Lake Area Fiber Arts Guild Presentation

Yesterday morning, I drove down to the Lake of the Ozarks to share a little bit about what being a knitwear designer entails with the Lake Area Fiber Arts Guild. I recorded the presentation to share with all of you!

The audio fades out with the guild president asking me to pass around the samples I had taken to share with the ladies; as that bit just consists of me describing each piece, I didn't think it would be that interesting. And then they all clapped enthusiastically, and made me an honorary member of the Guild. What a lovely group of ladies! I can't wait to go back; this is a very active group with lots going on. Their extremely skilled members (one of them is a Master Weaver) eagerly share skills with each other, and I am looking forward to learning all I can from them.

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Mentioned in the presentation:

Jennifer Hansen, Stitch Diva Studios

Golf club cover patterns

My 3 Knitty patterns

Interweave Knits call for submissions

Twist Collective call for submissions (here's the one with loaves of bread)

Sundance Square Pencil Skirt

Limeade Fizz Shawl & Shawlette

Cathy Carron, designer extraordinaire and super helpful lady

Sweater Wizard, Sock Wizard and Stitch & Motif Maker

CYCA Sizing Charts
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Lady Sybil Jumpsuit

I am more than a little obsessed with antique clothes. I firmly believe that society has managed to kill fashion in the last 100 years, and long for the days when men wore suits to baseball games and a woman wouldn't dream of leaving the house without a proper hat. I frequently watch mind-numbingly boring period dramas just to ogle the clothes, and spend hours poring over sites like this, taking in every detail. When I heard about Masterpiece Classic's TV show Downton Abbey earlier this year, I knew that I had to watch if only to drool over what I hoped would be fantastic costuming. I was not disappointed! Turns out, the story is great, too. The first season is on Netflix, for those of you who haven't watched yet.

I guess I should rewind a little bit. While attending TNNA in Phoenix in January, I confessed to Sabrina Famellos, owner of Anzula Luxury Fibers, a deep desire to knit a second jumpsuit. (My first, a sexy backless mohair number, had been quite popular at the June show the year before.) "I don't want to write a pattern," I told her. "I just want to see what I can do". Surprisingly enough, Sabrina agreed to my hairbrained idea, and unleashed me in her booth to select colors and yarn bases. I picked out a gorgeous teal in lace and worsted, and was extremely pleased when the resulting box showed up on my doorstep a few weeks later. However, I didn't have a firm plan in place for the execution of the jumpsuit; I'd made half a dozen sketches and none of them seemed quite right. I knew I wanted a nice pair of flowy harem pants on bottom, but what to do up top? Enter Downton Abbey.

Towards the beginning of the first season, one of the characters, Sybil, shocks her family by showing up to dinner in a new "frock" that isn't a frock at all, but a drop-dead gorgeous pantsuit comprised of intricately detailed laces and silk chiffon. I almost fell out of my chair when this costume appeared on the screen, because really. Look at that gorgeousness! Now my plan could proceed.

I started scouring my stitch dictionaries for a lace with a vaguely art deco feel to it, and found one called "Kiwi" in the Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns (page 214). Perfect! I swatched it up and knew I had my bodice all set. I worked up a big rectangle of it and lined it with a bit of stockinette.

I should point out here that I'm pretty terrible at estimating yardage requirements. My original intention was for this garment to all be one color, but I'd only asked Sabrina for a single skein of the teal For Better or Worsted, most of which was used for the bodice lining. Luckily, I had 2 skeins of For Better or Worsted in navy left over from another design, and I decided it would be an acceptable secondary color. Let me tell you, I was kind of stewing over that for the first few days, too! When you have your heart set on one thing and have to change it, it can be difficult to get over. In retrospect, I am really glad this isn't all one color. I think the navy really sets off the piece.

 

Panels of staggered left and right twists add texture and interest; this technique also results in a sturdy fabric, perfect for the waistband, sleeve straps and cuffs.

This jumpsuit is incredibly comfy to wear! It's like a giant adult onesie. There's just enough sex appeal to still be "me", but overall it's quite modest. Also me!

I found a quartet of antique Victorian buttons on Etsy with stunning etched details and crystal centers. Closeup photo here.

