b r o o k l y n t w e e d

Brooklyn Tweed is Moving!

2010-05-21T10:39:00.004-04:00

Brooklyn Tweed is moving to a clean, fresh space -- one that is integrated into the structure of the rest of my website. Please stop by and check out my new digs and be sure to update your bookmarks, feed readers, etc!

Stay tuned in the new space for a pattern or two...

See you there!

The Exquisite Corpse Project: Collaborative Garment Design

2010-05-07T11:24:00.004-04:00

Today's sweater is a rare and special bird. Last Fall I was given the opportunity to produce an art-sweater for ESOPUS magazine -- a very special publication that is produced by the ESOPUS foundation here in New York (read more about the ESOPUS Foundation here). I spun my wheels on this project for quite a while trying to think of a way of incorporating knitting into the publication in a fresh and interesting way. After enduring a long creative void, I found myself thinking about the Exquisite Corpse process-drawings that were done by Surrealists in the 1920's

The Exquisite Corpse is a collaborative process in which multiple artists create a single image (typically the human figure) in sequence with one another. Each artist is permitted only a glimpse at the contribution of the previous artist without knowing its connection to the whole. The imaginative drawings that are created in this way are spontaneous, random, and very interesting.

With this process in mind came the spark of an idea for a design experiment that resulted in the sweater you see photographed here.

I got in contact with a few of my favorite indie-designers to see if they were up for a design challenge: to create a collaborative garment in random sequence working directly off of the piece or pieces that were presented to them from the previous designer. Starting with a general set of garment dimensions provided by me (so that the garment would fit the body at the conclusion of the process) each designer was given complete creative freedom for their portion of the sweater.

I chose a bulky, rustic sheepswool in hopes that the materials would inspire textural experimentation and highlight the multi-directional quality of the fabrics. As you can see from the images, the garment is a veritable explosion of texture!

The designers who collaborated on this project, each from a different location around the country, were: Connie Chang Chinchio, Tanis Gray, Carrie Hoge, Melissa LaBarre & Elli Stubenrauch.

Below is a schematic of the finished garment, a Dolman cardigan, and how each designers contribution comes together to create the finished whole.

It was a wonderful experiment and created a garment that I find interesting for so many reasons. The magazine is accompanied by a gallery show in which all pieces from the current issue are on view at the ESOPUS space in New York. For those readers who are local, click here for the show information if you'd like to see the physical garment on view at the gallery.

I want to give a special thank you to all the designers who joined me to put this together as well as my lovely model (does she look familiar? Yes, that's famed Cookie A. looking fierce).

The garment is a true one-of-a-kind and the result of each designers immediate response to the garment pieces as they were presented to them. I hope you enjoy it!

The Juneberry Triangle

2010-04-23T18:33:00.006-04:00

I'm so happy to share with you a new lace design that was published this week -- I've been itching to show you photos ever since I finished it in January. I designed this lace triangle for Veronik's second issue of St. Denis Magazine and got another chance to use her lovely wool Nordique.

I love yarns that sport rich, full palettes and Nordique sure delivers where color is concerned. In the dead of winter, when nights seemed endless and I had woolly lace on the brain, this amazingly rich burgundy was the perfect inspiration and spurred many long winter evenings of lace knitting.

At the time, I was feeling particularly scrappy and wanted to design a lace project that would give me a good challenge to sink my teeth into. What resulted is a piece that is not for the faint of heart! The majority of the lace motifs are true knitted lace in the traditional sense, meaning that the patterning falls on every row (both RS and WS), with no free stockinette rows in between.

Because the triangle is knit flat (back and forth) and patterned on both sides, it requires a bit more concentration than your average lace project and does involve getting familiar with directional decreasing from the Wrong Side (Slip, Slip, Purl & Purl 2 Together), but if you're up for a challenge this one is for you!

The magazine is a wonderful issue and full of designs from some of my favorite designers -- be sure to check out some of the other patterns from this issue on Ravelry here. To look up project details just for the Juneberry Triangle, click here.

Veronik has also already knit a stunning version of the same pattern in her new, lighter-weight yarn Boreale that is fantastic! How wonderful it is to knit lace in a variety of different gauges and yarn constructions. The Nordique version is warm and woolly with a more substantial 'fabric' feel. From what I can tell of the ice blue Boreal version, it's delicate, feather-light lace at its finest!

The triangle is finished with a wide, traditional knitted-on edging in place of a conventional bind-off to keep every part of the fabric equally elastic and to provide some directional contrast.

Juneberry continues my nostalgic fascination with bobbles... this was an experimentation in bobble-laden lace patterns and has a very berry-like texture as a result. I think it feels sophisticated while remaining fun and playful at the same time. I hope you enjoy it!

Romney Kerchief

2010-04-20T14:26:00.005-04:00

Shortly after returning from vacation, I completed work on this simple handspun triangle. Since I was shooting to use up every last bit of this special yarn, I waited until I was home again and armed with my trusty kitchen scale to aid in calculations so that every last yard could be enjoyed, stress-free.

It's probably no surprise to anyone, but a simple shape of fabric with a good wool and suitable texture is a recipe for success every single time in my book. Simple knitting allows for the enjoyment of the special characteristics of our materials and I think this might just be one of the things that keeps me devoted to my knitting. One of the many things.

This piece was worked in the standard method, starting with just 10 stitches at center-top and increased regular along both edges as well as the center 'spine' to create a simple triangle. I love working from the top down (from the top 'out' seems more appropriate in this case) when you know you have limited yardage and want to stay in control of your process. By working with with a scale and measuring the remaining grams of unworked yarn remaining, you have good solid numbers telling you when you need to start thinking about binding off. This scenario is almost always better to me than spending the last 20% of the project wondering if there will be enough yarn to get me across the finish line.

The simple stitch pattern is a subtle variation of garter stitch -- knitting, knitting, knitting, and purling every 6th row (or every 3rd RS row) to create a 'valley' in place of every third Garter Stitch Ridge. I think this stitch pattern is beautiful in its simplicity and highlights the diagonal directional fabric in a sweet way. I kept the first and last 3 stitches of each row (the stitches running along the top, flat edge of the triangle) in pure Garter Stitch and ended with 3 consecutive ridges to give a touch of weight to the outer edge of the shape.

I estimate that I used approximately 275 yards of a very light, handspun 2-ply yarn, the weight of which danced around between a DK-weight and a light-worsted weight, as handspun yarns tend to do. I loved the lightness of this yarn and wanted to play that up by knitting it at a looser-than-average gauge and block the finished piece as for lace. The result is a feather-light fabric that is toasty-warm and wooly-soft. Surprisingly soft for a Romney, but that has a lot to do with the amount of air that is trapped in the finished yarn.

The finished dimensions of the piece came out to about 43 inches across the top, flat length of the triangle, and a 21 inch depth at the center 'spine'. Perfect size for a wool-lovers alternative to a bandana, no?

I don't know if I'll ever stop singing the praises of blocking wires -- their precision in making perfectly symmetrical shapes while blocking brings me an unlimited amount of satisfaction. They really play to my inner Geometer. To maximize the blocking potential, I worked a sewn bind-off for as much added elasticity as possible. Traditional bind-offs, when worked along the perimeter of larger pieces that will be blocked severely is a recipe for disaster. The sewn bind off, while taking a bit longer to execute is so absolutely worth the fuss.

Wool-wearing weather is beginning to slowly retreat, but at least this little triangle will provide a graceful (desperate) transition before the official hibernation of my cold-weather wardrobe.

Made (Over) in Brooklyn: PDF Downloads Now Available

2010-04-15T10:21:00.008-04:00

I've spent a lot of time over the last two months giving the patterns in Made in Brooklyn a complete make over for their release as individual PDF downloads. I'm very happy with the result, and even happier to announce that they are all now available both through my Ravelry store as well as BrooklynTweed proper.

One of the most beautiful things about PDF downloads is that there are no page restrictions. Thanks to my rather verbose style of writing patterns, I really pushed the limit on my page-count when writing the print-version of the book, which ended up significantly affecting the size of the charts which was, while understandable, a real bummer.

That said, the biggest change to the patterns is definitely chart size and clarity -- in most cases they have been re-illustrated and blown up to have their own, spacious page to spread out on. The texts have also been given more breathing room and in some cases have been extended. Each pattern begins with a Pattern Blueprint page which lists all the specifics about the garment and needed materials and includes an alternate photograph as well as a large, clear schematic.

As mentioned above, all the patterns are available either through my Ravelry store or through BrooklynTweed.net -- follow the buttons below to visit either:

I worked closely with a tech editor for all the new layouts and corrected any existing errata that was present in the 1st edition of the print version. I hope you enjoy them and thank you so much, as always, for your continued support!

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

I figure I might as well use this post to discuss a few of the other things that I've been meaning to bring to your attention:

Social Media: I finally got around to setting up a Facebook page (took long enough, right?) -- please feel free to stop by or to become a fan if you're a Facebook user. I plan on using it as an alternate way of posting my teaching schedule and teaching-related announcements (Dates are also always posted on my website), as well as other informal announcements, snapshots, etc.

And if that isn't enough social media for you, you can also catch Brooklyn Tweets (sorry, I had to) on Twitter here, if you're into that sort of thing.

Pattern Wholesale: In the last 6 months I've been wholesaling many of my designs to Local Yarn Shops. If you are a shop owner and interested in wholesaling print patterns, please send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to put you in contact with my distributor.

Phew! I think that's all the housecleaning for the day... although I'll expand this post if I realize there is anything that I've forgotten, which there most likely will be.

Thank you!

Vacation Knitting

2010-04-10T12:32:00.004-04:00

I travel a lot, but rarely for the express purpose of vacationing. My considerations for travel-knitting, in general, are designs that are in-process works that are at a point where a significant amount of mindless, or at least not-difficult-to-record knitting is in store. This way, I get 'work' knitting done without having to sit in front of Illustrator or InDesign, activities which I prefer to do only on the Homefront.

So, when a true Vacation came along I thought my travel knitting should reflect this change, and I decided to bring simple, 100% pleasure-knitting that required no pattern, no notes, and very little brainwork. I wanted projects that were geared towards my hands and allowed enjoyment of the simple act of knitting. And oh how wonderful it was!

I took small amounts of two special yarns that were both worthy of a special occasion. First, one beautiful skein of Buffalo Gals Yarn -- a very special 2-ply Bison/Merino yarn, hand-dyed by Fiber Sage Judith MacKenzie McCuin -- which I was fortunate enough to acquire directly from the source (Judith's hands) and have been savoring ever since. The other, my recently spun Romney 2-Ply, which is as light as a feather and wonderfully woolly.

I fell deeply in love with Judith's dye work, and this rust orange skein stole my breath. Bison, as it turns out, takes dye incredibly well and this skein seemed to almost shimmer with some other-worldly presence (again, I attribute this to Judith's sage-like energy.)

Armed with one beautiful skein, I threw a prized set of Ebony needles into my luggage and started thinking of the possibilities for something luxurious and simple. A feast for the fingers! I ended up deciding to knit a top-down hat in a simple waffle-stitch pattern. The yarn is a sport weight and creates a beautiful, light-weight and butter-soft fabric. A perfect companion for being in the passenger seat of a car for miles of Italian Autostrade.

Alternatively, the skein of Romney created just enough variety to keep me constantly entertained, bouncing between two projects from day to day. For this, I began work on a simple, almost-garter-stitch triangle. Because I had limited amounts of both yarns, I decided to work both projects from the top down (in the triangle's case, from top-center, opposite of Triangle Tip) and work mindlessly until I used up all of my yarn. I love working in this way -- armed with a simple kitchen scale, you can always be sure of using as many yards as is possible without having to spend the last 20% of your knitting time biting your nails, wondering if you'll have enough yarn to finish.

