Category Archives: Finds

Pattern news and updates

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knitting pattern news and updates

Remember those colorwork mitts of Thea Colman’s I was drooling over last month? She’s released the pattern. They’re now officially known as Bartender’s Choice.

Remember that great oatmeal criss-cross cable hat with the mustard edge and pompom? I recently came across a pattern that’s a very close match. It’s from Be Sweet; it’s called the Golden Coast Hat; and it’s free! It has a vertical cable in place of the straight rib, so just skip the cabling in that column and voilà. (Update: See also the Bushwick Beanie, mentioned in the comments.)

Remember Tara-Lynn Morrison of Good Night, Day and loop-stitch collar fame? I mentioned before that she’s done a little printed booklet of her patterns, and the update is that she’s now also selling kits for some of them in her webshop — brown bags containing the pattern booklet and the wool from the ready-to-wear version of whichever design you choose. She’s also been releasing photos of some of her new designs for fall, the lookbook for which you can click through here.

Remember Ysolda Teague? OK, I’m not sure I’ve ever blogged about her before. But in the realm of pattern news, I’m excited about the release of her Blank Canvas sweater pattern — an endlessly customizable, bottom-up, saddle-shoulder pullover.

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Also, remember those beautiful bushel baskets in the Fringe Supply Co. shop? A few of you have mentioned coveting them, so I wanted to note that there’s been a little run on them lately and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get them again. So if you’ve had your eye on them, best to get your order in!

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Blog Crush: Where the Red-Winged Blackbird Flies

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Blog Crush - Bristol Ivy - Where the Red-Winged Blackbird Flies

I’ve uttered the name Bristol Ivy a few times on the blog, with regard to her pattern designs Eyen and Bayard (twice). And you may have run across her in the comments here and there. She’s a very talented designer. I also love her Auden sweater and her Metropolis Mitts, to name just two, and I’m completely in awe of her shawl designs. She has an artistically mathematical mind, which enables her to conceive of shawls like Winnowing, Lida and Thorn, and it’s also what’s got me going on about her today. I’ve gotten to know Bristol a little bit through Twitter, and find her endlessly entertaining, and I took special note one night when she tweeted that a friend had suggested she could be the Nate Silver of knitting. (“Guys, it was like a holy light shone down on me and choirs of angels sang when she said that.”) Sure enough, since that day she’s been stalking pattern stats on Ravelry, categorizing and tracking it all in presumably elaborate spreadsheets, and she has begun spitting out nerdtastic charts about the trends she’s spotting. She’s even come up with a characteristically Bristol name for her report: The State of the Stock(inette) Market. Which just makes me love her always charming blog, Where the Red-Winged Blackbird Flies, that much more.

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(Shawl photos by Jared Flood and Carrie Bostick Hoge; chart by Bristol Ivy)

New Favorites: the ultimate Sweatshirt Sweater

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purl bee sweatshirt sweater knitting pattern

I really only have three words to say about this Sweatshirt Sweater pattern from Laura* at The Purl Bee: Oh. My. God. So classic and cozy, and yet so utterly cool! Look at those great raglans. But it excites me for another reason as well. A few years ago, J.Crew did a (deep V-neck) sweater with a kangaroo pouch like this — beautiful soft colors in some fuzzy blend of wools. I had to have it, and coughed up what was a lot of money for me at that moment in time … but had to send it back because it was way too warm for me. And I have mourned it ever since. But thanks be to knitting (and Laura!) I can make this one in any fiber and color I like, including a nice SF-summer weight one. Along with iconic sweatshirt grey, of course.

Speaking of pullovers, this week’s ICYMI post (in aid of the top-down tutorial in progress) is How many shapes can a pullover take?

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*I wish I knew all of their last names.

Knit the Look: Elisa Nalin’s pink-striped pullover

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how to knit Elisa Nalin's pink striped sweater

I swear I didn’t plan this, and don’t want to seem like I’m waging a campaign. This photo of Elisa Nalin in her striped pullover hit Vanessa Jackman’s blog a few days ago, and I’m going to point you to Jane Richmond’s super-reliable Ladies Classic Raglan Pullover pattern, from which you can easily knit yourself this sweater (just shorten up the body and sleeves a bit). But the fact is, here’s a perfect case of see a sweater, want the sweater, knit the sweater for yourself out of thin air, because you know how to improvise a raglan pullover from the top down. Right? I love this candy-pink and camel combo. To get the same look, I’d suggest knitting with The Fibre Company’s Canopy yarn in the colors Dragonfruit and Wild Ginger. It’s fingering weight, so hold it double to match Jane Richmond’s gauge.