Picot hems on the sleeves tie in with a picot edging at the top of the bodice. A scattering of Swarovski crystal beads were added by hand to the lace after the piece was complete. I think it's these small details that really make the difference!

I've written out detailed construction notes for this project on its Ravelry project page, in case anyone is interested in learning more or attempting their own. Fair warning, though! This piece consumed more than 400 hours to create. These pant legs are BIG! Huge, huge thanks to Sabrina for enabling my vision, and to Emily Brewer of Brewer Studios for the amazing photographs.
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Craftsy Course Review: Lace Shawl Design

I have a confession to make: Understanding knitted lace is extremely difficult for me. Intricate cables? No problem. Twisted stitches zigging this way and zagging that? I can design the heck outta those. Fair Isle? Intarsia? Biased fabric? Definitely skills I have firmly tucked into my designer's toolbelt. But ask me to design an allover lace shawl with beautiful transitions and a lovely border, and my heart will skip a beat. Of course, I've designed with lace many times before, but as a general rule of thumb I use lace as an accent - not as an allover texture. There is just something about the rather disorganized nature of the stitches, the way the charts don't always represent the finished nature of the fabric, that my left-brained self can't seem to process. Oh sure, I've taken advanced lace classes before and have textbooks up to my eyebrows on the subject, but it seems that every time someone starts trying to explain lace to me, my brain goes fuzzy and all I hear is white noise.

Enter Crafty's newest knitting class by Miriam Felton, Lace Shawl Design.

As soon as I heard Miriam had filmed this class, I knew I desperately needed to enroll. Embarassing for an established knitwear designer to admit to, but there you have it. I needed help, and I was hoping Miriam could provide it for me.

Containing well over three hours of instruction from a woman who clearly gets what's going on with lace, this class did not disappoint. Miriam's confident voice and lovely, slow pace was exactly what I needed to stay focused and understand what was going on. And, because of the nature of Craftsy's unique platform, the few times my brain did get fuzzy, I was able to rewind and listen again. Not something you can do in an ordinary classroom! Carefully planned to enlighten even the beginning lace knitter (Miriam does suggest you have a working knowledge of charts before enrolling in the class), the course starts with the basics of shaping lace and moves on through more advanced topics like what causes undulations and biasing within lace, how to create a working shawl chart from a pattern you found in a stitch dictionary (this section alone is worth the price of admission), how to beautifully transition from one lace pattern to another, and more. Miriam covers top-down shawls, bottom-up shawls, crescent shawls, rectangular shawls, shawls with garter tabs, shawls with all-around borders, shawls with central panels that flow seamlessly into a border, and pretty much every other type of shawl you could ever hope to devise. There's also a lovely section called "Bringing it All Together", to round up anyone who might have gotten lost along the way (not saying that was me, or anything). As if that wasn't enough, there is an incredibly detailed section about fixing mistakes that covers what to do if you've missed a yarnover, how to safely rip out multiple rows without tinking back each stitch, how to drop down multiple rows across just a small section of your work, inserting lifelines...you name it, she covers it! The class wraps up with "Bonus" sections on taking gauge, making a swatch, properly executing yarn overs, and casting on.

This class did a few things for me. First, it boosted my confidence. I actually did know a lot of what was covered already, which made me feel less like the lace doofus I'd made myself out to be in my head. Not many people can do that for me these days, at least not when it comes to knitting skills, so I thank Miriam for that. Second, it gave me a much better working knowledge of how to manipulate a stitch pattern to suit my pattern needs, and vice versa. Third, it made me make a mental note to give Miriam a ginormous hug the next time I see her, because that is how awesome I think this class is!

If you think you might be interested in enrolling in Miriam's Craftsy course, you can get the class for 50% off by using this link*. And if you do take the class, come back and leave me a little note to tell me how you liked it, won't you?

*seriously. That makes the class like 20 bucks. Or like six dollars an hour. So go sign up already!
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Yarn Thing Designer Dinner Recap!

Whew! I've just returned from The National Needlarts Association's semiannual meetup for professionals in the industry, and what a trip it was! Later this week I'll be posting about some of the fabulous designers & yarnies I met for this first time, but today I wanted to tell you all about one of the most coveted events of the weekend: The Yarn Thing Designer Dinner, hosted by Marly Bird! If you haven't heard of Marly Bird yet, y'all seriously have to check out her website and podcast. Wherever Marly is, there's a party, and this weekend's soiree was no exception!