I didn't complete either project on my trip, which was a good lesson toward learning that I often need less yarn than I think I will while on the road. I have, since being home, just about finished both projects with very satisfying results.

Also, upon return, I was stricken by an incredible urge to have some Unspun Icelandic yarn back in my life (this is what happened the last time), and ordered yarn for a new lace project in this lovely stuff. It reminds me of a chocolate layer cake.

Unspun Icelandic Wool ranks high on my list of favorite yarns, largely because it is so unique and unlike anything else out there for knitters. The majority of the yarn is air, after all!

So, it turns out that I ended up learn something important from vacationing -- keeping it simple, even though my instincts were screaming to bring more yarn, was absolutely the perfect choice for enjoying knitting every day and savoring every stitch of these special yarns.

Home, With Cables

2010-04-01T12:23:00.005-04:00

I'm home after a wonderful week of adventures -- simple knitting projects, simple foods, and many a click on the old odometer (people drive fast in Italy) -- oh what fun! I took the opportunity of being in the middle of such a visually rich country (texture, texture everywhere) to shoot some new accessory patterns that I've been working on this Winter. I'm happy to introduce Dryad -- which has become an instant wardrobe luxury around BT headquarters, even despite the slow thaw that brings Spring.

In the Fall I found myself frequently experiencing the urge for a serious cabled scarf -- one that pulls out all the stops and doesn't apologize for being dramatic. I wanted something wide and long, with big, plump cables that still retained a non-oppressive weight and elegant drape. As is usually the case, finding the right yarn for the job was the key to solidifying design, and made all of the above listed requirements possible.

The scarf is knit with Blackstone Tweed, new from Berocco last Fall, a yarn that is special and unique and in my opinion stands out among the commercially available tweeds. Blackstone Tweed has a rustic look, but a surprising drape and hand, due in part to its interesting fiber composition (Wool, Superkid Mohair, Angora). Don't be fooled though, this is not your average mohair/angora sneezy fuzzfest. The yarn is prepared with minimal halo and a lightly spun, crisp hand. The touch of angora (just 10%) adds amazing softness and really makes this a luxurious material. The drape that can be achieved, even in heavily cabled fabric is something definitely worth taking a second look at!

All that said, it makes a perfect fit for a scarf that may otherwise be overly heavy or rigid. Even with 6-stitch cables, which begin to be voluptuously plump, the fabric still drapes and moves beautifully, and is quite visually appealing as well. A great color palette doesn't hurt either.

Back to my ever-present desire to be swathed in cables: this one definitely fits the bill. In general, I usually wait to absorb a new piece of knitting into regular wardrobe rotation until the pattern is written and the photo shoot complete... not only as a way to keep the work fresh for its close-up, but also to trick myself into getting the work done faster. This scarf has been burning a hole in my pile of finished knitting and I'll be honest that I've been wrapped up in it ever since we wrapped the shoot. Even indoors. Which makes me think I may have a problem.

The pattern has been provided for three differing lengths: 60, 75, and 90 inches. All sizes have a width of approximately 8.5 inches. The sample shown is the long version and can be wrapped and wrapped if you require a nest of cabled fabric around your face. If you're less about the drama, a shorter version can be worked without problem.

The pattern is now available in my Ravelry Store here, and will be available through BrooklynTweed downloads shortly. Pattern instructions for this piece are charted.

Thanks also to my dear friend Sara for modeling -- a Contemporary Italian Literature Scholar and truly fashionable Tuscan -- she wears knitting quite well, wouldn't you say? We shot these photos on location in a tower-filled, Medieval hilltown outside of Siena.

I hope you enjoy!

Pattern Store Update, and Splitting the Country

2010-03-18T22:11:00.007-04:00

I've been scurrying around the US so much in the last few weeks that I completely forgot to mention that I have two patterns that are now available as PDF downloads in my store, both on Brooklyn Tweed and on Ravelry.

The Alberta vest was published last year in Wild Fibers Magazine and can now be purchased as a stand-alone pattern.

Upon request I've also made the Wool Leaves Baby Blanket available as well, for any of you who were interested in making one too! There are links below to both Ravelry as well as BT.

* * * * * *

A L B E R T A

on Ravelry | on BrooklynTweed

W O O L L E A V E S

on Ravelry | on BrooklynTweed

* * * * * *

As for me, I'm currently having that frantic moment before a long trip when you have to decide what (oh, what) knitting to bring. I tend to always overcompensate and bring too much, so I'm trying to be reasonable. I won't finish 3 lace shawls on vacation. I know that. And I can exercise control to be away from said shawls for a week... in theory.

I'll be back at the end of the month. Until then, I'll be knitting (and eating) in Italy. Have a wonderful week!

A Spin-aissance

2010-03-17T13:14:00.006-04:00

The organization of yarn inevitably meant the organization of projects (major bonus), which meant that I've been stricken by that wonderful feeling of falling-in-love-all-over-again (or what I like to call Knitter's Christmas). When a project that we once fell out-of-love with comes rushing back into our lives and we see it with fresh eyes as we once did. One previously stalled project of mine gave me the familiar rush and has been welcomed back onto the regular roster of nightly knitting with open arms.

My thick-and-thin handspun corriedale lace blanket dates back to circa Spring of 2008, as best as I can tell, and is just the type of project I've been craving lately. It's already large enough that I can use it as a lap blanket as I work. I consider this a major plus.

I originally put this project aside because I ran out of yarn and didn't feel up to spinning more right away... which in turn meant that this fluffy cloud of handspun got inadvertantly buried and has been lying dormant ever since.

The construction is almost identical to the Bridgewater Shawl from Made in Brooklyn, and in fact when I was starting work on the book I still had this piece knocking around in my head. Aside from the obvious difference in materials and a simpler knitted-on edging, there is virtually no difference between how the two pieces are constructed. Which is yet another example of my favorite part about lace -- the same piece can be completely different with decidedly different materials. Each more delicious than the other!

So, yes -- I've fallen for it again, which leads me to my next admission: I've been having a love session with my Spinning wheel this week. I went back to spin up the remaining Corriedale fiber so I could finish my blanket... but when the yarn came off the wheel and was ready to knit, I didn't feel like stopping. So I consulted my humble fiber stash and just kept spinning.

And I've been spinning all week! It feels fresh and relaxing and is the perfect activity for sitting next to the window and enjoying the wonderful sunlight (after endless days of monsoon rain) that reminds me Spring is almost here.

I've spent the last few days spinning up a some beautiful, smokey Romney that a friend had given me last Summer. The wool is a perfect warm-grey heather and light as a feather while being very warm (my favorite combo.)

I've spun up about 300 yards of dk-weight 2-ply, lightly plied and can barely wait for it to dry so I can get it on my needles and start making fabric. In a few days I'll be leaving for a ... wait for it... VACATION (I can hardly believe it myself) and I think this handspun will be my treat for mindless vacation knitting.

As for the lace blanket -- I'm closing in on her. I have a little less than half the edging to finish, although I'm worried I might run out of yarn (again) just before the end.

But you know what? I'm happy to spin more right now... just in case.

Full Power

2010-03-08T11:43:00.003-05:00

After days and days of honest (and sometimes tortured) sorting, I feel like I've been through a gauntlet and come out on the other side amazed at what was lurking in the depths. When you commit to giving your stash a deep-cleaning you expect to feel organized afterwards... but what I wasn't expecting was how inspired my own stash has made me. Assessing the whole scope of it caused me to start making connections between yarns that have probably never even been in the same room with one another.

Aside from being organized, I'm now living amongst a beautiful palette of wools that has my head spinning with ideas.

I was lucky enough to be able to find grateful hands for all the yarns that were jettisoned, which is probably the reason for the sense of lightness that I now feel, and ended up donating a small amount of yarn to a local charity. All that remains are yarns that I'm absolutely itching to work with - oh what a feeling!

The crown jewel of them all: I rounded up all my Shetland yarns and put them together in color groups (shown above) -- what a thing of beauty! I couldn't resist taking photo after photo of these amazing colors all lined up together. A kid in a candy store comes to mind.

Better than a box of truffles

It looks like there's nothing left to do but start nibbling...

The Reality Check

2010-02-22T15:17:00.006-05:00

Is there anything more humbling, dare I say embarrassing, at least for a knitter than coming face to face with the whole of your Knitting Materials? This would include Stash (all of it), unfinished projects (old, new, and reaaaally old), & Tools both large and small (everything from swifts and winders to all 18 of your floating tapestry needles). Well this is what happens when knitters move. And generally the amount of years you've lived in your own Knitting Paradise exponentially increases the scope of just how many loads you'll be making out to that van.

Aside from about 13 days of travel, my life has been eaten by a stressful urban move. And while I absolutely love the architecture of Brooklyn brownstones, and wouldn't trade them for anything, Moving Day is probably the only time I find myself truly cursing the day I ever heard the term "3rd flood walk-up". And when you move from one "3rd floor walk-up" to another, by my math, it's more like a "6th floor walk-up". Multiply that by every box of yarn you own (knitting books too) and you might find yourself wistful and dreamy for even the smallest of elevators.

Of course it's not all drama, especially in hindsight. I'm in a place with great light and more space (for all that yarn) and while it's easy to complain, I really do appreciate a good purge every few years. Which brings me to today's post about being honest about what we have, and more importantly what we, as knitters, need.

It makes sense that our knitting palettes become more refined as our craftsmanship does. That happens in any artistic discipline. And in studying what I've held onto over the years, I began doing what I do whenever I'm faced with an overabundance of information -- organizing and categorizing. In doing so, I've started to notice that my stash (which I used to brag as very modest... somehow I don't feel comfortable with this description any longer) falling into three main groups.

The first is the group that is most obvious and, I think, most important. Those are yarns that really excite me. Often recent acquisitions, or older, special acquisitions that still retain that spark that gets ideas running around like crazy in my head. These are the yarns that usually live on top of a given pile or drawer, or at least are never far enough away that I can't have immediate access to them. These yarns have no surprises -- I know I have them, I know I want them, and I know I'd make a fuss if someone took them away from me. These yarns have evolved with me and I believe are very valuable in terms of how I use my time as I continue to make projects with my collection of materials.

The second group is actually the hardest for me to reconcile. These are yarns that, at one time or another gave me The Spark, but have not retained it as I've grown as a knitter. These are yarns I definitely still like a lot, but I wouldn't say I love, or couldn't live without (if I'm really honest). These are the yarns I'd be grateful for if I ended up stranded in the arctic with nothing but yarn and time... but the yarns that,over the long run, will probably end up taking up the most room and take the longest time for me to give away because I *might* use them. When I finally do end up stranded in the Arctic and somehow my yarn is magically there with me, maybe I'll kick myself for getting rid of much of this group, but until that happens, I probably will appreciate the extra space (both physical and headspace) they allow.

The third group is easy -- it's the group that randomly finds its way in and sneaks around my generally thorough screening process (which, when you're living small, is very very important). This includes all the yarn that has been given to me when people are cleaning their apartments and know that I'm a knitter, or yarns that were so reasonably priced that I couldn't bear to see them go to waste, even though that's kinda what they're doing anyway. Now they're just doing it in my closet. Or they could just be those few odd mystery "What-Was-I-Thinking" skeins. There are some of those too.

All this to say that I'm being diligent and most of all honest with myself about what I need and what is surely overabundance. Too much yarn sitting un-knit starts making me feel nervous and greedy, especially if I think how much more beautiful this yarn is in the hands of someone who is enjoying every stitch.

Among other things that were lurking in the shadows: baskets of unfinished projects, some of which I promptly frogged for salvaging yarn (Group 1), and others that genuinely got me excited again and have rematerialized alongside my current project baskets.

And then there was my trusty (dusty) minstrel... just waiting to be used to turn all that excess fiber (did I mention, there is fiber too?) into more... yep, yarn.

