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And the Logalong winners are …

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And the Logalong winners are ...

Dear Everyone, thank you so much for your patience with me as I’ve been out tending to my post-operative husband, thereby delaying the hotly anticipated prize announcements! And thank you, also, for making it so difficult. When I first had the thought of doing a Log Cabin Make-along, I honestly wasn’t sure how many people would come along for it. It was a broad and abstract concept, a technique a lot of people might see as obscure or outmoded or something, and had the potential to involve some very large projects and a lot of time — although my point from the beginning was you could make anything from a washcloth to a bus wrap, up to you. So I’m thrilled that not only did so many people get on board, but it’s been really inspiring to see what everyone came up with, from the beautifully traditional to the wildly innovative and everything in between.

When it came to picking winners, I started by boiling my saves and faves down to a shortlist of what I felt were the strongest contenders, which wound up still being a whopping 31 projects … competing for 5 prizes. So to say this was a daunting task is to put it mildly. The scale of the projects has been diverse — from a little cross-body bag to sock cuffs and slippers, pillow covers, teapot cozies, even a circle skirt! However, there were definitely many more blankets than anything else, and it’s good that I thought to say at the outset that things needn’t necessarily be finished by now in order to win. I’ll be continuing to keep an eye on the hashtag to see how everything turns out!

I wish I could give an individual shout-out to everyone on the shortlist, and a prize to everyone who participated, but alas. So with all of that said, here are the category winners, who’ve each won a $100 gift certificate to Fringe Supply Co.—

. . .

BEST LAID PLANS — for the most inspired or creative concept

Pictured up top. When @breiwerken first started describing her plans, I absolutely loved the concept — the notion that she was going to use this traditional knitting technique, modeled on a traditional quilting technique, to emulate a distinctive textile tradition from a completely different culture, namely “the strip weaving cloths of the Ewe people from Togo/Ghana.” Such a unique idea. But honestly, I had a hard time imagining the end results. I watched it grow as she shared it all along the way, and found her enthusiasm for what she was doing utterly infectious. The photo above of it wrapped around her like a shawl melted my heart. But it wasn’t until she posted the most recent photo, of it draped out across a bench, that my jaw hit the floor. I am awestruck by it.

Click through to her feed (as with all of the following) to see all of her posts about it along the way — and follow her to see how it turns out!

. . .

And the Logalong winners are ...

HOUSE PROUD — for best photos/documentation

@elsbethsteiner created an Instagram feed just for the documentation of her project, the concept for which rivaled @breiwerken in its originality, and has documented it so thoroughly and lovingly throughout the last two months. She calls it her Rare Sheep Corral Blanket, and I implore you to go visit her dedicated feed to read all about it, as I couldn’t possibly do it justice. (I mean, there are undyed rare-breed yarns, knitted sheep, mountains and fences, creative construction …) Start at the beginning. Or if you only read a single post, make it this one. On top of all that, it’s just so beautiful.

. . .

And the Logalong winners are ...

SQUARE AND TRUE — for best traditional use of log cabin

If you skipped by too quickly, you’d swear @clairesounes‘ blanket was a quilt. She’s not only kept it super traditional in terms of the log cabin blocks themselves (right down to the pinkish-red centers) but she’s truly thinking like a quilter. The light/dark distribution of the blocks makes them combinable in countless different ways for different effects, as you’ll see if you click through the frames in this post. And I love how she’s made it seem that much more scrappy and patchworky with the (so controlled!) mix of her palette, occasional instances of stripes, and so on. Really masterful.

. . .

And the Logalong winners are ...

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BLOCK — for best non-traditional use of log cabin

Ok, I can’t do it so I’m declaring a 3-way tie on this one.

TOP: @lakesaltknit did her own rendition of a Josef Albers-inspired cowl (meaning, different from Ann Weaver’s Albers Cowl pattern). Her version is two large, striking, Albers-inspired blocks joined together into a tube for a generous cowl. I would love and want it even if it weren’t for the fact that she works at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, which owns this particular piece, and was able to photograph it with the original (modeled by a colleague). Amazing.

MIDDLE: @autumngeisha used elongated long cabin to create a fantastic and uncontrived pair of footie socks. If there were a pattern for these, it might lure me away from my endless Log Cabin Mitts making. Just sayin.

BOTTOM: @oystersandpurls had the sweet idea to build a log cabin washcloth, basically, into a bib-front baby romper. The result is so charming, but the really inspired touch is the little bit of color-blocking on the bum and straps, which makes the whole thing feel cohesive, rather than tacked together, and just that much more adorable.

