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Happy New Year 2013! At this time of year, you don't need to look very far to find advice about making your life better through good organization: less clutter, projects stowed = calmer life. Look here, too.
We’re launching One Skein/Stash Busters, a mini-column featuring patterns that use one skein or less and will help minimize those bags and boxes full of part or single skeins that we just can’t throw out. Let’s think about using leftover project yarn (from recent gifts perhaps?), a precious skein just waiting for the right design, or that inspirational ball of yarn purchased at a guild meeting.
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We don’t hold out any promises that your life will be happier or calmer, but we know there is a certain satisfaction in starting the year with a small project that is quickly completed and sets you up for a planned lace shawl, heavily cabled sweater, or blanket-sized afghan. As always, let us know what you think of this issue. Email me, Gayle Clow, at newsletter.editor@patternfish.com and send any other questions about Patternfish to Phil at support@patternfish.com |
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I am a huge fan of vests. This new one from Deb Gemmel, top-down knitting from Cabin Fever, appeals to me because of the side treatment option of lace or a rib stitch, and lots of fitting options. And just look at the button band. |
It seems that many knitters become fans of garter stitch later in their knitting life and I am one of them. Holly Chayes: "This shawl came out of my desire for a simple project that didn’t take much thought and that would travel well." Designers really are modest creatures. The lace pattern that relieves the garter stitch on Kora is beautifully thought out and the variegated yarn a perfect choice. |
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Ele Shnier’s crocheted bucket hat, Thedda, has the advantages of both style and warmth, perfect for windy, winter cities. It’s crocheted in a thick bulky yarn (no gauge given, but tight would be sensible) and decorated with buttons. I have a hard time resisting big, beautifully coloured beads. Some of those would be perfect. |
I've always been attracted to aran patterns and this design, Yahoko's Treasure from Briggs and Little, with it's cushy texture is the ideal afghan version of the Aran sweater, and easier to put on. |
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Lynette Meek is a fan of Canadian art, the Group of Seven in particular. The leaning trees on her Lauren Tree Mittens and Slouchy recall the work of Lawren Harris and F. H. Varley. Those trees and the wave pattern bring to mind the Pacific ocean coastline of her native British Columbia. Picture it. |
There is something so appealing to me about beautifully wrought stitch work. It’s so like sculpted friezes and Dagmar Mora’s Rowan Cowl reminds me of those. Add the mirror imaging and I am in pattern choice heaven. Concentration is needed. It will be worth it. |
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From the Ambassador's Desk
In 1938, a wonderful woman named Brenda Ueland wrote a book called, If You Want to Write. A friend gave it to me decades ago and in the course of moving, I came across it. Packing ceased and a bit of rereading began, with this passage,"I hope to prove to you the importance of working at...some creative thing that you care about. The creative effort, the use of the imagination, should come first, at least for some part of everyday of your life." Ms. Ueland spoke about writing in her book, but she frequently stressed that the word stood in for "anything that you love and want to do or make." I can't help but be reminded about resolutions at this time of year, but they have always seemed like duties to me, things that we impose on ourselves from the outside. How very nice to be reminded how important it is to spend time doing something that I love, every day. Happy New Year! One Skein/Stash BustersThe only rule for this section is that total yarn can't be more than one skein and I'm not talking the enormous skeins that will make a whole sweater that I've seen in "one skein" knitting books.
Knitting Goes PoliticalAt the end of 2012, Associated Press reported that sweaters knit by Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy Party, former political prisoner, and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, were auctioned off for $123,000. Suu Kyi was a knitter 25 years ago when she was in exile in the UK. An aide, Ko Ni said, "She made them when she was busy working, studying and taking care of her children. She wants to send the message that people should not stay idle but be diligent", a statement that most knitters and crocheters would support with some pride. Her party auctioned off the sweaters to provide funds for children’s education and health projects in Myanmar. The words of one of the purchasers reflect the adoration and trust the Myanmar people place in Suu Kyi, "I bought the sweater because I value the warmth and security it will give." No information was provided about the source of the designs, but the craftsmanship is impeccable and the diligence obvious. See this website for more details about the auction and Suu Kyi’s life. These photos are courtesy of AP.
