Tag Archives: style

Thoughts

Simple fix of a hand knit

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I wanted to wear this when I went out the other night. Knitted years ago, it is a comfortable, fun piece with the colors of the season. I wrote about it, HERE.

When I put it on, the vest-dress didn’t look the way I wanted or the way I remembered. Hmmm So, it was a quick wardrobe switch for that night and a mind left wondering what/why I wasn’t happy with what I was seeing. I do have a habit, in this case a good one, to fix what is bugging me when I find myself less than satisfied with something I have made. Trying it on the next day, I quickly noticed what I didn’t like.

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Knitspiration

Making Friends with Lace

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Lace is not what I normally wear therefore it is not what I usually knit. To me, lace fabric doesn’t have body that I normally like in a garment, isn’t practical in its open-weave nature, and tends to be fashioned into shawls and/or scarves to show off its beautiful intricate patterns.

I am someone who does not wear shawls and rarely scarves mostly because I cannot seem to succeed in draping them on my body and if I do succeed, they do not stay. What I was seeing in fashion, however back in Spring/Summer 2017 of Vogue Knitting was the mixing of fabrics and styles, the mixing of fabrics traditionally used for one type of garment being used for another. And, when the unexpected happens, my attention is lit.

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Thoughts

Plan, Make, Finish, Wear

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This is a question some of us, as knitters, ask ourselves. Are we wearing our hand knits? We ask that question for the sole purpose of giving ourselves a reality check. If the idea is to be adding a beautiful hand knit to our wardrobe, truly are we? This is essentially the honesty factor as to why we do what we do and whether we are succeeding in pulling off the look that we were after by knitting these garments in the first place. We all know, no matter what the creative process or how capable we are in our craft, some projects ‘work’ while others do not.

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Knitspiration

Borrowed from the Boys

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Much like Facebook’s posts and ability for friends to comment and/or like a post, Ravelry, a knitter’s online paradise, has a function called forums.  Forums are generally written and like-interested people comment, share, like, or otherwise support the theme of the post.  Reading these threads is as interesting as posting on them.  Groups on Ravelry generally have many such forums going on at once and of course, there are people in all ranges of activity on them.  Some are so active, they have become moderators and those moderators are now posting what we affectionately call challenges.  This is true within the Vogue Knitting Group, at least. This is where the inspiration came, or maybe an excuse, to go all the way back to my complete VK magazine collection dating Fall/Winter 1982 (easy access here on shelving).

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Thoughts

I Lost and Found a Knitting Group

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Pretty much my entire life, I’ve knitted alone.  Happily, on the couch, in a relaxed state of mind, figuring out the pattern stitch or the possible mistake in the pattern or in my thinking, always knitting alone  . . happily.  The main advantage of that is the ease of stealing an hour here or there between the hustle bustle of family life, after a school day (whether a student or teacher or both), in between the piles of homework and/or housework, there were always those precious hours.

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Knitspiration

Relationship of fabric to design

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Well, at this point, this project has been knitted twice.  Not by choice, of course, but to eliminate too much shelf time, aka, not be worn.  I knit to wear so if there is something about a garment that doesn’t feel right or comfortable, I know its future is doomed.   I must say, the fabric that was created by this stitch was the conundrum.

The honeycomb stitch is a type of cable that is dense, especially when using Lion Brand’s fisherman wool . .  held double.  Not so much dense in weight as the pulled stitches create a kind of air hole behind it.  Maybe, you can make this out here, but dense in body.

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Knitspiration

Leg-o-Mutton ‘THEN’

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I think it is interesting to hear of what inspires each of us.  For my inspiration, I can’t think of a time when I reached for any Vogue Knitting publication that I didn’t end up wanting to make at least one item from it.  Oftentimes, more.  This has remained true for over 40 years.  Now, currently on Ravelry, such magazines, publications, designers of well-known fame as well as fledglings have ‘groups’ one can follow.  From there one can drill down and find things like KALs (knit alongs) and surprise KALs (just that, clues per week to lead to a surprise garment in the end).  These things are found in ‘forums’.  These niceties  are all meant to inspire or motivate the knitter in us.  Well, the Vogue Knitting Group is no exception.  It offers challenges, and I am right in line to accept them. Continue reading Leg-o-Mutton ‘THEN’ →