. . .

And the Logalong winners are ...

LIKE CABIN (aka MOCK CABIN) — for best adaptation/variation on modular knitting

I’m honestly no longer 100% sure what I was imagining when I came up with this category at the outset. But of all the people winging it, free-forming, improvising things in variously modular ways, the most fascinating to me has been this pullover WIP from @i_knit_wool. The way she’s going about it is almost more Lego than log cabin, and yet the end result has a completely log-cabin feel about it. I’ve been riveted as it’s grown, and will be continuing to watch with bated breath until its completion.

. . .

And then there are the random drawing winners, who’ve each won a Field Bag in the color of their choice:

• @honeyfolkclothing
• @seniah.hm
• @ellendavisions
• @lady_olivia57
• @stricken_ohne_naht

. . .

WINNERS: Please email <contact@fringesupplyco.com> to collect your prizes!

And of course, it’s not over yet! Our illustrious panelists are wrapping up their projects and I’ll have those FO interviews starting very very soon!

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PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: Log Cabin Mitts (free pattern)

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Beyond New Favorites: Marlisle

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Beyond New Favorites: Marlisle

The most astonishing thing about knitting — this thing people have been doing for centuries! — is that not only is there always more to learn, but there are still clever people coming up with new ways do things all the time! New shaping and construction methods, smoother increases/decreases, original stitch combinations and motifs. You can argue that there’s actually nothing new under the sun — that every idea has been had before; maybe we just don’t know about it. But it doesn’t matter! It’s the constant flow of creativity that thrills me. And Anna Maltz’s new book, Marlisle: A new direction is knitting, is a superlative example. The book released on Saturday (our copies are going quickly!) and I can’t remember being so excited about a brilliantly simple idea or a collection of patterns.

It occurred to Anna (aka @sweaterspotter) awhile back that if you were knitting with two yarns held together — creating a marl — and you dropped one of them from time to time, carrying it as a float in the back for a few stitches, you could suddenly do all sorts of intriguing things, with none of the fuss of intarsia. She calls the idea “marlisle” — marl crossed with Fair Isle — and it first appeared on her Humboldt sweater, which has been in my queue ever since. With this new book, though — and the 11 patterns it contains — she’s really pushing the envelope, and applying the idea in a variety of ways. There are simple but very effective applications like the hat above, Hozkwoz, or the cover sweater, Midstream, with vertical stripes up the front and back. There are slightly more complex ones, such as the drop-dead stunning yoke sweater, Trembling, with its 3D facet motif. And there’s the incredibly meticulous pair of mittens, Delftig, with an intricate tile-like design achieved by alternating between holding one color, the other, or the two together. So she’s covered a range of surface designs — from bold and graphic to allover flame patterning to gingham and plaid and trompe l’oeil effects, and used them on everything from hats and cowls to shawls and sweaters. The whole thing is truly stunning, and I’m sooooo excited and inspired by it all. I cannot wait to cast on.

You can see all of the patterns at Ravelry and order a copy at Fringe Supply Co. (Our stack is dwindling but we’ll have more any minute!) There’s a fresh interview with Anna on the East London Knit podcast, and you can also read more about the Ricefield Collective here and her appearance in Our Tools, Ourselves here.

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Colorwork mitts

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New Favorites: Plain and Simple

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New Favorites: Plain and Simple

Here’s one of those cases where I get a peek at an upcoming book and love the patterns so much I instantly order a big stack of copies for the shop. So today we have Pam Allen’s latest, Plain and Simple, in store and it’s also the focus of my current favoriting. The book includes 9 sweaters (6 pullovers and 3 cardigans) plus a hat and a cowl-like object, and all of the sweaters are of the sort that you can imagine having in your closet for years, dressing them up and dressing them down, wearing them until they’re too tattered to leave the house in. (The subtitle is actually “11 knits to wear every day.”) And yet they also run the gamut from stockinette to colorwork to cables and textures, so it’s a knitting cornucopia. These are my very favorites:

TOP: Birch — a statement yoke sweater

MIDDLE LEFT: Chestnut — a simple allover-cable cardigan

MIDDLE RIGHT: Oak — a reverse-stockinette classic

BOTTOM: Willow — gansey-inspired beauty

You can see the whole pattern set at Ravelry and pick up a copy of the book at Fringe Supply Co.!