As far as mapping out the color changes, measure from the knob at the back of your neck to where you want the bottom of the sweater to hit you, and subtract the height of the waist ribbing. For stripes placed like Elisa’s, divide what’s left by 6. (This sweater has six stripes, plus waist ribbing in the original color). So let’s say you want your sweater to be 20 inches long, top to bottom, minus 2 inches of ribbing, that’s 18 inches. 18 inches divided by 6 stripes is 3 inches per stripe. So after you’ve knitted the first 3 inches of your yoke (measured down the back), switch colors, then alternate every 3 inches after that. Switch back to the original color for the ribbing at both the waist and neck.

Check out Vanessa’s original post for the rest of the outfit.

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Street style photo © Vanessa Jackman; used with permission

New Favorites: Shibui’s spring sweaters

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Shibui Mix No 13 and No 16 sweater patterns

I know people are still busy Instagramming their blizzards and that my own sunny-and-70-degree weather doesn’t mean the cold won’t be back for one last hurrah, but whatever! I’m excited for lighter clothes. So these two new sweater patterns from Shibui are appealing to me. On the left is Mix No. 13 by AnnaLena Mattison, a lattice-stitch number that would make a great coverup or layering piece. On the right is Mix No. 16 by Kristin Ford, a featherweight (albeit wool) cardigan with three-quarter sleeves that also looks cute worn backwards. Strange for me is that instead of picturing whatever’s in front of me in neutrals, I’m imagining these two in color.

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Quick shop note: Taproot arrived yesterday, so that’s also now available!

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Wraps, tassels and new goods

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Micaela Greg wrap and Ariel Clute necklace seen at Marquee Salon pop-up in Oakland

My pal Leigh and I took a quick trip on Sunday afternoon to a little one-day pop-up in Oakland. Two of my favorite local maker duos were in the lineup: the indigo mavens at Job and Boss plus Micaela Greg, purveyors of beautiful geometric knits. The sisters behind Micaela Greg weren’t actually in attendance, but that square wrap I’ve been dreaming of since I first posted about it was hanging on the rack — that’s it above. Yes, I still want it. No, I did not buy it. But I had an exchange with one of the sisters on Instagram and it looks like I might get to do a little studio visit sometime soon.

Also there was Ariel Clute! I didn’t make the connection with her name until I saw her standing next to dozens of her amazing tasseled necklaces. I’ve fondled a few of her pieces at Erica Tanov, and am a big fan. She does amazingly detailed and varied beadwork in conjunction with a giant tassel or ten, and some of them are just breathtaking. My favorite of the ones she had there on Sunday is pictured above. I’ll have to ask her if she’d be willing to talk to me about these for the blog. She was entirely charming but I didn’t think to ask at the time.

So that’s just a random and belated bit of lust and inspiration from my weekend.

In FRINGE SUPPLY Co. news,

— there’s a Fringe + Sincere Sheep + KnitKnotes giveaway at One Sheepish Girl (announcing later today?);

— I’ve added the latest issue of the beautiful Kinfolk quarterly to the shop;

— and I’m now doing some international shipping. For details on how that works, see the FAQ!

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Memorable knits of Fall 2013, European edition

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sculpted sweaters at Burberry and Carven ... and other great knits of Fall 2013

Somewhere there is a blogger as obsessed with leather as I am with knitwear, and she’s been rubbing her hands with glee over the images from Europe’s Fall 2013 collections. Leather shirts. Leather tunics. Leather dresses. Leather skirts. Leather pants. So many leather pants. Which isn’t to say there weren’t some great knits — but they were certainly not the fall stalwart one expects. Quite a different scene from NYFW.

Still, some notable knits (in no particular order):

— There were sweaters with articulated boobs at Burberry Prorsum and Carven, above, for better or worse.
— There were more and more thin turtlenecks in London, under and over everything, including a whole host of dresses at Issa, but the best was probably this pared down look at Bottega Veneta.
— Preen Line showed an interesting take on the sweater-poncho.
— I completely loved the simple berets with all the buttoned-up clothes at Margaret Howell.
— And also the great big scarves at Bouchra Jarrar.
— Joan Smalls looked amazing than in this slinky Missoni sweater dress.
— The fuzzy charcoal sweaters at Dries van Noten were fantastic, especially the ones with jewels attached in unexpected places.
— Loved this plaid pullover at Jil Sander.
— One of my favorite collections of the season was Christophe Lemaire, and you should take a close look at the sweaters in looks 12 and 21. Can I have both outfits? Pretty please?
— And of course there were some beautiful knits at Céline, where “clouds, yarn and fluff” were apparently among the inspiration. The standout was this ivory pullover, but look at this, too, please.  Also: Tell me if you think all those amazing dresses are felt, or what.

What else did you see that caught your attention? If you missed the New York roundup, right this way. And, unrelated, this week’s ICYMI post is Things that make me want to crochet.

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