Nice trick: The statement stripe

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Nice trick: The statement stripe

Here’s the thing about knitting (or sewing) your own clothes: You have the opportunity throw in any sort of details and accents you like, when you like, whether it’s a subtle finishing detail like a folded neckband or a pronounced design feature like elbow patches. In the past 24 hours, I’ve run across two different sweaters (top and bottom left) that reminded me of a third (bottom right), all of which employ an incredibly simple but wildly effective trick: a bold stripe of randomness that makes an otherwise simple sweater memorable. At the top is the new kit from Wool and the Gang, the Little Honey Pot Jumper, which poses a wide stripe of rust stockinette against a field of persimmon seed stitch. The origins of the bottom left image are unknown to me (it’s floating around the Internet without context; I happened to see it most recently here), and bottom right is the Chloé Resort 2013 sweater I fawned over back in 2012., both of which use a wide red stripe to make an impact. I particularly love that they all employ a change in texture as well as color, and how bold the size of the stripe is. This goes hand in hand with what I love so much about basic patterns — they’re excellent canvases for pulling fun tricks like this out of the bag and making any garment your own.

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Blue Bellows at long last

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Blue Bellows at long last

Meanwhile, I’ve finished my warmest sweater to-date, lol, my second edition of Michele Wang’s Bellows cardigan. I was SO RIGHT back in February when I shelved this: My November self could not have been happier to get to finish a sweater exactly as the corresponding weather for it arrived. I mean, how often does that happen? When I put it away, I had seamed the shoulders, knitted the button band, and left myself some notes for record-keeping purposes. So all I had to do on Sunday evening, with the first overnight freeze upon us, was seam the sides and sleeves and sew down the pockets. And well, in theory, sew on the buttons, but I haven’t identified the right ones yet. This will definitely qualify as a coat here in Nashville for most of the season, and I still expect to wear it mostly on my couch on cold, drafty nights since the color is so weirdly difficult to pair with anything.* But I wore it to work on Monday with my natural wide-legs and black tee — the only outfit I’ve come up with so far — and it was cozy both indoors and out.

(Please pardon the grainy-splotchy photos, they were taken in the gloomiest light imaginable and brightened to within an inch of their lives. The yarn does not really look like that top photo — it’s the best I can do!)

My original charcoal Bellows (now my mom’s) was knitted at slightly finer than pattern gauge and scaled for a little more fitted fit. This one is slightly chunkier than pattern gauge, and while I made it the same length as before, it is both bigger and thicker. There’s just more of it, so I’m extra glad I kept it to this length, 16″ from cast-on to underarm bind-off. (Slightly shorter than the pattern; the model must be 7′ tall.) For this one, I mostly followed the third size but I think they’re basically size 2 sleeves with a size 3 sleeve cap to fit the armhole. I made the same mods as before: no cables in the ribbing, only three repeats of the cable chart. But I made two other significant changes for this one:

Blue Bellows at long last

1) I added pockets. There’s not really an ideal way to do it with this stitch pattern, so it’s slightly awkward but worth the trade-off. I have pockets! All I did when knitting the fronts was to knit the first chart repeat once, then 4 rows of ribbing between the two slip-stitch borders for the pocket edging. The pocket lining is 16 rows of reverse stockinette then the first 4 rows of the second chart repeat, so the ribbing on the pocket overlays the bottom 4 rows of the second cable, which makes it look a bit truncated. But pockets tend to hang open a little bit, giving you a glimpse of the cable inside the pocket, which I think optically balances it out a little bit. I’m not sure anyone would ever be aware of it if I didn’t point it out — they look more natural than I thought they would.

2) I wanted the button band to be a bit narrower on this one, but conversely wanted the shawl collar to be a little more voluminous than the original. With the difference in gauge I was really winging it on that adjustment. I removed 4 four full rows of ribbing, making the band a total of 8 rows rather than 12, and worked some extra short rows for the shawl shaping — 13 on the first short-row sequence, 11 on the second, according to my notes. (I no longer know how that compares to what’s in the pattern.) With the narrower band, I worked 3-st buttonholes, for slightly smaller buttons, so now I need to find the right buttons.

Ultimately, this thing is a beautiful beast, being extremely warm and also taking up an entire cubby in my little closet, so we’ll see whether it winds up getting worn enough to earn its keep. But for now, with the temperature having not escaped the 30s yesterday, I really am happy to have it! I love this classically woolly yarn and think it made for a powerhouse sweater, but there’s no question my original yarn choice (Balance held double) made for a more regionally appropriate version.

• Bellows pattern by Michele Wang in limited-edition yarn from Harrisville Designs | all Bellows posts
• Town Bag from Fringe Supply Co. (I don’t have to hide it anymore!)

