Tag Archives: crochet

Giving thanks and Elsewhere

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Yarny links for the long weekend

I’m taking some semblance of a day off today — as I hope you are, if you’re in the U.S. — and celebrating Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. I also believe in taking life one holiday at a time, so I do have a little shop update, but it will happen tomorrow morning, along with a short blog post about that update. But I wanted to leave you with a few links to keep you entertained, and also with my most sincere thanks. Of all the things I’m grateful for, the opportunity to do this — to run Fringe — ranks way, way up there. I know I’ve said this a lot and recently, but I can never say it enough: It means the world to me that you find what I’m doing worthwhile. I am truly thankful for your time, your advice, your encouragement, and everything else.

So with that, a little Elsewhere:

— Is your pet turtle this well-dressed? (I love that my husband sent me this link.)

— Adventures in historically-correct knitting

— What could be more 2013 than a Kickstarter for custom-fit, 3D-printed sweaters

— A campaign I’m seriously contributing to: Mendocino Wool & Fiber

— “Handmade is never small” — Meredith’s latest yarn bomb project

— and my favorite yarny Instagram of the week (read the caption)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

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The book that made me want to write about books again

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Lena Corwin's Made by Hand

You may not know this about me, but in the aughts I ran a site called Readerville, where for nine years I covered books from every possible angle — from reviews to cover critiques to author discussions in the once-booming forum. I knew from having worked several years at Salon how many review copies of books are sent indiscriminately to the addresses of people who publish book reviews, but didn’t grasp what a … shall we say … mixed blessing it is to be on publicists’ mailing lists until the mountains of books began landing on my own doorstep. It took me years to get off some of those lists — not even an unannounced change of address could stop them! So as much as I’ve wanted books to be a part of the mix here at Fringe, I’ve been reluctant to risk finding myself back on those lists. But lately there have been a few books that are just too good not to write about, and first among them is Lena Corwin’s “Made by Hand.”

The story goes that Corwin, an illustrator and textile designer, used to host classes in her New York studio, with her various creative friends teaching their various creative skills. (Including Cal Patch — hi, Cal!) Reading about it makes one envious of everyone who got to teach and/or attend those classes. They ceased a few years ago, but luckily someone had the bright idea to recreate them in book form. So what lives between these covers is twenty-six projects, “taught” by the original slate of instructors, plus a few new ones. I say projects, but really each one is a lesson in a technique — from braiding a rug to tie-dyeing a pillowcase to coiling a bowl — that can be extrapolated and applied in as many ways as you can dream up. Some of them are what you would think of as large-scale undertakings shrunken down to kitchen-table scale, most notably a technique for using a rolling pin to simulate the action of giant rotary fabric-printing machines. And while there’s soap-making and beading and candle-making, nearly all of the projects are fiber-centric: printing and resist-dyeing fabrics; knitting and crocheting everything from socks to garlands to cat toys; weaving on improvised “looms”; sewing; embroidery; braiding; fabric origami; the list goes on. And the book manages to be extremely beautiful without failing to be useful: Every project is accompanied by copious step-by-step photos, diagrams and patterns, along with the materials lists and instructions.

Ever since I first stumbled across Jenny Gordy’s blog posts about her socks, I’ve been wishing she’d publish her pattern, and here it is! But there are so many wonderful, fundamental skills to be learned here, it’s hard to decide where to start.

Lena Corwin's Made by Hand

Pom Pom Quarterly issue 7 — available for preorder!

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Pom Pom Quarterly issue 7 now available at Fringe Supply Co.

Just a quick note to let you know that issue 7 of Pom Pom Quarterly is rolling off the printing press, and now available for preorder at Fringe Supply Co. This issue includes 10 patterns — 8 knitting, 2 crochet — all wintery and romantic. You can see pattern pics on the shop page. (Those socks! Those hats! And what is up with me wanting to crochet another scarf?) There are also still a handful of issue 6 available, but I’m down to just 2 copies of the utterly adorable Camp Pom Pom issue, number 5. So grab those while you’re at it!

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DIY Comme des Garçons granny-square scarf

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How to crochet a granny-square scarf

Granny squares have officially hit the Fashion Bigtime, friends. The legendary Comme des Garçons has put out a granny-square scarf, available in black/off-white and grey/off-white at La Garçonne. Of course, they don’t call it a granny-square scarf; it is a Square Crochet Stole (“crocheted … in alternating nested square pattern”). It’s granny cool, for sure, but if I ever drop $495 on a scarf, it won’t be 70% acrylic. Of course, anyone who can crochet a granny square could make themselves a 100% cashmere version for less than that — or a merino one that looks like a bargain by comparison.

