Knitting Paradise: Make Your Own Vogue Knitting Book!

What an amazing idea!  You pick your favorite patterns from all the ones available at Vogue Knitting.  And then you can have a book printed that contains just those patterns.  You can even customize the cover and the dedication page.

Vogue Knitting has been pretty far behind Interweave Knits in developing an online presence.  This should definitely help them play catch up.  

What patterns would you put in your book?

BTW....I've been obsessing over a pattern design and getting my urban garden squared away.  I should be back more regularly now that I've gotten a good start on that stuff.....I'm really psyched about my garden and can't wait to show you!

Picking a Flattering Summer Sweater to Knit

After yesterday's little rant about all the ill-fitting knits I see, here's an example of how I would go about finding a figure-flattering summer sweater to knit:

Step One:  I log onto my personal shop at myshape.com and figure out what types of sweaters might look good on me.  For example, this linen cardigan seems like something I could really wear a lot this summer:

Step Two:  Go to trusty Google or Ravelry and search for similar patterns.  I used "ruffle cardigan."  My search turned up Wendy Bernard's Lion Neck Cardigan from her book, Custom Knits. 

Step Three: Check out all the FOs you can, especially ones made by knitters with YOUR body type.   I liked Weezalana's version.  She blogged about it over at KnittyWhipped.

Step 5:  Pick a color, type and weight of yarn before you hit the LYS.  Stay focused when you get there. In Weezalana's case she used a worsted weight rather than the chunky yarn called for in the pattern.    

Step 6:  Cast on and don't be afraid to make adjustments to fit your frame.  This is easy if you pick a top-down pattern you can try on as you knit.  

What about you? How do you pick your flattering knit patterns? Any great successes to share?

Make it Work - Knitting for Figure Flattery

Am I the only one who looks through FOs (finished objects) on Ravelry and wonders why talented and beautiful knitters are making items that simply do not flatter their bodies?  Over and over again I've seen chunky knits that make petites look like kids playing dress up and shrugs that look more like boulder holders on the well-endowed.  You've seen it too, right?

I don't even know what to say about this one.  Probably hand-knit by Old Aunt Min who went blind from doing the intarsia and weaving in the ends.  Hmmmmm..... 

I say if you are going to spend hours and hours making a hand-knit piece, you should be able to wear it.  And look damn good doing so.  The Problem Ladies over at Twist Collective think so too.   

As you begin selecting spring and summer projects, you might want to consult:

- Inside Out Style:  Style consultant Imogen Lamport's most excellent style blog can help you determine what your body type is and how to best dress it.

- Of a Certain Age:  Karen is a stylish woman who encourages all of us to dump the frump.  Yeah, Karen!  My only regret is that Karen lives in a very warm climate and cannot wear sweaters.  

- Myshape.com:  At this cool online shop you can enter your detailed measurements and get a body shape diagnosis.  You answer some personal style questions and then, voila! the software somehow creates a shop within a shop with just stuff that will look good on your body type.  

- You Look Fab:  Fashion pro Angie blogs here about all things fashion.  She had a great blog post this winter about How to Find the Right Sweater Dress.  

Do NOT consult this blog post.  What was I thinking?

How to Make a Lutz and Patmos $595 Chunky Sweater for $55

This blog entry is part of a series on knitwear design inspirations.  Check out the posts on Missoni and Pt. 1 of Lutz and Patmos.  

These days everyone is trying to save a little cashola, and if you're a clever kitty-cat knitter you really can create your own version of designer knits.  This post is about how one knitter took inspiration from both a published knitting pattern and a designer piece to create a $595 sweater for a mere $55.  Here's the story....

Thumbing through the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of Knit 1, I noticed Cropped Cardi - a vest-like item that's a direct descendant of this Lutz and Patmos chunky sweater (the purple one in the foreground of this picture):

Fellow Raveler Judy was nice enough to share her FO (finished object) of the Cropped Cardi. See the similarities in the mitered body construction?

