Fashion: Yarn Style

Chanel Cruise Soeul = Cardigan

 

 

 

The most joyous, playful fashion show I have seen in years took place in Soeul recently to display the Chanel Cruise collection.

 

 

The fashion show featured fabulous bright colors against a white background. I was so enraptured by the fun of the clothes, and the jewelry was absolutely sublime!

 

 

Look at how gorgeous these pins are alone! Can you imagine wearing one of these Korean-inspired flowers on your knitted cardigan?

I brought some images I had printed out from this Seoul Cruise Collection to my knitting group and there was one pattern above all the others that was selected as the favorite:

 

 

I think the reason this is so popular is that in spite of the intricate textile, the garment is young, wearable and fun. The leaf pattern is so reminiscent of growing shoots in spring, it makes me happy just to look at it.

 

 

I cast around to find a pattern that would allow me to knit a similar cardigan without appliqueing on a million leaves, and this is what I came up with:

 

Cherry by Anna Bell

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/cherry

 

This is a fun, vintage-inspired cardigan designed by Anna Bell. Although the leaf pattern is not as intricate as in Bell’s pattern, it does have one considerable advantage over the Chanel cardigan. The sweater I knitted goes in at the waist, instead of in the overbust area.

 

Chanel cardigan from Soeul Cruise Collection 2015-2016

 

“Cherry” cardigan designed by Anna Bell

 

Although the super-skinny model pulls off the shaping of the Chanel cardigan really well, it would look ridiculous on anyone with a real bust. Also, the Chanel cardigan flares out in the waist and hips area which would not be really flattering on anyone with a curvy figure.  At least, I have found that unless I emphasize my waist it seems to disappear. And the handmade chord belt which is included in the Cherry cardigan definitely helps to emphasize the waist:

 

 

I happened to have a stash of leaf-green Calmer which had been given to me by my knitting friend, Kristen. Thank you so much Kristen! Calmer is a wonderful, springy cotton-blend yarn which was unfortunately discontinued by Rowan several years ago. But Rowan’s Softknit cotton might make a good substitute. What I love about this cotton blend yarn is the resulting fabric is super comfortable to wear in a California climate all year round.

 

 

The surface pattern of the pattern is created using a cable needle. It is a bit time-consuming but was the closest I could come to the fabulous leaf motif in my Chanel inspiration:

 

 

Here is a closeup of my fabric in the cable pattern so you can compare:

 

I have been wearing this cardi all the time as a spring/summer blouse with flared-leg jeans. But oh how I wish I could get my hands on the fabulous beaded jeans in the Chanel version. Perhaps it is time to take a class on adding beads to fabric? It could be an incredible way to rehabilitate an old, faded pair of jeans!

 

This cardigan is just a tip of the iceberg—there are so many fabulous garments in the recent Chanel fashion shows it is hard to know what to choose as the next source of inspiration!

 

 

 

Chanel Skirt inspirations!

 

 

 

Here it is, a final, live version of my Lagerfeld-inspired polo in action, paired with a Chanel-style skirt! Here was my original inspiration for this ensemble:

 

 

The skirts are rather similar, are they not? Actually, my skirt was hand- and machine- sewn a year before this fashion show, but certain Chanel classics are as predictable as the autumn cold. The fabulous tweed pencil skirt is a Chanel staple then, now and forever!

 

Chanel suit, 1960's

 

I love my skirt suit and wear it all the time. The super lightweight Zen Yarn silk, cashmere and merino blend in the top is comfortable to wear even in the summer time. The matching skirt is a light wool tweed which was an amazing gift! My mother-in-law sewed this skirt for me with a fabric that probably came originally from Chanel. We purchased the tweed at Britex, our favorite fabric store, last year:

 

 

The retro knit skirt look has certainly come back in fashion! There were some wonderful sixties-inspired skirts in the 2015/2016 Chanel Spring/Summer Ready to Wear collection:

 

 

Considering how expensive these adorable knit skirts are to buy, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to look around for a knitted pattern. Voilá! Debbie Bliss has the perfect design in her knitting magazine, “Fall Winter 2013”:

 

 

Bliss’s magazine contains a wonderful feature on Dior’s New Look, including some great retro suit and jacket patterns. Her pattern #09 skirt is a simple, easy to follow pattern.

 

 

I have knitted it in Rowan frost, using a matching edging to my polo top. However, instead of bunching the fabric at the waist with the help of an elastic, I gradually decreased to my natural waist dimension and will hand-sew in a four-inch zipper by hand for my closure. This way I avoid extra bulk at the waist which would not be flattering.