My crochet skills are rusty, at best, but there’s no better learning or re-learning project for crochet than this ultra-basic form of the granny square. And it’s easy enough to seam a bunch of them into a long rectangle. But the striking thing about the Comme scarf is the diagonal of the pattern, and the trick to that is the half-squares (aka triangles) needed to fill out the edges. Friday night I sought out two good solid videos: how to crochet a granny square and how to crochet a half-granny square.* Then I sat down and made my first granny square in decades, and was reminded again of how much I love the motion of a crochet hook — truly addictive. So there may be some squares and half-squares in my future.

You could do this in any yarn and weight you like. Just make a square you like the looks of, measure it, then calculate or diagram how many you’d need — laid on a diagonal — to get the width and length you want. And from that, figure out how many triangles that leaves along the four edges. (Note that you’ll need four half-triangles — quarter-grannies? — for the four corners.) I’m guessing the CdG stole is worsted weight, each square about 5 or 6″ wide, and that they’re laid out four or five across and twelve or thirteen down. It lists a finished size of 25×77 inches, which is pretty deliciously voluminous.

For those with more advanced crochet skills, check out the pinwheel motif version being sold alongside the grannies.

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Relatedly, ICYMI for this week is Things that make me want to crochet.

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*Note that the first video uses the term “treble crochet” and the second uses “double crochet” — they are different names for the same stitch.

Show us your Rhinebeck sweater, win fabulous prizes

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Show us your Rhinebeck Sweater, win fabulous prizes from Fringe Association and Fringe Supply Co. Click through for details

When I missed my 20th high-school reunion a few years ago, I regretted not getting to see a couple of long-lost friends, but I still got to see what everyone looks like now, from the comfort of my own chair, as hundreds of photos were uploaded to the Internet. As I sat in my same chair recently, bemoaning the fact that I’m not en route to Rhinebeck NY this week for the famous NYS Sheep & Wool Festival, it occurred to me I could still potentially see alllllll the Rhinebeck Sweaters if I played my cards right, thanks to a little thing called Instagram.

By “play my cards right,” I mean bribe people with fabulous prizes. And if you’re not attending, there’s a potential prize for you too — keep reading!

Of course, lots of Rhinebeck sweaters will presumably be posted to Instagram without my encouragement. But so eager am I to see and applaud as many as possible (and I know I’m far from alone) that I’ve decided to host a little contest. It’ll be sort of like county fair judging but from 2,942 miles away. Also, I’ll be the only judge, and I have no idea how county fair judging works, so really it’ll just be me picking my favorites. A few details and pointers:

  • You must be at Rhinebeck this weekend with a sweater you knitted or crocheted yourself, by hand. Please, no cheating.
  • The contest is open to professionals and amateurs alike.
  • You may have a friend take your picture or model the sweater for you, or you can spread it lovingly on the ground to take your shot, but the prize goes to the knitter of the garment, regardless of who is wearing it. If you and two friends are all wearing sweaters you knitted/crocheted, you may enter all three.
  • Sweaters will be judged on style, use of color, choice of yarn, etc.
  • You needn’t have designed the sweater yourself, although that counts for something, but so does anything you’ve done to make it your own — from modifications to yarn substitutions to how well you wear it.
  • This isn’t so much about what I like or would make/wear, but about your personality and how that’s reflected in your sweater, your ensemble, and your photo.
  • Photo quality counts. Make sure your photo is in focus, shot in natural light, without a flash. And if it’s a sunny day, do your shooting in the morning or late afternoon while the sun is low in the sky and illuminating your sweater from an angle, not from straight overhead.
  • I’d love to see it from multiple angles, so feel free to post more than one shot per sweater.

To enter the sweater competition, simply post your photo(s) to Instagram [UPDATE: and/or Twitter] with the hashtag #rhinebeck4fringe. (As well as @karentempler #rhinebeck #rhinebecksweater #sheepandwool and any other tags you might like.) In your caption, tell me whatever you’d want us all to know about the sweater — who designed it, what’s the yarn, why this sweater, what do you love about it, etc. Use of the #rhinebeck4fringe hashtag will constitute your intent to participate in the contest and permission for me to republish your photos here on Fringe Association.