I'm committing to at least giving this all a good try and passing on some wonderful materials to appreciative fingers. And with the survivors of the purge? Well I think I'll just get knitting with those.

Travel Companion: A Giant Swatch

2010-01-20T15:50:00.006-05:00

At this point I'm starting to accept that being stranded in an airport due to cancelled flights/blizzards is fast becoming my new holiday tradition. That said, I guess I should also say that off-the-cuff, knitting-is-my-only-sanity gift projects are also becoming a customary form of combat when faced with this unfortunate and mind-numbing fate.

This year, I willed myself to knit through the stress with something simple that would take care of one of the many handknit gifts I had planned on getting done by December 25th but, well, never quite got around to. In need of simple, mindless, therapy knitting, a giant swatch seemed just the ticket. After all, that's all a baby blanket really is, right?

I've been binging on a generous diet of wool lace recently so this was naturally already where my brain was. Since fine yarns and detailed patterns were out of the question under such duress, I grabbed a leftover skein of Ecological Wool, conveniently pre-wound into a center pull ball (always travel prepared), took one end from each side and started knitting a chunky and fast project on 13's with yarn held double.

Instant stress relief.

The result isn't the most heart-stopping piece of knitting I've ever seen, but it served it's purpose, both for me and its little recipient, very well. The center rectangle is a simple Shetland Leaf pattern, trimmed with double-seed stitch on all sides. I really meant it when I said Giant Swatch.

And by the time we finally landed on the other side of the country... it was blocking time.

There's definitely more interesting lace knitting on my needles at the moment, (including a color that I've fallen head-over-heels in love with and must photograph for your viewing pleasure) but sometimes keeping it simple makes for such welcome company.

Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T16:20:00.005-05:00

A very happy new year from BT Headquarters. Thank you all so much for your continued support and inspiration this year -- I am so very grateful.

2010 has some exciting things in store for us and I'm looking forward to yet another year of woolly projects!

Wishing you the best for a new decade...

The Story of The Honeycomb

2009-12-05T11:51:00.007-05:00

One of the things I love about knitting is that each project has a story -- a history -- that sometimes only we as the Makers know, but regardless always serves as a secret source of pleasure each time we wear a handknit garment, or better, see a loved one wearing one. Mostly I'm reminded of the places I was at the time I was knitting, or the things that I was thinking about and exploring during that period. It's funny the things you remember based on the texture and fiber you had in your hands at the time.

So today I look at a small project that carries a random collection of memories from the last few years. Not such a long time in the grand scheme of things, but my life has changed so much during this period, that I feel particularly nostalgic and grateful looking back on it.

I'll often remember where I was when I cast-on for a new project. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the whole genesis moment of something you hope will be a lifetime heirloom, or maybe it's just that heightened feeling of excitement when your hands, in anticipatory delight, finally get to test-drive a special new yarn. This memory usually serves as a channel marker for how long a project has been in-process. See, my knitting memory is very random -- it doesn't serve well for dates, durations or time periods but rather sensory and emotional outposts. In this case I know that this scarf has been hanging around for about three years, because I distinctly remember casting on in my old Brooklyn apartment on a Fall afternoon. Funny I thought then that I'd be done with it in time for winter, but projects tend to have their own plan.

The pattern for this scarf is another story too -- which brings back other funny memories. It was a free pattern I found in a random knitter's flickr photostream during one of my many unhappy days at my (former) 9-5 office job with eyes glazed in front of a computer screen. I spent many of those long days wishing I was home knitting and escaping by finding beautiful and inspiring knitting online to dream about.

Well, as it turns out, the pattern was posted on flickr illegally and taken down shortly thereafter by the request of the original author who, despite lots of sleuthing, I have been unable to locate again. [ETA -- the pattern has been found! See the notes at the end of the post for details] At that point, however, I had the pattern in hand (your partially-knitted fabric is the best pattern you can get!) and did little to worry about the fact that it had up and disappeared.

Fast forward to late summer 2009 when I stumbled across this half-knit gem at the bottom of one of my drawers, just in time for giddy Fall knitting -- an almost finished Yak scarf with cables in my favorite shade of grey? Perfection. And back into the light of day it came until its finish just weeks ago.

The yarn is a special one, too: a 50/50 Yak Merino blend with a smooth, 6-ply construction (perfect for popping cables) which I purchased at one of my favorite Manhattan locations, School Products. Because SP carries so many one-of-a-kind yarn imports from Italy, you never know what beautiful things you'll discover behind their doors, often finding yarns you'll never have the opportunity for again (which makes yardage planning more important than usual!)

A good old fashioned cabled scarf is never out of fashion in my mind -- This one is great, super simple - but very elegant and, in the right yarn, a new scarf staple for the steadfast lover of Classics.

ETA: The pattern has been found! Thanks to those of you so speedily joined the hunt! The scarf was designed by Beth Walker O'Brien and is entitled the "Aran Cashmere Scarf" [Ravelry Link] The pattern can be found in the book Simple 1-2-3 Knitting

It's my most favorite time of year for hunkering down at home surrounded by wool yarns and half-knit projects to quietly work and enjoy the start of Winter telling you to stay inside, enjoy what you have, and make beautiful things you feel proud of. Whether gift knitting or diligently keeping pace on long-term heirloom projects, I find the simple act of making stitches even more rewarding than usual this time of year. I hope you're enjoying yours as well.

New Look. Same Great Wool.

2009-11-04T19:49:00.012-05:00

I'm proud to say that today welcomes a woefully overdue makeover to Brooklyn Tweed Proper. I've been slowly but surely redesigning my website with hopes of finishing it up by the first of the month. I may have missed my mark by a day or two, but I'm happy to show you my new duds at the new fangled www.brooklyntweed.net!

Click the image above for a peek.

Most notably, my travel schedule is now available all in one place for easy viewing, and easy locating! I have all my scheduled workshops through the end of the year listed presently and will be listing 2010 dates shortly. Additionally, the design section of the site has all my patterns in one place for ease in looking up pattern specifics or for purchasing where applicable.

I've gone for a clean, light look with hopes that things are easy to find and the space is nice on your eyes. I hope you like it! As for the blog -- my blogger site is linked directly from the main site at the moment. I intend on a more seamless (har, har) integration in the future, but I think we shouldn't change too much too fast, for fear of overstimulation or disorientation!

As for the knitting. Well. It's cable season.

I've been spending a good portion of my days on airplanes or in hotels and therefore have filled my life with small (portable) cable projects in some of my favorite yarns. Projects that don't require carrying anything other than a good sturdy circular needle and the knitting that's hanging off of it. Leave the cable needles and papers at home. That's my kind of travel!

I even squeezed in a little time for some... wait for it... handspinning. I know. I can hear you gasping from across The Expanse. It's been awhile! It felt wonderful hearing that comforting whirrrr of the wheel and letting the fiber flow.

This is a skein of 70% alpaca, 30% blue faced leicester wool spun rather lazily into a bulky, textural single. I'm new to alpaca spinning so this was a fun experiment. I intentionally fulled the yarn a bit during washing and love the finished texture. Who knows what this skein will become one day... for now I'm happy petting it on my way out the door.

AND. I finished something. (Audible Gasp #2) It's nice to know that when life is spiraling, we can at least finish a little luxuries for ourselves here and there, isn't it? This scarf has been 3 years in the making and will get a post of its own... but here's a sneak preview:

I'm off to Texas tomorrow and then jetting on to the West Coast (home!) to get a little reminder of how great Fall in the Pacific NW is. That and, oh did I mention, I'm an uncle now?! Prepare yourself for the Wool Onslaught, little one! (You have no idea what you've been born into....)

Fall Loves You, Wool. And So Do I.

2009-10-14T11:45:00.005-04:00

Well. It's been a wild month of travel for me -- from Oklahoma City, to Philadelphia, to Texas, to New England and many a space in between. I've had the wonderful fortune of knitting with folks from all over the country and it has been an absolute pleasure. When I returned to Brooklyn on Monday for a two week break from airplanes, I sat down at my knitting window and realized that transition-time was over and Fall has, in my absence, made itself quite at home here in the city.

The click of the seasons is something that gives me pleasure beyond words, and Summer to Fall, not surprisingly, has got to be the most special time of year for us knitters. It's usually about the second week of October when my fingers start to twitch even more than usual for soft, wool sweaters on my needles and my eyes desire a bath of materials in rich, autumn heathers.

What else does October mean? It's the one time of year that I knowingly cast my self-control to the wind and embrace even my most irrational wool cravings, which means I generally acquire more during this period than any other. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I might as well share with you some recent acquisitions from my travels and yarns that are frankly keeping me up at night with giddy anticipation.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting H istoric Harrisville in New Hampshire -- home of some of my very favorite American-milled yarns and a historic treasure for our national textile tradition. I've been on a major lace knitting stint lately (before the sweater monster came to bite) and these are both slated for woollie shawls.

Harrisville Designs is like a wool-lovers paradise: walls of colorful, sturdy wools housed in a 2-century-old brick building nestled directly over a stream (if you peak through a knot-hole in the floor boards you'll see the flowing waters of the stream below). A destination for any knitter's New England itinerary... and a destination I hope to return to in the future.

Another wool that has recently sent me headlong into infatuation comes from the opposite coast and my home region of the Pacific Northwest. Imperial Stock Ranch makes beautiful, Oregon-grown yarns from their 125+ year old flock of Columbia Sheep (the farm, which is a National Historic District, has been responsible in part for developing this wonderful breed). The yarns are minimally processed using antique spinning techniques (a la many other favorite yarns you've heard me wax poetic about in the past -- Beaverslide Dry Goods in MT and Marr Haven in MI, most notably) and come in both two-ply woolen spun yarns (yum!) and a wonderful unspun bulky "puck", similar to Unspun Icelandic Wool. While the company has been in business for decades, their recent push into the world of hand knitting is one that I think is a very welcome addition to the industry.

And no Fall knitting would be complete without a healthy dose of Shetland Jumper-Weight wools straight from the island. You may be sick of me talking about my wool-standby, but I do start to get nervous if I'm away from this stuff for too long. To me, Shetland yarns are truly fine wines in our world of materials. With these? More lace. Always more lace.

I must sound like a glutton at this point, pulling in all this wool for Fall (there's more too...but we won't go there today) but if you can't be a wool glutton in the Fall, when can you be? And there's no better way to spend the afternoon than quietly working stitches in a good, solid wool as you watch the fading golden light play across the increasingly bare branches.

Despite the natural world telling us that Fall symbolizes the end of something, to me it represents a new beginning and a new inspiration. I hope you are feeling inspired by the wools under your roof and the cooler breezes that are causing us to grab our woolens on the way out the door. Lets enjoy it while it's here!

EZ Was Here

2009-09-15T15:39:00.012-04:00

I'm a bit behind on sharing some of the wonderful experiences I've had in the past couple of months -- like, oh I don't know.... the day an original Elizabeth Zimmermann came walking through my door?

Many of you have hopefully already read about the surfacing of this historic garment over at Twist Collective and, if you haven't, don't worry -- I'll be directing you to the good stuff in just a moment.

Back in the spring, the lovely ladies of Twist came a calling with a question: Would I be interested in photographing an Elizabeth Zimmermann sweater that had recently surfaced through an old family friend in New Jersey? I paused momentarily to wonder seriously if I had slipped into one of my many knitting-fantasy-daydreams. When it seemed that, yes, this was actually happening, I mustered all of my self-control in an attempt to respond in a professional manner. "Yes. Yes, that would be fine."

Juuuuust fine.

The sweater, knit with a heathered green, firmly spun, single ply wool, entered the apartment with a palpable silence, and, upon immediate inspection I found myself admiring its industrious, masterful technique. Right away the sheer Integrity with which this sweater was achieved became evident: not just its obvious cleverness, or knitterly construction (EZ's Hallmark) but rather the serendipitous balance of tenacity and care that is so clearly present as your eyes maneuver over mitered hems, prim buttonholes and directional details.

