New Favorites: Dark yoke sweaters

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New Favorites: Dark yoke sweaters

One of the most endlessly irresistible things to me is a colorwork yoke sweater done all in neutrals with the body in charcoal or black. It’s so striking and rich and magical somehow. I could list countless examples, but these are the two that have most recently been haunting my dreams:

TOP: Carrie Bostick Hoge’s Lighthouse Pullover — from her latest collection, Swoon Maine — in shades of black and grey

BOTTOM: Kathy Cadigan’s rendition of Mary Jane Mucklestone’s Stopover, done in black, grey and a coppery brown

Kathy’s is the one I mentioned in a footnote yesterday, having worn it during our holiday lookbook shoot and fallen deeply, darkly in love.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: from Olga’s “Capsule” collection

Idea Log: Perfect outfit No. 1

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Idea Log: Perfect outfit No. 1

With everything going on at the time, I had to sit out the Spring 2016 collections, but the good news is that Pre-Fall has begun! I’ve probably said this before, but the Pre-Fall collections are my favorite for lots of reasons. Chief among them may be the timing. These are cold weather clothes that we get to peruse while there are still months of winter and winter-int0-spring weather ahead of us, so inspiration can actually be applied immediately. (As opposed to looking at Spring collections in September, for instance.) They’re just starting to roll out, and there are no significant knits for us to talk about yet, but I’m obsessed with this Karen Walker ensemble up top. For me, it’s not possible to wear denim and khaki together without feeling like I’m about to clock in for a shift at the Gap, but this outfit gets my wheels spinning anyway. I’ve been searching for perfect wide-cropped khakis since seeing this pair on Leandra Medine awhile back (loooove them with that indigo-and-ivory embroidered top). And all I can think about since the day I pulled my favorite sweatshirt on over my linen dress is more short and wide sweatshirts — but in slightly more dressed-up fabrics. I’m still dreaming of the Linden in boiled wool, and so on, and I am totally crazy for the proportions of this Karen Walker top — especially those cuffed elbow-length sleeves!

Bottom line: this top and these pants together make my heart sing. What doesn’t work for me is the shoes, but I’m all about Zac Posen’s approach of putting shiny combat boots with wide-cropped pants. (And culottes, and dresses! Swoon.) (What can I say? I’ve never gotten over grunge.) So that’s my perfect outfit number one right now. My new quest:

THE TOP: I could definitely use the Linden pattern to make a raglan version of this top, but I’m into the combo of the slightly dropped shoulder and the cuffed sleeves. So I’m thinking it might be better to tweak the Hemlock Tee for this. Mine won’t be denim, but probably a speckly black-and-white wool I’ve got in my stash, and yes, the boiled wool idea. This is also what I’m wanting in sweaters right now — this very shape. It’s more or less what I’ve started with my grey wool sweatshirt, and I wake up now every morning wanting one in solid black Lettlopi.*

THE PANTS: I had the perfect version of these pants from J.Crew in the aughts, wore them to tatters, and have been in search of their equal ever since, my longing compounded by the aforementioned Medine pic. But to no avail. I fear I’ll have to break down and attempt to sew pants. If it comes to it, I have a Liesl Gibson pattern in mind: Lisette/Butterick B6183, with slightly widened legs. Anyone got other suggestions, or a source for a really good khaki twill?

THE BOOTS: I’m currently scouring the internet for the closest affordable thing to the ones shown in Posen’s collection.

*By the way, I can’t believe I did a whole post about black yarns and left out lopi. Ever since wearing Kathy’s black Stopover for the holiday lookbook, I can’t get that yarn out of my head! If you haven’t seen all the great black yarn recs on that post, make sure you check out the comments!

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p.s/unrelated: The maple hand loom kits are back in stock!

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PREVIOUSLY in Idea Log: The mildly folksy tunic

Elsewhere (+ shop news!)

