Fashion: Yarn Style

Paris Gorgeousness: Handknits, Pastries and Strolling in the Rain!

 

We have just arrived, still clutching neck pillows from the plane. We took a taxi directly from the airport to Laduree tearoom. We only had two and a half days to spend in Paris, as the other two days were spent traveling back and forth. So we enjoyed every moment to the maximum, especially the croissants!

 

In case you are wondering what those little green and gold packets are in the pastry basket, they contain perfect room-temperature French butter.  There are also tiny jars of apricot and raspberry jam to eat with the warm rolls. Ah, Lauduree, how I love thee!

 

I packed very light for this trip as we did not check our bags, which was a great exercise in clothing minimalism. Aislinn by Amy Herzog was my best friend on this trip, I really found it comfortable to wear on the airplane and it rolled into a ball and became my pillow while I slept. You can see me wearing the black cardigan outside of Laduree tearoom above.

 

Day 91: Paris

 

It rained a lot on our second day in Paris so this super warm shawl, Goldfish Memory by Casapinka, really came in handy! Just wish we had brought an umbrella, but we ended up hanging around under the eaves of some gorgeous old buildings instead.

 

We warmed up at L’Oisivethé, a combination teahouse and yarn store where I drank a gorgeous, vanilla-flavored green tea accompanied by fromage blanc and discovered this intriguing hand-dyed yarn:

 

 

Day 92: Paris

 

We grabbed a few rainless hours on Boulevard Haussman near the Jacquemart-André Museum, a wonderful showcase of decorative arts. 

 

 

I wore Aimee by Kim Hargreaves and it was just warm enough to keep off the chill! Here is a travel tip: try Sunday brunch at the tearoom inside the Jacquemart-André Museum. It is considered one of the best in Paris because of the gorgeous décor and unreal pastry cart. Their "oefs en cocotte" (coddled eggs) in herbed crème fraîche were fabulous.

 

 

Day 93 Paris

 

 

After strolling through the Luxembourg Park in the rain, Bernhard and I ducked into Cafe Cercle to warm up and share a crispy ham and cheese crepe. There we people-watched for a few hours while I knitted. Here I was wearing the #11 Lace Tank from Vogue Knitting--I packed it because it rolls up into a tiny ball, perfect for travel. I was really impressed by the beauty of the Luxembourg Park, especially in the dusky light and rain:

 

 

 

Day 94 Leaving Paris

 

 

We sadly said goodbye to the gorgeous bell epoch apartment where we stay in Paris each time we visit. For anyone who wants to stay here, the price is extremely reasonable and we adore it:

Le Magenta Apartment

The décor and antique furnishings of the apartment are extraordinary, and it is located in a wonderful location right off a metro stop, just blocks from the canal, and temptingly close to the famous Pain et des Idées bakery.

 

 

Unfortunately, Bernhard was unable to pick up croissants for us on our last day there because there were 50 tourists thronging outside. So we picked out a chocolate éclair and puts d’amour at Stohrer instead. It seems our trip to Paris ended just as it began, with a few luscious pastries!

 

 

Lily by Marie Wallin is finished! #slowfashionoctober!

 

Today, I am wearing Lily by Marie Wallin. The cardigan is knitted in Rowan Felted Tweed yarn.  I made extensive adaptations to Wallin’s pattern. For one, I cut out the crocheted lace edging which seemed too cute, and removed the bottom ribbing in the washed-out clay hue, which I felt diluted the fair isle colors.

 

Also, I added waist shaping to the sweater, which is designed to be a boxy shape which is not flattering for me:

 

On the back piece, I reduced 26 stitches from the hips to waist and then added then back in for the bust. This required planning, as I needed to make the large rose panel at the waist line up between the backs and fronts, but my experiment in lining up the charts worked, and you can't tell the garment was meant to be knitted differently.

 

 

 

I adapted the sleeve pattern as well, so that it was as fitted as the body of the sweater. In retrospect, I think the sleeves came out more fitted on the bicep than they needed to be, and in future I would leave more fullness there to balance out the shape of the garment. I also added in an additional pansy panel to the bottom of the whole sweater to replace the ribbing section.

 

 

Finally, I converted the pullover into a cardigan. Felted tweed is just too warm to wear as a pullover in the California climate for more than two months of the year. I felt that if I were going to put all the work into this piece, I wanted it to be a versatile jacket that I could wear all year long. The short sleeves make that possible, as they keep the garment from being too warm to wear in summer. The fairisle incorporates some of my favorite colors: celadon, amethyst, slate blue and white, so it will definitely match my spring and summer skirts and tops.

 

 

This brings me to #slowfashionoctober. I have been reflecting a lot this month on how to bring a slowfashion philosophy to my knitting. And I feel the single most important focus should be wearability. It seems better to spend three months making one piece that fits perfectly than three pieces that will take up extra space and yarn and not fit my daily needs.  