 

 

 

 

This is the first skirt I have made, and I’m very happy with how easy the project was. Of course, skirts take time to knit unless you are making a mini, but this pattern, on size 7 needles, seemed to fly by! Apart from a few decreases here and there you are knitting simple, rectangular pieces which are smaller and easier to handle even than a baby blanket. For anyone who has ever pined for a Chanel-style skirt, why not make one of your own?Considering how many sweaters I have accumulated, it would probably make sense for me to switch to knitting skirts for a while. The project took only five and a half balls of Rowan frost and, apart from the bottom edging and waist-band, which I devised to match my polo top, the knitting was very straight-forward.

 

 

Several knitters suggested that I line my skirt, and I even went so far as to cut out a lining. Then I remembered a fundamental point, which is that knitted fabric stretches, fabric does not! Although I made my lining as wide as my finished skirt, the very moment I cut it out I realized it would be too small because it had no give at all. As an experiment, I seamed it together anyway, using only 1/8 inch seam allowance, but it still did not fit. The prospect of making a new lining much wider than my skirt could have created awkward bulk underneath. Besides, I have learned, from lining knitted jackets with silk, that the lining itself does not move the way the knitted fabric does, and in fact the lining often constricts the body to the point that the knitted fabric, which fit , pre-lining, has become too tight or too short. In the end, I resolved to simply wear a slip under my knitted skirt. The discarded fabric has not gone to waste, however. Instead of lining a couture-style garment, it will line Manju’s bed:

 

 

He seems to be under the impression that any other use of the fabric would be absurd

 

 

 

Knitted Polo Inspired by Lagerfeld

 

 

 

 

I have been obsessed with Lagerfeld’s re-invention of the polo shirt ever since I saw this green beauty in the Chanel Ready to Wear Spring/Summer fashion show for 2014/2015. You may recall that the theme of that show was a fashion strike:

 

This “manif”, as they call a strike in France, featured not only picketing models with humorous signs, but a rebellious version of the polo shirt, elevating that stodgy garment to flamboyant color art! The skill with which Lagerfeld contrasts his colors and the textual interest added by the novelty yarns in the sleeves and collar obsessed me until I had to create my own interpretation of a knitted polo.

 

 

 Chanel 2014/2015 Spring Summer Ready to Wear

 

To knit my polo shirt, I used Jennie Atkinson's Antibes pattern as my base: 

 

Rowan Magazine 41

 

I have always loved the color of pale apricot and so I used this Zen Garden Serenity Silk in alabaster as my base.

The yarn is light fingering, made of 75% merino, 15% cashmere and 10% silk, so it is soft as a feather against the skin. I knitted it on size 2 needles, so the polo shirt took me about three months to complete.

 

 

For the striped sleeves in novelty yarn, I used Noro Silk Garden color 84, Rowan Frost, and a variety of colors of the discontinued ribbon yarn, Tapestry, by Trendsetter. The ribbon yarn has a gold halo of long frizzy strands, adding that touch of crazy that tied all the stripes together:

 

 

Here is what the Trendsetter Tapestry yarn looks like when it is used solo to create a garment:

Trendsetter Yarns

So, as you see, I had to use it judiciously! I only ever knitted two to four rows in the tapestry yarn and enclosed it on both sides with firm wool-based yarns such as the Noro silk garden or Rowan frost, in moss stitch. But there is still a ton of gold frizz that sticks out and creates an uneven look which I thought conveyed the "rebellious" energy of the fashion strike polo.

 

The buttons in Lagerfeld’s polos are oversized and made of glass, which creates a lot of issues when trying to knit a polo with a simple closure. I agonized a bit over my buttons and looked at some antique Czeck glass, but  luckily I had a fabulous lot of amber glass buttons in my stash, which I had purchased from Linda at Unbuttons—more about her fabulous vintage buttons in an upcoming post. So I was able to use those and I'm very happy with them:

 

 

In my opinion, the oversized buttons are one of the key details that gives the Lagerfeld polo its revolutionary feel. Because the large buttons and the striped sleeves were so bold, I decided not to knit a big collar in novelty yarn. I felt it would just be too much, and the polo would be wearing me instead of the other way around. Whenever I am creating fashion-inspired garments I have to keep reminding myself that I am eight to ten inches shorter and many pounds heavier than the models who wear couture. As beautiful as couture models are, their bodies are not the norm, and by virtue of their incredible height and thinness they can carry off outrageous shapes and elements that might overwhelm the rest of us. 