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Yarny links for your clicking pleasure

TGIF, y’all. Here’s a juicy bit of Elsewhere for you—

(Images from here and here, god love this sweet universe)

IN HATALONG NEWS:

I’m racing to try to get the final Fringe Hatalong Series hat of the year launched next Thursday — without a preview post this time. This is all the heads-up you’re getting! It’s designed for men but is perfectly unisex. And it’s just garter stitch and stockinette but with really interesting construction. A great gift hat, with a great story. The only thing to know in advance is you’ll need about 180 yards of worsted-weight yarn, and gauge is 5 sts/inch. (Washable wool if you intend to donate it.) Watch for that next week!

Coming and going at Fringe Supply Co.IN SHOP NEWS:

There’s a new cowl kit color in town! The bone repair hooks are back! The new Taproot is here! The dye kits sold out but will be back next week! (We still have signed books.) Looms should be coming sometime today (scratch that: Monday!). And DON’T MISS THE FIELD BAG UPDATE today at Noon Central Time. We had more grey last week, so those have lasted the week, if just barely. This week we’ll have more army green, which has been stunningly popular. Hopefully this batch will hold out for more than a few hours, but if you’re coveting it, best to be there at noon!

So much is coming in or selling out every day this time of year — do you follow @fringesupplyco on Instagram? That’s your best bet if you don’t want to miss anything. And have you seen the #fringegiftoftheday ideas? More to come.

Happy reading, happy shopping, and happy weekend!

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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere

Queue Check — November into December 2015

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Queue Check — November into December 2015

When last we spoke of this, in late October, I was setting aside my black Anna vest to work on much-needed pullovers for myself and my beloved husband. I’m sorry to have to admit that the husband’s has gotten short shrift. As noted, I took the Sawkill yarn with me on my Seattle trip last month and managed to knit most of two sleeves and a twisted hem for the body of mine by the time I got home. (Haven’t had a minute for it since.) And I finally got the time and nerve to cast on Bob’s sweater just this week. As much as I want it to be saddle-shouldered and knitted bottom-up, I’m doing it top-down and raglan for the sake of having the best possible chance of getting the fit exactly how he wants it. (It’s been so long since I did a top-down sweater, I had to consult my own top-down tutorial to make sure I remembered how!) This is dull knitting, these two stockinette sweaters, but we’ll both be thrilled to have them if I can just stick it out!

And fortunately, there are Fringe Hatalong hats to break up the monotony. I cast on my Seathwaite at long last — I’m trying it in the new YOTH Father (given to me by Veronika when I was in Seattle) and knitting on 7s, crossing my fingers the fabric and size both turn out ok without a swatch! (So dumb, but sometimes we gamble.) And I’ll have news of the final Hatalong of the year very very soon!

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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: October 2015

Black is the new black

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Black is the new black

I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s in the air, but I am super into black right now. Every top and dress I imagine making, I picture it in black linen or black boiled wool. And every sweater dancing around in my head is knitted in black wool, as well. The thing is, black yarn ain’t that easy to come by. When I started in on my Black Anna (which is set aside for the moment), I got into a conversation with my friend Kate of Kelbourne Woolens (distributors of the Fibre Co yarns) about why there’s not a black in every line — too hard to make, or too hard to sell? The short answer is that nobody buys them, presumably because knitting with dark yarns is generally considered hard on the eyeballs. And maybe it is! But do we not all want the perfect black sweater — er, sweaters — in our closets? Maybe I’m in the minority, but right now I feel totally willing to sneak in rows during daylight hours or even turn up the famously dim lights in my house if the end result is delectable handknit sweaters in blacks and near-blacks.