I had been semi-obsessed with the original Lutz and Patmos design and thought, "Aha!  This pattern shows me how to construct the body of that sweater...I wonder if anyone else thought of adding sleeves and a different collar to this piece to make it look like the Chunky Cardigan?"

Yup, someone had thought of it.  Looking through all the Ravelry FOs of this piece turned up fellow Raveler aileenjo's version.  She used about 6 skeins of Stonehedge Fiber Mill ($9.00 US for a 250 yarn skein) in the Midnight Lake colorway, to recreate the $595 Lutz and Patmos chunky cardigan.  Note:  She held the yarn triple to get gauge.

 


If you love this sweater, the only way to get one is to knit it yourself because it's no longer available at retail.  If you're interested in how to do it, check out aileenjo's detailed notes on Ravelry.  Maybe if enough of us ask, she might publish a pattern.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your stories about using designer pieces as inspiration.....

Feel the Blogger Love

Canary Knits featured My Kind of Cowl in her regular series on indie designers today.  She says some pretty nice things.  I'm blushing. 

BTW, Canary Knits is the designer of such pieces as this Sexy Vestie:

What a great start to a good weekend.  One of my dearest friends is coming into town to run the Shamrock Shuffle.  It's supposed to snow.  Get out your cowls........

Redesigning the Blog

Hey, my blog has an updated look!  I just love it and I hope you do, too.  

One day I was reading one of my favorite non-knitting blogs, Steph Modo, which is a Martha Stewart meets Cookie Magazine sort of blog.  I really admire her clean, uncluttered design and was inspired to update my blog.  

Up to this point, I've been relying on the kindness of my already very busy friends for blog design help.  But you can only mooch for so long, you know?  I did some investigating and discovered Jo-Lynne of DCR Design.  Her tagline is "beautifying the blogosphere" and I think she's done just that.  

I asked Jo-Lynn to give me a few tips for working with a designer on your blog.  She says:

1. Be ready to go to work when you contact. Be available for quick answers so the process can move along.
   
2. Be prepared to pay for extra revisions if you request a lot of extra work.
   
3. Find a designer whose style you really love. And then trust his/her advice.
   

I echo this point and would add something I once learned in the old days of my PR career: 

• Think:  What do you want people to think about your blog?
• Feel:  What do you want people to feel about you and your blog?
• Do:  What do you want people to do when visiting your blog?

So....what do YOU think about the redesign?  Does the design of a blog you visit impact your inclination to visit again?  What design features do you love/hate about blogs?   

Spring has Sprung: A New Knit 1 Window

Back in December, I blogged about the winter window at Knit 1, my local yarn boutique.  

Karen Schmidt, the shop owner and knitwear designer extraordinaire, is ushering in spring with three new brightly-colored designs in her window.  What makes all of this even more amazing is that Karen just had a baby!  Yup, Karen's wiggly toddler girl now has a snuggly little sister.

Check out the pieces!

  

I talked to Karen recently and here's what she had to say about the new designs:

What was your design inspiration for the window?  I like to change up the window about every 3 months and the last window was about to expire so I guess you could say my inspiration was to get it changed before the baby came.  

Tell me about your design process and how long it takes to whip these up.  In my mind I gave myself less than a week to make them and the go-to yarn for that is Cascade Magnum and some trusty #19 Addi Turbo's (except the yellow piece I used #15's). The three pieces are just variation on themes I've done in the past. The frame work is the same, I just changed elements to make them different enough to stand on their own but still relate to the others. That allowed me to knock them out quicky. The purple capelet and the pink sleeveless (sort of cap sleeve) pullover I did in a day and a half. The yellow one took maybe 3 days... can't quite remember. Luckily I have a new baby that sleeps continuously and a supportive husband who kept the 18 month old busy so I could concentrate on my knitting.

After my last post about the window designs, I got a few questions about the availability of patterns for Karen's designs.  The short answer is that she does not make patterns available. Her desire is to inspire knitters to create their own pieces.  She definitely has inspired me! However, if you are an experienced knitter I'll bet Karen could sit down with you for a few classes and teach you how to make your very own version of what's in the window.  

Which one is your favorite?