 

Speaking of extra poundage… I recently had to take a medication that led to a very sudden ten pound weight gain so I’m trying to come to terms with my extra “fluffiness” at the moment. Therefore I kept putting off photographing my polo shirt for weeks until I decided on the compromise of a hanger photo for now. Either I’ll get used to this new look or I’ll lose the weight through a new nutrition and fitness program but I promise photos of me wearing my knits soon…Anyway, here it is, my finished polo:

 

 

I am lucky enough to have an amazing mother-in-law who sewed me a gorgeous pencil skirt last year with some woven woolen fabric I purchased at Britex. What a fabulous gift! And as it turns out, the skirt matches my new polo perfectly:

 

Just the thought of this wonderful outfit waiting for me has me resolved to workout and drink a protein shake for lunch so that I can wear them soon. In the meantime, I have another project on my needles now inspired by Chanel’s latest cruise collection in Korea, so stay tuned for more…

 

Chanel Cruise Collection Seoul 2015

Favorite Designer-Inspired Jacket Ever!

 

 

 

Wren, re-interpreted with metallic trim, is finished at last! I absolutely adore this jacket! It is definitely my favorite Chanel-inspired knit that I have made. That Paris Dallas fashion show really called to me and I was determined to make something inspired by Lagerfeld’s amazing designs that paid tribute to Texas.

After all, I come from a long line of Texans and he did us proud!! The metallic trim, which I crocheted onto each piece after it was knitted, is the element that took this jacket over the top. I highly recommend Rowan’s Anchor Artiste Metallic yarn for crocheted metallic trim. The yarn was sturdy and easy to use and I think it adds a glamorous touch without being over the top. This dk-weight metallic trim comes in a large color variety so you can get just that tone that you are looking for!

 

 

Earlier I had tried adding the crocheted trim to the side of my cable panels, but that did not show up very well. One side seemed to melt into the stitches next to it and the whole look was quite uneven.

 

I removed the trim and started over again. This time, I crocheted on top of the knit stitches that bordered my cables on either side and that looked more even and visible.

 

 

Wren is an extremely well-written pattern by Kim Hargreaves. The only alterations I made were to the cuffs and the crocheted trim. And I removed the pockets. Frankly, for anyone who has upper curvature, the pockets look like little "wings" on the breasts trying to fly away. I can't tell you how long I spent knitting those darned pockets and then embroidering them, only to throw them away!

 

Other than that, I highly recommend this pattern to anyone who wants a “denim” jacket of their own

 

 

"Denim" Glam and a New Twist on the Knitted Polo!

 

 

I have finished my Wren jacket, designed by Kim Hargreaves and embellished by me with metallic trim à la Karl Lagerfeld:

 

 I apologize for the delay in posting any photos. I had a dental surgery a few weeks ago which I didn’t finish because the anesthetic and I were not  compatible so I am waiting until the effects wear off to finish it. In the meantime, I am running around with an unusual-looking set of front teeth, so no photos of me wearing the jacket yet I am afraid.

 

I will share more details and photos soon!

 

In the meantime, here are a few inspiring photos from the Chanel Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2015 Fashion show.

The theme of this show was a “Fashion Strike” featuring picket signs like “Tweed, not Tweet” and “Make Fashion not War!” Adorable! My favorite pieces in the fashion show were the knit polo shirts:

 

 

Getty Images

Aren’t these tops fabulous? The knitted polo, classic and simple but with an outrageous Lagerfeld twist. Looking at these gorgeous cuffs and collars, can you say novelty yarn? In the past, I have tried to knit numerous versions of this type of polo shirt with a stand up collar and let’s face it, it is impossible to knit a collar that stands up proud and tall like the store-bought, machine-made version. The collar always droops when it is knitted, unfortunately, and that is why I have been looking for a solution to this problem for so long. It never occurred me to take advantage of the inevitable floppiness instead. Karl Lagerfeld doesn’t even try to create a perky collar with his novelty yarns. Instead he renders the collar into an accessory that is extra colorful and extra long so the structure becomes immaterial. What a genius he is!

 

Of course, I am knitting my own version of this using Jennie Atkinson’s pattern “Antibes.” It is taking an extra long time because, to emulate the look of machine-knitted fabric for the body of the polo, I am using laceweight yarn knitted loosely on size 2 needles. I will share photos of my project soon.