At that point I muttered to myself something colossally obvious yet seemingly so epiphanous: "Elizabeth could really knit!"

Sunday Holm recreated the sweater after it was presented to her at a New Jersey LYS by Joan Morhard Smith, a childhood neighbor and friend of Elizabeth and Arnold. Read Sunday's account of decoding and re-knitting the original here, and Joan Morhard Smith's recollections of Elizabeth ("Betty") here.

What a pleasure to spend an afternoon with this sweater and its re-incarnated version. I was truly grateful for the experience.

The original sweater, so well-worn after two generations of love and adoration under Joan's roof, is a testament to the lasting power of good materials, good technique, and a good home -- all the ingredients for Knitting's finest heirlooms. Elbow holes aside (which I find make the sweater even more endearing, if that's possible) this garment has taken its ardent wearers through two lifetimes with strength and grace. What could be better than that?

Among the other appreciations this garment conjured up that day, it incited me to reflect on one of our loftiest and most noble knitting aspirations -- to spend a life making beautiful, lasting, technique-rich garments whose value and worth can never diminish.

Adding to the the thousands of times I've uttered these same words before in my life, both privately and publicly: Thank you, Elizabeth.

Baby Leggings

2009-08-31T12:23:00.005-04:00

I've been doing a fair bit of traveling in the last two weeks and have committed to finishing a gaggle of small projects that I have lying around the house half-done. Knowing that I'll want to tackle lots of large, woolly projects in the very near future (hello, Fall weather!), I feel the need to do a little bit of project-house-cleaning. Consider yourself warned - you may see a few baby knits and old, forgotten accessories cropping up around here in the next couple of weeks. And today - the first one!

I put the finishing touches on the baby leggings last week and finally got around to shooting them this morning. Oh how I love those rich, golden colors! Seems fitting for those ghostly hints of Fall crispness that are taunting me these days.

Pattern: A modified version of Shibui Knits Baby Leggings by Heather Saal [Rav Link]

Size: 1 Year Old

Materials: Shibui Sock in "Honey"

Amount: 98g -- skating in at just barely under 2 skeins (Pattern Size calls for 3)

Needles: US 3 Circulars

I made a small number of modifications to the pattern. The original is written to be knit flat and seamed up at center front during finishing. That wasn't gonna fly around here, so the first item of business was to convert the pattern to in-the-round knitting, which wasn't hard at all. I didn't change any stitch counts, just ignored the back and forth instructions in favor of joining the end of the row to the beginning and working circularly.

I also opted for twisted stitch ribbing at the waist band and ankle-cuffs - a choice made to achieve a bit more elasticity - a great little perk of knitting things through the back loops. Since babies have stumpy little limbs, I figured the more elasticity the better.

The rest of the pattern is sweet and simple -- sizing for both 6 mos. and 1 year are given. I like to knit the larger sizes so the little growers can wear them longer. Plus, how cute is a 6 month-year-old in oversized baby pants?

The "diaper shaping" as I like to call it incorporates short rows and increases down center back to create an extra pouch-like space for baby 'bulk' (See Above Photo). The cord running through the eyelets at the waist band is crocheted (nice and firm but still elastic due to the nature of this bouncy, bouncy yarn) -- I tied two small knots on either end to keep it from slipping out of the holes.

All in all, a simple pattern with a charming result. You know I'm not a huge fan of The Superwash, but sometimes you gotta do it for the kids (and the parents, too)! And they really do suck up those saturated colors brilliantly, so there's plenty of hypnotic stitching to be had.

If you're interested in knitting a pair, be sure to check out Shibui's Pattern Page - lots of great patterns there to peruse if you have a few minutes! Now... time to send these babies back to Portland, from whence they came!

Made in Brooklyn | Accessories

2009-08-18T11:24:00.005-04:00

Today we wrap up with a few stragglers from the collection who haven't fit into any other category yet. Both projects make great travel or gift knitting. And while I don't fancy myself an expert crocheter by any means, I thought I'd be crazy and throw something in for fun for the hook-lovers.

Meet Grove.

These mittens are an ornate little treasure for the hands. I've always loved the relief-like quality of twisted stitch knitting (knitting all knit stitches through the back loops) and how sculptural and graceful they look when used in travelling-stitch and lace patterns.

The interesting thing about the main motif on the tops of the hands is that there is no cabling involved - the motif is formed by yarn overs and twisted knit decreases so I guess technically should be considered lace, albeit a well-disguised version. The cuffs on both hands do utilize traveling stitches in a spiral pattern that is mirror-imaged on either side to add that special detail.

There's something enticing about mitten knitting - maybe the way they remind us of childhood winters, or how they don't really make sense for adults who are constantly in need of finger dexterity (mittens are a great way to drop expensive little electronics down a large flight of stairs - ask me, I know), or that they're just more enjoyable to knit than other things for your hands? Nevertheless, it seems that mitten knitting is alive and well, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And finally, Metropolitan.

So these. I spent a lot of time staring at a few big, beautiful hanks of Aspen - a super bulky, heathered wool/alpaca blend that comes in a gorgeous array of autumnal colors - thinking What, Oh What am I to do with you? Super bulky presents a funny problem: it's fun to knit for the instant gratification and larger-than-life sculptural quality of your stitches, but not as practical for daily wear because it's, well... super bulky. The other sticking point is that the yardage isn't exactly what you'd call generous - the fiber you could use for thousands of yards of lace schlumps itself into mere double digits in the super-bulky arena.

So my personal design challenge was this: what can you do with one skein (approx. 51 yards) of Aspen that isn't a hat? And as I was mulling this over on my morning commutes to and from school, I found myself marveling at how all of my fellow commuters, while jammed together on a crowded train, were so perfectly isolated from one another by virtue of a fantastic modern wonder that we call Noise Cancelling Headphones. You know, the big, shell-like headphones that make you look like a cool, urban fighter pilot? Do you see where I'm going with this?

Then: the light bulb. Earmuffs! Inspired by these insular electronic devices! Or even, earmuffs to wear over your insular electronic devices! Well, now I was getting a little carried away, but more or less this is how these things came to be.

Metropolitan is a simple crochet project, worked on two different sizes of giant hooks (Huge and Really Huge) for a structural pair of muffs. The ear "shell" is shaped by changing hook size - trust me, I'm not fancy enough to design other means of shaping in crochet with super-bulky yarn - we're keeping it simple.

But the best news about this is that they use just under one skein (including tassels), can be worked in about an hour or less and are perfect for last minute gifts for that person in your life with quirky winter style. And if I can hook it, so can you - trust me.

And with that, we wrap up our official coverage of Made in Brooklyn - I hope you enjoy the collection and thank you already to all of you who have sent such supportive and wonderful e-mails about the work. It is very much appreciated.

In travel news - I'll be headed out to Western Mass this weekend with the trunk show for some teaching workshops. Be sure to stop by WEBS to see the garments in person if you're a local and need a knitting fix!

ETA: If you've been searching for a copy of Made in Brooklyn and haven't been able to find a retailer, you can use CE's "Where to Buy" page to find local shops that stock it here.

The booklet is also available online through CE's website here.

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RAVELRY LINKS

Grove on Ravelry

Metropolitan on Ravelry

Made in Brooklyn | Sweaters for Her

2009-08-13T10:29:00.007-04:00

More sweaters today - this time for the ladies!

OH! Before we get in to that, though, I wanted to remember to mention this: although MiB's sweaters may be written out for men or women, I encourage everyone to experiment! Sometimes the only difference between a men's sweater and a women's sweater is the presence of waist shaping and some simple proportion changes (like yoke depth, arm/body length). If you've fallen for a specific design but it's for the wrong gender, please feel free to use the pattern as a guide: take measurements off of a sweater you love (and whose fit you agree with) and go for it! And with that brief soap-box moment out of the way, I present the sweaters:

Meet Stilwell.

More colorwork. More tweed. When I first got the colorcard for Portland Tweed, I was playing with a lot of combos and this one kept coming back to me as something I'd like to knit with. A rich, chocolaty brown coupled with a very dusty, subtle, almost grey (my favorite adjectives for almost any color) shade of pink.

It's a good old fashioned seamless raglan ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind) with some colorwork detailing on the yokes and cuffs. I wanted to do a bit of mixing and matching of styles with traditional Norwegian star motifs and more contemporary elements like a fitted body, 3 quarter length sleeves and shaped collar.

The piece is worked with a henley neck as well. For colorwork patterns, I instruct knitters to use one needle size for one-color stockinette portions, and a larger needle size (2 or 3 sizes up, whatever gets you correct gauge) for all colorwork portions. This is necessary to obtain the same stitch gauge between two different fabrics within one garment. Row gauge is significantly different in colorwork, but that's been accounted for in the design, so stitch gauge is the key - in this way the tension in the fabric is kept constant throughout.

I remember knitting a colorwork yoke sweater from a pattern years ago, all with the same needle size, and how the tension change in the yoke drove me crazy. I've since been experimenting with ways of never making that happen again. This works for me! Anyway - I guess what I'm trying to say is, to save time and frustration when knitting projects with both one-color and two-color stockinette portions, find what gets you the same stitch gauge for each and use those two needle sizes for best results.

Tangents! Tangents! Ahem.

Meet Redhook.

One of the reasons I love Fall so much is the prevalence of layering. People are rocking the layered look everywhere you look and that makes for interesting and inspiring style, not to mention a good way to mix up a wardrobe that can start to feel reeeeaally boring after all those stifling summer months of wearing one thing at a time. Layering is all about contrast: long and short garments, fabric weights and warmths, and maybe most importantly, color! So with all of that in mind, Redhook was conceived as a fun monkey wrench to throw into your layering mix. Vests in general are great for this type of thing because they can be worn under outerwear with no bulk at the arms, and less overheating.

I wanted a garment that could be worn as a stand-alone, or layered easily, had a simple shape and a couple of nice details - like a luxurious collar! I can't get enough of those.

I also fell in love with this color. Moorland is a single-ply heathered yarn that comes in a wonderful group of earthtones (very, very hard to make color decisions on this one). The thing that really floored me about the yarn was the drape after washing - it got super silky and smooth, and very much took me by surprise after I picked it up off the blocking board (who am I kidding, the carpet of a guest room in Portland, Oregon). It was warm and light, and even more perfect for pairing with other clothes. Bonus points!

Redhook involves lots of fun with short-rows. Both sleeve caps and shawl collar/buttonband are all worked directly off of the body fabric from picked-up sts and shaped with short rows.

And finally, Seneca.

Sometimes, scratch that, most times, design ideas hit you at the oddest times. Like when you're sitting, twitching, in jury duty (which makes it even more unbearable, as you're already thinking about how much you'd rather be at home knitting). I had been wanting to knit a rounded yoke pullover with cables that weren't vertical, and desperately wanted to keep it all in one piece. I had been chewing on that idea until BAM! Jury duty brought me to sideways cables.

Sideways cables are interesting - if you've never worked them, here's how they roll: They seem as if to appear out of nowhere on a stockinette or reverse stockinette background. This occurs by a severe increase, usually 5 stitches into one and working the cable directly from that point. When the cable is done, you use a fancy 5-to-1 decrease and you're back to your stockinette fabric. They're like little intermissions from your mindless stockinette meditation.

AND - they perfectly suit round yoke sweaters, which are shaped with intermittent decrease rings throughout the yoke - in Seneca, they're stashed between cable motifs, so that the stitch counts are never interrupted when cabling, which is a major sigh of relief.

A note before I forget about this one: Because of the rather dramatic nature of the fabric manipulation - the severe increasing for the cables and severe decreasing for the round yoke - you'll definitely want to do an official blocking job (I really recommend full-immersion for this) to smooth all of that out after completion. Sweater fabric always looks better after this process, (always) but this sweater benefits from it especially.