*For everyone who keeps telling me it’s not a hard color to wear, please try to understand that you really can’t know — unless you’ve seen this yarn in real life — and take my word for it? I can’t even get a photo to reflect the actual purpley-dusty-tourquoiseness of it, much less demonstrate how it really does not go with denim like you’d assume it would.

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PREVIOUSLY in 2018 FOs: Hozkwoz Hat

New Favorites: the Two-Point Cowl

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New Favorites: the Two-Point Cowl

I have two chief concerns right now, winter wardrobe-wise, being opposite sides of the same coin: First, how to knit myself a couple of sweaters that aren’t too warm for my climate and work well with my collection of pants. (What shape? What yarn? The internal debate is interminable.) Second, what to do with the assorted beautiful wool in my stash such that it is wearable in my climate. Of the two, the one I’m trying most to focus on is the latter, since it makes use of stash — and specifically of yarn I have because I’m dying to knit with it! So I keep going back to my dickey and what I said about Brandi’s neck pieces — the notion of sewing myself a couple of simple things that would fill in for lighter-weight sweaters (e.g., a sweatshirt instead of a pullover; a kimono jacket instead of a cardigan), and layering them with wool neck accessories that are easier and more flexible to wear than were I to commit the same yarn to a full sweater. Which brings me to Churchmouse’s Two-Point Cowl, pictured above in two different gauges. The simple but effective pattern — which wears more like a wrap than a cowl, and also looks great more bunched up — is easy to adapt to any gauge, making it a good candidate for the variety of yarns I have in waiting. And it’s a great pattern for just letting a good yarn shine.

(p.s. Sorry for my unintended absence yesterday. I was sick all weekend and didn’t get a post written. All better now!)

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: All square

Introducing the Town Bag (and more!)

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Introducing the Town Bag project bag by Fringe Supply Co.

Today is the day you’ve been impatiently awaiting! The much requested “bigger Field Bag” is finally here, and its name is the Town Bag. But it’s much more than just a scaled up Field Bag. The Town Bag combines the capacity of the Porter Bin with the companionability of the Field Bag, made even better by the addition of external pockets (front and back) in coordinating waxed canvas, which wraps underneath for protection and gives a subtle tone-on-tone effect. (Most apparent in the cocoa/pecan colorway; least apparent in the black/black.) And it can handle a sweater quantity, pattern and tools, as well as accommodating your wallet, comb and keys for those times when your knitting bag needs to double as your handbag. I’ve been using it since summer, traveling with it and putting it through its daily paces, and I know you’re going to love it as much as I do! You can get it now in both cocoa and black at Fringe Supply Co.; black is also available through our stockists; and natural is coming later this month.

We also have the last batch of coveted waxed plum Field Bags (until next year) in the webshop this morning, so if you’ve been waiting for that one, don’t hesitate!

And today I’ve also got a whole new lookbook for you! For this year’s Winter Lookbook and for the launch of the Town, we actually went to the country and created the ideal yarn-filled winter staycation at the beautiful Bloomsbury Farm — shooting in both farmer Lauren’s house (that bathtub!) and the Airbnb above the stables. I hope you’ll enjoy a stroll through the photos — they’re some of my favorites yet.

And there’s another holiday surprise hiding in the pages of the lookbook, too, so go check it out! 

Fringe Supply Co. Winter 2018 Lookbook

Happy weekend, everyone! I’ve got some serious sleeping to do this weekend, along with a bit of seaming …

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Q for You: What sells you on a pattern?

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Q for You: What sells you on a pattern?

It’s one of those elusive things: You see a pattern and feel incontrovertibly drawn to it, and very often you can’t even really identify why. Does it look fun to knit? Look good on a friend? Is the sample in a color you find irresistible, maybe even to the point that the item itself is almost irrelevant? Is it a matter of shaping, or texture, or aesthetic? Is it the photos? (Were they shot in some dreamscape that tugs at your soul?) Does it remind you of a favorite garment you once had? Is it exactly the shape you’ve been looking for? Written for a yarn you’ve been wanting to use? Sister tells you to? Published by your favorite designer or pattern company? Was at the top of Hot Right Now?

There are a thousand reasons why we might be attracted to a pattern, and we all lament the common experience of choosing poorly — casting on for the wrong reason and winding up with an unworn handknit that gives us the guilty feels. And hopefully we get better over time, knitting things that will not only be worn but loved. But that’s my Q for You today: How do you choose? What is it about a pattern that makes you download it and cast on, and are you able to identify the good triggers versus the not-so-good ones?

