Tag Archives: sewing

FO Sightings: Z’s coveted closet of handmade clothes

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Z's coveted closet of handmade clothes

This girl and her closet are killing me. The beautiful sweaters and tunics. The mix-and-match-plaid tops. That killer olive raincoat with the grommets! All of it handmade. She is known only as “Z” (or by her Ravelry name, grimfrosties!) and lately I’ve been stalking her blog, Quixotic Thread, waiting for more garments to appear. Z has amazing knitting and sewing skills, great taste in patterns, and a knack for subtle but meaningful mods, whether it’s reshaping a neckline or adding those aforementioned grommets. I feel like she could single-handedly transform North America’s idea of what homemade clothes look like.

Z, more please!

1. Black Linen Tova, from the popular Wiksten pattern

2. Nude Beaubourg, a modification of the Julie Hoover pattern

3. Exeter, faithfully knitted to the Michele Wang pattern

4. Perfect Plaid, adapted from a pattern in the book Sew U

5. Lattice Top, from the Purl Bee’s Cap Sleeve Lattice Top pattern

6. Ubiquitous Olive Jacket, adapted from the Built By Wendy pattern Simplicity 3694

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Our Tools, Ourselves: Leigh Wells

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In Our Tools, Ourselves, we get to know makers of all walks, ages, styles and skill levels, by way of their tools. For more on the series, read the introduction.

Leigh Wells knitting needles and sweater in progress

LEIGH WELLS is an illustrious illustrator and fine artist. Her studio also happens to be about 10 steps from mine, so you can see I kept this installment of OT/OS very close to home. In addition to being my first local knitting friend, Leigh hosts a monthly creative women’s gathering you may have heard me mention before, where these days most of the group of graphic designers, photographers and artists whip out their knitting needles. So to the extent that I have a knitting social life, I pretty much owe it all to Leigh.

You can see Leigh’s artwork at the Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco, and she’ll also be in a show at Portland’s PDX Contemporary Art opening June 6th. She’s only nominally on Ravelry and somewhat new to Instagram, so be sure to friend her up.

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Are you a knitter, crocheter, weaver, spinner, sewer … ?

I am a knitter, in a remedial sort of way, thanks to having gone to Ecuador as an exchange student in high school. The dear mother in my host family taught me her technique, and people sometimes comment on how strange it is. I have no idea what they are talking about. My first project was a huge acrylic lavender pullover made of four rectangles. It fit over my body that had been dietarily enhanced by all of the cheese-filled, fried plantains I had eaten over the course of the year. I know how to knit and purl. That is my skill set, virtually unimproved over thirty years.

Oh, and I have been sewing for longer, and making all sorts of other things from collage, to sculpture, to soap and preserved lemons.

Tell us about your tool preferences and peccadilloes.

Much of my equipment is by default. I inherited all of my former grandmother-in-law’s knitting needles, crochet hooks and her thread stash. (Still haven’t used those four spools of lime green thread.) I use from that supply and usually borrow or buy second-hand what I don’t have. Given how I like to purge unnecessary possessions, it’s strange that I have many, many size 0, 1, and 2 needles from this inheritance. I would rather gnaw off both of my hands than do a project on those needles. I probably should ship them to that rad hat dude. What’s his address?

How do you store or organize your tools? Or do you? 

I keep my collection of straight needles in a paintbrush holder I found on sale at the art supply store. After I bought it, a bunch of other friends ran out to get one. Black nylon. Looks like a piece of camping equipment. Very unglamorous. And speaking of poor taste, I only just recently organized my tangle of circulars in an IKEA bin using little Ziploc bags with Avery labels on them. Disgusting.

How do you store or organize your works-in-progress?

WORKS!? Can’t deal with the idea of more than one at a time. Keep it in a little bucket I made out of found industrial felt.

Are there any particularly prized possessions amongst your tools? 

See above … Oh wait! My little beaded pouch for my sewing needles and stitch markers. Gift from my dear friend, found at the Chelsea Flea in NYC.

Leigh Wells sewing machine and stitch marker pouch

Do you lend your hooks or needles?

But of course. Anyone want to borrow these 0′s and never return them?

What is your favorite place to knit?