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PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Geometric yokes

How to crochet Log Cabin

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How to crochet Log Cabin

There have been a couple of questions about how to apply log cabin to crochet, which I honestly hadn’t anticipated! I think that’s because, to me, log cabin seems like knitting emulating crochet. I grew up making granny squares, where you pick up stitches in your previous work, work your way around and around, change colors, add on as much as you like, until it’s however big you want it to be! So crochet feels inherently modular and freeform and adaptive to me, and log cabin seems like you’d just be filling in the strips/shapes with crochet stitches instead of knit stitches. But since I am not a seasoned crocheter (much less log cabin-er), and the questions got me wondering whether there’s more to consider than I realize, I put it to the official crocheter on our Log Cabin Make-along panel, Cal Patch:

. . .

Log Cabin — in its strictest form — is about creating strips of color one after another. You knit a square, then knit another square, then knit a strip alongside them the same length and width as the two squares together. Then continue adding strips (laying logs) around and around and around, each one the width of the edge you’re working off of and always the same height. In knitting, it’s typically done in garter stitch because (as Ann pointed out to me the other day) stitch and row gauge even out in garter — 10 stitches wide will equal 10 ridges tall, or 7×7 or 30×30 or whatever scale you want to work with. So you can make a square 10 sts by 10 ridges, for instance, then another 10×10, then each strip is a multiple of 10 sts wide and always 10 ridges tall. How does that correspond in crochet as far as how to calculate how many stitches and rows to work along each edge. Is it important to stick with single crochet?

Well, my immediate thought is that I never assumed the height of the logs needed to be consistent! I should note that I’ve never read or learned any actual official guidelines of Log Cabin-ing; my main influences would be the Gee’s Bend school of improv quilting (example here or here) and Denyse Schmidt (example), who is also an improv quilter. That said, whether one wants their logs to be of consistent height is a separate decision from the stitch to be used, and its dimensions. I’m actually using Half Double Crochet for my project, which isn’t square at all, but it’s true that Single Crochet would be closer to square, though not exact. I tend to not concern myself with the actual number of stitches or rows, but rather work to a measurement. My rectangles will need to finish at certain dimensions to fit together properly.

Of course, there’s no reason you have to stick to those 1×1 dimensions, either — you can make narrower or wider strips or blocks, get all creative or improvisational with it, which starts to make sense once you’re doing it. True for knitting and quilting alike — and for crochet, yeah?

YES!!! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! I have always seen log cabin as a very loose, scrappy, improvisational technique. Clearly I’m not an architect! Did I mention that Wonky is my middle name?

Is there anything else you think people need to know before they try their hand at a crochet log cabin block? Or any particular resources you would recommend?

I would just dive in and play, at least to make a swatch, and then it will make much more sense (if it’s not already). The basic principles of log cabin knitting will apply to crochet as well, with the exception of actual stitch counts. Many knit patterns could probably be translated stitch for stitch into single crochet. One can definitely sketch and plan in advance, and map it all out, if that’s what makes one’s heart sing. But having taken a class with Denyse Schmidt in which you have to blindly grab your next strip out of a bag and use it whether you love or hate it, I prefer a more serendipitous approach (aka “winging it”).

One idea for actually fitting your crocheted squares/rectangles into something like a sweater, vest, hat or other type of project is to look at patterns designed for granny squares, since they are also blocks! That might get those wheels turning. (Examples here and here)

. . .

Thanks, Cal! I’m sure there will be others with additional or differing opinions, so please do leave your thoughts below!

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PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: Highlights, timeline and prize news

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Logalong highlights, timeline and prize news

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Logalong highlights, timeline and prize news

There are already more than 200 posts on the #fringeandfriendslogalong feed and I’m giddy with all the variety and eager for what’s still to come! Speaking of what’s still to come, here’s are those details I promised you—

Upcoming blog posts will include varying perspectives on how to handle your ends as well as guidance for crocheters, and I don’t think it will be very long before we start having panelist FOs to talk about! (And hopefully my little mitts pattern even sooner.) But let me know if there’s anything else in particular you’d like us to address as a panel.