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Designer of the Month: Chris Bylsma
It’s particularly fitting that January’s Designer of the Month is Chris Bylsma. We’d be hard pressed to find another of our Patternfish designers who exhibits such a wide range of approaches to knitted garments for women. Dating back 10 years to her very first published design, her Crayon Box Jacket, she’s had the confidence to depart from the rules. That quality could be rooted in her knitting education, "by osmosis", she tells us, simply by being in the company of knitters, her mother, grandmother, and older sisters. Knitting from an early age likely also drove her passion to create garments suitable to many dimensions of women's lives. It’s evident in all her designs. These jackets for example, Take Two and Twenty-Four/Seven are perfect for office wear, serious and composed without being stuffy. And to carry your laptop, the Making Waves Bag. Here’s a different side of Bylsma, the amusingly off-kilter Playing the Angles and So Inclined. Great for weekend wear. Bylsma does not forget that our feminine side requires expression from time to time. Chris is wearing her Anna Wrap in her photo above. One of her most popular designs on Patternfish, Solo, has an elegant and sensual appeal. Bylsma was quick to respond to insistent requests that she create a sleeved version of Solo and J’Adore was born. (I love both of these. Look at the front panel. It’s not a cable, just SSK and SSP. No cable needle to slow you down. I want to see a cardigan spin off now. Anybody with me?—ed.) As well as admirably suiting a woman’s life, Bylsma’s designs encourage the designer lurking in all of us. She wants us to enjoy ourselves, play with our yarn, and not take the process too seriously. Read more from Chris… What’s your design process? There is no straightline process for me. Sometimes a design starts as a silhouette, other times the yarn color or texture get me started. Or, sometimes a name will dictate the design, like Paging Coco, where I wanted to stay true to the design tenets of Chanel with rich color and texture, a classic shape and important finishing details. The elements of each design usually fall into place slowly, sort of like working on a jigsaw puzzle. Digging in the garden may be when a cuff detail comes to me, or I resolve the shaping. After numerous swatches, I will finally draw the pattern with the appropriate numbers and then knit the garment making changes, and taking notes of how I want to describe that particular step, as I go. How would you describe the way you knit? Ha! Many would say "strangely". I have seen many different ways people knit and I love it. To me it's like a signature and a personal expression of the art we love. Unless it's painful or a problem, why change it? Back to me - I hold the needles way back in my hands and wrap with my left hand. The result is that the knit and purl motions are exactly the same. Seed stitch and ribbing are no different than stockinette to accomplish. Don't know where I learned it. My grandmother, mother and sisters, however, all knit completely differently from me, and from each other. Thus my theory about it being a knitting "signature", perhaps. When did you start designing? How did your business develop? I started to color outside the lines at an early age and never considered a pattern any more than a starting point. I always changed something without even thinking about it (not that it always worked). Later on, wonderful mentors, long arms, a short budget and a need to clothe myself led to more serious designing of my own wardrobe. Friends, and then their friends, asked me to custom design and knit items for them, but I soon realized there were not enough hours in the day to make it a "business". I was nudged by some to think about selling patterns instead. My first pattern sold was the "Crayon Box Jacket" and I started Chris Bylsma Designs in 2002. What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Anything and everything inspires me. It comes on its own schedule and usually not conveniently. I have a collection of paper scraps, napkins, half-filled notebooks and of course, sticky notes with scribbled ideas. Some grow up and become new designs. Others belong in the "what was I thinking?" category when I look at them later. I am passionate about nature – the beauty, colors, ruggedness, purity, unpredictability, grandeur, and pure joy of it all. I am in constant awe. I am an avid gardener as well in my non-knitting life. Perhaps that is one reason why I enjoy playing with and combining colors so much. Which is your favourite design? And your favorite child is??? Each design is my favorite while I am creating it. My designs are primarily functional in that I design to fill a need in my wardrobe. It all started with the Crayon Box Jacket so that has a special spot in my heart. However, the designs I tend to wear most frequently are the Door County Cable, So Inclined, Key West, and Zen Wrap in summer months. In the winter, Twenty-Four/Seven, the Take Two Jacket, the Coloratura Jacket and now my new Paging Coco. And also City Cables and J’Adore and Spirit and Vlinder Wrap and… Do you teach? Much to my surprise I have become a knitting teacher and I love it. I had never even considered teaching but here I am – teaching at major knitting events, weekends at knitting shops, wonderful retreats in the mountains, a trip to Ireland, teaching in Europe and cruising the world. It doesn’t seem like teaching as much as sharing what I have learned along the way since I have no formal training. I love travel and seeing new places, I love being with knitters everywhere I go and I especially love it when knitters have that "aha!" moment and start trusting their abilities and just take off. I have done several knitting cruises which is a great way to combine travel and knitting. I am teaching on a South America/Panama Canal cruise in April 2013 and the Canadian Maritime Provinces and Atlantic Coast cruise in October 2013 with Craft Cruises. Classes are held on sea days and knitting related visits or excursions are arranged for ports when appropriate. I have found knitting to be a great ice breaker wherever I go. Why are your designs on Patternfish? When I started my business in 2002 I was selling paper patterns wholesale to retail yarn shops – the only way "back then" to acquire patterns. But, it was difficult to provide patterns to knitters in other countries. Things have changed so dramatically with the ability to access patterns online, view them on an iPad and who knows what next. Patternfish is the best idea since sliced bread – maybe better! I can sell patterns as pdfs to knitters anywhere in the world, take advantage of Patternfish’s added copyright protections, enjoy the company of many other designers on the site, and avoid the administrative hassle of doing it alone. See all of Chris Bylsma’s Designs here. |
In December we welcomed two new designers.