In the rain.
In the dark. On a train,
In a car, In a tree.
In a house. In a box.
With a mouse. With a fox.
Here or there.
Pretty much anywhere!

Other than that, I savor the four stitches I knit, then eventually rip out, when I host the monthly STITCH night at my place.

What effect do the seasons have on your knitting/sewing productivity?

Probably knitting a deep winter project in the heat of summer and vice versa because I am so slow?

Do you have a dark secret, guilty pleasure or odd quirk, where your fiber pursuits are concerned?

I know that Fringe Association probably considers my knitting behaviors “odd quirks,” but I swear that I am a completely normal knitting dilettante.

What are you working on right now?

Knitting some royal-blue French cotton yarn into a summer pullover. You taught me to do top-down knitting, and now I feel like I can rule the world. Not so, however, since I have ripped out a particular portion of this sweater five times and am now afraid to proceed. [Editor’s note: This one is not top-down, FYI!]

I found this yarn on a shopping trip to a certain second-hand crafty shop in Sonoma County. Until that moment, I had been strict about NOT having a knitting stash. Leaving the shop that day, I knew I had so much yarn that some lucky person would inherit much of it someday along with all of these knitting needles.

Leigh Wells Ikea bin with circular needles

PREVIOUSLY in Our Tools, Ourselves: Nicole Dupuis

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Our Tools, Ourselves: Nicole Dupuis

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Nicole Dupuis knitting tools

In Our Tools, Ourselves, we get to know makers of all walks, styles and skill levels, by way of their tools. For more on the series, read the introduction.

NICOLE DUPUIS blogs about knitting and sewing, knits samples for the likes of Brooklyn Tweed and Knitbot, and is the designer and maker behind Gris Handknits. Somehow she also runs marathons and works as an exhibition content developer for a natural history museum. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

In addition to her blog, Cocoknits, you can find Nicole at Flickr, Pinterest and Ravelry. Thank you so much, Nicole, for getting this series off to a stellar start —

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Are you a knitter, crocheter, weaver, spinner, sewer … ?

Knitting: I’ve been knitting obsessively for over 15 years now, and I probably spend at least half of my free time doing it!Spinning: I also own a spinning wheel, an Ashford Traditional I snagged at a flea market for $40! I would call myself a novice spinner. I can spin and ply nice smooth yarn in the worsted style, but cannot for the life of me produce the lofty, fluffy, fuzzy woolen yarn I covet.

Sewing: I grew up wearing the most beautiful handmade clothes. My mom is an expert seamstress and I learned to sew basically through osmosis. I’ve recently dusted off my sewing machine and entertain fantasies of a wardrobe filled with handmade Liberty of London and Harris Tweed clothes to go with all of my handknits. I also dream of making hand-pieced and stitched old-fashioned quilts.

Crochet: My crochet skills are rudimentary at best, I mostly pull out my crochet hook to assist my knitting: making a provisional cast-on, picking up stitches or securing a steek. I would love to learn how to make pretty covered rocks like my friend Margie Oomen, or crochet lovely, lacy edgings for hand-sewn dresses.

Weaving: Sounds like fun, but frankly our tiny house could not support another hobby, so I better stay away from that one!

Nicole Dupuis knitting and spinning

Tell us about your tool preferences and peccadilloes.

When it comes to my knitting tools, (and yarns for that matter) I’m afraid I’m a complete snob! They need to be pleasing to the eye and touch. I have an aesthetic fondness for beautifully turned wooden straight needles (ebony Lantern Moon needles are the ultimate in my book) and will use them to knit simple things like scarves and swatches. But I have to admit that nothing beats nickel-plated Addi Turbo circulars for speed and efficacy, especially on bigger, heavier projects. For small projects, I really like bamboo DPNs, especially the ones that Clover makes. I simply cannot abide aluminium needles, especially those dreadfully cheap grey ones. The gritty scraping sound they make makes my skin crawl. See, told you I was a snob!

How do you store or organize your tools? Or do you?

My tools are in a perpetual state of organized chaos: straights plunked into a mason jar, DPNs sitting in an old pottery planter, circs tangled up in an old wooden crate. My small tools I keep in a pretty linen Bookhou pouch. Notions like buttons and snaps live in an ancient cookie tin.