TIMELINE

I don’t usually set an end date on knitalongs (blog content will come to a close around the end of Feb, but you’re always welcome to keep going) and I’m especially reluctant to do so with the Logalong since the range of projects underway is so broad. I mean, some of those blankets could take awhile! (Unless you’re Ann, a knitter possessed.) So there’s no firm end date, but we do need to set a date as far as …

PRIZES

I always say I’m conflicted about prizes because your finished object is your prize! — not to mention all the fun and learning and camaraderie along the way — but then I go and make up a whole bunch of extra prizes like I did with Summer of Basics because, let’s face it, prizes are fun. So I’m declaring the following prizes which will be drawn from all posts on the #fringeandfriendslogalong feed on February 28th and announced the following Friday here on the blog. Your project does not have to be complete at that time; I’ll simply be choosing from all contributions made to the feed between now and then.

One winner for each category will receive a $100 gift certificate* to Fringe Supply Co.:
• Best Laid Plans — for the most inspired or creative concept
• House Proud — for best photos/documentation
• Square and True — for best traditional use of log cabin
• Thinking Outside the Block — for best non-traditional use of log cabin
• Like Cabin (aka Mock Cabin) — for best adaptation/variation on modular knitting

Plus: I’ll do a random drawing of 5 posts from within the feed and those posters will each win a Field Bag in the color of their choice.*

As Jeff Probst would say, “Worth playing for?”

Bonus: Ann and Kay are giving away a Ninepatch Blanket Kit — details on how to enter that drawing are on MDK today.

EARLY HIGHLIGHTS

The photos above are a few of the many standouts from this week’s posts on the hashtag. I didn’t intend them to be color-coordinated, but the feed has a definite palette to it so far! Click through to each one to read and see more—

TOP: @sari_n_’s amazing improvisation

MIDDLE LEFT: @phoebe.lle’s fascinating sock-fixing plan (note to Phoebe: can I have this?)

MIDDLE RIGHT: @dottidee’s persistence

BOTTOM: @knit_frog_repeat’s lovely little schematics

And of course, there’s so much more goodness to be found on the full feed, so I encourage you to check it out even if you’re not playing along.

Happy weekend, everyone!

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*Note that your posts must be visible in the feed to be eligible, so post them using a public Instagram account and the hashtag #fringeandfriendslogalong. Contest is open to participants worldwide but all winners will be responsible for their own shipping fees.

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PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the panel!

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Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

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Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

Happy new year! And happy Log Cabin Make-along kickoff/cast-on day! I’m so thrilled to finally introduce the rest of the panel and get this party started. You already know log cabin eminences grises Ann and Kay from Mason-Dixon Knitting (authors of the portable and adorable Log Cabin Field Guide) are in the mix. Rounding out the panel are two more of my favorite characters from yarnlandia, Veronika Jobe of YOTH Yarns and — a crocheter! for the first time ever! — none other than Cal Patch. You can see exactly what we all have planned below, and I am already crazy about how different they all are.

Even though I announced this one way further in advance than in the past, I still don’t quite have all the ducks in a row — the outstanding matter being prizes. I’m leaving it a cliffhanger for the moment but will fill you in on the plan (and timing) for that at the end of the week. However, I will be featuring standout plans and WIPs here on the blog in some fashion, as always, so make sure you share yours on Instagram by using the hashtag #fringeandfriendslogalong in your caption when you post. (If you have a private IG account, you might want to make a separate public one for this, if you want everyone to be able to see your posts!) And note that you can also now literally follow hashtags on IG, so (if that works as advertised) you’ll never miss a single contribution.

If you’re still looking for ideas, see Ideas and Considerations and Imagine if this were Log Cabin-ized, including all of the suggestions in the comments on those posts. And you can find all of the blog posts related to the Make-along right here, any time you need it, also linked in the right rail of the blog over there. 👉🏼

Also, knitter/programmer Kelsey Leftwich has created a Log Cabin Generator, which is fun to play with — let her know what you think. And at the end of today’s post on MDK is a whole big roundup of all of their past log cabin-related posts — a total trove.

Ready? Here we go! —

. . . . .

KAREN TEMPLER of this here blog (Instagram: @karentempler)

Master plan: My actual master plan is a grandiose and colorful idea about using the ninepatch method (detailed in the Field Guide) to create a nested-crosses motif (inspired by my favorite pillow) splayed out on a big cocoon cardigan or something like that, but I’m not ready to commit! Ever since I tossed off that little quip about how you could knit two washcloths and seam them into fingerless mitts, I’ve been consumed with ideas about how to refine that idea. So that’s what I’m doing, with the intention that I’ll publish the pattern in the near term (for those of you sitting on the fence or looking for something small but thrilling to do), after which I may decide to dive into the bigger idea.

