-awaited premier of the newest season of Downton Abbey for those of us in the US.  (The British season begins in the fall and ends with a Christmas episode.) 

To celebrate, Interweave/F&W Media is running a special promotion on digital  issues of Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits 2014. Below is a link to the issue from the Interweave Store and a coupon code for 20% off on this issue (active January 8-16). 

Store link: www.interweavestore.com/the-unofficial-downton-abbey-knits-2014-grouped

Coupon code (active 1/8-1/16): DOWNTON20

This is a fabulous issue filled with great designs from top designers.  If you'd like a sneak preview before purchasing, pop over to Ravelry and search on the issue.  When you find it, only three designs will appear but you can click on the 'view all 26 patterns' button so see them all, and click on any individual design for more details.

Tweet Tweet Danger*

I plan to have one (or two) more topical posts this week, since I will be stuck at home with remodelers for the next few days.  But I had to pop in with this cutie - a Chubby Chirp from Rebecca Danger.  I knit him up as a charity project for the Madison Knit Guild.  It turned out so adorable that I play to work up a few more for them, and a couple for my nieces for Christmas.  Is this my new addiction?  Good thing this one is calorie free.

A Tale of Two Vests

These past two weeks I have been busy with visitors, my daughter's musical and home remodeling projects that are finally getting underway, so I have been slow to post about my two new vest designs.  Both are in books from Sixth & Spring, the book division of Vogue Knitting.  But, the two vest, while wildly different, both reflects aspects of my design passions.

The first is Sky Beauty from Vest Bets: 30 Designs to Knit for Now Featuring 220 Superwash® Aran from Cascade Yarns.  In my mind, this was 'the hourglass vest', as it's intention is to allow the colorblocking and strong outlines create an hourglass figure.  In that sense, I think it is quite a successful design.  I also enjoy how sporty it seems because of the dark outlines, and the combination of sporty and feminine is not easily achieved.  

In designing Sky Beauty, the color combination was the most significant factor.  To make the sides visually fade away thus slimming the figure, they need to be darker than the center.  But, should the outlines be darker still?  I created a couple different options in my proposal.  The first option is the direction the editors chose to go, only substituting navy for the royal blue in the outline.  The two second options both place the darkest color at the side, and then use a mid-tone color for the outline.  They are more slimming, but lack the sporty flair of the first option.  This is why it's a great idea to sketch a color combination before committing to the knitting.  

My second vest design, the County Line Vest, is from Modern Country Knits: 30 Designs from Juniper Moon Farm by Susan Gibbs.  Surprise!  It's plaid.  But, I think this may be the nicest of my plaid designs.  This design uses the two-stranded intarsia and applied crochet techniques combined.  The two strands of Findley worked up like a dream.  The fabric is nearly weightless, but with a luminescence.  It really is just gorgeous, and the photos don't do it justice.  

Color was again important here, so the editors had me work up several swatches of color combinations.  I have not yet received my designer copy of the book, so I can't say whether they made the final cut.  Maybe'll I will dedicate another post to discussion of those options when it arrives.  

And don't you love the kid in the photograph?  I have always had a weakness for goats, but can't imagine how they got this babe to kiss the model.  

Stylin' Falkirk

The fall issue of the e-mag, Twist Collective, included my plaid cardigan, Falkirk.  Friday it appeared in their regular blog feature where they show ways to style their sweaters. Here's the nice things they had to say about it: "Fall and plaid are a really excellent pair. At my friend Alysse's family cottage, there are a bunch of plaid shirt-jacket things (I call them lumberjackets) that everyone wears when it gets chilly at night. Falkirk is the refined version of that. Super cozy, and exactly what you want to wrap yourself in on a icy night, ideally near a roaring fire or wood stove. The details keep it looking super polished; the contrast edge on the buttonband and collar, the perfect rustic buttons, and the perfect saddle shoulder. Take a look!"  

I love the way they paired bright colors from the plaid with the cardi because it reads as a neutral from a distance.  I also love the 'sexy secretary' shoes they matched with the first two outfits.  And, it's easy to miss, but I especially love the touch of leopard under the cardi in the red pants outfit.  So, how would you wear Falkirk? 

Chilly Styling

OK, so you know that I am always harping on about how vertical lines are slimming, making cardigans a better option than pullovers, yada, yada, yada.  Well, as I was scanning the fall Talbots catalog for last week's post, I noticed something interesting.  Almost every photograph of a coat or jacket showed it hanging open.  And once I noted this, I had to quantify it.  Of the fourteen outerwear garments, eleven were shown unbuttoned, unzipped, untoggled, etc.  Of the three coats that the models wore fully closed, all three were double-breasted, a style that looks very awkward hanging open because of the extra width of stiff fabric.

Now, I am pragmatic enough to say that the slimmer look gained by the models wearing opened coats is perhaps not the only reason Talbots might be styling them this way.  They are in the business of selling clothing, and the more you can show of a garment, the more of it you will sell.  But they certainly are not choosing to not sell double-breasted coats because they don't reveal the sweater underneath.  The fact that every coat that can be worn open is means that there must be another advantage, and a coat that makes an already slim model look every taller and slimmer must stir a few more shoppers to purchase.

Having seen this phenomenon in coats, I had to go back and look at sweaters.  Of the seven cardigan sweaters shown on models, only one was 'closed', and I use the quotes because I count the cardi with one of its three buttons undone as closed.  Further, three cardigans were designed to eternally hang open, as they had no closures at all.

So does this mean we need to freeze all winter to have the slimming look of an open coat?  Not possible if you live in Wisconsin, as I now do.  My personal solution is to wear a long scarf.  Let the tails hang down the tightly buttoned front of your coat and you not only get a slimmer look, you have an extra layer of warmth.