Elsewhere

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Textile-y links for your clicking pleasure

I’m sure everyone has tons of spare time on their hands right now (I know I do!), but I didn’t want to miss highlighting these assorted interesting developments. Peruse them over the weekend or come back and catch up anytime!

— My hilarious friends at Mason-Dixon Knitting have published “A Coloring book for Knitters,” which makes me laugh because when I first heard about the coloring book trend, my response was “Those people need to learn to knit!” Apparently a lot of people would like to do both! So hooray for all things that make people happy, especially if it involves Kay and Ann.

— Holy cow, YES!, to the Tweed Project. I’ll have this whole outfit for starters, please.

— Nice piece on the return of the small-batch business

— Great tutorial on how to make a lined Stowe Bag — I’ma try this one of these days

— I’m eager to listen to Gretchen Jones on Seamwork Radio

— Have you heard about the Karl Lagerfeld fair-isle ripoff scandal? So shameful. (Thx, Danielle)

— And what are your thoughts on the Pantone Color(s) of the Year?

I also know the big question on everyone’s mind right now is Is there still time to shop for Christmas at Fringe Supply Co.?? There is! The Field Bag colors have been restocked this morning (including the elusive army green), as have the loom kits, bonsai scissors and rosewood crochet hooks. There are tons of great options for stocking stuffers and hostess gifts. And yes, there’s time. For US orders, we ship every weekday via USPS Priority Mail, which is a 2-Day delivery to most addresses. So as long as USPS hits their marks, you could in theory order up through early Monday morning and have your package by Christmas Eve. But obviously, allowing more time is better! So get those orders in ASAP!

Have a wonderful weekend—

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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere

Wardrobe Planning: Mind the gaps

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Wardrobe Planning: Mind the gaps

This is a long (yet fascinating!) post and there’s a fun and important sale announcement at the end, so you might actually want to scroll down at look at that first!

Sometimes all the clutter in my brain really gets in the way of clearing up the clutter in my brain. There are just SO MANY THINGS — so many patterns — I want to knit or sew and wear, but most of them wouldn’t be the right thing to make right now. As in, they wouldn’t solve my urgent problem, which is that between last year’s massive purge and this year’s lack of funds and growing aversion to store-bought clothes, I am lacking many of the core garments upon which functional wardrobes are built. So rather than starting with what kinds of outfits I want to be creating for myself, I had to start by whittling down my wishes to what are the pieces I find myself wanting to reach for every morning that simply don’t exist. That is the problem I need to solve first, and I also need to resign myself to the fact that I need to buy some of it, to get the problem solved soon enough. Here’s where I’m at:

TOP LEFT: The two most-worn items in my closet are the Endless Summer Tunic that Alyssa made me and that 20-year-old linen tunic I unearthed last year, which is now really looking like I wear it twice a week, because I do. Tunic-length tops are pretty critical to how I dress, but I’m also severely lacking anything with sleeves! So I’d like to make a couple of longish, oversized, split-hem, woven tees (likely tweaking Grainline’s Scout Tee pattern) along the lines of this Ace & Jig tee and this Madewell one. They’ll work under pullovers for now, with vests as it warms up, and on their own in warm weather.

TOP CENTER: That said, those two sleeveless tunics get so much wear because that really works for me, and at least one of them is not long for this world. I intend to make a pattern and successors for that top, but again, I need to concentrate on what’s most efficient right now. So I’m thinking of Liesl’s Gallery Tunic done sleeveless. I loved making the dress and feel like I could cut two or three of these at once, batch the sewing, and get immense year-round use out of them. (I’d love to have another Endless Summer or two; might enlist Alyssa to do that for me!)

TOP RIGHT: The utter absence of pullovers in my closet is as much of a difficulty as a puzzlement. How did the happen?! I literally have one pullover sweater, this cotton fisherman. Because it will be fabulous in its own right, and to step in for the missing sweaters right away, first on my list is this modified woven Hemlock Tee we talked about last week. In boiled/wool for now, and in linen a few months down the road.

MIDDLE LEFT: The sweater version of the previous entry. This one there are no question marks or mysteries about: It will be top-down, knitted in black Lettlopi on US10 needles. It will be quick, it will be warm, and it will be worn. But I can’t cast on until Bob’s sweater is done.

MIDDLE MIDDLE: The grey sweatshirt-ish sweater I cast on last month and set aside for Bob’s sweater. I’ll probably actually whip out the black one before getting back to this. Priorities.