 

Here is Jennie Atkinson’s Antibes knitting pattern:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/antibes

 

 

 

Knitwear made fabulous with metallic trim!

 

 Chanel Paris Dallas Metier d'Arts Fashion Show 2013-2014

http://chanel-news.chanel.com/en/home/2013/12/metiers-d-art-show-paris-dallas-2013-14.html

 

Nothing is more fabulous than everyday American sportswear elevated to the sublime by a master like Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel Paris Dallas fashion show is a true inspiration! The show featured denim, Native American jewelry and knitwear glamorized to the extreme! Take a look at this incredible denim jacket with metallic trim:

 

 

Behold an ordinary wardrobe staple transformed! I had never realized that I could pair a jean jacket with a Parisian ball gown until I saw this piece. it is the elevation of the simple things we wear every day to something sublime that draws me to making clothes. Naturally, I immediately set to work on creating a jacket like this for myself.

 

I often turn to Kim Hargreaves’ patterns because of their elegant simplicity. She designed a marvelous knitwear spin on the jean jacket a few years ago, called Wren.

Kim Hargreaves’ Wren

http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/view-books/smoulder/#jp-carousel-asg-hack

 

 The design grabbed me immediately, and I bought the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran yarn the pattern required for my birthday. But then something held me back. Something was missing to make the jacket complete. And now I know what was lacking—metallic trim!

 

 

Rowan has an extensive palette of metallic yarns called Anchor Artiste Metallic, and I chose color 326, a dirty silver that perfectly compliments the light flecks in my Felted Tweed Aran yarn.

 

It is really rather uncanny how closely Kim Hargreaves' Wren resembles the Chanel jean jacket I have been yearning for. If you look closely at the Chanel jacket, the fabric is cut into little denim pailletes that ornament the surface and give it extra oomph:

The Kim Hargreaves jacket has a similar textural interest, achieved through the use of a double moss-stitch pattern:

The biggest challenge to creating a tribute to the Chanel jacket, however, is in finding a way to use metallic trim and blend it seamlessly into the knitwear. After some experimenting, I decided to crochet a silver line on top of my knitted fabric to create style lines similar to those on the Chanel jacket in the Paris Dallas show.

 

As you can see, that strategy was rather successful on the fronts of the jacket:

 

The (slightly wavy) silver lines to the right or left of my pin line, depending on which piece you are looking at, are made by crocheting a chain in silver on the surface of the knitted piece. A line of purl stitches was my guide. The actual silver edges of the jacket were created by picking up stitches along the edge in the anchor metallic yarn, knitting one row in double moss stitch, and casting off. I will show this more clearly in my next post. Right now the line of pins rather obscures my beautiful silver edge. Although the crocheted lines are not as perfectly straight as I would like, they compliment the wavy movement of the cable panel and the curves of the piece itself, so I don't mind. After all, couture pieces are supposed to look hand-detailed.

 

However, the back piece is another matter. For some odd reason, only two out of the four lines I crocheted onto the fabric in silver thread stand out:

 

Although I crocheted a line on either side of my cable panels, only the left lines of silver stand out. There is a band of two knit stitches that flanks each side of the cable panels, and for some reason those knit stitches seem to lean to the right, obscuring my crocheted trim. It is a bizarre effect. This faux pas only makes me more grateful that I completed my knitted piece and added the silver embellishment to the surface of the knitting afterwards, because now it is easy to remove. My next step will be to crochet the surface again,  and this time I will crochet directly on top of the outermost knit stitch of the border bands to ensure the lines of silver all standout. If that result also looks uneven, I will have to embroider the lines using a fly stitch. But it is easier for me to achieve an even tension with a crochet hook than a needle, so I will give the crochet embellishment one more try.

 

For anyone who is interested in experimenting with crocheting on top of their knitting for embellishment, I describe the technique in this blog post:

http://yarnstylist.com/2014/01/plaiducation-i-the-crochet-technique.html

 

Golden Light: Kim Hargreaves Goes Metallic

 

 

I have been determined to capitalize on the metallic trend in knitwear this season. And my gold sweater is finished at last! I used Kim Hargreaves’ pattern Light from her new book, Still.

http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/view-books/still/

 

I added a metallic twist to the pattern by using two Rowan yarns: Rowan kidsilk haze eclipse in Virgo (gold):

 

 

and Rowan anchor artiste metallic fine in gold as well.

