Winter silhouette 2: Boxy over wide-cropped

January 13, 2016 by Karen Templer

In a moment of weakness (hypocrisy, really) and desperation for some pants to wear this winter, I broke down and bought a pair of wide-cropped black jeans from J.Crew.* While I’m not happy about their unspecified origins — and can only hope against hope that they were made in a respectable factory — I’m extremely relieved to have them. Other than those black skinny pants from winter silhouette 1, I’m basically down to just two pairs of disturbingly threadbare jeans. (Every time I leave the house in either one of them, I think “today’s the day the crotch rips open in public.”) So not only were these needed, they are sliding right into my wardrobe the way a hardworking garment should.

As previously discussed, what looks modern to me with regard to this pants shape is a cropped, boxy top layer — either on its own or over a tunic-length top — but I’m also really loving a tucked-in top for the first time in a long while, and that could be a tee or a woven top. So these examples are easy outfits built from the same pieces you’ve seen before — those already in my closet or my current queue: the tunic(s), the woven pullover, the black lopi raglan. Of which, all I’ve accomplished so far is working on a muslin for the woven pullover, which underwent some design changes in the process. More on that front soon!

(Indispensable Fashionary Panels via Fringe Supply Co., as usual.)

*I also invested in a pair of Point Sur jeans — J.Crew’s new line of jeans made in Los Angeles. I’m thrilled that they’re doing this and want to support it. And while I’ve never spent anywhere near that kind of money on jeans before, I understand the cost and also think it’s a reasonable expenditure, since I’ll wear them a thousand times.

PREVIOUSLY in Wardrobe Planning: Winter silhouette 1: Short over long over skinny

Best of the Best of Pre-Fall 2016: Joseph is everything

January 12, 2016 by Karen Templer

Best of the Best of Pre-Fall 2016: Joseph is everything

Just as I was about to give up on Pre-Fall 2016 as being devoid of anything truly jaw-dropping, I found myself paging through the Joseph collection, involuntarily muttering “omigod” under my breath with every click. Truly, for me, it’s beyond words. I love the shapes and the tones and the Sinead O’Connor-ish model. I love the impossibly beautiful coat in look 1 , the sporty looks with the silk blouses, the scale of the pockets on everything, the easy layering, and those utterly perfect boots. This makes me want to wear red on red, and I hate red. And of course I love the knits, including the ones pictured above, but really you should go click through the entire collection. At least once.

These are two of the best outfits I’ve ever seen my life:

Best of the Best of Pre-Fall 2016: Joseph is everything

Gone knittin’

January 8, 2016 by Karen Templer

Gone knittin'

By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be on a boat somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean, out of sight of any land, knitting away on Bob’s sweater while my loved ones do some deep-sea fishing. Bob and I escaped to Florida a few days ago for a little R&R and today is our last day. It was not my intention to only blog three times this week, but it turns out my brain REALLY wanted to be on vacation! Sorry about that. But I’ve been making great progress on this sweater. There’s really nothing for knitting productivity like a good road trip, amirite? (I promise to do a post with complete details when I’m done with it, but there’s no pattern — I’m improvising it — and the yarn is O-Wool Balance in Emerald.)

The other thing I’ve been enjoying this week is the #loop2loop hashtag on Instagram (the latest wave of #howiknit, sparked by a post from Kristine). Although it’s often impossible to tell what people are actually doing because they’re going too fast, it is utterly fascinating to me how many billions of ways there are to pick up two needles and a piece of yarn and proceed to make knitted fabric. Did you know there’s such a thing as continental throwers?! Amazing. If you have nothing to do this weekend, pull up that feed and start watching. You’ll be agape for hours …

In shop news, the Bento Bags have been restocked — caramel linen is back! — and DG is at Fringe Supply Co. headquarters shipping as speedily as ever!

I hope you’ve had a great week — I promise to be a more dedicated blogger when I get home …

Knit the Look: Ultra-stockinette scarf

January 6, 2016 by Karen Templer

Knit the Look: Ultra-stockinette scarf

If you have a cable sweater as swoony as this one photographed by Vanessa Jackman, and the perfect pale cocoon coat to go over it, what better to complement it with than the ultimate stockinette scarf? This one is as simple as can be, but striking because of its scale and how nicely it plays with others. It almost looks like it’s made from flat felt instead of yarn, or something, but what you or I would want for our version is some mega yarn, such as Loopy Mango’s Big Loop merino, and a pair of US50 knitting needles. Then all you need to do is figure out your gauge and multiply that by how wide you want your scarf to be — e.g., if you’re at 1.5″ per stitch, 8 stitches would make a 12″ wide scarf. Work in stockinette will you run out of yarn or reach your desired length, whichever comes first!

See Vanessa’s post for another view.

PREVIOUSLY in Knit the Look: Anya Ziourova’s cropped raglan

Street style photo © Vanessa Jackman; used with permission

Plait Hat

January 4, 2016 by Karen Templer

If you like this, please LEAVE A TIP!
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I thought it might be nice to kick off the new year with a little free pattern — the one I’ve promised you for this easy peasy hat!