 

 

For this project, I established a project notebook with my desired finished dimensions, and gauge. I diagrammed the shaping and measured each piece, blocking it as I went along and unraveling if necessary to ensure the correct fit. As a result, Lily fits me extremely well. Yes, the button band gaps in a few places, but I don't think that is because the fit is off. As Kate Atherley, the technical editor of Knitty explained it, button bands just gap. You can see that when the cardigan is laid flat on the table it is happening, without any curves underneath! So I will add in a few snaps.

 

Since the cardigan fits me, incorporates the most common colors in my wardrobe and is flattering, I will wear it a lot. I realized #slowfashionoctober really comes down to this: making pieces that make ME look good enough that I will want to wear them all the time. The next step will be to take advantage of all the notes and measurements I gained through this project and knit another felted tweed fair isle cardigan in the same shape. That way, I can leverage all the extra planning and work I did last time and create another successful jacket with, I hope, less effort.

 

Still Wearing Knitted tops & Skirts + Preparing for Paris!

 

I am continuing to wear my hand knits every day! Some issues with neck/arm/back pain have been keeping me away from my computer, so I have been just posting the daily photos on instagram: #yarnstylist. Here are my photos, starting with today:

 

 

This is my first knitted ensemble, which consists of separate top and skirt patterns by Kim Hargreaves. The skirt is River and is knitted in Rowan Lima. The design for the top is named Leah and it is also knitted in Rowan Lima.

 

Day 88 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

Yesterday was a super crazy day. I’ve been balancing work with self-care due to my pain issues. The reward? My husband can whisk me off to Paris for a few days this weekend, so I needed a “grab and go” garment for the day. I love the fact that Kallilo’s Antarktis is such an easy shawl to wear. You can knot it in a number of different ways to ensure it doesn’t fall off. 

 

Day Day 87 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

The Casbah 5ply Gradient Wrap is a new project I haven’t even had time to post on Ravelry. But here it is, a stylish dk weight cardigan that knits up in about a week. The original pattern calls for solid colors but I was dying to try out these Madelinetosh speckled yarns! My girlfriend photographed me at our local yarn shop.

 

 

 

Day Day 86 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

Today was a more formal day of work meetings, so I wore my Elizabeth blazer. Although it is knitted in Rowan Felted Tweed Aran, I do find myself wearing it during the summer. It’s not really any hotter than a lined wool or rayon blazer would be, honestly, and it fits me much better. 

 

 

Day 85 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

Andrea by Sarah Hatton is another great “throw on and go” piece. Teal kind of goes with everything, doesn’t it? And it looks great worn open or closed. 

 

Day 84 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

I was able to get away with wearing my Eva on a cold day---wish those had lasted! We are back in the mid 70’s-mid 80’s again!  Ha! Some of you were probably surprised to see me describe October 19^th as part of the summer, but in the California Bay Area, it often is!

 

Day 83 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

This is Cameo by Kim Hargreaves, knitted in Malabrigo Pashmina. 

 

 

Day 82 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

I seem to be in a teal mood lately! This is Mystery by Kim Hargreaves. 

 

Day 81 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

 

This is Blythe by Kim Hargreaves, knitted in Handmaiden Seasilk. Sigh. Every time I look at this top, I itch to reinforce the button band with ribbon. I will have to get around to it!

 

Day 80 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

I customized this V-neck pullover based on a vintage-inspired top by Kim Hargreaves called Agnes. The top never really quite worked on me and after several incarnations of knitting it, I realized the high neck was unflattering, so I changed the collar and now I wear it much more often. 

 

Day 79 of the 100 Day Summer Challenge

This is Madame Butterfly, by Marie Wallin. I was able to wear on another rare cold day. Oh, the beautiful things I could wear if it were real fall here! Oh, well. There are a few winter months that we enjoy all the more because they feel unique and special.

 

Now I am off to pack. The next few photos will be from Paris!

The 100 Day Challenge in the light of #slowfashionoctober!

 

Today, I am wearing #09 Skirt by Debbie Bliss. The skirt is knitted in Rowan Frost yarn, which has been discontinued. I spent this morning darning a hole in the edge of the blouse I am wearing, which is designed by the Italian brand, Save the Queen, which I purchased secondhand after a three-year search. One of the challenges of purchasing small designers that feature artisanal details such as the distressing (artistic tears) in the central section of a blouse is making them last. With every hand washing, the “distressing” gets more distraught. Today, when I was getting ready to photograph the outfit, I also discovered a hole in the seam near the armhole, and repaired it with my needle. All of which goes to say that this process of putting outfits together and photographing them is causing me to inspect garments MUCH more closely. I am hoping I will take better care of them as a result.

 

Day 77:

 

Yesterday, I wore Emerald Blocks by Jean Frost. Frost has mentioned that the design was inspired by a cropped emerald jacket in Chanel’s Fall Winter 2012 Couture Show.

