Thursday, March 22, 2012

Spring/Summer Knit Simple

The latest Knit Simple showed up in the mail today. Unfortunately, I don't always spend as much time as I should with the magazines that come across my desk. I'm really glad I stopped and took a thorough look at this one.

First up, don't overlook the masthead. They provide little snippets of info about the staff there. For example, did you know that Lori Steinberg, the Patterns Editor, is a golfer? Bon Appetit does the same thing. Getting a peek behind the curtain is always a treat.

A little further into the magazine is a section called Knits+That. This is where they show off tools and bags and other miscellanies. This issue featured the photography of a friend of mine, Richard Perry, of Obadiah Studios. . He's related to the nice folks over at Classic Elite. I first saw his photography at VKLive in LA and was immediately smitten with it. I've since bought a couple of things from him.









These guys are darling. Click on over and check out Pigtails. It's hanging in my bathroom. It seems I have a thing for the arses on the farm.

The book section had some great reviews. Two books in particular hit my radar, Connie Chang Chinchio's Textured Stitches and Kristi Porter's More Knitting in the Sun. I like the format of the reviews. All the books are rated on The Concept, Math Check, and Newbie Friendliness. Then the editors get clever and add categories more specific to the book like Fan-girl Faves and Glove Love.

In case you don't know The Crochet Dude, Drew Emborsky, there is a profile. He tells a sweet story of the connection he shares with his mother and crochet. The back page has another sweet story. That one is about the connection between Lori Steinberg and her dad.

Of course, no magazine would be complete without patterns and this one is chock full of great warm whether knits. There's a section of beach-y, another for scarves, some drop stitch wonders and a great group of dresses for little girls.






















We were included with the scarves. Julie Giddy created this short row cravat using just one skein of our silk/bamboo Pearl. There's still plenty of time to get one (or three) of these done in time for your Spring wardrobe.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Green Line to Ashland

My love affair with triangle shawl continues. I've made more than I care to count. The funny thing about them is that I like to give them away. I'm not sure what's happening with that. For the longest time, the only hand knit I would give away was a baby gift. Something has changed.

My love affair with stripes continues as well. This beauty by Kate Kaplan hits on all cylinders. It's called The Green Line to Ashland.























This is made from Solemate. The green stripes (green lines) are 711 Grant Park and the background is 1211 The "L". That's a clever bit of naming.























I'm also loving the fringe. It's not too heavy and adds a nice bit of movement to the shawl.

Color possibilities here are endless. The complementary colors Kate used are pretty classic but I've been feeling blues and greens together lately too.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Spider and I Sweater

One of our favorite designers is Kristi Porter. You might know her from the book Knitting in the Sun. Or from her work in Knitty.com.

At Lorna's Laces, we know her from all those places, but she's also a crackerjack tech editor and all around nice person.

Late last year, we asked her to create a design to help showcase one of our newest colors, Kedzie.




















We weren't disappointed! Check out The Spider and I!
























That is Kristi's beautiful daughter humoring her mother and modeling for us.






















There are a couple of things I particularly like about this design. First, it's a really flexible fit. Both Kristi and I wore it different times at the show in Phoenix and it looked great on both of us. The openness of the stitch pattern is nice and forgiving. It also lends itself to a little personalization. Want longer sleeves? Easy peasy. Or maybe you want a shorter length. This pattern allows for it all.

The swing-y shape is fun to wear. And I've been seeing the sawtooth hem everywhere. The lace pattern is easy to memorize too.

It will take between 4-7 skeins of Shepherd Worsted to knit your own.