MIDDLE RIGHT: I keep having the thought that if my Trillium were grey and my Acer were black, I’d be vastly better equipped to get dressed in the morning. I love both sweaters dearly, but I’m over the purple and have never really figured out the brown. I do have a camel sweater this shape (short and boxy) that gets tons of wear, and I really need another in either grey or black, preferably grey. I’m thinking charcoal with this sketch, but also thinking of attempting to dye my Acer black, which would solve multiple problems in a single, quick act. I have flashbacks, though, to trying to dye things black in the ’80s. That was neither fun nor successful, so if any of you who suggested it on my black yarn post have specific advice, bring it on!

BOTTOM LEFT: It’s crystal clear how useful this dress is, and I just need to make a cool-season version, plain and simple.

BOTTOM CENTER: I long for a skirt that is this exact shape and fullness, with pockets. Not too full, not A-line. This seems surprisingly difficult to accomplish. Please tell me I’m wrong.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Again, the wide-cropped pants (or jeans) we spoke of last week. I do have the idea of cropping a pair of denim trousers I already own and never wear, and I broke down and ordered another possibility, but basically I’m not sure what the solution is to this one. I’d prefer not to have to make them when there’s so much else to be done.

So those are my targets. Everything goes with everything (and with everything else I already own) — the pullovers can go over the dress, skirt or pants (or jeans) on their own, or can be layered over the tunics over pants or skirts. But it’s only that 100% versatile as long as they’re line drawings. Once you start filling in fabrics and colors/patterns, it gets harder to keep them interchangeable. So that’s my next job. I like a wardrobe that’s as close to Garanimals as possible. (Or as my friend Patsy says, “I like to be able to get dressed in the dark and not have to wonder if my clothes match.”) But I also want to use as much fabric from my stash as possible, and those are slightly conflicting goals. So we’ll see!

(Indispensable Fashionary Panels from Fringe Supply Co., of course.)

. . .

Give to Heifer International's Women Artisans in Peru ProjectHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! I mean, happy MY birthday to you. This year, I want to give a gift not just to all of you but to some people in need. So for today only, I’m offering you 10% off everything on the Bags & Baskets page* (note the Field Bag is excluded) with code GETGIVE, and 10% of all purchases today (bags or otherwise!) will go to Heifer International’s Women Artisans in Peru project. I’m a long-time fan of Heifer International and their mission to not only reduce hunger and poverty around the world, but to empower people in the process. And I’m sure you’ll see why I’m excited to support the Peru project in particular:

“Your gift will support Heifer’s work with groups like local craft cooperatives to help members learn the fair market value for their creations; connect directly to buyers so they don’t lose income to middlemen; and adopt clear standards for yarn, dyes and designs to secure their status as the world’s premier alpaca artisans. You’ll also help train farmers to produce more eggs, fish and green vegetables for family diets, and more fodder for the woolly alpacas and other animals that help them achieve sustainability.”

So to save and give at the same time, head on over to Fringe Supply Co., and use code GETGIVE on the shopping cart page for the Bags & Baskets discount!

*Discount cannot be applied to previous orders. Available on in-stock merchandise only, in the Bags & Baskets category (Field Bag excluded). Offers expires at midnight Pacific time, December 17th 2015.

Knit the Look: Anya Ziourova’s cropped raglan

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Knit the Look: Anya Ziourova's cropped raglan

While I’m not the biggest fan of the overall butterscotchness of this outfit photographed on Russian fashion editor Anya Ziourova, I like the proportions: cropped, fitted sweater with slim, high-waisted skirt. And I like that the subtle marl of the yarn gives just a tiny bit of interest to a fairly simple pullover. For knitting a version of this one, I would definitely say just improvise it top-down. Pick two low-contrast shades of your favorite fingering-weight yarn and hold them together (pictured is Loft in Fossil and Tallow); knit a swatch to get your stitch gauge; and go for it. To capture the interesting bits of Anya’s sweater, work the sleeves and six or eight raglan stitches in 1×1 rib. Work the body in stockinette until just below the bust, then switch to 1×1 and knit until just above your belly button, or just enough to overlap the waistband of your favorite high-waisted skirt or pants.

See Vanessa’s post for full-length shots of this ensemble.

UNRELATED BUT SUPER IMPORTANT: If you are Lorna in Canada or Carey in the UK and you’ve recently ordered from Fringe Supply Co, please email me at contact@fringesupplyco.com — emails to your address are bouncing!

