Monday, November 29, 2004

Quick Christmas Knit II

Right after I finished the cowl, I cast on to make this quickie corkscrew scarf. I followed Karen Baumer's great Multidirectional Scarf pattern and added a frilly corkscrew fringe, one of the many useful things you can pick up from Nicky Epstein's Knitting On the Edge. It took only a day or so to finish (including work, eating, sleeping and goofing off) and just one skein of cashmere in Fiery Sunset. I'm quite pleased with how it knit up with a rather Missoni-like look to it. And it feels... heavenly!

Here's a close-up of the fringe. It makes me think of Goldilocks... and a bowl of fusilli pasta.

I don't know what's up with the colour in this picture (below). The first two are more representative of it in real life, but this ought to give you an idea of how it drapes on an actual person. The scarf is about 3.5-4 feet long including the fringe. It can be made longer, of course, with more yarn. But then you wouldn't necessarily get the curly fringe around the neckline which is where I think it shows to best advantage. Up to you, of course, since you're the artiste.

And since this only takes a little over a day to do, there's time to make at least 20 between now and Christmas! And one for yourself. Naturally. ;)

Friday, November 26, 2004

Quick Christmas Knit I

Some of you have mentioned that you were thinking of what to do with some of the cashmere for quick Christmas gifts. It all depends, of course, on the taste of the person you're giving it to. But here's an idea:

This Thanksgiving I experimented with home made flavours of creme brulee in the kitchen... and some quick Christmas knits on the needles. This cowl, which can be completed in just a few hours, is a nice therapeutic I-can-finish-this-and-still-watch-telly knit.

The cowl is an elegant alternative to the ubiquitous scarf and can be worn scrunched or folded to mock a stand-up collar. Mine is a version of this one from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

The pattern in LMKG calls for 2 skeins of Joseph Galler Pashmina I at $50.00 per skein, each 170 yds (eep!!! -- well, that was my reaction, too), but this one only required one skein of cashmere in Cornish Pixie.

Super soft, super warm, super luxurious. At much less than half the price and hot off the needles in a fraction of the time! What better bargain can possibly be had on Black Friday? ;)

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Thursday, November 25, 2004

"I can resist anything except temptation..."

There is no resisting the pull of Kate Gilbert's Clapotis. Last night I decided to hop happily on the bandwagon and make one for myself in cashmere, Water Lilies:

Atropos, maybe we can do a mini-Clapotis-along? ;) Anyone else working on Clapotis?

I've also updated The List to include some new colourways, including two semi-solids, Nuclear Hobbit and Cotton Candy, which I think would work rather nicely with some of the variegateds as edging or an accent.

And that's it for now! Off to join the Thanksgiving feastivities.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Knitting!

Monday, November 22, 2004

The split personalities of fiber (and a wee FO)

What did I get up to this weekend? Would it surprise any of you if I said I got up to a little dyeing? (Didn't think so.)

I find it absolutely fascinating how the different fibers react to the same dyes, and each fiber and its unique texture lends the colours different moods, as there are some colours that latch on well to merino and cashmere, for example, but come out gentler and subdued in the alpaca. Let's take, for example, Briar Rose, which looks like this in cashmere:

this in alpaca:

Or Water Lillies, which looks like this in cashmere:

and this in merino:

Each fiber has its own unique personality which interprets and imparts a different mood to each colourway! Fascinating, don't you think?
And just to show you that I haven't been neglecting the needles, here's a (sort of) little FO from this weekend, the Annie Hall scarf:

This long (very long) scarf measures about 4 metres and is all in Manos. The pictures don't really do justice to the subtle colours.

And did I mention this baby is long? Very. Long and slinky, I think I know just the person this is destined for. :)

Oops. Almost forgot to mention that I've been experimenting with colourways for a nature-oriented pattern I've been working on since the Rowan workshop. And these are what I've come up with so far.

The one on the left is called Rivendell and the one on the right is called Nuclear Hobbit (both in 100% cashmere). :P

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Travel swiftly and carry two pointy sticks

Well, a whole week away from the blog! A whirlwind tour of cultures it was, let me tell you. (And now, of course, I'm paying for it in terms of a severely diminished immune system, but never mind. It's the price we pay for our art, isn't it?)

So... first stop: Paris, where nearly every neck in the autumn, winter and even spring, sports a scarf. Like these in a window of a shop in St. Germain des Pres.

In my in depth investigations of the pret-a-porter scarf market (which, admittedly, only extended to shops in the sixth arrondissment and in Le Bon Marche, the Parisian equivalent of Saks or Harvey Nicks), these scarves -- many in normal stocking stitch and synthetic, not even natural, fibers -- would range in price from 200 to 500 euros, which I thought a bit ...excessive. But people were buying them, so I suppose for non-knitters that seemed a fair price. And *then* I came upon this:

A beautiful scarf by Kenzo, all cables and bobbles. Lovely, no? I thought so, too, until I leaned in to check out the price:

(You can probably see why it was a good thing there was a glass pane there to break my fall.) So, no scarf purchases that day, although I did empty some of my purse for some lovely colours of Anny Blatt Albatros. I had only intended to pop in at Le Bon Marche for some circular needles... but it somehow went all wrong and I left with not only needles, but some notions and a hefty bag of yarn! *sigh* I'm an addict, what can I say?