I’ll pore over all of the entries, make my pick(s), and announce the winner(s) here next week. (I’m allowing for the possibility of runners up, you see.) The “blue ribbon” winner will get everything seen in the photo above, some of my favorite things from Fringe Supply Co: A large Bento Bag in slate ticking, a Large Wrapper tool pouch in rust, Japanese thread snips, a wooden gauge ruler, black rubber stitch markers and antiqued brass removable stitch markers — a $101 value.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

For everyone else who’s stuck at home but excited about the possibility of seeing all the sweaters, I need your help spreading the word, to ensure that we’ll have plenty of sweaters to gawk at! So I’m offering a prize for that as well. You can enter the word-spreading contest by doing one or more of the following:

1) Copy this into a tweet: “Show us your Rhinebeck sweater; win fabulous prizes! Details at http://ktslowcloset.com/2013/10/17/show-me-your-rhinebeck-sweater-win-fabulous-prizes/ ” and then leave a comment here with your Twitter ID.

2) Click the Pinterest button just beneath this post and pin the image above to your account, then leave a comment here with your Pinterest ID.

3) Follow me on Instagram, hit Like on my post there about this (when it appears today), and leave a comment here with your Instagram ID.

To do all three is to be entered three times. I’ll pick one name at random from all of the qualified comments and that person will win a Large Wrapper pouch in tan!

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Sound like fun?

I also want to tip my hat to Cal Patch, whose roving report on the sweater landscape from 2011 was part of the inspiration for this.

OK, bring on the sweaters!

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New tricks, updates and Elsewhere

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Red and oatmeal ribbed skullcap

I decided my idle knitting this week, while the Acer repair awaits me, would be the next skullcap in line for Bob. But in order to feel like I’d accomplished something as a knitter, I also decided to Magic Loop the crown. I’ve never been comfortable with this method, and not sure I ever will be. I’m so incredibly strategic with DPNs — about where best to divide up my stitches, how and when to slip some from one needle to another, etc. Would I get there with Magic Loop eventually? Not sure. Plus it’s just not as lovely to look at as the mouth of a DPN triangle. But I’m giving it a whirl, because hooray for old dogs learning new tricks.

Also hooray also for this Kenzie* red, which is the best shade of red I have ever seen — somehow wonderfully vintage looking — and is making me really happy. I say that, too, as a person who does not generally enjoy red.

UPDATES

– Remember that Nikki Gabriel triangles sweater pattern you all helped me get my hands on? It’s now available in her webshop.

– This week’s Knit the Look was a simple stockinette beanie on Emily Weiss, and I recommended you calculate your cast-on from a swatch and a measurement — an extremely valuable exercise for anyone who hasn’t ever done that. But if you prefer a fully written pattern, Purl Soho just yesterday listed their Basic Hats for Everyone, a proto hat pattern with three brim choices (rolled, garter, ribbed) and optional ear flaps and tassels, designed for their new worsted-weight yarn. (Which I’m still dying to knit with.)

– Another recent Knit the Look was Sabrina Meijer with that black-and-white op-art sweater. I recommended a similar op-art sweater pattern, but have since spotted a new cowl pattern, Rama Lama, which has pretty much the same colorwork pattern as Meijer’s pullover. So if you’re good with colorwork, you could borrow that stitch pattern and improvise a sweater out of it. (Of course, if you’re very good with colorwork, you could improvise that stitch pattern as well. But there it is.)

ELSEWHERE

– Speaking of yarn I’m dying to knit with, hello Bare Naked Yarns from Anne Hanson. You can find them here.

– I’m excited about Knit.fm, a new podcast by Hannah Fettig and Pam Allen

– And in love with Fibre Space for teaching furloughed government workers to knit for free

– Thanks to Felicia at The Craft Sessions for bringing this fantastic post of hers to my attention: How to choose a sweater pattern

– I don’t know what the #CaribouKnits hashtag is all about, really, but Kay Gardiner has been cracking me up. (As usual.) I’ve been laughing at this one for seven days and counting.

– Not just the bunny, the bunny’s bag

– How long a wool sweater can last (Hint: 1700 years)

– My favorite yarny Instagram shot of the week, by Jill Draper

– And this one is an absolute MUST, do you hear me? A MUST. The whole conversation between Chuck Close and Robert Storr is fantastic, but you MUST go to the 1:10 mark and listen to Close talk about his grandmother and all the ways that her crochet and knitting impacted him as an artist and his views on art-making. Wonderful stuff, and I wish I could remember who pointed me to it. Thanks so much to Clare for having pointed me to it, and my apologies to her for having lost track of the source.

Thanks for a great week everyone, and don’t forget to enter the Manos yarn giveaway!

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*Provided to me by Skacel

Best of the Best of Spring 2014: Michael Kors

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Michael Kors Spring 2014 knit and crochet goodness

After being sick for most of September, I’ve spent more time catching up with my inbox than with the catwalks of New York, London and Paris. The Michael Kors show was weeks ago, and there have been countless others since that I may never see, but I’m comfortable calling these my favorite knits (and crochet!) of Spring 2014 regardless.

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