Sidways cables are also thrown in on the cuffs for a little extra interest and weight there. Because the sweater is a worsted weight fabric, I generally advise about 3-5" of ease for a classic fit. My model was about 5-6" smaller than the garment and liked the cozy feeling of a little ease added in. I'm a big fan of a little room in my sweaters, especially in warmer fibers like angora.

That rounds out the sweater portion of this tour. Stay tuned for the last two stragglers from the booklet in the next couple of days.

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RAVELRY Links

Stilwell on Ravelry

Redhook on Ravelry

Seneca on Ravelry (Also available as an individual PDF download)

Made in Brooklyn | Sweaters for Him

2009-08-10T15:19:00.005-04:00

Well it's about time we got some sweater talk here, no? Seems like it's been forever! Today's sweaters are two near and dear to me -- probably because I love wearing them both so much.

So I'll state the obvious: I am in love with colorwork. I can't not do it. It's a compulsion. I love graphic motifs and patterns and pairing yarn colors. The sheer amount of possibilities makes my head swim. So I decided early on to just go with that and indulge the colorwork factor this year, and these two pieces pulled me right back into that vortex.

Meet Rockaway.

Indulgent indeed! This is one of those epic patterns I catch myself daydreaming about on the subway but rarely realize. It started out as an oft and intense wish for a classic Cowichan Cardigan -- traditional bulky wool sweaters featuring animal and geometric patterns, knit by the Cowichan Tribes of the Pacific NW and Western Canada. Traditional Cowichan patterns are worked with thick, bulky wool and often sport dramatic shawl collars worked in garter stitch (sounds good right?) - here are some examples.

I made some changes to my inspiration but would be lying if I told you that this design didn't come directly out of this sweater genre! Ariosa is a chunky merino/cashmere single, very lightly spun (almost roving-like) which keeps this cardigan from becoming too heavy. It's oddly soft for something that looks more like rustic outerwear. I traded a shawl collar for a hood, cause you know, hooded cardigans are always welcome here.

As for the knitting - the sweater is steeked (cut) down the middle to open up the front, which means all this colorwork patterning is knit in the ROUND (intoxicating!) - if you were worried about working stranded colorwork from the wrong side, rest assured we'll be having none of that around here.

I did a machine-sewn steek rather than my usual crochet method, because merino and cashmere are short-stapled, slippery fibers and need to be well enforced to really stay put. Actually, this was the first time I had ever worked a steek with a sewing machine. I guess it's not so terrible after all (despite my still-strong fear of bringing machines close to my unfinished knitting - although I do remember thinking at the time that the hammering needle resembled a small battering ram).

In my finishing frenzy I forgot to snap some photos of the inside, but will be sure to do that when the garments stop travelling and return to Brooklyn, later in the winter.

And, Huron.

There's a funny story about this one. Prior to giving an official name to this sweater I was referring to it as the Pinch Hit. See, there was another sweater slated for this book, back when Huron was a mere scribble in a notebook somewhere. The other garment just wasn't working for me - it didn't feel right and it didn't fit in, and time was running very short. With 8 days left before my deadline, and an unflappable feeling of defiance ("I won't lose to you, Problem-Sweater!") I thought throwing in another, completely new, completely unworked-out sweater design was somehow a good idea. In retrospect, I'm glad I did, but... that was a rough week. Aside from calling up CE for a last minute shot of yarn, I don't remember much from that period, other than that Huron was born from start to finish in about 6 days.

But I guess when you're knitting yourself silly on a garment deadline, you can't ask for something much better than a seamless stockinette pullover with a colorwork yoke. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more stockinette (something I almost never say), the stranded portion swoops in and saves the day.

Live and learn I guess. The funny things is, I wouldn't mind knitting this again. I didn't feel like I really got to enjoy the knitting to its fullest because of said insane-situation (kinda like inhaling a gourmet meal way too fast to enjoy it). Round yokes are hard to beat on my list of favorite project types.

Anyway - it's here, nonetheless, which is what really matters I guess. As for the other, sidelined sweater, it'll have its time in the sun. Someday. Just not today.

And speaking of sweaters, there will be more sweater profiling (for the lady-folk) appearing here shortly!

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Ravelry Links:

Rockaway on Ravelry

Huron on Ravelry

Made in Brooklyn | The Laces

2009-08-08T15:35:00.004-04:00

Continuing on with the projects - today we look at The Laces! These are some of my favorites. There are two lace patterns included in the collection - one requiring a modest commitment, the other one requiring the Long Haul labor-of-love.

Meet Bridgewater.

A large lace square worked in a laceweight alpaca silk 2-ply - this was the first project I started last Fall and one of the final finishes in the Spring. Don't get me wrong though - we had many, many happy hours together.

Although I generally favor working lace projects with slightly heavier yarns that have a bit of body to them (mostly cause I like watching the architecture of the stitches play out as I work), there's really nothing like a fine laceweight shawl after it's blocked. Fine knitted lace has a way of taking your breath away when it's whisping around!

The piece is a perfect square, with the center garter stitch portion (okay, so I guess I got a little more garter in than I may have originally let on) worked first, back and forth with lots of satisfying, mindless knitting. Just when you're ready to ditch the simple stuff you'll work the second section of horseshoe lace, picked up from the square's perimeter and worked in the round, working increases at each of four corners. The delicate edging is worked last and knitted-on in place of a bind off.

And, Willoughby.

Here we have our DK-weight lace contender. This piece is a true bit of luxury knitting. Marly, an incredibly light (even for cashmere) 100% cashmere will stop you in your tracks the first time you touch it. When blocked for lace, it feels even lighter - I couldn't believe it!

The pattern provides two sizes - an average length (about 60") and a long length (72") depending on how much yarn you'd like to use. The final piece is wide enough to be considered a stole but can be scrunched down to be worn as a scarf just as easily. I love lace pieces that can be dressed down for street styling or classed up with evening wear. Versatility is always a plus!

The stole is worked in two halves - starting in the center with a provisional cast-on and worked out towards the edges. The lace edging is worked concurrently and changes direction at finish to be worked as a knitted-on-edging in place of a bind off. The second half is worked directly off of the provisionally cast-on sts at center and worked outward in the exact same manner as the first.

As a side note - I want to take this opportunity to extol the virtues of blocking wires. I've been using them exclusively for a few years and have to say that they reign as one of my very favorite (and necessary) knitting tools. I'm a big believer in the magic of blocking - not only for lace, but everything - it can really be the key to putting that extra professional touch to your work. That said, I like square edges, sharp corners and even tension - which can be achieved with pins, but you may drive yourself nuts trying if you err on the side of perfectionism (neurosis) *cough*.

Blocking wires do all the hard work and leave your lace projects coming out perfectly crisp and symmetrical. The joy!

I'll leave you with this photo - taken in early Spring as I was communing with camera, blocking wires and at-long-last-finished-shawl.

Lace knitters - I hope you enjoy!

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RAVELRY LINKS:

Bridgewater on Ravelry

Willoughby on Ravelry (also available as an individual PDF download)

Made in Brooklyn | The Hats

2009-08-02T15:25:00.006-04:00

I continue to love designing and making hats - they're satisfying on so many levels. They involve just enough shaping to play with interesting motifs or techniques and take just long enough to feel substantial without being a major commitment. They're a great canvas for colorwork or cables and a great way to show off that special yarn. Aside from all of those things, I think that they can really make an outfit.

That said, a good little mix of hat designs made their way into this collection - each with their own technique, flavor and fiber.

Meet Quincy.

Garter stitch anyone? I had to get it in there somewhere. Quincy is a hat with a bit of a jaunty twist... literally. I was surprised after I finished it to learn that it can be worn in three rather different styles: (1) twist in the front, for an updated flapper-like style, (2) twist on the side (my personal favorite) for what I like to call the Urban Robin Hood, or thirdly (3) twist in the back - which makes for a more traditional looking beanie from the front and sports a hidden detail behind - its got that whole business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back thing going for it.

Quincy is put together in a non-traditional way and is deceptively simple! It also employs one of my favorite techniques: built-in I-cord - worked on both edges of the sideways garter stitch portion to make a piping-like border. Ariosa is a lightly spun, almost-roving-like merino cashmere blend. Super light and warm which makes the chunky hat disarmingly weightless.

Meet Laurel.

Laurel was a response to a lot of Japanese knitwear that I was (slash am always) looking at. I love how cables and bobbles can be executed unapologetically but with restraint and control - one of my favorite things about Japanese knitting in general, and something that serves as consistent inspiration for me. It's all about details.

The hat motifs remind me of vines and berries and are sure to add a bit of whimsy to any ensemble.

For the beret-shape, I blocked the hat over a kitchen plate, approximately 10" in diameter. Cardboard circles work great as well. For a less flared shape the hat can also be blocked without this form to have a more beanie-like silhouette.

And, meet the Beaumont Twins:

Don't you love what a little angora can do to colorwork? Smokey!

The hat comes in two versions: A traditional tam worked in 2-colors, and a 4-color beanie in shades of grey. You'll notice that the beanie-version shown has a bit more of a halo than the other... that's because I wore it for about 4 months before I decided it could also be included in the collection. Oops! I had originally just planned on the Tam having the spotlight but then I figured I'd throw in the greys for good measure.

Aside from the number of colors used, the hat is worked from the same pattern at different gauges to create the different styles. Like Laurel, the Tam version is shaped over a 10"-ish circular form during blocking (careful not to stretch the ribbing during that process!)

I hope you enjoy these toppers - stay tuned for more pattern profiling this week!

_____________________________________________________________

For you Ravelers in the audience -- find Rav-Links for each of these patterns below:

Beaumont Beanie on Ravelry

Beaumont Tam on Ravelry

Quincy on Ravelry

Laurel on Ravelry

My Second Thesis, or, The Birth of A Collection

2009-07-31T13:46:00.010-04:00

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be writing this post -- it's been a loooong time coming, and I feel like I've spent a year holding out on you about the knitting that was actually going on here behind the scenes. It felt so wrong to be knitting my fingers to the bone on this end, with a quiet lack of output on the blog. Well, it's finally time to come clean and show you what I've been referring to over the last nine months as my Second Thesis.

I'm happy to introduce Made in Brooklyn - a collection of original handknit designs in natural fibers, published with Classic Elite yarns and available beginning next week.

As you well know, the last year was a trying one here as I was finishing up my MFA and thesis, teaching and photographing regularly. So when the opportunity to take on a project like this presented itself, I was convinced I was absolutely crazy to take on an additional commitment of this magnitude and almost surely doomed to drive myself into the ground and bring all my projects crashing down along with me in the process. And yes, the last 11 months have not been without their low points, but now that the dust has settled and all is said and done, I'm so glad that the wonderful folks at CE trusted me enough to give me this period to work up this book.

The process started very organically and blossomed out of multiple friendly discussions that I was having last September with my dear friend Pam Allen, the artistic director of Classic Elite and designer extroidinaire, but most of all an absolute golden sweetheart. I had been expressing my desire to continue exploring new directions in print publishing for the yarn shop community while still being able to keep my online distribution and the independent publishing mojo that I love so much about the internet, Ravelry, etc.

We ultimately came up with a new model in which Classic Elite would give an independent designer like me the opportunity to create a publication of designs in which I was given complete creative control over designing, pattern writing and photography, while retaining the rights to my work and the ability to distribute them as online PDF downloads as well as having them available in print at your local yarn shop. Needles to say I was thrilled!

And I couldn't have been luckier to be working with a company whose range of yarns is absolutely epic. As a designer, having such a solid range of high quality, natural fibers in a wide range of weights, constructions and colors seemed like such a dream-opportunity. And it really has been a wonderful, wonderful process.