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Lindsay Lewchuk debuts at Patternfish with her Southern Christmas Cowl, a welcome festive garment that doesn’t demand woolly yarn, but recommends DK weight cotton. That’s not to say that the northern dwellers would be averse to creating this pretty bead and snowflake encrusted cowl in a yarn with more warmth. |
Deby Lake of O/C Knitiot Designs begins with her Eccentric Eccessories (that’s Lake’s eccentric spelling!), a set of hat and fingerless gloves cleverly constructed with Estonian Braid, Fair Isle Rib, and Slip Stitch patterns. While there is plenty to interest the knitter in these two pieces, handling multiple yarns is not one of the challenges. The complexity comes from using sock yarns in just two colours, one solid and one self-striping. |
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It seems appropriate when we’re launching the mini-column, One Skein/Stash Busters, to show some of our more time consuming and yarn consuming patterns.
Across the world a new year is represented, with impeccable logic, by a baby. We will posit that a 'baby' is 2 or under. Let us begin wonderful 2013, then, with a selection of some of my favorite baby designs from our vast trove of sweaters and cardigans (almost 1000 of them as I write!). I am postponing the usual "PM's Desk" column to next month so as to be able to squeeze more of these in.
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This is one of my absolute favorite baby patterns. I've made several of these designs over the years, and these pieces just Work. Irresistible in just about any style of yarn, great-looking on boys or girls, and gorgeous, subtle uses of texture while remaining very easy. |
Fast, sporty, easy, in a very common thick gauge: this little jacket is unisex and absolutely always on trend. Normally we are (irrationally?) prejudiced against zippers, but it really works here. |
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Here we have a linen stitch jacket-- that's it. But to show off variegates, it's hard to imagine anything better. Clean styling, beautiful lines-- and if you've never done linen stitch, this is the place to start. You will astonish yourself. Cadenza is a standard weight DK, 22 sts and 28 rows to 4"/10cm, so if you can't get ahold of it, there are many, many other options. |
Because babies need brioche for maximum cuddliness. |
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And here is something ingenious: you make two half-sweaters seamlessly, side-to-side, and combine them. Imagine the ease of only having to stuff one young arm into a garment (okay, twice, but still). Of course, you can make many different-coloured half-sweaters and come up with new combinations of them every day, depending on your mood or the tot's. |
It's possible that you sew, too, and have run across some border or edging fabric or ribbon that you adore. Here is a wonderfully simple way to use it, with a classic worsted weight (10 ply) yarn. It's top down, with the sleeves worked in the round, so there's no garment seaming per se-- just sewing on the ribbon and the hook-and-eye closure (as many as you want). |
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The Min-O! There are lots of patterns to give this kind of hooded effect, but none we know of are as fascinating to work. If you are a frustrated architect, make this universally appealing piece and stand back in wonder at completion. You will start to see pattern possibilities in completely different ways. |
This sweater-- so delicate and enchanting-- really depends on a fluid fibre, so find something silky or rayon-y or with lots of soft drape, and you'll land up with something quite miraculous. Seriously, people will exclaim at the freshness of it. The vertical st st columns are twisted. If you lack access to a garden or a park, this will make your baby seem always in their very own. |
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We absolutely love the French envelope shoulder (I don't know what it's really called, but that will do). It accommodates big heads so well and just looks so neat. Absolutely no sewing, either; you pick up for the sleeves through both thicknesses of the shoulder fabric and continue down in the round-- in effect, you've made your own seam. And who isn't longing to buy or knit with 3 skeins of Koigu KPPPM? That's all you'll need for any size. |
We just love the drama here of the extraordinary hem, and the 3/4 sleeves-- so practical for the very young-- and the fascinating construction, and of course the overall look. It's very old-fashioned and very fashion-forward all at once. So cool. And why shouldn't those ages 6 months and up have access to all those virtues? Besides, once you've made a tiny one, you'll be all primed to make the grownup version for yourself. |
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In which Alana Dakos mines classic garment gold. If there were an all-time "Greatest Hits" of kids' patterns, this would be close to the top of the list. The refined look is almost Bohus, and yet all the colourwork is just judicious garter stitch (striping sequence provided). Easily convertible for boys by leaving out the picot edging and just adding a few more colourful garter rows. If you have sportweight oddments, this pattern is a moral imperative. Needs only sleeve seaming. |
We have a lot of baby garter stitch basics, but this ingenious, pretty cardi obviously stands out from the crowd. The bodice and yoke are shaped with wrapped short rows, but-- as with the Egan overlap-shoulder design above-- you don't have to work the wraps; they themselves are enough to obviate holes. Really charming and surprisingly chic and self-assured for a baby. |