 

 

It is usually very difficult to find a gold yarn that looks expensive rather than cheap. However, I think this sweater does live up to its designer inspiration:

 

 

I was able to scavenge some wonderful Chanel buttons second hand, and I think they add a lot to the sweater:

 

 

I added waist shaping to the pattern and raised the button placket and neck opening by 1 ½ inches. Otherwise, I knitted the pattern exactly as written.

 

 

This sweater is going to get a lot of wear! Kidsilk haze yarn is very light, and in lace it is very comfortable to wear all year round!

 

Coco Meets Plaid!

 

 

 

It is finished! My beautiful plaid à la Chanel! Actually, I designed the color scheme on the fronts, which is why I suppose I am thrilled with this one. Brandon Mably inspired me in his color workshop to be more bold, so I suppose I surprised myself by combining hues I normally would never think of together in these fair isle/slip stitched front pieces of the jacket.

 

 

I was recently gifted a wonderful book, Chanel, The Little Black Jacket, by my wonderful MIL, Pipapo, on Ravelry. The book features photos of different celebrities wearing the same black Chanel jacket styled in a hundred different ways. It really made me realize how important styling is for knitwear. I am experimenting now with different ways to wear this jacket. When it is buttoned up and worn with no accessories, the colorwork really stands out.

 

Of course, the buttons are a bit of an acessory themselves. I used antique two-toned silver and brass buttons that I purchased at Stitches West from Linda at Unbuttons. The jacket called for 15 in all, but I used 13, as that was all I had. This meant using four buttons on each sleeve cuff instead of five, but I think it still works:

 

I do love the way the brass accents in the buttons pick up the glint from the gold threads in the jacket sleeves.

 

At some point, I will have to enforce the buttonhole band with some ribbon, but at the moment my mind reels at making nine buttonholes by hand. Perhaps I will figure out how to machine sew buttonholes into a ribbon instead for this one!

 

As far as styling goes, I believe jackets knit in aran-weight yarn with color work are on the bulky side, so they need to be paired with fitted pants to create a balance. Because of the bulk created by the yarn and stranding, I also feel this jacket is most flattering when it is worn open and belted. I found a used Chanel belt for a great price on ebay and paired it with the jacket to create a fun, sophisticated style for the jacket.

 

 

 

For the back, I used Kim Hargraves’ pattern, “Steed” in order to create a peplum effect.  

I know that some people can wear an all-over plaid pattern without looking bigger than they are, but it is not easy to do unless you are six feet tall or your garment has body shaping. And how can one build shaping into complicated  color work? My solution was simply to make the fronts only in the plaid. Then I knitted the back and sleeves in a solid color, which allowed me to add significant waist shaping to the fronts and backs without worrying about distorting the color work. The detail of the peplum supplies enough interest by itself. It is a very clever design by Kim Hargreaves, perhaps I will have to knit a whole jacket based on her pattern someday.

 

The best part about finishing my jacket in time for Christmas is that I was able to show it to my favorite knitting partner, Pipapo! She has designed a fabulous Chanel-inspired jacket herself this year, so we were able to wear our favorite projects together:

Isn't her jacket absolutely ravishing? She created the vertical lines in her plaid by intarsia, my mind reels at the thought of how difficult that must have been! Of course, I would never have had the courage to tackle a complicated project like a designer-inspired jacket without her example. She has many knitted and woven jackets that are spectacular in that vein. It just goes to show how important it is for all of us to find people to inspire us and support us in our creative endeavors.

 

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a 2015 filled with wonderful friendships and creative possibilities!

 

Want to Knit a Chanel-style jacket? Try Anny Blatt!

 

Nice Pull by Anny Blatt, Magazine 216

 

If you are a knitter inspired by French fashion couture, chances are that someday you would like to add a Chanel-style garment to your repertoire. For guidance and inspiration, why not turn to French knitting? The knitting company Anny Blatt, which dates back to the time of Chanel, is a wonderful source of couture-inspired patterns. There are three essential challenges to knitting a designer-type jacket as I see them, and Anny Blatt has some great solutions for them all:

 

I: The first challenge is to create an expensive-looking fabric with interesting texture that is worthy of a couture garment. For more information on techniques to create this effect, see these posts:

http://yarnstylist.com/2012/10/combine-yarns-to-create-a-chanel-style-fabric.html

http://yarnstylist.com/2012/09/4-tips-for-knitting-a-chanel-style-jacket.html

 Anny Blatt patterns use innovative techniques to create woven-looking fabrics, including slip-stitching, yarn combining, and surface crochet techniques. Here are some Anny Blatt jackets with wonderful textural patterns that fulfill this goal:

 

Veste Bacarra from Anny Blatt Magazine 218

 

Here texture is achieved through slip-stitching

 

Gilet Navarre from Anny Blatt Magazine 206

 

Here texture is achieved through surface crochet embellishment

 

II. The second challenge is to create a garment shape that is stylish according to recent fashion trends. Couture jackets are no longer all boxy, uniform suit styles. Look at the cape-jacket and crop top examples from the recent 2014 Spring/Summer ready to wear Chanel runway:

 

 

Chanel designs have also recently been focusing on coat dresses or tunics.