 

 

I saw the jacket in the original Chanel fashion show and then was thrilled to find a similar knitting pattern! It took forever to knit, as I hand-quilted each knitted piece with a silk lining. I took a two-day course from Jean Frost on lining knitted jackets with silk to prepare for the project. The time paid off, and back when I was a realtor, a French agent actually referred to it as a Chanel when she complimented it. (heh heh).

 

Over the years, I have fine-tuned the fit of this jacket, taking out the lining in the sleeves, as a sewing expert showed me how the lining in the knitted sleeves had tightened the fit on the body too much. I left the silk lining in the jacket back and fronts. Because I invested so much time and effort knitting and quilting and un-quilting silk-linings, I scrupulously care for this jacket in-between wearings.

 

Here is a close-up of the hand-quilted lining, which still remains in the body of the jacket:  

 

 

I am noticing a strong correlation between the hours I put into acquiring, or making, a garment, and caring for it afterwards. Instead of having a closet filled to bursting with cheap, fast-made imported clothes, why not curate a small collection of handmade clothes or garments one has hunted through consigners, second-hand, and small batch local makers, filling in the rest of the necessaries with cheaper mall-bought brands? I suppose this is my goal, and I feel that one element of my participation in #slowfashionoctober will be to find uses/good destinations for clothing I rarely wear, without sending it to landfill. There is an looming garbage problem caused by the cast-offs of the fast fashion industry and I feel inspired to try to cut down on my personal contribution to the problem.

 

Does anyone know of a charity in Puerto Rico that is accepting clothing donations?

 

 

Handknits at Work and Play: 3/4 through the 100 Day Challenge!

 

Today, I am wearing Aislinn by Amy Herzog. This is officially Day 76 of the 100-Day Challenge of wearing handknits all summer long. And yes, it is 80 degrees here! Aagh!  So far, during this challenge, I have worn Aislinn more than any other cardigan. Why? It is in a neutral color, it has a flattering shape that defines my waist, and it is knitted in the soft, durable yarn, Rowan Calmer. I have found the perfect recipe for a long-lasting versatile cardigan at last!

 

Day 75:

Yesterday, I wore The #11 Lace Tank by Nancy Cassells in Vogue Knitting. It is amazing how little space laceweight projects like this take up! It fits into a tiny corner of one drawer and is the perfect top to pack in a small suitcase. In spite of the fragility of its construction, it has lasted for seven years and is still going strong!  

Day 74

 

This is the Short-Sleeved Diamond Stitch Sweater by Sarah Dallas. It is a modern take on a vintage style, a combination which I really love. I made this top in 2008, before I had discovered how high-waisted I was. This meant I didn’t know to add an extra 1 ½ inches to the bottom of cropped sweaters so they would reach the waistband of my jeans. So it took me a while to figure out how to wear this. Peplum or patterned tanks underneath are the perfect solution, as they add the length to make a cropped pullover practical work wear. 

 

 

 

#Slowfashionoctober 2017

 

Ciao Bella by Laura Bryant

 

October is with us at last! I am so grateful for the cooler weather! In the California Bay Area, autumn brings refreshing cool after many hot months. Fringe Association’s #slowfashionoctober also offers an opportunity to reflect on why I spend my free time making clothes. As you can see, I am not doing it because my wardrobe is bare. Few of us really NEED much clothing any more. So why are we still buying it? For me, the process of making clothes brings a sense of balance, calm, and beauty, reminding me to be grateful for what I have.

 

Wallee

Slow fashion is a rebellion against “instant everything.”  With online shopping and same-day delivery, every want can be delivered to your door. No wonder waste is such a problem! I feel this “instant” society is wasting not just resources but energy and time. There is so much pressure to always be available by phone, email, and text that it is hard to find a place of calm and stillness. That is what slow fashion, through hand knitting and sewing, offers.

 

 

The 100 Day Challenge of wearing hand knits has increased my gratitude for what I already have. It has been a welcome change celebrating finished projects instead of hankering for something new. It is not easy to integrate hand knits into daily outfits without taking the time to think about it, so this is teaching me to create outfits that work. I also plan to  repair and finish old knits this month. Mending and altering old projects comes first, followed by finishing up WIPS. 

By the way, here are the hand knits that I wore the past two days:

 

Day 72:

This is Blossom by Kim Hargreaves, knitted in Rowan 4ply cotton. A short-sleeved waistcoat seems to go with everything, even this wide skirt which is tricky to pair with knits. That skirt really should be a size smaller, but with resale one's choice is limited. I hope to improve my tailoring skills this year so I can take in the waist.

 

Day 73:

Today I am wearing Laura Bryant’s Ciao Bella pattern. It is knitted using Prism Tencel Tape yarn. I added additional waist shaping to this pattern but I don’t think it really needed it. The fabric has a ton of drape because of its tencel fiber.