So where does one find the yarn? Here’s a smattering of high-quality blacks:

– The Fibre Co. makes several: slubby worsted-weight Terra in a deep black called Coalwood, which is the black I’m using for my Anna; lace-weight Meadow in tweedy Black Adder; Canopy Fingering in Obsidian; speckly DK Acadia in Cormorant; and worsted, heathered Knightsbridge in Flintshire

– YOTH makes all of their yarns in an off-black color called Cracked Pepper, which varies slightly from base to base

– Quince and Co has two blacks, both of which I believe are available in all of their 100% wool yarns: Crow is the blackest of blacks and Sabine is a heathery off-black (I used it for my sleeveless turtleneck — yes, I swear, the pattern is coming! — and leftovers hat)

– Brooklyn Tweed makes both Shelter and Loft in Cast Iron, also a tweedy off-black

– Shibui makes all but one of their yarns — including Linen! — in what they call Abyss, the blackness of which varies with the fiber content and style from yarn to yarn

– Woolfolk makes Far and Tynd in a true black (“Color 15”) and Sno in three different black marls

These are certainly not the only blacks out there (feel free to name your favorites in the comments!), but I also feel like black is endangered in the yarn world, so if you love it and want it to keep existing, put your money on it.

p.s. The new issue of Taproot has landed over at Fringe Supply Co., with a new sweater pattern by Carrie Bostick Hoge!

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Pictured, top to bottom: Shibui Maai in Abyss, Quince Puffin in Crow, Fibre Co Terra in Coalwood, Woolfolk Far in Color 15, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Cast Iron

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PREVIOUSLY: Camel-colored yarns

The moment my anti-“arm knitting” resolve crumbled

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The moment my anti-"arm knitting" resolve crumbled

Throughout the last year or more, I’ve managed to avoid ever typing the phrase “arm knitting” or uttering a single thing about it. There was one phase where it seemed like I couldn’t click anywhere on the Internet without encountering a mention, but I studiously avoided following any of the links or reading anything at all about the craze that was sweeping the yarn nation. The definition of arm knitting seemed self-evident, no need to click for an explanation, and I was happy to sit out the fad. Then just recently the whole thing flared up again — I started seeing rampant mentions of a book called “Knitting Without Needles” by Anne Weil, often accompanied by photos of things that were not at all horrifying. (I have no idea where my instant disdain for arm knitting came from, honestly — it’s just there in my head, involuntarily.) Saturday before last, I popped into Craft South to buy a Moroccan pillow I’d been coveting, and found that Weil was going to be doing a book signing in a matter of minutes. There I was, faced with the book itself, so I broke down and flipped through it. Assessment: not awful. I was a little bit interested to meet her but had urgent pre-Thanksgiving errands to run, so off I went. Then somehow yesterday, cruising around the web, I found myself at her blog, Flax and Twine, and more specifically at a post about this giant, fluffy, basketweave, arm-knitted charcoal grey throw. And I’m not sure I can live without it! (You know I have mega blankets on my mind.) So I might be caving in about this whole bloody arm knitting business. Have you all done it? Am I crazy to have been avoiding it this whole time? Can you live without this blanket? I need to know.

Gift Idea of the DayUNRELATED/VERY EXCITING SHOP NEWS: If you’re curious to learn about natural dyeing or have someone on your gift list who is, I’m happy to report we’ve now got autographed copies of Kristine Vejar’s jaw-droppingly great new book, The Modern Natural Dyer, along with the beautiful boxed kit for the Northwoods Hat, available in three colors. See Fringe Supply Co. for pics and full details, and to grab yours before they’re gone!

New Favorites: from Olga’s “Capsule” collection

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New Favorites: from Olga's "Capsule" collection

The week before Thanksgiving, Brooklyn Tweed released their first collection of knitting patterns by a single designer, in this case Olga Buraya-Kefelian, which was also the debut of a new series of printed books they’re calling Capsule. Olga’s Capsule 1 collection is a little bit of everything — cables, lace and colorwork; garments and accessories — and definitely shows her range. The peplum sweater, Nobu, is completely fascinating from a construction point of view (the back of it, in particular, is just stunning) but my favorite pieces in the collection are the simpler ones:

TOP: the Tatara curved/scrunchy fingerless mitts are reminiscent of those bendy straws and promise to be a fun knit

BOTTOM LEFT: the Ebb ombré dress is a 60s-meet-90s mini knitted top-down with contiguous sleeves and sweet pockets

BOTTOM RIGHT: the Jujika colorwork cowl features my favorite interlocking crosses motif, so I’m an easy target!

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Mega blankets