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To our minds you have to have a baby guernsey garment for the tot to be properly dressed. Here Silverman celebrates the visible tradition, but (untraditionally) has you make all the pieces flat. Detailed and lovely in a sock weight, with every proper guernsey element neatly in place. |
Because tradition is important, and everyone should have access to the kind of Edwardiana celebrated by Downton Abbey. And who better to offer this up than the impeccably British Sirdar? |
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Because all babies need a sweater like this in which the knitter selects one colour for the yoke to match the child's eyes and make them 'pop'. And because it's never to early to introduce the young one to the traditions of other knitting cultures. And because it's just so all-fired good-looking. |
Catnip for knitters, because really, who doesn't have some amazing sock yarn around in whatever smallish leftover quantities? Combine them to your taste. Burkhard has come up with the ultimate project whether you are scrapping or not: "This," she says, "is a one skein project." So you can give yourself permission to buy that knockout 100g special ball or skein, too. |
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that tiny girls should wear boleros, and also that they look adorable in them. It's hard to say anything else about this superb piece than the line in the description on its Detail page: "High fashion for short people". The bolero with short sleeves. Gorgeous rounded lower hem. For simplicity and refinement, it yields to nothing else. |
This is the pattern equivalent of a 'pound puppy'-- it was rescued. It's critical to include it here because so many preemies are so very fragile now, needing special garments for very low birth weights. And this is the only pattern we know of to offer a fit for a 10" chest AND to have been developed in conjunction with neonatal experts. If you do charity knitting, check with your local medical centres to see which fibres they recommend, and knit from this pattern with perfect confidence. |
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Surely we don't have to explain the inclusion of this extraordinary pattern. This is ethnic knitting at its very finest, with traditional Norwegian elements present in 24 karat force. This is the gold standard of knitted baby gifts. Everyone covets these pieces, but not everyone has the courage to steek and hem. But if you were ever to learn, oh, use those skills here! |
Because it's cute as anything, and fast to crochet, and top-down, and seam-free, and pretty much seasonless as a layering piece. The terminology is European but this never daunts the intrepid crocheter, especially when the photos included are as ample and detailed as the ones here. |
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Because you have to start them very young with this kind of sweater, just for continuity's sake, since (if you live in a climate with seasons) they're going to be wearing this type of design for the rest of their lives (we hope). This is the real deal, the authentic design from Canada's oldest woolen mill, the honoured Briggs & Little of New Brunswick. Really, an East Coast standard, chewy and nourishing. |
Here's a trio of versatile little pieces that are wholly fresh in concept (silhouette, and the picot-edged ribbing) and execution (using the long-repeat variegate Baby Marble DK). We love the variety of the garments and the way everything matches in scale-- the emphatic buttonbands and button size together with the impact of the edge treatments. |
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Patternfish newsletter readers may have noticed that I have a penchant for including dogs here whenever possible, and while I do knit baby garments and find them quite irresistible, it seemed like a good time to show you some of our dog garments.
Here are some canine covers that dogs, in Northern climes, need at this time of year, although so far in 2013, where I live, a rain coat might have been more useful. Patterns are sized tiny to big.
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It's rare to find a dog sweater pattern for larger dogs, but Sirdar has designed this one for dogs from 11 3/4" to 23 3/4" in width around the body. The coat is knit flat with leg openings, then seamed a short way from the chest down. Note the handsome collar. Sirdar, and Patternfish donate profits from this pattern to the Battersea Dogs' Home in England. |
Toni Lansing's Reversible Dog Sweater is sized for the littlest to medium sized pooches, Chihuahuas to Border Collies, with complete instructions on customizing the size to your dog. Variations for girl and boy dogs are included. I laughed right out loud when I saw the instructions for this, but it makes sense! |
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"What a pair!" That's what other dog walkers will say when they see this dog sweater and sock combo. Be prepared, because we predict the next thing they'll say is, "Will you make a set for me and Hugo?" The socks take second place in these pattern instructions: "Socks are designed to use yarn remaining from dog sweater." |
Trudy Van Stralen's Cabled Dog Sweater has an elegant look with ribbed turtleneck and leg bands. It's worked in the round with openings created for dog legs. This provides a tidy fit for your dog, like the fit Ms. Van Stralen has created for her human patterns. If you want a coordinating pattern for yourself, take a look at Shauna. |
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