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PREVIOUSLY in Knit the Look: Big scarf season

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Street style photo © Vanessa Jackman; used with permission

New Favorites: Winter blues

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New Favorites: Winter blues

The “Winter Blues” issue of Amirisu is out and it’s easily one of my favorite issues, not least because of the dark-yoked sweater in there. In fact, I’m obsessed with the idea of knitting all three of these pieces, each of which employs colorwork in an intriguing way:

TOP: Skaftafell by Beatrice Perron Dahlen is an updated lopapeysa with simplified colorwork at the yoke

BOTTOM LEFT: Tenchi by Olga Buraya-Kefelian is a cowl worked in modified two-color brioche

BOTTOM RIGHT: Jokull by Keiko Kikuno is a large wrap that combines three ideas — ombré, colorwork and houndstooth — and somehow winds up being mesmerizingly spare instead of a big mess

I also really love the art direction and styling here — all so good. Of course, I have a stack of them for you at Fringe Supply Co, but having now seen the issue in person, I think I should have ordered more!

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Dark-yoked sweaters

I make stuff, right?

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I make stuff, right?

I’ve been in a weird funk the past few days and trying to figure out why. Life is good right now, and after its having been kind of horrible just a year ago, I’m keenly aware of that. I have absolutely no reason to be anything but gleeful and thankful for the moment. And I am. I’m as happy and calm and settled (built-in stress level notwithstanding) as I can ever remember being — except there’s this nagging funk in the back of my brain. In a total “duh!” moment the other day, it occurred to me it’s because I haven’t made anything lately. Not only have I not finished anything, I’ve got way too many things in progress right now, and vastly more things I want to make and actually need. Plus as useful as the two main sweaters on my needles are, they’re not particularly fun or inspiring, so I’m just feeling super bogged down by it all. As a first step toward solving the problem, I’ve taken inventory of the WIPs in my little workroom:

– the blue dress that’s been hanging on my dress form for two months waiting for me to hem it
– the formerly alluded to black linen Stowe Bag that just needs its binding
– parts for a pillow I promised to sew for DG
– my grey sweater
– Bob’s emerald pullover
– my black Anna vest
– a sample of the Double Basketweave Cowl in the new “old growth” color
– a pair of grey mitts to replace the best friends I seem to have lost
– and my Seathwaite hat

Oh! And a grey wool-linen plaid skirt. Last month, I signed up for a two-part circle skirt class at Craft South to learn how to sew a lapped zipper and some other stuff, and to actually finish something, because it would be done within the scope of the class. Only I had to bail on the second class in order to get the lookbook launched that night!

That’s TEN projects in progress.

And those are just the things that are partially started. (Not including the basket of long-abadoned WIPs that need to be frogged, nor the whole basket-and-stash-bins-clean-out project, or the two pairs of wide-legged jeans I’ve decided to crop). Then there is all the yarn and fabric and drawings and plans that haven’t begun to be enacted yet. It’s completely out of control, hugely compounded by my not having even five minutes a day for making at this point. So how is any of it going to get finished? And am I even making the right stuff? As in, stuff that’s going to actually help me get dressed in the morning this winter.

I see that what I most urgently need to make right now is a plan. I need to revisit and revise my silhouettes, identify the very specific gaps in my closet that are preventing the clothes I do have from adding up to complete, season-appropriate outfits, make a list of exactly what pieces I need to sew and knit in what order, and assign exact yarns and fabrics to them. My new goal (or fantasy, maybe) is to have all of that mapped out by Christmas, and to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s sewing all day and knitting in the evenings, and pretty much ignoring any other obligations!

Here’s my working to-do list in the meantime, to get the immediate funk-inducing problem under control:

– frog mitts-in-progress; I have others that will suffice
– pack that Stowe away for another day
– set black Anna aside for knitalong in the new year (hint hint)
– hire out the cowl sample
– hem blue dress
– hem wide jeans x 2
– sew DG’s pillow

Which will leave me with a revised and prioritized near-term WIP list that will look like this:

– Bob’s emerald pullover
– my Seathwaite hat
– (1898 Hat to come)
– my grey sweater
– circle-skirt fate TBD during sewing week

I feel better already! Next step: revised silhouettes and wardrobe planning.