Plait Hat pattern

BY KAREN TEMPLER

For this super simple, super warm hat, you need approximately 190-200 total yards of worsted-weight yarn held triple. By knitting with three strands, rather than a single strand of superbulky, you get to create the sweet little braided loop detail up top. You can either wind off three balls of 65 to 70 yards each (i.e., one half skein of Lark per ball), and knit with them held triple. Or, for the safer and easier approach, wind your yarn as usual and use the Navajo Ply method to create the tripled strand as you go. If you Navajo Ply, when you get near the end of the crown decrease section, pull out a crazy-long loop — like 6 feet — to be 100% sure you can finish the knitting and break the long tails for the braid without encountering the bend in your loop. I’d also recommend splicing on the second skein when you come to it.

Materials:

2 skeins Quince and Co. Lark (134 yards / 123 meters per 50g skein, pictured in Sabine) or approximately 195-200 yards worsted-weight yarn, held triple throughout (see note above)
16″ circular needle and set of DPNs in size needed to match gauge (suggested size US13/9mm)
16″ circular needle two sizes smaller for ribbing (suggested size US11/8mm)
3 stitch markers and 1 contrasting Beginning of Round marker
tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Measurements:

Gauge: 10 sts and 18 rounds = 4″ in stockinette stitch
Size: 18″ circumference at brim (unstretched); 8″ tall

DIRECTIONS

Using smaller needle and the long-tail method, and holding three strands of yarn together throughout the pattern, cast on 44 sts; place BOR marker and join for working in the round.

Work k2/p2 ribbing until piece measures 2.5″ from cast-on edge.

Switch to larger needle and stockinette stitch: knit all stitches, all rounds, until piece measures 5″ from cast-on edge. (For a slouchier hat, knit more rounds before beginning crown shaping.)

Shape crown
Setup round: *k2tog, k7, SSK, place marker; repeat from * to end of round. (8 sts decreased; 36 remain)

Round 1: Knit
Round 2: *k2tog, knit to 2 sts before marker, SSK, slip marker; repeat from * to end of round.

Repeat last two rounds (switch to DPNs when needed) until 3 sts remain between the markers.

Next round: *k2tog, k1, slip marker; repeat from * to end. (8 sts remain)

Next round: *k2tog, drop marker; repeat from * to end. (4 sts remain)

Next round: k2tog, break yarns leaving an 8-10″ tail of each strand; thread all three strands onto tapestry needle, thread them through the remaining three sts and pull to cinch hat closed.

Create braid
Remove the strands from the tapestry needle and braid them loosely for about 2″. Holding the braid securely, form a loop with the three strands (right at the end of the braid), pass the tails through and pull tight to secure braid in the knot. Now thread the tails back onto the tapestry needle and pass them down through the center top of the hat — it will stop at the knot, leaving you with a braided loop atop the hat and the tails inside. Now weave in your ends, block as desired, and wear it in good health!

<< Fave/queue the Plait Hat at Ravelry >>

2015: My knitting year in review

December 31, 2015 by Karen Templer

My knitting year in review

Last year, I remember being so shocked to discover that I had only finished six projects within the span of the year. This year I’m equally shocked to find I finished thirteen! But this having been my Year of Sleevelessnees and of holding yarns triple, I guess it’s not that surprising! And it’s really more a dozen than a baker’s dozen, since my first FO of the year — my Amanda cardigan from the first Fringe and Friends Knitalong — was knitted in the last four months of 2014 (the reason for that year’s low count) and only finished in January of 2015. But still, I’m pretty proud of this list. Even more for the success of the items than the quantity:

– My Bellows is easily the most-worn handknit of my four-year knitting career.

– My “vintage waistcoat” was modified from a WWII-era knit-for-the-troops pattern, and led to the full reworking that is my Anna Vest pattern — my proudest moment of the year.

– The green vest was a test-knit of the vest pattern for the Fringe Cowichan-style Knitalong, which was followed by my black/natural/grey Cowichan-ish vest. That’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had knitting, and a garment I adore. (Although I still need to do something with the armhole edges.)

– The purple shawl for my grandmother’s 90th birthday may (or may not) have been the last shawl I’ll ever knit, but I loved having that to give to her, regardless. And as a profoundly unexpected bonus, I was pretty thrilled when Instagram asked if they could use my cast-on photo in the promo spot on the Explore page to promote 25 great knitters to follow.

– The two versions of my sleeveless turtleneck — camel and black — were super fun to knit, and although I’ve tried your patience, I’m flattered by everyone who has been begging for the pattern. Getting that written and tech edited is at the top of my to-do list for the new year.

– I’m a little bummed to have only finished 4 of the 6 Fringe Hatalong hats by the year’s end, but I’m also happy to still have the other two ahead of me! Pictured are my Audrey, L’Arbre, Hermaness Worsted and Laurus. And I love that my niece claimed L’Arbre while modeling it for me and Bob claimed Laurus as soon as it was off the needles. I couldn’t be happier with the range of patterns I wound up with for the Hatalongs, and am so grateful to all of the designers and knitters who participated with such enthusiasm! NOTE: It’s never too late to cast on for any of them!

– Which just leaves that one last hat up there, which was a quickie I knitted to use up the leftovers from the black turtleneck and turned out super cute. I’ll be along with the simple pattern for that one any minute.

I even got them all listed at Ravelry!

Thank you so much for all of the support and encouragement you guys have given me this year. You’re always very generously telling me how much you get out of the blog — and I appreciate that so much — but it’s a two-way street, you know. Happy new year to you! And I’ll see you in 2016—

Favorite New Favorites of 2015

December 30, 2015 by Karen Templer