The booklet features 13 original designs that run the gamut from simple, versatile accessories to major sweater projects for both men and women to long-term lace projects. My ever-present bug for colorwork was seriously indulged so if you're a lover of stranded knitting be sure to give the patterns a look! You'll also see a range of fibers used -- wool (of course, and lots of it!), cashmere, alpaca, silk and angora -- oh my, what fun! I had a WONDERFUL time putting these pieces together. And as I said before, I can't tell you how happy I am to finally be able to share them with all of you.

The designs in the book are all named after streets in Brooklyn and I shot all the photography on location in the streets here - which I thought was only fitting, as they are such a constant source of inspiration for me in my knitting and designing.

Now for the technical details: The book will be arriving in shops later in the week, so be sure to check your local LYS for details and yarn selection. Online sales will begin through Classic Elite's website mid-week, and pre-orders have already begun so if you prefer to go that route, please visit their site here.

As I mentioned before, the patterns will also be available for download as individual PDFs. The three patterns above will be available for purchase online immediately upon release of the book next week - both on Ravelry and here at Brooklyn Tweed. The remaining designs will become available as PDF downloads in the Spring.

Over the next week or so I'll be doing more in-depth coverage with plenty of photos here on the blog to introduce you to the new collection and these wonderful yarns, and catch up on showing you FO's from the past year! Stay tuned for more images and info on the patterns.

Before I end, I want to thank everyone for sticking around here on the blog through sparse times and for your continued support with my designs and photography. I very much hope you enjoy knitting this collection of designs -- I thought long and hard about enjoyable and intuitive ways to put these pieces together in hopes that you'll get as much enjoyment out of their making as I did. Thank you all so much.

Of Press, Vintage Sweaters, and Baby Knitting

2009-07-25T16:08:00.006-04:00

I'm back from a wonderful and restful vacation -- it's amazing what a little time off will do for your energy. It's also amazing what the ocean air can do for you when you have nothing to do but knit in front of the sea for 6 days. Dreamy!

I came home to the new issue of The Knitter -- in which is featured an interview that Meg Swansen and I conducted with the wonderful ladies of The Knitter while in the UK. If you don't know this magazine, it's a great one - a bit hard to come by in the US, but getting easier, so I hear. The article features a few sneak peeks at some of my upcoming designs which will be out next month.

And you know I can't take a trip with acquiring a few woolly souvenirs, despite trying desperately to pack light, and keep it that way! Behind the scenes here I run what I like to think of as a Sweater Rescue Program - searching thrift stores and flea markets for beautiful woolen cast-offs that have been slightly damaged, dirtied, or just plain overlooked. I like to take them in, mend them with matching scrap yarn, clean them up and give them new life. I do this rather often, which explains my large collection of machine knit sweaters (on top of all those hand-knit ones), which some people find puzzling. I say: Good Knitwear is Good Knitwear, right!?

That said, I found a real BEAUTY in Portland at my favorite thrifting locale: "The Bins" (aka Buying-Sweaters-By-Weight-For-Change). This here is a vintage shetland pullover with great details and wonderful wool. It has plenty of small moth-holes and a few little stains that can be easily taken out with a good hand-washing. And since I seem to have somehow acquired every possible shade of Shetland Grey in existence all under one roof, I figured I'd be able to find a pretty good match for this one.

Mending commences this week!

In vacation-knitting news, I got some work done on new designs, but mostly zoned out with my stockinette project for the baby ... enjoying these beautiful shades of gold and soaking up the sounds of the ocean. I love knitting by the sea just after dusk and into evening - stockinette is nice cause you don't really need to look at your knitting, at least not that much.

The leggings are in need of one more leg, which should be quick work for car knitting that will be happening in the next few days (passenger, not driver.... although I've been known to try. Keep that one quiet.)

Stick around in the next week or so for some big announcements and blatant eye-candy. Until next time!

Woolly Tones

2009-07-11T12:55:00.003-04:00

Swatching does a funny thing to your productivity - you know you're knitting a ton but feel like you have very little output. I really enjoy swatching, though -- it's the best way to really get to know a yarn, and I find that design ideas almost always reveal and shape themselves in a major way during that period. To me, the material makes a design, so swatching is a bit of a brainstorming session. Or maybe like a first date.

I've been doing a lot of swatching these past couple of weeks.

The Tweed Baby Blanket got me really hungry for a true Hap Shawl knitting experience with traditional yarns - so when I pulled out my burgeoning Shetland Stash and started pairing color groups, I really got into it. Shetland, with it's unbeatable palette, lets me indulge my love of tonal color relationships. That, and my fixation on natural sheep colors and their endless combinations.

There are also mitten designs being worked on - lots of colorowork around here. I just can't ever seem to shake that bug.

And a very special arrival came this week from Portland...

A gorgeous treasure trove of Shibui Sock -- sent as a collaboration between the folks at Shibui and my sister-in-law (they're practically neighbors) -- kits and colors chosen by the Baby Mama herself. And let me tell ya, she has great taste -- I'm certainly not complaining about these choices!

I've already started knitting a pair of baby leggings with the golden colorway - I hardly ever knit with real SOCK yarn - so I'm enjoying the change of scenery for these. And they'll be machine-washable too - something I can rarely say about my knitting. Good for new babies (or new parents, rather) for sure.

Tonight I fly to the West Coast - for a little work and a little play. I have a photoshoot in Seattle over the next few days then am taking some time with my family before a quick trip to SoCal for a short but real-and-true VACATION. I've packed knitting that satisfies needs across the board from the simple stockinette longies to fingering weight colorwork. That's what I call travel security.

Tweed Baby Blanket Pattern Now Available

2009-07-06T11:48:00.004-04:00

Is anyone else feeling the post-holiday-weekend-Monday blues? I escaped for a long weekend in the Catskills with friends - fireworks, bonfire, barbecue and knitting - lots of knitting! I thought about posting this pattern before the weekend and then thought it might be a fun pick-me-up for the aftermath. I hope it finds you feeling restored wherever you might be.

The pattern for the Tweed Baby Blanket (see my original post on this piece here) is now available for purchase in either my Ravelry Pattern Store or through PayPal.

The pattern -- which I knit for my soon-to-be nephew (yes, it's a boy!), arriving in October -- was inspired by traditional Hap Shawls of Shetland. Here are the details:

Finished Measurements: Approx 38 x 38 inches square
Materials: DK-Weight Wool in 2-colors -- approx 585 yards of Main Color & 275 of Contrasting Color
Gauge: 4 sts and 4 ridges (8 rows) per inch in Garter Stitch after blocking (as for lace)
Needles: I used a US8/5mm 32" circular for the whole project. I recommend one double pointed needle, one size larger for working the applied I-Cord edging
Notions: You'll need 4 stitch markers - I recommend having one in an alternate color to be used to indicate the beg of round. Blocking wires or blocking pins - whatever suits your fancy for blocking lace-type pieces, and as always, a trusty, blunt tapestry needle.

Other notes: Pattern instructions for lace portion are charted clearly with corresponding legend. The pattern is written using 2 colors but I encourage you to experiment with more as you see fit. This is also a great stash-busting project for yarns you have lying around. If you want a larger blanket, work this up in a worsted weight yarn on larger needles. Price for the pattern is $5.75 USD

If you're a Ravelry member and prefer acquiring this pattern there, click on the Ravelry button. If you aren't on Ravelry or prefer PayPal directly, click on the PayPal button.

I have plenty of knitting to show - it just needs to be photographed. I'm closing in on my merino/cashmere pullover and having fun with new yarns and Shetland lace. Oh my!

The BT Design Guarantee: As always, this pattern has been test-knit and tech-edited in an effort to bring the most enjoyable and error-free process to you - the knitter! I have personally prepared all diagrams and charts as well as knit/photographed samples and designed pattern layouts - soliciting the opinions of knitters prior to publication in an effort to streamline this product. I have done my very best to bring you a pattern that I am proud to stand behind fully. I do my best to respond to concerns or comments as soon as possible and, as always, thank you for your support and encouragement. Happy knitting! -Jared

New Acquisitions

2009-06-21T11:07:00.006-04:00

What a crazy month it's been! Now that I'm finally home and the dust has settled, it's time to get back to my knitting. And that's something worth celebrating! As I've been unpacking (it never ends), reorganizing and regrouping, the full realization of how much yarn I actually acquired during my travels has hit. I was a bit of a magnet - I SWEAR I try to keep yarn intake down to the absolute essentials... but then I black out and find a suitcase full of the stuff splayed out on the floor when I get back.

I've been doing a lot of swatching in the last couple of days - my head is full of ideas and I'm ready to explore them! Today, though, I thought I might feature a few highlights from my collection of travel souvenirs.

Serious British Wool Alert: Have you heard of Garthenor? I hadn't until I was over in the UK and picked up these two balls of beautiful black sheep's wool in London. Garthenor produces organic wool for spinners and knitters from UK grown sheep. Their website has info about what wools are actually in their yarns, which is (oddly) rare and always a major plus in my book! I have a weakness for black wools - this yarn is a rustic DK-weight Black Welsh Mountain breed, and is begging to become a pair of sturdy, woolly mittens!

And speaking of black sheep... here's something that has got my spinning mojo rip-roaring again! A 70/30 black shetland/tussah silk combed top from Old Maiden Aunt. This stuff is beaaautiful and just waiting for the wheel (this week I hope!). Shetland is my favorite spinning material, so I'm psyched to see how the silk feels blended in. Color-wise I think it works incredibly well together. I'm planning for a totally zen evening with this one.

Oh and the blue? Yeah, it's kind of a stunner, isn't it. It's a fingering weight merino from the same dyer's Homecoming Collection - "Lon Dubh (Blackbird)" - a deep, saturated, smokey blue that definitely WORKS. Both of the gems above were gifts from the generous and talented Old Maiden Aunt in Scotland - I'm thrilled!

At TNNA, back in Ohio, I stowed away with a few choice balls of new yarn for Fall and this one got me really excited. Now - I'm not a big alpaca head - but this yarn commands some attention! It's a new worsted alpaca from Rowan called "Lima." Aside from the beautiful palette of colors and great heathered blending that's happening, the construction of the yarn I think is notable as utilizing some of alpacas best qualities and ditching some of its worst. The yarn is basically a miniature 2-stitch I-Cord which, most importantly, traps a lot of air in the yarn - keeping it LIGHT - while at the same time maintaining great elasticity. Elasticity and lightness are words I don't often use to describe alpaca so I really think this yarn was designed well. Now all there is left to do is appreciate the lofty, butter-soft jewel-tones, which I will proceed to do now.

And lastly - this one doesn't really count as an official souvenir but it was waiting for me when I got home from traveling (I ordered it just before I left, as a bit of incentive) and is certainly a show stopper! I've spoken about Marr Haven before, but this is one of my very favorite yarns and I do like to treat myself to it every now and again. The folks at Marr Haven grow purebred Merino-Rambouillet sheep (soft wool, but with body!) in Michigan and mule-spin it to keep the true integrity of the fibers intact. They don't offer a ton of color selection, but if you're happy knitting with naturals until you die, like me, you're set. Aside from that wonderfuly soft, lofty, lanolin-y experience while knitting, the texture is a game-changer! I'm smitten.

I certainly have plenty to keep me busy this summer - the yarns above are just a sampling! When it rains it pours, doesn't it?

Are your air-conditioners fired up? Summer knitting, here we come.

Cheers!

2009-06-12T12:47:00.005-04:00

I've been knitting my way around the UK over the last week and a half, having an absolutely wonderful time and meeting some great UK knitters!

There have been so many highlights - not least of which was getting some quality time with Meg Swansen, what a treat! Meg and I appeared on BBC radio to promote Ravelry, British Wool, and most of all, Knitting with a capital K! Meg taught our host how to knit on the air - I'm glad I had my camera!