How do you store or organize your works-in-progress?

Again, organized chaos reigns in my house. I have too many WIPs to count, and they’re all precariously piled up in baskets all over the house. I have been meaning to sew a bunch of project bags to keep them better organized and dust-free, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Are there any particularly prized possessions amongst your tools?

One of my favourite tools are stitch markers that I made. A while ago, I found a necklace in a charity shop that had beautiful abalone oval “beads.” I took the necklace apart and threaded sterling silver jump rings into the shell pieces. The amazing multitude of colours in the mother-of-pearl seem to always “match” my knitting in some way. I never tire of looking at them. I keep them in a small pretty blue and white tin.

Do you lend your hooks or needles?

Freely.

Nicole Dupuis knitting tools

What is your favorite place to knit?

You’ll most often find me curled up on the living room couch, elbows tucked in a fluffy down cushion, with a cup of tea nearby. Music, audiobooks or podcasts keep me company. Light is another important component. I love sitting at the window, looking outside while I work. In the evening I light beeswax candles for their beautiful scent and honey glow.

Do you ever leave home without a project in your bag?

Never ever.

Do you have a dark secret, guilty pleasure or odd quirk, where your fiber pursuits are concerned?

I have a closet filled from floor to ceiling with decadent yarn. Opening the closet usually sets off what my husband calls a yarn-valanche. There is a LOT of amazing stuff in there: cashmere, baby alpaca, fine merino, puffy angora. Sometimes I think I will need more than one lifetime to knit it all!

What are you working on right now?

Ahem … well, as I mentioned previously, I do tend to have lots on the go at the same time but my “main” project is the Annabel cardigan by Carrie Bostick Hoge. I’m knitting it in the yarn called for: Quince and Co Osprey in the Glacier colourway. This yarn is seriously squishy and lovely, especially in garter stitch! Because I’m a shameless copycat, I’m making a pocketed version like the lovely Lori. I even have antler buttons similar to the ones that she used. (Did I mention that I also have a bit of a button problem?) I can’t wait to finish it!

Nicole Dupuis knitting basket

All photos © Nicole Dupuis

Shirt/dress and a scarf, my summer wardrobe fantasy

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shirt, dress and scarf by carrie hoge and primoeza

The thing these days is, I need some new clothes. Badly. And for various reasons, I both want and need to sew them. I’m fantasizing about smock dresses and shirt dresses and smockish shirtdresses, particularly this one. Things that are as easy to wear as they are to make. To keep from freezing in a light dress and bare legs, though, I’d need a nice little bit of wool around my shoulders and some funky ankle boots on my feet. (Ideally with wool socks in there.) So I’ve had a sort of vague image rolling around in the back of my mind, until I ran across these two photos in close proximity on Sunday afternoon. Together, they’re exactly the vibe I’m after — a softer version of my all-denim wardrobe.

On the left is Carrie Bostick Hoge’s newly sewn tank dress, from Jenny Gordy’s Wiksten Tank pattern, paired with her Imogen cowl, which has been on my to-knit list since, well, a few minutes after I learned to knit. I’m still in love with my denim Wiksten Tank and have wanted to make others, and Carrie’s deep-blue dress version gets my synapses firing.

On the right is the shop image for Elizabeth Yong of Primoeza’s Colour Edge Scarf, which has the most wonderful subtle stitch pattern, along with the contrast edge, and which looks amazing with that perfectly rumpled, blue-striped linen shirt. Ugh, want! (If you haven’t seen the latest batch of Primoeza scarves, you have to go look. Really brilliant work.)

So Carrie and Elizabeth have jointly snapped me into focus. Now all I need is a new pattern or two, some fabric, some yarn and … oh yeah, time. Sweet, precious, impossible time.

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Of course, there’s also the notion of throwing a sweater around your neck, as demonstrated by A.L.C. in this week’s ICYMI: Next of the best of Resort 2013.

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March, thanks and Elsewhere

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irish mesh cowl fancy tiger dresses heidi kirrmaier and sarai mitnick

Happy March already! And I mean happy. It’s Friday, we’re days away from Daylight Savings time, and an astonishing number of people read Fringe Association in February. So I want to say a huge heartfelt thank you, again, to everyone who likes the blog well enough to not only read it day after day, but to help spread the word about it. Every link, tweet, pin, fave, etc really means so much to me. I can’t say that enough.