Yarn:  What’s pictured here is random bits of stash yarns (undyed Snoqualmie, heathery grey Hole & Sons and tweedy black Shelter) but I don’t know for sure! I’m torn between really really wanting to do this from stash and really really wanting to pull off a very specific look, which is …

Palette: … inspired by this Ace&Jig textile I’m obsessed with called Mural, pictured above, which got me thinking about how to distribute the color changes a bit differently than what you usually see in Log Cabin. Mural is ivory, soft grey and black, with ivory running throughout so the whole thing is hazy and muted and absolutely gorgeous. I really want to figure out how to emulate that here, and not have it quite so stark as my swatch. Which brings me back to the dilemma between what’s in my stash and what might better achieve this little goal. We’ll see what I wind up doing.

Concerns/trepidations: Well, I’ve never knitted any log cabin before, which is why I’m telling myself to take a bite before shoving a whole pie in my mouth. But halfway into my swatch, I was already entirely addicted. So I guess my concern is how I’m going to get myself to do anything but this in the coming weeks!

. . .

Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

VERONIKA JOBE of YOTH Yarns (Instagram: @yarnonthehouse)

Master plan: I would share a drawing, but I am eternally bad at pen and paper. You might think how is this lady a creative! Thank goodness I’m making a rectangle. A good ol’ fashioned scarf and wrap. Simple, classic shape … can’t go wrong and easy to explain.

Yarn: I am using a limited run small-batch yarn created for YOTH by Abundant Earth Fiber. The yarn was dyed in the wool by us and then spun into the most luscious heathered and marled goodness along with squishy and beautiful natural cream. It’s not available yet, but my hope by participating in this log-along is that I will have a lovely pattern and yarn to release when I’m done. Perfect timing.

Palette: Mine is definitely predetermined by the yarn we collaborated on with Abundant Earth Fiber: monotone moody blues and cream for the scarf size, and earthy golden mustards and cream for the wrap size. My inspiration behind this project is my love of buffalo plaid, a board checkered plaid pattern, and I wanted to recreate the look of this woven pattern using a gradient of marls and solids.

Concerns/trepidations: I’m pushing the boundaries a bit with calling this project a Log Cabin, but I hope that this helps folks see the different styles and endless options when a couple traditional styles are tweaked and morphed together. I guess you could say my log cabin project is about as simple as you can get — a bunch of squares connected to make a rectangle. I’ve read a bit on Log Cabin history, studied up on the wonderful Mason Dixon’s Log Cabin Field Guide, and I’m finding that the true essence of Log Cabin is the building of repeated blocks that come together as a whole and create a dynamic bigger picture when looked at from afar. Fingers crossed my scarf and wrap can live up to that.

. . .

Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

CAL PATCH of Cal Patch (Instagram: @hodgepodgefarm)

Master plan: I’m making a … hmmm I’m not sure what to call it exactly! A cowl/neckpiece/mini poncho/bandana cowl. In my head I’m calling it the “log cabindana” but I haven’t said that out loud yet. It’s a neck scarf that dips down front AND back, because I’m always chilly in the chest/neck area.

Yarn: I’m using scraps, in the spirit of real log cabin quilting. Plus I’m a scrappy girl.

Palette: I’ve pulled together a pile of scraps with a palette of muted colors and neutrals, reminiscent of a woolen quilt.

Concerns/trepidations: Um, no. But now I’m concerned that I should have concerns …

. . .

Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

ANN SHAYNE of Mason-Dixon Knitting (Instagram: @annshayne)

Master plan: A blanket. I haven’t made a blanket in a while, and log cabin blankets are the most sublime kind of blankets to make. It will be one of a kind, drawing from ideas featured in not one, not two, but three of our MDK Field Guides.

Idea 1. The basic design will riff on one of my favorite blanket patterns ever, Kay’s Ninepatch Blanket from Field Guide No. 4: Log Cabin. I’ve loved this idea—a blanket with a wonky color rhythm, with squares of varied sizes—ever since Kay showed me the quilt that inspired it.

Idea 2. I’m obsessed with the knit-purl textures that are central to Field Guide No. 5: Sequences. Cecelia Campochiaro figured how how to make complex fabrics that can be created easily, once you get the hang of her clever techniques. I want to make the squares using sequences that I pull out of my head.

Idea 3. And then! I want to make this blanket without using mitered squares—not because I don’t adore this technique, but because sequence knitting in miters would be a tricky thing to pull off.

