Plowman reminds me of summers at my dad's house in Colorado. Living on the east coast, the only place you get a southwest influence is on the pages of Vogue and Marie Claire and perhaps at the American Indian Museum (I'm just south of DC). But in Colorado, I see people actually wearing it and their homes decorated in it. I have to say I love the simple beauty of southwestern geometric art.
Chevrons are having a moment for me in my designs (in fact, you'll be seeing a lot more chevrons later on this fall and winter in new patterns I'm releasing). The motif on the back of the garment was actually inspired by a rug at my dad's house. I was thrilled with the contrasting variegated green that Interweave chose for this design. Brown Sheep's Lambs Pride Worsted couldn't have been a better match for this pattern. It's incredibly soft and warm with great structure and has a large color palette. I can't wait to see what you guys do with it.
This has to be my favorite thing I've designed so far. I wanted a form fitting dress that used texture to make a woman's curves look amazing (not to brag, but look at my butt in this dress). I believe that the chevron/diamond traveling cables achieved this. It was quite the challenge sizing this five ways and making sure that within the skirt of this dress you can't tell that stitches are being decreased. I have to give a HUGE THANKS to the tech editor at Interweave that reformatted my original charts for the magazine. The yarn, Rowan Wool Cotton, was a dream to work with, and despite the dark colorway, the cables really popped off the fabric. I can't wait to get this sample back and wear it all fall and winter long.
I'm excited to announce that two more of my designs were featured in Interweave Knits, Spring 2013. Introducing, Matins Dress and Eva's Blouse. Music is an integral part of my design process and I wanted to share with you the music behind these Spring designs. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do (don't be afraid to get up and dance- it'll make your day better!). And while you're listening to these samples read about the inspiration behind Matins Dress and Eva's Blouse.
When sketching Matins Dress I had Titania from A Midsummer’s Night Dream in mind. I really like the ethereal, ultra-feminine, and delicate aesthetic of this dress. I would wear this day or night with a pair of espadrilles or cowboy boots and a jean jacket.
Matins Dress features a close-fitting bodice with a cascading lace tiered skirt. Each lace tier is knit with a progressively larger lace pattern and a progressively darker shade of the same color to give the dress an ombre look. The sleeveless dress shell incorporates waist shaping, a deep scoop neck, and finishing around the armholes and neck edge. Lace tiers are knit separately and then are gathered and attached to the shell. To maintain elasticity the waist band around the top tier includes a back closure. Sized for small, medium, large, 1X and 2X.
Eva's Blouse features a vintage sweater girl silhouette with a high waist and cap sleeves. The ribbing at the waist gives the garment a feminine shape and the diagonal lace top with a button feature at the back neck makes this sweater eye catching. I wear a lot of high waisted a-line skirts and wanted a summer sweater that would work with this look. I love how it turned out and can't wait to get my sample back so I can wear it on my summer travels.
My design, the Susie Tee, is the table of contents page of the latest Spring 2013 edition of KnitScene! It's available now for download and will be available on newsstands January 22, 2013. I'd love to see your finished object on the Ravelry project page.
I thought it would be fun to put together a soundtrack of music I was listening to while designing and knitting the Susie Tee. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do.
I'm in the process of sorting through my Peru photos both for this blog and for a discussion on Andean Knitting techniques that I'll be giving on Tuesday, November 13 at 6:30pm at Old Town Yarnery. In the meantime, it would really help me out if you clicked through to the Nat Geo photo contest and FB like my photo and tweet about it if you're on twitter. Click on the photo below and it will take you to my page on National Geographic's website where you'll also get the story behind the photo. So here it is...my favorite photo from the trip:
Today I learned from a very kind someone on Ravelry that the Pluie Cardigan was featured on Knitting Daily TV's Episode 910: Intarsia InDepth. I can't even begin to tell you guys how thrilled I am. Now if I could only get a copy of the episode (we got rid of our DVR last year). I think I'm going to have to wait until it comes out on DVD. Here's a preview and be sure to check out my Soundtrack of a Sweater: The Pluie Cardigan to get the skinny on designing the garment:
My first week in Austria was spent mostly meeting and visiting with A.'s aunts, uncles, and cousins in Vienna. We went from house to restaurant to house eating and drinking. If I had been keeping a diary of the trip many of the days' entries would be, "Today we ate." I love the Austrian tradition of cake and coffee between lunch and dinner. I think one day I actually had 4 pieces of different cakes- one for breakfast, dessert for lunch, cake and coffee, and dessert for dinner. In between meals A. and I managed to get in some sight seeing. To introduce us to the city, A.'s cousin scheduled a Segway tour. It was surprisingly easy and fun and okay, a bit nerdy. Check out my skills.
Here are some more photos from our week in Wien.
Segway Tour
We went to the open air opera with friends of A.'s family and saw Der Fledermaus.
Decorated carriage horse
The roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral
Famous Sacher Torte from Hotel Sacher
Immature, but I couldn't resist
Hofburg Palace (Winter)
Playing in the Karl Martin art installation in the Theseus Temple
Schonbrunn Palace (Summer) down the street from where we are staying
Alex & Alex in the gardens of Schonbrunn
A day at the tiergarten Schonbrunn (zoo)
Tichy Ice Cream Shop
Tasty cool treat from Tichy
We rode the swings at the Prater Amusement Park
Schweizerhaus Stelze (a crispy skinned leg of pork)
Neon lights of the Prater Amusement Park
We had the most fun playing in one of the many fun houses at Prater Park. The beauty of this amusement park is that you pay per ride, usually between 2.50 and 5 euros.
I can finally share- two of my designs are being featured in Interweave Knits Fall 2012 (scroll down to see photos)! This is the first that I've been published in print and I'm incredibly excited. I'm glad to say that it won't be the last; more patterns will be in print Spring 2013 (and with any luck Winter 2012/13).
I thought it would be fun to put together a soundtrack of music I was listening to while designing and knitting the Pluie Cardigan. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do.
Soundtrack of a Sweater:
The Pluie Cardigan
The Pluie Cardigan
Pluie was inspired by a rainy weekend day- umbrellas to will the rain away and a cardigan to stay warm and cozy while curled up with a book. I got the idea of doing an all over motif from Victoria Beckham's spring 2012 cat dress. I'm thrilled with the result. Not for the faint of heart, this intarsia cardigan is great for knitters looking for a challenge.
Interweave Press
Interweave Press
I love that Interweave included a picture of the wrong side.
I'm pretty proud of my finishing work.
The Woven Rain Hat
The Woven Rain Hat features a simple, classic herringbone pattern. It was inspired by vintage 50s and 60s fedoras and is great for fall and winter. This is the first time that I worked with stainless steel wool and I chose it because I wanted the hat to have stability without being felted. The weave of the herringbone also helps the hat keep its shape. The challenge for me with this hat was figuring out how to increase and decrease within the pattern so that it looked consistent. Enjoy!