Speaking of spreading the love through linking, it’s been awhile since we had an Elsewhere, so here we go:

— Seasonally appropriate in every way: My beloved friend and knitting mentor Jo Strong has published her (free) Irish Mesh Cowl pattern. (I have a couple of hanks of green Manos on hand and am wondering how this would look at aran gauge.)

— Loved Fancy Tiger’s QuiltCon recap, plus their lead-up posts on the dresses they made to wear to the event. This one is my favorite. Or maybe this one.

— Great interview with designer Heidi Kirrmaier on the Quince blog.  Plus back-to-back interviews with Gudrun Johnson and Ysolda Teague at Amirisu.

— Crazy. (via)

— Another yarn portrait at Design Sponge. (This time hung on the wall; see the second photo.)

— Thought-provoking post by Sarai Mitnick on the decline in quality of mid-range clothing.

— The jewel-encrusted beanie rage continues.

— Etsy blog on the Master Knitter program. (Who knew?)

— And I’m thankful to Stephanie Madewell at Even Cleveland for this Pippi Longstocking quote.

FYI, with regard to that cardigan conundrum, I cast on Acer the other night. Don’t forget to share what you’re working on this weekend. Inquiring minds want to know …

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Blog Crush: Fancy Tiger

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fancy tiger crafts blog crush

Being a person who makes her living primarily from creating or advising people on the creation of websites, and also a person who has always wanted to own a little shop, I have a lot of opinions about what small businesses should be doing with their blogs. Most independent shops don’t have a blog, of course, and not every store should. Sadly, those that do have one are generally not sure why they do, or what they should be doing with it. So the blogs either sit dormant for long stretches of time, or you witness the staff fumbling around for something to post. It breaks my little web-nerb heart. So the Fancy Tiger Crafts blog makes me doubly happy: I love it on a personal level and also applaud it on a professional level.

If you haven’t heard of it (yet), Fancy Tiger is a yarn and fabric store in Denver. I’ve never been there but, having followed their blog for a while, I’m tempted to plan a trip to see my Denver friends and relations, all so I can meet the Fancy Tiger crew and fondle their Heirloom yarn. The blog is a great and steady mix of perfectly logical stuff that makes you wonder why every yarn store isn’t doing the same — updates on new products and classes, staff picks, what they’re making, what their customers are making, and of course an original pattern here and there. (I really love the latest one, the Guillemet Hat.) All done professionally but naturally and conversationally, so that visiting the blog feels a lot like having popped into the store for a chat. Well done, Fancy ladies, well done.

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Elsewhere

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elsewhere121312

— There’s no one-sentence summary of Clara Parkes’ amazing new venture The Great White Bale — just click that link and read it, yo? For better or worse, the Explorer option sold out before I gave in to the urge to pony up for all that wool, but I am officially an Armchair Traveler.

— In case you need another holiday craft, see the DIY felted acorns at HonestlyWTF. And then there are the boot stuffers topped with giant pompoms. I actually need those.

— Etsy had some follow-up questions for Simon Doonan — following his much talked about Slate essay on Art and craft, that is.

— Threaded takes a long view on Christmas sweaters. (Did you see that piece last year about the couple largely responsible for the Christmas sweater market? I can’t find it now!)

— I love this Christmas stocking idea at Fancy Tiger so much I actually considered doing a little decorating for the holiday. I’m also fond of their latest free knitting pattern, the Ice Skating Cap.

— Hannah Fettig is doing a video-fueled knitalong for her Cradle Cardigan, a great introduction to the top-down method if you haven’t done it. (You should!)

— Natalie Joos, you slay me with your crazy sweater-styling ways. Over and over, you slay me.

— Emma Dime has a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the “Sheep to Shawl” feature in the new issue of Kinfolk (which I regrettably put off carrying in the shop until next time).

— Did you see those beautiful sweater notecards at Brooklyn Tweed?

— And last but so not least, pre-registration for June’s Squam. Will I see you there?

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