Eliminating miters opens up the construction possibilities. The blanket no longer needs to be made in squares with nine patches. It can be made in long strips of squares. Long strips are a sequence knitter’s best friend. If I work the blanket in long strips, the blanket starts to become easier to assemble. A long strip of squares knitted in a variety of sequences, with a variety of colors? That is my idea of fun. And yes, Karen points out that long strips are a feature of the Station Wagon Blanket in Field Guide No. 1: Stripes.

Can these three ideas meet in one blanket? Can log cabin and sequence knitting and long strips exist in the same project? I won’t rest until the answer is known.

Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!Yarn: Tweed. A rustic, worsted-weight, flecky, nuppy tweed. Tahki Donegal Tweed. This worsted-weight yarn was launched in 1968. It’s one of the great, classic tweeds, made right there in County Donegal, Ireland. By presumably Irish people who have tweed running in their tweedy veins. I have made blankets, sweaters, random squares, all sorts of projects involving tweed yarns. Tahki’s tweed is great for a blanket, because it’s sturdy stuff. None of this floofy fakey tweed business. It is made from 100% new wool, period. It’s not merino and it doesn’t want to be, goddang it. I want a blanket that will hold up like a Yeats poem.

We’ve just added Tahki Donegal Tweed to the MDK Shop — one of the happiest days yet in my new life as a yarnmonger. I’ve been carrying around the dozen shades we’re stocking like they’re guinea pigs of woolly hope.

Palette: I’m starting with a universe of neutrals plus greens. The improvisational nature of log cabin makes me think I may go off the specific grid of colors laid out in the Ninepatch Blanket schematic. I reserve the right to crack open my Deep Stash Tweed for supplemental colors if necessary. Overall, I find that when I start a log cabin blanket with a pile of yarn that looks great together, it’s hard to go wrong.

Concerns/trepidations: A blanket is a lot of knitting. But I have done this at least five times before, so I know I’m strong for it. A lot of people don’t understand how addicting log cabin knitting is. And sequence knitting has a just-one-more-row fascination to it. I want to cross the finish line on this knitalong with two yards of Donegal Tweed left, a worn-out size 8 needle, and me gasping from the fragrant, 100% new wool.

I have a lot of questions to answer. Will the various sequences hold up visually and read as squares? Will the colors fall in an amiable way? Will I ever fix dinner again, or will I vanish in the delicious Bermuda Triangle of log cabin sequence knitting? Stay tuned.

. . .

Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!

KAY GARDINER of Mason-Dixon Knitting (Instagram: @kaygardiner)

Master plan: I’ve made a ton of log cabin blankets, so I’m tempted to go in that (always happy) direction, but the idea of a garment that uses log cabin structure has been in my mind for a long time. Debbie New’s book Unexpected Knitting has a log cabin pullover, and at least one runway collection in the past 10 years has included a sweater featuring a log cabin block front and center. (I know this because people email me all log cabin imagery.) I was intrigued by the idea, but not attracted to these sweaters. I want something a bit more subtle, where the log cabin graphic doesn’t shout. The drawing in your sketchbook of a simple, sleeveless top that essentially is two squares sewn together, with arm and neck openings, inspired me. I decided to start with an existing pattern, Dianna Walla’s Vasa, which I’ve knitted before. Instead of knitting the two rectangles straight up from the bottom, I’m constructing them using log cabin, starting with a center strip and building the fabric around that strip. I’m going to just keep knitting, adding strips until I get to the dimensions of a boxy pullover that fits me well.

Yarn: I’m using Jade Sapphire’s Sylph, a lightweight blend of linen and cashmere, mainly because I’ve wanted to knit everything in this yarn since discovering it a year ago, but also because I think the shimmy and drape of Sylph will counteract the blockiness of log cabin.

Palette: I’m going with a single color, Eddy, which is a kind of greenish-greyish-beigeish. (I’m already second-guessing this decision. Will I miss the color play of log cabin? Wouldn’t it be more fun to use two tonal shades, or a gradient?)

Concerns/trepidations: My main concern is: Can this be done successfully? I don’t want this sweater to be gimmicky or contrived. I want the log cabin construction to function as surface design, and for the sweater to otherwise be a flattering, wearable top. I’m using the “courthouse steps” arrangement of the log cabin strips to make a less blocky block, and even as a small swatch, the fabric has a nice loose swing to it, so I’m hopeful!

. . . . .