I won't bore you with loads of wordy details except to tell you that this party is an event for professional knit & crochet designers to get together and mingle, as well as receive tons of swag from generous sponsors! (You can see my video reviews of this event from last year here and here.) This year was a masquerade, and this group of creatives really went all out!

My getup. A bit hard to see in this photo, but my "mask" consisted of outrageous eye makeup in turquoise, green and purple, along with some shiny crystals on my face. I designed and sewed the dress as well, which is silk shantug. Johnny Depp graces my Mad Hatter fascinator, because let's face it: you can never go wrong with Johnny. Or anything purchased from Disney World, for that matter.

Great minds think alike! Annie Modesitt and I together formed the Tiny Hat Brigade.

  

Roomie photo! In the middle is Stacey Trock of FreshStitches sporting an owl mask, and on the right is Alex Tinsley of Dull Roar with a fabulous sequined-y getup!

This is Marly, doing her thing. Apparently her thing at that moment was scaring the crap out of me in the buffet line! It should be noted that she is basically on her knees in this photo. She is way tall like a supermodel! I am, uh, not.

Dinner buddies! My roomies and I, with Gwen Bortner, Edie Eckman, and my LYSO, Bex. Good times!

The swag! OMG you guys, the SWAG. There's about 15 skeins of yarn here, along with too many needles and notions to count, a Namaste needle case, and a couple of books. Wowie wow wow!

Sincerest thanks to all who decided to sponsor the event this year! Your generosity is astounding and you all went out of your way to make sure that each designer had a fantastic evening. We appreciate you!

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Works in progress...

I've got a few things on the needles these days, getting ready for knitting's big industry tradeshow, TNNA, later this month. I generally have at least one new pattern debuting at the show, and this time, I'll have three. I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek at them!

Above you'll see the pile of gorgeous Artyarns that I got during the course of the last TNNA in January. After being introduced to Iris by Teva Durham at the June show last year, Iris and I came up with a plan for me to design a lovely two-piece, vaugely wedding ensemble in her glorious yarns. You'll see the beginnings of the skirt, which will be a high-waisted pencil skirt with teensy purl stripes. The top, which will be in Artyarns' ethereal Rhapsody Light, Beaded Silk Light and Ensemble Light, will highlight my new obsession, the high-low silhouette. I'll be wearing this duo around the show floor, and when it's not on me you'll be able to stop by the Artyarns booth (#639) and see it there. Trust me, this stuff has to be felt to be believed. Luxury at its finest! I simply cannot wait to drape myself in these yummy cashmere & silk yarns.

Up next is a tiny peek at this year's showpiece for Anuzla Luxury Fibers. This is my third time designing a showpiece for Anzula (previous designs were Miss Brooks and Principesa), and I absolutely love collaborating with them. Sabrina and I think similarly regarding the purpose of design, and she pretty much allows me free reign in her booth during the show. A designer's dream come true! This year's showpiece will not become a written pattern, as the intent was to show off something spectacular in Anzula's amazing yarns, and neither Sabrina nor myself wanted me to feel restricted by what I would be able to translate into a written pattern. I'm pretty excited about this one! It was inspired by Downton Abbey...but that's all I'm saying! If you follow me on Twitter, you've most likely picked up on some of the clues, but this is one of those pieces that people will either find ridiculous or fantastic. ;) I'm hoping to wear this around the show floor on Saturday after the fashion show, if I can get my hands on it. If you miss me in it, stop by the Anzula booth (#763) after Saturday to see it up close and personal!

The third pattern will be available from the Cooperative Press booth (#554) during the show, and it's called the Chi-Chi Cowl. It's also worked in an Anzula yarn, Oasis, and works up quite quickly on super large needles. It's a little bit lacy and a little bit cable-y and just an all-around go to piece for all seasons. This piece will also be on displaly in the Anzula booth, and you can nab the pattern for free at the Cooperative Press booth. So don't miss out!

Oh! Before I forget, we have a winner for Kristin's giveaway! It's Elizabeth Kelly! Congrats, Elizabeth! If you'll PM me your regular email address over on Ravelry (I'm TheSexyKnitter, natch), I'll make sure you get your digital copy of the Complements Collection from Kristin.

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