Afterwards, I rushed off to Le Marais to meet friends for lunch. And the fun continued in the evening when I had the opportunity to meet some of the wonderful ladies in Paris Tricot at a meeting organised by Sophie, who is as lovely in real life as she is online. :)

There is something both welcoming and energizing about knitting in groups. Don't you find that? Not only do you get to see other people's work, but it is amazing how much we can learn from each other. The best part, though, I have to say, is meeting so many kind and truly fabulous people -- which it seems most knitters are!

Unfortunately, I left Paris Tricot after only a couple of hours because I had a date for the opera where the ballet were doing a moving (and, in just the right places, pointedly shocking) adaptation of the story of Medea. Really beautiful.

But so was the Palais Garnier itself. There was plenty to see around the interior of this 17c building. Want inspiration? Look no further. Garnier is a visual treat in every direction.



Even, or in some cases, particularly, when you look up!



The actual theatre itself boasts a beautiful ceiling painted by Chagall. (Plenty of colour inspiration for everyone's Inner!Designer. ;) )

And the inspiration of the week did not end! The next day I boarded the train to London where I just managed to catch the wonderful Atropos at Kings Cross station where, incidentally, we happened upon this amusing sight:

The train we were taking, however, didn't go quite as far as Hogsmeade. But the destination was just as rewarding: Holmfirth, the Mecca of the Rowan-knitting world!!

Just about a three minute ride up from the centre of the town, nestled in amongst rolling hills that are the very definition of plushly verdant, is the Green Lane Mill, home to Rowan yarns.

It seemed the perfect place for a design course, for who can possibly fail to be inspired when surrounded by visual delights like these?





(even the road sign exuded the ambience of the place)





(view of the exterior from inside)

But there was no time for dawdling, as there was much to do over two days.

Atropos has posted a great account of the workshop on her blog. The workshop was led by the wonderful Louisa Harding, whom a lot of you already know from her gorgeous Miss Bea books for children. The workshop was simply, in a word, fantastic. We discovered straight away that not only is Louisa a creative genius, but a pleasant, warm and nurturing instructor. I doubt that many people could have explained the design process from inspiration to plotting to execution as clearly, patiently and enthusiastically as she did. And the mood was infectious. As you can see here, the workroom was boiling over with creativity as we put together mood boards from which we were to draw inspiration for our projects.

The knitting classroom was a terrific place, too, in terms of ambience, what with all that yarn stacked on the walls! And in the back, which you can just see in this photo, was a fully functional kitchen from which sustenance was brought to us at regular intervals.

This is Atropos' gorgeous mood board. The subtle colour combination is simply divine, isn't it?

This was what I came up with, drawing on plenty of elements from nature and throwing in the dreamy elegance of Weta Workshop's elven set and prop designs. At the bottom I laid out basically three different colourway combinations reflected in the yarn and materials, and although I fully intended to do up a swatch in green, I ended up swatching an intarsia design in the mauves (which made me realise that I was probably right to have gone with the green in the first place -- but never mind, that's what the process is all about!)

The next day, after our mood boards had been completed, the pattern forulae tested, and the swatches knit up, our collective works were set out on display. It's so impressive to see how different designers can take similar elements and develop them from completely different angles!

(Ooooooo! Aaaaaaahhh!) And at the end of the day, as the sun set, we were all exhausted but still buzzed from all that left brain activity (or whichever side of the brain those neurons fire from). Just... bliss.

Oh! Before I forget, here's a picture of Coco as she made her appearance at the opera!

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

No knitting news today. Just to let you know that I'll be away for a week as of today. Internet access may be sporadic (although, more likely, nonexistent), so if I don't reply to your emails straight away, that's why. But I will as soon as I return!

Have a lovely week, everyone!

Happy Knitting!!

Monday, November 08, 2004

COCO!

She's FINALLY FINISHED! Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Coco, my Chanel jacket, knit in 100% cashmere (in colourway #29 on The List).

I made a LOT of alterations to a Jean Frost jackets pattern and added the fringe (because I've discovered that I must be a glutton for punishment). Here's a pocket and placket detail.

And a little close-up of the collar.


I'm tempted to try my hand at lining her... but after all this work, I'm not that tempted. :P Besides, if you had been knitting this would you want anything to come between you and all that gorgeous cashmere?

Sunday, November 07, 2004

A cornucopia of colour

This weekend has been a marathon of multitasking. In addition to about a million work-related things I need to do before this week begins I've started putting the finishing touches on the Chanel jacket and with any luck will be able to post pics shortly. But I've also carved out time to make THESE (click photo to enlarge):

Can you spot which ones are yours? ;)

And a wave out there to Samantha who recognised me the other night by the blue cashmere and kidsilk haze sweater (from the previous post) which I was knitting at my favourite LYS. How funny that is to be recognised by a knitting project!!

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

More more more

More dyeing! Colours from yesterday morning. These, too, will be added to the list of available colourways. Here are (shown in 100% Italian cashmere):

Japanese Maple:

Japanese Maple close up:

Plankton:

Plankton close up:

and Coco:

Coco close up:

And just so this isn't purely a dyeing post... here's the progress on the cashmere and kidsilk haze sweater. I'm still deciding what kind of neckline I should make on this sweater. It's gorgeously soft! So I'm wondering... drapey ballet neck? cowl neck? scoopneck? Hmmm... decisions, decisions...