Ok, everybody — see you over at #fringeandfriendslogalong! And of course we’ll have more to share both here and there in the coming weeks, including prize news/details back here on Friday—

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PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: Imagine if this were Log Cabinized

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Slow Fashion Citizen: Natalie Chanin

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final installment of Katrina’s Slow Fashion Citizen column here on Fringe, and I want to express my warmest thanks to her for doing such an amazing job with it all year. Make sure you’re following her on Instagram @katrinarodabaugh to keep up with all the good she’s got going! <praise hands>
—Karen

Slow Fashion Citizen: Natalie Chanin

BY KATRINA RODABAUGH // For this final installment of Slow Fashion Citizen here on Fringe, I wanted to bring you someone very special, and I’m honored for it to be one of my all-time slow fashion heroes, Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin. Someone who encapsulates the slow fashion movement — from ethics to craftsmanship, to labor practices, to materials, to innovative design, to entrepreneurship, to her overall business approach. To many of you, Natalie Chanin needs no introduction. She’s been forging the way in sustainable fashion for over a decade with her hand-stitched, Alabama-made, design-winning and absolutely stunning garments.

When I first started following Natalie’s work I was so intrigued by the stitched construction — the entire garment made by hand instead of just reserving handwork for embellishment. But as I watched her business expand to include classes, community spaces, yardage of organic cotton, machine stitched garments and so much more, I realized the profoundness of her work is not just her aesthetic, but her willingness to let ethics lead. Watching a designer push beyond the boundaries of conventional design and into the roles of community-builder, collaborator, producer and thought-leader is truly inspiring. Not to mention, it feels like the future. Not just a fashion brand for now, but one that considers people, processes and the planet for generations to come.

For those of you who’ve followed along since our first announcement of Slow Fashion Citizen in January, thank you again and again. I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of interviewing fourteen sustainable fashion leaders and I’m so grateful for your readership, thoughts, questions and community. For my final feature, the warmest welcome to the ever-inspiring and illuminating Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin. Thank you, Natalie for making the time for this exclusive interview on Fringe.

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Can you tell the story of how Alabama Chanin first began — when you shifted gears as a costume designer traveling the world and moved back to your hometown in Alabama?

I never intended to create a company of my own. I cut apart a t-shirt, sewed it back together, and wore it to a party — and the next morning I woke up with a feeling of complete satisfaction. I had forgotten how good it felt to make something with my own two hands. And I wanted to create more, but I found that the techniques that I was using couldn’t be recreated in New York. The quilting stitches I had used I had learned from my grandmother and great-grandmother in Alabama, so that’s where I went to connect to an entire community of sewers and seamstresses. From there I made 200 one-of-a-kind t-shirts, and those t-shirts evolved into the business that has become Alabama Chanin.

I’ve been inspired watching the company’s journey from redesigning secondhand t-shirts to supplying yardage of organic cotton. Was it challenging to take the plunge into supporting organic cotton production and a US-based supply chain, or was it just a natural progression?

Yes and no. The entire evolution of Alabama Chanin has been a very natural progression with quality, sustainability and local production at the core. Many of those secondhand t-shirts that I found in New York were made right here in my community. Creating a supply chain that is 100% seed-to-shelf Made in the USA is challenging every day (but even more rewarding). We constantly deal with fabric shortages, events out of our control, and balancing supply and demand …

Your work has truly been revolutionary in paying artisans fair wages and keeping labor local. You contract with local artists and buy the work back from them when it’s complete. It’s true innovation. Did this model feel risky when you started the company? It still feels very bold more than a decade later.

Thank you. Every big business decision you make comes with it doubts. We come up against that each day. The artisan business model laid the foundation of the work in our community and has impacted so many, providing a way for our artisans to be their own small-business owners. The process is set up such that we don’t have as much risk — the artisans purchase the raw materials from us, and their finished garment must meet our quality standards (and deadline) in order for us to purchase the finished piece at a prearranged bid price. It the beginning, everything felt risky, but it has worked remarkably well and inspired many to follow this model in their own community. Our business could not survive without our dedicated and extremely skilled artisans.

Slow Fashion Citizen: Natalie Chanin

I love the story about why you open-sourced your first pattern designs — in reaction to a journalist suggesting your work was too expensive, if I’m not mistaken. By publishing your patterns you also tiered your offerings so folks could either buy the finished garment at a higher price, or buy your books and make the garment at home. Either requires an investment — time or money — but the wearer chooses. Was this insistence on value intentional?

The value of our products goes deeper than simply a price. We take great care in sourcing our materials to get the best quality, and all our labor is local. So much time, skill and love goes into the making of a sewn garment. Once someone tries the work themselves, they begin to understand the value of the garments. Value means so much more than just a price.

