Gallery Jacket!

Phew, I can post a finished object! The new Valley Yarns catalog is in the store which means it's also making its way to everyone on the mailing list. In it you'll find the sweater I mentioned in my (woefully pictureless) last post. This is something I designed and knit for Valley Yarns Sheffield, a gorgeous new yarn with amazing colors that feel new for Valley Yarns--deep teal, espresso brown, etc. This is the Gallery Jacket, named for Arts Night Out, a Northampton institution that I have sadly never participated in (Mexifest ladies, maybe on the 14th?)

Tell me, what is wrong with this picture? Why should you never trust the "I'm just fixing my hair pose"?


Because the great Maggie Righetti says you shouldn't, in Chapter 1 of "Knitting In Plain English" titled: You Can Always Tell What's Wrong With a Garment By The Way a Model is Posed, or Slender Five-Foot-Ten Inch Models Look Good in Anything. See for yourself!

The "problem" in this case is the sleeve. I intended this to be a long sleeved sweater (full-disclosure, I was trying to recreate this sweater, purchased at a Marshall's, no discernible designer) with a modified drop shoulder. I couldn't knit the twisted ribbing fast enough and was on a somewhat scary deadline for a relatively slow knitter. The twisted ribbing takes FOREVER, but I really think it was worth it in the end.



Back to the point, I decided to pick up stitches and knit down in the round, so that no matter where I was when I ran out of time, I'd a least have a sleeve! I got about 2.5 inches done on both and tried the thing on. Somehow I forgot that the beauty of a drop shoulder is that it forms the top of your sleeve! It looked just fine with the stubby sleeves, in fact, many people thought it would've lost cuteness had I continued knitting.


The Sheffield is quite warm so it was actually nice to have a mostly bare arm. I've tweaked the pattern and incorporated some decreases to take care of the pooching (technical term?) that occurs under the arm in these pictures. I think that would've been weighted down with a longer sleeve, but here it's a bit obvious. A short row cap sleeve would've been nice, but I still have my training wheels on when it comes to designing!

One last note--this was modeled WET--I blocked it about 10 hours after I finished it and in a humid July, the water barely budged. When the sweater dried it looked a lot less saggy under the arm area, I promise. It'll be in the store and again, the pattern was revised after knitting. I'll have to test knit a second version when more Sheffield arrives because I really want one of these in my wardrobe.

CR

P.S. The shawl pin in the catalog pictures and the design inspiration picture is the same, made by Moving Mud. I think I might purposely design sweaters that require these, they're beautiful!

P.P.S. More credits, the most important: these pictures are the product of Penny and David Michalak, a local couple who between them have too many design related talents to list!

Ahhh...

I recently decided to start going to therapy again as I'm smack in the middle of a quarter-life crisis. One of the screening questions was "Do you have trouble getting rid of things?" and I actually laughed when the analyst asked it. I LOVE getting rid of things! In fact, there is nothing more cathartic for me than emptying old Tupperware, recycling old magazines, shredding old schoolwork and making piles of clothing to drop off to the Salvation Army. Whenever I go on any sizable shopping trip I feel like I have to get rid of some older stuff to maintain equilibrium. A lot of old shoes have had to go to make room for the summer beauties! The Remix shoes have yet another fan, this time an actual fashion editor. Blueprint magazine is my new favorite, full of DIY projects and witty advice.

I'm moving into a new place for the summer (really close to work!) and I've been chucking stuff left and right. Some of you might be horrified to know that I'm not above donating or just plain tossing handknit items. Moving means facing the stash (no, this isn't all of it!) and I've mentally 'let go' of a lot of projects.


I usually follow Jean Railla's advice in Get Crafty for cleaning out my closet. It's very common sense advice (toss it if it's damaged or worn out, not flattering, unused, illogical for your life, or if it causes low self-esteem/discomfort) but it helps to have the pep talk. While I seem pretty spendy, I'm dead cheap when it comes to clothes so I usually have a fair bit of thrift store/clearance rack flotsam to toss and I force myself to do it often.

As for knitting, I have to accept the fact that grey stockinette will probably see more use than crazy Noro (I can always knit blankets out of it...). I really agree with Stefanie's post about not really loving the outcome when knitting from published patterns. I'd like to start designing from the ground up a lot more. That said, I think there is still great inspiration out there. These were some of the things that caught my eye in the summer Interweave:

Little Smocked Top:

Josephine, especially the sleeve detail:


Bella Blouse, free online:

Another bit of Gaughn greatness:

Lacy Yoga Bags:


Spiral Boot socks:
And just like last time, some pretty tempting ads! I love Tulip from the summer Rowan:

And the latest offering from Blue Moon Fiber Arts:

Over and out,

CR

Puesta del Sol

I ordered the yellow shoes! Eep! Since my first yellow shoe lust was sold out, I specified a back-up choice at Remix. Thing is, I'm going to be walking a lot this summer. To and from work (back at Webs!) and around that...not small...store. We once wore pedometers and were blown away at how many miles we all logged in a single day. I've actually got a bunch of sturdy looking sandals coming (along with a new incarnation of my favorite Hepburn-y go-to, the black ballet flat (currently Crocs Primas). The Primas are pretty great, but they can be embarrassingly squeaky and a little sad. I mean, even if it's fancy rubber, I'm still wearing rubber shoes. I can hear people think to themselves, "Jellies are okay for 8 year olds, but geez..." Still, they're bouncy and fun to wear. And, a friend of mine spilled soup on my foot the other day and I just rinsed it off! Anyhow, I'll be trying on and send back as needed. I hate shoe shopping any other way, Zappos rules.