I was thinking about this over the weekend when it occurred to me that many of my best decisions were the result of getting to try one on, from Trillium to Channel to Cline. After many months of obsessing about a Carbeth Cardigan, I got to try on Shannon Cook’s Carbeth on Friday night — we were housemates in Seattle. It was that thing where you put something on and instantly go I’m never taking it off. It just fits, in all the ways. I woke up Saturday morning wishing that’s what I was wearing that day. And the next and the next and the one after that, which is how I finally knew for sure that it’s the right thing for me to cast on. Just as soon as I stop arguing with myself about yarn …

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PREVIOUSLY in Q for You: How many clothes do you make/buy each year?

Top photo by Kate Davies; bottom photo by Shannon Cook, used with permission

Sólbein palette ideas and a GIVEAWAY

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Sólbein palette ideas and a GIVEAWAY

I had the good fortune of being at Tolt this weekend, where I got to spend some time at the Istex Léttlopi wall along with Andrea Rangel, picking out possible color pairings for Sólbein and the Steekalong. (That sounds like a band name!) As I mentioned in the announcement, Mary Jane designed this cardigan to be knitted in tonal shades of a single color (light, medium and dark), and lopi comes in lots of great colors, but pairing them up is not so easy a thing to do if you’re ordering online. So I hope you’ll find these suggestions helpful. (Thanks so much for my friends at Tolt for letting me do this in the middle of their anniversary madhouse!) These are, of course, on top of the two colorways already pictured in the pattern, both of which are gorgeous.

Some of the combos above are perfectly tonal (such as the pumpkin pie and chocolate combos, 2 and 3); others rely on a pale grey for the lightest shade where no pale version of the color in question exists, and you could also use the (off) white the same way, as we did for the purple combo, 7. Combos 9 and 11 represent the idea of a light/dark neutral motif on a colored field, which would be a different look but possibly quite pleasing.

PLEASE NOTE that I have not actually swatched these so I can’t vouch for how they would hold up — I definitely recommend buying a ball of each and swatching to see — but I think these are all fairly safe bets.

I’m using the Istex color designations here, which are numbers. Sometimes you also see them with name names, but the official color numbers seem like the safest way to label them here since that’s what’s on the ball band:

1. 1700 + 9419 + 0005

2. 1419 + 1704 + 9427

3. 0085 + 0053* + 0052

4. 0086 + 0085 + 0058

5. 0054 + 1700 + 1701

6. 0054 + 1417 + 1416

7. 0051 + 1702 + 1414

8. 0054 + 1406 + 1407

9. 0086 + 0085 + 9418

10. 0054 + 1419 + 9431

11. 0054 + 0057 + 1703

Andrea reminded me I’ve been talking about wanting and black and navy sweater forever, so I think I’m probably doing that top combo myself! (Especially since I have a sweater’s worth of the heathered black leftover from my little quick black raglan.)

*I didn’t get that one into my list, but I’m 95% sure that’s the right color number.

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GIVEAWAY

I also just got an email from Berroco, the yarn company that distributes Istex Lopi yarns in the US and Canada, and they offered up a prize of a sweater quantity of Léttlopi to one of you, dear readers. (Open to knitters with a shipping address in the US or Canada.) To enter, leave a comment below saying which three colors you’re thinking of using for your Sólbein, and I’ll pick a winner at random from all comments received by 5pm CST tomorrow, Nov 8. I’ll update this post with the winner’s name at that time, so check back Thursday evening to see if you won!

UPDATE: Chosen at random, the winner is Jo who posted “Although your color combos are amazing, my choice would be 0052 for the body with 0056 and 1701 as the accents. Thanks for the opportunity!” Congratulations, Jo! Please email me <contact@fringesupplyco.com> for instructions on how to collect your prize. Thanks to everyone who entered, and I’m so excited to see all y’all’s sweaters come January!

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MORE TO COME

There have been questions since Monday about yarn substitutions and alternative steeking methods (as opposed to the sewing machine approach) and we will cover all of that along the way, I promise! But the short answer to the latter is no, you do not have to use the sewing machine approach.

Lots more as we go—

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PREVIOUSLY in Fringe and Friends Knitalongs: Get ready to steekalong!

New Favorites: All square

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New Favorites: All square (knitting patterns)

I’m endlessly amazed at how musicians can be given the same limited set of musical notes and yet come up with an infinite number of new tunes and melodies. I feel a bit the same about these two shawls — oversized rectangular wraps — both of which are based on the simple concept of squares knitted in alternating stockinette and reverse stockinette:

TOP: Ippen Shawl by Claudia Eisenkolb puts two twists on the classic big-basketweave effect: the squares give way to wedges at the center, turning the rectangle into a U shape; and there’s a stripe of color running the length of it that shifts depending on whether you’re in a stockinette or reverse-stockinette block, from a solid line to a ticking stripe [Link updated 11.13, original Ravelry pattern listing was broken]

BOTTOM: Sjal by Antonia Shankland is a subtle collection of nested squares that change scale along the way

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Brandi’s neck sculptures