I'm headed back stateside this weekend for TNNA in Columbus. If you're there, stop by and say hello!

After TNNA, I'll have some much needed down time - my knitting and I are in need of some one-on-one in a desperate way!

My Requests For A Wool Tassle Were Ignored

2009-05-23T09:49:00.005-04:00

But this one works too! It's been a turbulent 2 years - too quiet around the blog on my part and all-too unquiet everywhere else! Thanks for sticking with me as I powered through my MFA.

I'm taking a week off (from everything), then I'll be headed over the pond to go bananas at UK Ravelry Day. I'll be teaching alongside Meg Swansen, Wooly Wormhead, Debbie Bliss, and many others whose presence I am absolutely honored to be in!

Here's to a new chapter - one where there is much more time for knitting!

Tweed Baby Blanket

2009-05-07T14:20:00.003-04:00

Ooh this was a fun one! Back in February when I heard of my impending uncle-dom, I began working on a garter stitch square with the intention of turning it into a baby blanket/shawl for the little one. I never tire of a good garter stitch square trimmed with a lacy edge - I think they're simple, elegant and wonderful to knit. They never do you wrong. Ever.

At the same time the garter stitch knitting was happening (academic de-tox) I was amassing a stack of Shetland Knitting History Books (pleasure reading) on the bedside table. Being exposed to pages and pages of the most unbelievable Shetland lace, the beautiful Hap Shawls put a spell on me (I think I'll make an 'official' one this year) and, when it came time for choosing a suitable edge to incorporate my second-color, Feather-and-Fan struck back with a vengeance!

Pattern: A Shetland-Inspired Improvisation
Yarn: KnitPicks (new) "City Tweed DK" in Tahitian Pearl (MC) & Orca (CC)
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm circulars
Finished Dimensions: 38" x 38" square

Started: Late February 09
Finished: Mid-April 09

The nice folks over at KnitPicks sent me some of their new City Tweed yarn to play with. It's super soft and allowed me to create a shawl that's baby-skin-friendly while masquerading as something a bit more rustic (rustique?). I knit the (DK-weight) yarn up on an 8 and blocked the piece as for lace with blocking wires and a nice drumskin tension. I love how it came out - the softness and squishiness remains but with a drapey, shawl-like quality.

The garter stitch is worked on the bias, starting with one stitch and increasing one stitch on each row to create the square - at the halfway point, just replace a decrease for your increase and you end up shaping it back down to one stitch. Then it was just a matter of picking up stitches and Feather and Fanning myself into oblivion. I finished off with an applied I-Cord to keep simple, felxible edge and of course adhere to the 'no-hard-bind-offs' rule of lace blocking.

It's a bit early for October, but I guess it just means we'll have more woolens to chat about between now and then. Is there anything better than knitting for a Fall arrival?

Knitting Bits

2009-04-17T11:21:00.004-04:00

Ooh, this is going to be a bit all-over-the-place, but there are so many little projects needing updating here that I figured I'd just cram them all in. Between baby knitting and de-stress knitting, The Piles (you know what I'm talking about) have been growing growing growing.

First, I finished my Shetland mittens and due to all this schizophrenic weather we've been having, they've gotten a lot of play in the last couple of weeks. I think they may now be officially retired for the warmer months, but hey, we could wake up (again) to hail tomorrow and biting winds. You never know these days.

I have yet to give them a proper photoshoot or a more appropriate blog-post of their own, but they were so quietly sitting in the sunlight this morning that I figured they warranted a little show-and-tell time.

And speaking of finished projects yet-to-be-photographed-or-written-about, I've finished a few more little baby knits. (As an update for those who have been asking, I'm going to be an official uncle (not a father) and I'm VERY excited about it!) Below is a charming little vintage-style baby bonnet - a free pattern from Larissa at Stitch Marker - that is sweet sweet sweet. I knit this with a linen/wool blend (stashbustin') and loved the crispness of the wavy ridges and soft-yet-sturdy quality of the fabric. The eyelets around the neck are for ribbon but I worked up a nice sturdy I-Cord instead.

I blocked this using pins and a blocking wire (pictured) to open up the fabric. I could go on and on about how much I love blocking wires. I find I use them for all sorts of things and they just give finished garments that extra OCD punch.

The stashbusting continues in the baby knitting arena: I had one skein of super-silky SWTC Bamboo - this stuff has great yardage (the skein feels a bit like a hockey puck - so weighty and satisfying) and I thought I'd challenge the skein to a duel. Is a one skein baby sweater possible? I believe so! I'm done with the yoke and body and just have the sleeves left - according to the weight of the remaining yarn (40g!), we should be golden for a newborn-sized EZ classic.

The pattern is the ever-popular and always-charming February Baby Sweater from EZ's Knitter's Almanac (I made one a couple years back in green).

Lastly: Remember my 'Reward Cone' of School Products Cashmere Merino? Well I couldn't wait until proper reward-time came around and felt a mindless stockinette pullover was in desperate need of conjuring. So I started. And it's making for some gooooood tactile gratification.

More details on many of these soon - apologies again for the random project purge session!

Montera: Part Deux

2009-03-26T11:51:00.004-04:00

I was rummaging through my photos today, as I'll often do when I'm seeking solace from stress (or when I'm just straight up procrastinating), and came across these pictures of the second version of the Montera Hat that I knit up at Christmas. After gifting this to a dear family friend, I completely forgot about the photos and hence forgot to share - good thing it didn't quite get away from us!

Pattern: Montera Hat by Pam Allen [Ravel it!]
Source: Classic Elite Alpaca Stories
Yarn: Classic Elite Montera in 3875 Inca Grey; Just barely under one skein (pattern calls for two)
Needles: US 7 (4.5mm) and US 10 (6mm) circulars using the Magic Loop

When: Christmas Eve and surrounding hours, stuck in an airport due to snow storms.

It's much the same story as the first one - aside from using a different yarn, they were both knit during snowstorm-induced airport hysteria (collective) at Christmas. Extra gift knitting, in retrospect was the silver lining of the story, if only a minor amount of silver proportional to the rest of the chaos. I'm over it though, can't you tell?

My gauge on US 10's was slightly tighter than instructed by the pattern, although I like the finished product with slightly less slouch. I blocked the hat over a 10" lid to the pot we use to boil water for pasta - it's my go-to form for blocking the slouchy and tam-like. Cardboard circles cut from old boxes work well too. This accounts for the shaping you see, although it would fit more like a beanie without this. Knitter's preference!

I squeaked in at just under one skein - it was a nail biter, since I only had that one skein and limited time. If you knit one, I'd play it safe and grab an extra skein. If you end up making it with just one, you can be sure you'll have enough yarn for another! I guess I should mention the one skein trick didn't include the survival of my swatch - I used everything.

Last week was "Spring Break" (term used loosely) - although I did take a day or two off for myself to knit, think, and re-acquaint myself with my spring priorities. The weather is warming up slowly but surely and the Perfect Storm of spring, as I've affectionately dubbed the coming season for myself is on its way. The good news is that I'm really having a light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel moment and there are some really exciting things on the near horizon - I'm really looking forward to sharing these with you, faithful friends! I'm entertaining the idea of taking summer off and knitting next to my air conditioner for three months as an effective transition into a new chapter... sounds good (and not at all irresponsible), doesn't it?

Cisco

2009-03-12T15:38:00.003-04:00

There has been a gaggle of baby knitting going on over here - a very important little person is coming into the world and I've made it my personal mission to instill a high wool tolerance, nay, dependence on the little one.

Also - baby stuff can make anyone feel like a super knitter - little projects that give you the similar types of construction satisfaction (sometimes) as larger garments, take about a tenth of the time, and give you an excuse to play with all those beautiful yarns you were saving for something special but didn't have enough of to make anything substantial with. Works for me!

Now, Cisco. Here's a project that is almost too cute for it's own good. You know, the project that makes you giggle as you work because it's so darned cute... and because you know that any little head when wrapped in little ears like this will be ten times more likely to induce cute-baby-sighs.

Pattern: Cisco [Free Pattern from the Berroco Design Team] [Ravel it!]
Materials: "Lazy Daisy" Handspun light-worsted-weight 2-Ply Merino from Pigeonroof Studios; Scraps of Solid Brown Cascade "Cash Vero" for trim and I-cord
Size: With my very limited knowledge of baby sizing... I'd guess this came out to fit around a 6-12 month old
Needles: US 8/5mm circulars (the piece is knitted flat)
Start Date: March 1, 2009
Finish Date: March 8, 2009

The original pattern is written for various brightly colored yarns, striped together. I opted for a more subtle self-striping look. As I always say, when the yarn can do the work for you - just let it. And when you have the chance to put a little handspun to good use (with garter stitch) - do it.

I had just enough handspun left over from this hat to make a miniature - and the big bonus? The original hat was made for the baby mama... meaning yes, we have a matchy-matchy scenario on our hands. I love it. [See a photo of the un-knit handspun here]

There are some fun and clever little construction details on this - like the formation of the ears, mitered forehead point, and shaped back-of-head portion. All pieces are knit flat, but picked up and worked directly off of one another, so no seaming is involved (brownie points).

Aside from the difference in yarn choices, I only made a few small modifications to the existing pattern. I omitted the stockinette center peak of the forehead - I liked the look better keeping it in garter, and rather than using YO increased, I worked raised bar increases to omit holes. I trimmed the whole thing in a solid contrasting color - one ridge of garter stitch with a bind off in purl from the RS. I left 3 live stitches at the base of each earflap as I was binding off and made them into I-cord. I made the I-cord just long enough to tie, but not so long as to be a dangling nuisance for parent or child.

I thought the ears, being the absolute best part of the little piece, needed a little extra pop so I worked a crochet chain in the darker solid around each ear to emphasize their shape. I think they look much better with it than they did before.

What a little gem of a pattern this is - highly recommended and definitely worthy of getting of the regular-baby-knits list if you ask me! Thanks to the lovely ladies of the Berocco DT for another winner!

Alberta (The Striped Vest Returns!)

2009-02-24T12:09:00.010-05:00

I knit this vest last spring - it was a bona fide Frankenstein of harvested tweed from recycled thriftstore sweater wool and a gaggle of handspun Shetland that I had no idea what to do with. It's gotten a lot of wear this year and the folks at Wild Fibers Magazine asked me if I'd write up the pattern for their 5th Anniversary Issue - which I was happy to do!

I took the vest along on my trip to Portland over the holidays for a proper photo shoot and formal pattern-writing session. Alberta is named after the PDX neighborhood of the same name - the place I call home whenever in Portland.

The pattern [Ravelry Link] is written for worsted weight wool - 4.5 stitches to the inch - with no suggested retail yarn, due to the whole Frankenstein thing I mentioned above. I'd love to see what other juicy wools others knit this up in!

The vest is steeked (see the gorey details here & here) for both armholes and neck opening, which means no purling! And also fast knitting - this one just flew off the needles back in May.

As a heads up, a few typos squeaked their way past both me and the tech editor - I've listed the changes at the bottom of the post as well as on the pattern page on Ravelry. My apologies for this!

I'm off to Tampa for 5 days (my first time to Florida. Ever.) - and looking forward to a little sunshine! The most important item on my immediate agenda is the same one we all face the night before a flight: what knitting to bring and how much! As a rule I tend to bring more than I need - carrying an extra project is so worth the alternative - running out of knitting while away from home! Now that's a tragedy!

[Alberta Pattern Errata]
** third row below Begin Working Stripes should read: “Repeat last four rounds, establishing 2-row stripe motif…”
**Last line of Shape Armholes Section should read: Repeat last round until yoke measures 4” (4”, 4”, 4”, 4.5”)

Did Midas Dye Fiber?