Anyhow, shoes--I momentarily feel guilty for how much I spend on them BUT, here is my reasoning--I have BAD feet, painful shoes can ruin your day, since I don't own a car I can consider shoes to be a transportation cost (tires for my feet!), I spend woefully little on my wardrobe...uh...they cheer me up when I look down...

Okay, that's enough of that. One of my main reasons I'm so excited about the Remix Shoes is that I have a new dressing goal. After seeing Pan's Labyrinth I decided that I really needed to wear more: leather satchels, tweed, utilitarian aprons, shawls, Mary Janes with socks and dresses. Oh, and a little knife hidden in my skirt's waistband! The best accessory. (Mom, if you haven't seen this yet, we're watching it together in June!!)




Thanks for all the awesome comments about my dress idea! I don't really intend to over dye it unless I look truly appalling in that much yellow but I will certainly be dunking these swatches into a dye bath out of pure curiosity! Swatching normally doesn't happen this swiftly but now that I've 'leaked' my idea I felt compelled to get going! First up, some simple eyelets, which I imagine would form an empire waist:


Could thread a ribbon through it, but that might be too twee for me:


This is the wrong side (flash is on, heightened orangeness!), which is the right side for the Eiffel Tower eyelets right above ribbon eyelets. I don't know, they remind me of getting a run in one's tights...not exactly a look I want to emulate. Blocking didn't straighten them out at all. Blocking didn't help my drunken attempt at Dayflower, either! Why did I save the hardest for last again? I was a goner after the last minute of The Office and the lace suffered. I blame John Krasinski completely!


In case you haven't had enough yellow for today, here is an update of my travel project, my April/May Project Spectrum sock:


If you can call that an update...it's on zeros and I'm actually leaving it at home when I head to the library. Simultaneous read-knit days are pretty much over for this semester. I love how perfectly variegated it's knitting up, it's veddy pretty. I should be working on my Sock Pal socks, but my order from Little Knits is lost in the ether, apparently...

I'll leave you with a tease, a project that has come out of hibernation and will actually come in handy during some of the chilly thunderstorms we've been having lately.


More soon,

CR

Sketchy...

*EDITED UPDATE: As naturalbodycare notes in the comments, the called for yarn from Fitted Knits is indeed a Knit Picks yarn. I am all for saving money and I do appreciate the effort that goes into knitting new garments. I still don't understand why they wouldn't focus on designing, or feature the photography and model from the book (which is totally allowed). It's a beautiful shot and I know firsthand that a lot of work goes into those photo shoots! I am a Knit Picks customer and am really pleased with some of their products (needles, in particular). This wasn't meant as a disparagement, I just wanted to see what other bloggers thought.*


First things first...I'm feeling snarky about something. I got the Knit Picks catalog in the mail the other day, I'm thumbing through and something starts to bother me. It's been bothering me awhile but I can't quite figure out the 'rules' of the situation. To promote books and their own yarn line Knit Picks, will knit a garment in their brand of yarn (versus the one called for in the original pattern). Many of us do this to save money without any prompting and there are definitely guidelines surrounding the use of free patterns published on the Internet (Hello Yarn's in nice and clear, as is Knitty's)...but what about this?



I suppose it's okay and I'm sure they've researched the legality of it but it's a little out of hand.

This was the most egregious offense in the recent catalog--not only have they replaced the yarn, it looks like they've replicated the photoshoot!! Is anyone else a little perturbed by this?


Could've been accidental...I've unintentionally produced a Japel-ish design myself, my Trinket tank has a twin in Fitted Knits. Stefanie and I do share a birthday, so it could be Virgonean kismet.


As I mentioned, I've got a big project planned for my summer (and knowing me, far, far, beyond) that involves a fuzzy bag of gold. The inspiration was a dress from Urban Outfitters:


I like the puffed sleeves but since the color I picked isn't as sweet as the lilac I might try to do something more like a petal sleeve. Still dainty but simpler. Another option is a slight puffed sleeved with a button closure:


I've trolled my B. Walkers and this is the stitch pattern I've been most drawn to, Sunspots:


This particular pattern seems to be popping up everywhere I look. Right after I fell for this one and sketched out my ideas I came across this on Facehunter and I cringed. NOT exactly what I am going for, but eerily similar to my notes!



Some other stitch patterns I'm considering. I'll have to swatch to see how they show up in the Kidsilk Haze...






I was thinking about the yellow...I thought long and hard before settling on that color. In a way I was being a contrarian, there are so many amazingly beautiful colors! I think it could be fantastic in the late summer and fall, especially with a contrasting dress or slip underneath. And if I hate it, yellow can become a delicious green. I couldn't find any blog entries about people over-dying Kidsilk Haze...is it risky, sacreligious, unnecessary, what?

CR