TA/BU Studio Crawl in Nashville 12.12.15IN SHOP NEWS: This week we restocked the amazing dye kits, the wooden bowls, the giant safety pins in silver, the blackened brass buttons. And we’ll have a fresh batch of Field Bag colors at NOON CENTRAL TIME today, including an even larger number of the highly-coveted army green. All at Fringe Supply Co.

AND IF YOU’RE IN NASHVILLE: Don’t miss our open studio event tomorrow as part of the TA/BU Studio Crawl, details here.

Thanks everybody, see you next week!

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Fringe Hatalong No. 6: 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes

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Fringe Hatalong No. 6: 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes (free pattern)

Have you ever heard of Christmas at Sea? When DG and I were manning our Fringe Supply Co. booth at Stitches South last spring — back when the Fringe Hatalong Series was brand new — I kept seeing him chatting up these two really cool women who had a nearby booth. Their sign said “Seamen’s Church Institute” and I couldn’t figure out what that could mean, much less what it had to do with knitting. Well, it turned out to be a really interesting story! The Seamen’s Church Institute is a centuries-old advocacy organization for mariners — all those men (mostly) who work on the countless cargo ships that make our way of life possible. It’s a life of dangers and difficulties most of us have never thought about, and SCI provides job training and free legal aid and interfaith chaplains and … Christmas gifts! Every year every mariner who enters a US port gets a present, many of which contain hand-knitted hats and socks made by who-knows-how-many charitable knitters. To that end, SCI has developed knitting and crochet patterns that they know to be what the mariners need and want — free of worksite hazards like pompoms! — including this really cool earflap hat called the 1898 Hat (the year Christmas at Sea began), which was the result of a design contest a couple of years ago sparked by the men’s repeated request for ear flaps.

I loved the story almost as much as I love the hat! And since I had planned to feature a hat charity with each installment of the Hatalong, I was extra thrilled that this one was built in. Thankfully Paige, who runs the Christmas at Sea program, was on board (no pun intended) with the idea of featuring it as a Hatalong pattern.

You can download the free 1898 Hat pattern here.

Backstory aside, there’s a lot to love about this hat – and it’s a great gift hat, whether you give yours to a mariner or a loved one: it’s perfectly unisex, despite its origins; incredibly warm with its double-thick brim and flaps; and is constructed in an intriguing way that will make it fun to knit! You might be thinking it’s all short rows and I-cord, but nope — none of that! It starts with the garter-stitch headband part, which is knitted sideways. The earflaps are shaped with simple increases instead of short rows, and a slipped-stitch ridge along the center of the piece becomes that beautiful thick lower edge once the band is folded in half. It’s brilliant! So that gets folded together, you pick up stitches all the way around, and from that point upwards it’s a basic stockinette cap.

If you do want to donate yours (or one of yours) (I’m guessing there will be lots of multiples with this one) make sure you read through the Christmas at Sea guidelines with regard to yarn and color choice, and where to send it. And if you don’t donate your hat, I hope you’ll consider making a small donation of some kind — from money to toiletries — as a thank-you to SCI for the great free pattern.

Remember to share your progress with hashtag #fringehatalong wherever you post. Also be sure to fave/queue the pattern at Ravelry. I’ll be on the lookout for photos, and will be answering questions posted in the comments below. (There’s no way to guarantee I’ll see it if you post it elsewhere.)

I can’t wait to see your hats!

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PREVIOUSLY in Fringe Hatalong Series: No. 5 Seathwaite by Kate Gagnon Osborn

First of the Best of Pre-Fall 2016: Fresh turtlenecks

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First of the Best of Pre-Fall 2016: Fresh turtlenecks

Very simple turtleneck sweaters have been hanging on for several seasons now (to my delight) and I’m loving these vaguely Mary Tyler Moore-ish takes from Pre-Fall 2016. Up top is a black short-sleeved jumpsuit from ZAC by Zac Posen (click through to see it in full length) that wouldn’t be nearly as fantastic were it not layered over a thin, high, ribbed turtleneck. Whether that’s sleeveless, short-sleeve or a dickie, we don’t know, but this combo is amazing — especially with those aforementioned combat boots and the giant brooch. And then we have TSE’s tomato red sweater that falls somewhere between a sleeveless turtleneck and a poncho, with a tinge of the early ’70s about it that keeps that mock turtleneck from feeling too ’80s. It’s sort of a slouchier, stockinette cousin to Pam Allen’s Danforth, which I’m reminded I keep meaning to knit.