2009-02-16T12:56:00.004-05:00

Oh, wow - spinning has snapped me up again! I never see it coming. I had been fiddling around with my Jamieson's Shetland sampler and my mind began to wander. At some point I thought, "I wonder what else I have lying around here waiting to be spun?" It was probably a good thing I had my fiber hidden so well, cause it took me this long to rediscover some major gems.

I came across this colorful fluff, which I had scooped up from Adrian late last Spring. It was like a blast of sunlight on a particularly grey day. I was weak. I caved.

I hunkered down and did the first skein all in one sitting. Maybe I just blacked out and this is what happened? I've never thought about what yarn dipped in honey would look like... but that's the first thing this skein made me think of. This is 4 ounces and I've got a good 8 more to spin. I'm a happy camper.

Aptly titled Hive - this is Falkland Wool from a past installment of the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I spun it up using a semi-worsted method. It's a 2-ply heavy worsted weight.

We had some nice quiet time together yesterday morning - and as I quietly sculpted the skein by the window for its photoshoot, I had one of those Yes-You-Look-Like-A-Crazy-Person moments. The colors! The textures! The Seduction!

As for knitting - I was struck by a sudden desire to make a good, sturdy pair of mittens this week. My internal colorwork clock must have flatlined. I raided my Jamieson's Shetland stash (I always keep at least a little Shetland close at hand. I sort of think that Jared-is-to-Shetland as bee-sting-allergies-are-to-the-EpiPen.) Do you ever feel that way about yarn? No? Just me?

I'm sort of... eh, winging a pattern. I wanted something simple, geometric and sturdy. And a sheepy, heathered version of the traditional Red-on-White Fair Isle combo. Between these mittens and my wheel, I'm having a very reclusive week. Better beef up my take-out menus.

Carrots.

2009-02-07T11:23:00.006-05:00

Remember the old cartoon trick of the dangling carrot, strung up from a fishing pole? Well, I've gotten myself some carrots. It's maybe the simplest way of tricking yourself to power through the tough times.... but really, whatever works. I guess this is the first time I've ever seen a cashmere carrot, though... and hopefully not the last!

It's been nose to the grindstone around here, finishing up my MFA (May is almost here!) and doing some hefty knitting work (soon, soon to show) and I kinda hit the wall a short while ago. After a few days in the dregs, strategizing the next couple of months, I got on the subway and went to one of my favorite NYC hideaways - School Products.

The oldest yarn shop in Manhattan, I like to drop by whenever I need a pick-me-up (Consumer Alert!) because you just never know what you're gonna get. (And you always find something) The folks at SP keep a steady stock of discount luxury fiber cones (primarily cashmere) Italy and sell them to us budget shoppers. As usual, I went in distraught and came out feeling refreshed.

Yes - refreshed by a sweaters-worth of Merino Cashmere (70 | 30) in the loveliest, smokiest shade of brown (I wouldn't have been surprised if it smelled like a campfire). And this, my friends, is my make-it-to-summer reward - a dreamy merino/cashmere sweater project for when life slows down. Until then, it's mounted like a monument on the shelf, in plain view, to keep me motivated. So far, it's working (I did cheat and swatch... although that only sweetens the desire. I love a good swatching session.)

The other sweet treat (don't they kinda look edible?) is one that I can enjoy throughout the coming weeks - I've been trying to implement small but regular batches of spinning time into my week (Some meditate, I spin). This little shetland fiber sampler from Jamieson & Smith is the perfect thing - small amounts in harmonious, all-natural shades.

If I can keep it consistent, I'd love to do some colorwork with the finished yarns - it could make for a real knitting gem.

Shetland is my favorite fiber to spin (I know, I'm a broken record) and keeping things simple is my preferred philosophy on most things in life, so here's to some good spinning!

Carrots. It works.

Almeara Gloves

2009-01-23T12:58:00.007-05:00

To say I found myself victim to a serious cable-hunger this Fall would be an understatement. My design work is kinda littered with them - these gloves being no exception. My head has been filled with root-wrapped accessories and knot-riddled sweaters (what's new, really?). When I think about it, I'm still kinda stunned by how amazing cables really are. I mean... who thought this up in the first place anyway? I don't think I'll ever get sick of playing with them.

[Oh, before I start talking shop about these and forget: this pattern can be found in Vogue Knitting Winter 2008/09, which I think hits the stands this week, if it hasn't already. Ravelry link here.]

When I got to thinking about super cabley gloves, visions of some root-like gauntlets came to mind - like some fancy armor cast-off from a lost and forgotten forest fantasy world. Leave it to my adolescent fantasy-novel-reading past. Again - cables just do that to me.

With the fear of cable seduction and going overboard, I opted for something simple on the palm: enter garter stitch, my longtime companion. This wonderful yarn (Rowan Scottish Tweed DK) was kinda begging for something textural on the palmside. A DK woolen-spun two ply - this stuff is light and oh-so-woolly, with a touch of irregularity that makes it so beautiful. I wouldn't at all mind knitting up a whole sweater out of this one. This is me making a mental note.

The motifs on the hands are mirrored - same cables, just raying out in opposing directions. The choice of individual unique cables along each finger (a decision I may have cursed myself for while charting the pattern...) make this one a bit more involved than say, mittens of the same flavor, but I hope it's worth the extra work, cause they are kinda fun in the end.

There's an I-cord cast-on for these which, if you haven't tried it, you're in or a treat! Definitely on my top 10 list of fun knitting tricks.

The pattern is accompanied with a fancy-pants article which always seems so very twilight zone, but is very flattering nonetheless and I'm absoluely grateful for it!

I hope you enjoy these! And I'm also hoping for the wintry, wool-wearing weather to stick around for a good while so the sweater (glove/mitten/hat/fill in your own blank) drawer can keep its regular rotation.

Are you getting sick of me constantly worshiping Winter yet?

Montera Hat

2009-01-16T10:44:00.005-05:00

I guess I can say there was one benefit (and I can only say this in hindsight) from experiencing (along with so many others) a Christmas Airport Nightmare, thanks to unprecedented storms in the Northwest and concurrent, fun weather here at JFK. That benefit being that I got to bang out a few handknit gifts that weren't in my original plan.

Pattern: 'Montera Hat' by Pam Allen [Ravel it!]
Source: Classic Elite 'Alpaca Stories'
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza in #077 (Just barely one skein, not including swatch)
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm and US 10/6 mm

Started and Finished: 23 December 08

I used up almost all of my leftover yarn from the Girasole - Pastaza is very similar to Montera (the yarn called for by the pattern), and I think it was a good fit. (I also made one in Montera, which you'll see very soon, for comparisons sake). The hat is so sculptural - I love it (surprise surprise, Jared likes knitting lace with big yarn.) And I so love that shade of mustardy yellow; I was glad I had enough to make something else with it, instead of adding to the already-ginormous 'scrap' yarn pyramid.

The pattern is accompanied by a matching triangular shawl and can be found in "Alpaca Stories," one of a few new and wonderful pattern collections put out by CE last fall. They've got a pretty rockin' design team going on over there so look out!

I knit the hat with almost no modifications, other than popping down to a 10 from the suggested 10.5 needle, and reversing the direction of the decreases at the crown (I worked k2tog's when instructed to ssk and ssk's when instructed to k2tog). My reasons for that are completely arbitrary, other than that I liked the look of a more feathered decrease scheme on this particular piece rather than the bolder, relief-like one used in the pattern.

I like this lace repeat because it has yarn overs worked on every row, rather than having a free round of knitting between every patterned round, which makes for a nice open fabric, and a more dynamic look to the size of the yarn overs. But then again, I'm a major lace nerd, so I like these things.

It's back, more or less, to business-as-usual (running around like a chicken with a severed head), and part of me has to admit that I'm glad. I was starting to miss all of my yarn. Even though I may not be using it all... it's nice to know it's right there in the next room. JUST in case.

Chunky Merino Throw

2009-01-04T15:18:00.004-05:00

As I said before, it's kinda like the perfect project for people who love swatching, since that's basically what it is. Introducing my Lace Swatch on Steroids.

Pattern: Lacy Chunky Throw by Wenlan Chia
Source: Classic Elite WebLetter #63
Materials: Twinkle "Soft Chunky"; 7 skeins in "Mink"
Needles: 42" Circulars in size US 17 (Broomsticks!)
Dimensions: appox. 54" x 40"

Started: November 2008
Finished: December 2008

I just realized that, with the exception of a few last minute Christmas hats, this beast rounds out my finished work for 2008. And let me take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year - I think 2009 is going to be a good one.

This was intended to be a quick knit to beef up the winter home lineup, since it's been a cold one this year (which I love!) - and it was relatively quick, although not as quick as I had planned because knitting with broomsticks is a bit hard on the hands after a while. Speaking of broomsticks, the pattern calls for size 19 circulars, which I don't have, so I just used my 17's. I figured I'd knit a bit looser anyway, given the circumstances with this gigantic yarn.

I had one extra skein of yarn than the pattern required (I had 7, the pattern requests 6), so I cast on 80 stitchess rather than the 76 called for. With a few added stitches, an extra skein and slightly smaller needles, my finished blanket came out just slightly bigger than the projected dimensions. Big enough to get under comfortably, but not huge - which is a good thing, cause it's on the heavier side, despite the very open lacework (yarn overs every other stitch, every row).

I really love the color - it's almost silvery in the way it catches light. The yarn is super bulky, short stapled, and has a low-twist which means it fuzzes a lot.... but it's so soft that I just didn't even care. Yarn this thick becomes truly sculptural, which I enjoy profusely, so all in all, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

The pattern is free, so if you happen to have a bunch of this yarn lying around, it could be just the thing. I think blankets and throws rather than garments are better suited to super-bulky yarns personally, but I'm easily suffocated in excessively heavy sweaters.

I hope you're all recovering well from the holiday period. I'm taking a much needed respite in chilly Portland, OR this week and reorganizing my life after a crazy couple of months. Enjoy the new year we've been given and as always, keep knitting!

PS Just cause I know some of you will be wondering - the sweater in the photos isn't handknit. It's just a reeeaally good thrift store find! Huzzah!

A Day At Twinkle

2008-12-27T12:18:00.005-05:00

My all-time favorite jobs as a photographer are those that involve shooting artists' spaces, and, of course, the artists that they house. So I was completely thrilled when Knit.1 asked me to pay a visit to designer Wenlan Chia's studio in Manhattan to spend the day with her for a few portraits and studio shots. We had such a great time together - and I thought I'd share some of the shots with you, as I'm sure there are some big Twinkle fans out there.

In the handknitting community, Wenlan is probably best known for her signature super bulky merino yarn - Soft Chunky (pictured below) (kinda looks like cotton candy, doesn't it?) and the wonderfully chunky fashion knits she conjures up with it.

She carries two other yarn lines, which I hadn't ever experienced in person - and let me tell you, being surrounded by handknit samples of throws everywhere you turn isn't a bad way to experience a new yarn either.

And while of course I had plenty of delicious knits around to keep my lens busy all day... there were certainly a few other things that I had a hard time keeping away from...

Wenlan's dog, Milan, has a huge personality and wanted to be a part of the action all day. Aside from being a photogenic little canine, he serves as inspiration for many of Wenlan's home designs as I soon found out.

I think I mentioned in a previous post about my Twinkle Chunky throw (Finished! Photos soon!) that I had come into a small stash of Soft Chunky in a special circumstance - well this is how. I saw these luscious throws in the studio and had to have one. And since Wenlan basically forced me to take yarn... what was I to do but gracefully oblige?

If you'd like to read up on Wenlan's inspiring story, check out the article in the current issue of Knit.1 for more. My very own Chia-designer-throw will be featured here in just a few short days... if I can pull myself out from under it long enough for a photoshoot.

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and giving your knitting some extra special face-time. It feels like the first time I've been able to take a breath and truly enjoy my knitting for some time. And it's wonderful.

[If you haven't gotten enough of Ms. Chia, see more photos from Twinkle here]