Years ago I read one of your blog posts about slow design. It really impacted my thinking about fashion, and it has stayed with me. It felt so courageous and yet somehow so practical too. Does it still feel courageous to advocate for slow fashion from within the fashion industry?

While the number of companies incorporating sustainability and ethical practices into their mission is increasing, there is A LOT that needs to happen for it to be the industry standard. We’re happy to have created conversations that have changed some minds and practices; at the same time, we’re sad that some of those conversations were started because of the cost of lives. We are proud to celebrate the beauty that comes with making slowly and mindfully.

On your website you write, “Our experiences showed us that face-to-face and hand-to-hand contact helped our customers better understand the what, why, and how of our making processes and the importance of an organic supply chain.” We’re programmed to consider “industry secrets” as something to protect, lest we bankrupt our own business by giving too much information away. Yet, you continue to publish patterns and sewing techniques, and teach classes that offer intimate insight into your design process. It seems sharing your expertise has actually strengthened your business, not threatened it, and become a priority that supports the larger community. Would you agree?

Absolutely. The School of Making is our educational initiative that preserves this way of making. The initial decision to open source our techniques and materials (and ultimately to create The School of Making) grew from our commitment to sustainability. Doing so allows us to make living arts accessible to all consumers. The global community of makers is engaged and dedicated and inspires us to keep making and doing good work.

Slow Fashion Citizen: Natalie Chanin

Your work straddles urban and rural design influences — the sophisticated silhouettes meet soulful and often nature-based embellishments in embroidery and surface design. Do you see your work as intentionally bridging the divide between urban and rural cultures — drawing from the Alabama landscape while maintaining conversation with an urban design sensibility?

Our community is in a rural setting. I grew up here, but I’ve also lived in New York, Europe, South America for a short time, and had the great fortune to have traveled the world. There is a distinct relationship between rural and urban aesthetic. Through contemporary design, we seek to lend modernity to age-old techniques. We also see this form of handwork as a way to bridge socio-economic divides. Get a group of people around a sewing table and they will find commonalities — even if it is simply a love of making.

In Alabama Chanin’s Hierarchy of Systems that supports the mission of your company you write, “7. Community (to be a benefit for the larger community in our region and around the globe).” Between 2013-2014 you opened The Factory Café and flagship store, launched the School of Making, started your machine-sewn clothing line, and opened Bldg. 14 Design + Manufacturing Series. That’s incredible. Was all of this in the name of better supporting the community in one sense or another?

Yes. We wanted to create a space for our community to shop, eat, hold meetings and gatherings. A place to interact with one another — under circumstances that they might not normally. With an emphasis on sustainable culture, education and quality goods, we create a community of sharing and idea exchange and a love of things that last. Each of these parts of our business is deeply connected to local community — guests from near (and far) can visit the store and café and see the garments and goods firsthand, and enjoy a locally sourced lunch. They can then take a tour of our facility and see our design and production studios in operation. The Factory is in service to our community, not only providing a space and programs to gather, learn and enrich lives, but all facets of our company look to provide jobs and economic development in our community.

I admire how your company aims to “complete sustainability at every stage of the manufacturing process – from materials and processes, to cultural sustainability in the form of preserving hand-sewing skills.” Was the preservation of sewing skills part of your vision of slow fashion from the beginning?

It was the moment I realized that the hand-embroidered shirts I’d been making were really little more than a quilting stitch. In that moment, I realized that this was something I learned in my childhood and, in the same moment, I understood that I wanted to go back to the community of my childhood in North Alabama. It was clear to me that I wanted to talk to my grandmother and the other ladies like her who had quilted their whole lives; I wanted to make a film about why people made quilts, and I wanted to make a small collection of hand-quilted t-shirts.

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The rest, as they say, is history! Thanks so much, Natalie and Katrina. Everyone, make sure you’re following @alabamachanin and @theschoolofmaking on Instagram. And I also want to mention Natalie’s latest book, The Geometry of Hand-Sewing, which I’m eager to get my hands on! —kt

Katrina Rodabaugh is an author, artist and slow-fashion advocate. Visit her website www.katrinarodabaugh.com or follow her on Instagram at @katrinarodabaugh

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PREVIOUSLY in Slow Fashion Citizen:  Jerome Sevilla (Gridjunky)

All photos provided by Alabama Chanin; photo of Natalie by Rinne Allen