And look at how innovative these jackets shapes and trims were in the Chanel resort collection from 2013:

 

Fall/Winter jackets on the Chanel runways have become much longer, and often use metallic accents:

 

 

This is an area where many knitters run into problems. When knitting a Chanel-inspired jacket, rather than creating a lumpy, shapeless piece with an interesting texture, we should focus on the form first. Try to avoid boxy knitting patterns and choose designs that feature innovative tailoring. Here are some Anny Blatt patterns with more interesting, modern forms:

 

Veste Pierce, Anny Blatt Magazine 214

 

Cornelia Manteau, Anny Blatt Magazine 207

 

Pull Tunique Delft, Anny Blatt Magazine 207

 

 

III. The third challenge when knitting a couture-inspired piece is to finish the edgings of the garment superbly. A couture-style jacket will live or die depending on its finishing. Couture designers use expensive finishing techniques that involve the use of beading, metallic threads, hand-woven braids and even, in Chanel’s case, sometimes shredded cartridge tape. If the edging of your jacket is too simple or clumsy, it will look like the tackiest, cheapest piece imaginable because it is emulating a designer garment but falls short. The devil is in the details. Anny Blatt has designed specialty yarns like Aiyana, Victoria and Muguet whose main purpose is to provide a couture-style finish for knitted jackets:

 

From L to R: Aiyana, Victoria, Muguet, Louxor, Muguet

 

 Anny Blatt has also devised some clever techniques for edge finishing in addition to their innovative materials:

Veste Porticcio from Anny Blatt Magazine 216

 

Jacket is finished in Aiyana yarn

 

 

Veste Venice from Anny Blatt Magazine 214

 

Jacket is finished in mix of Victoria and Muguet yarn

 

Dressy Spencer from Anny Blatt Magazine 207

 

Jacket is finished by forming the knitted border into a roll and whip-stitching the roll with Victoria ribbon yarn.

 

These were just some of the wonderful patterns I discovered in the Anny Blatt section of the boutique, Modes et Travaux in Paris. For anyone who is interested in obtaining these designs, you can find some magazines, translated into English, at:

www.yarnmarket.com

 

You can also go directly to the Anny Blatt website and order these magazines in French. If you include a message in your email they may also send you an English translation with your magazine. The Spring/Summer Anny Blatt Magazine 218, is their current feature and I know the English translation is available, because I obtained it in Paris.

http://www.annyblatt.com/

 

The Charm Pull, A Chanel-inspired Pullover

 

I have finished my Charm Pull, and what an adventure it turned out to be! The Charm Pull is a pattern by Anny Blatt, from their Couture Collection #217. You can find it here:

http://www.annyblatt.com/boutique/femme/9-pull/3698-charm-pull/

I loved the idea of this jacket in pullover form, and it was a perfect opportunity to use the Vintage Chanel buttons I found at an antique button seller's stall at Stitches West.

 

The first part of this knitting adventure was the quest for yarn. The pattern calls for Anny Blatt Victoria, which is a ribbon yarn, and Anny Blatt Angora Prestige, but all the Anny Blatt stockists were out of purple angora. As with any Chanel-styled knit, the fabric must look expensive and there must be an element of color depth and sheen. The Victoria ribbon yarn provided the  sheen, but it needed to be paired with a fuzzy-textured yarn.  I found that the Rowan kidsilk in Black currant was a color match to the Anny Blatt Victoria ribbon yarn. To create additional depth of color and texture, I added a purple angora, Rowan Angora Haze in "love", and so I was ready to begin!

 

 

The next challenge was to recreate the interesting textural pattern used in the design. Most Chanel jackets are woven on looms in Italian mills. The reason this pattern is so compelling is that it  gives the look of a woven, semi-metallic angora tweed. The pattern itself tells you to use a half brioche stitch. However, dear friends, the Charm Pull in the design photo is not knitted in half brioche stitch. In the design photo, you see little squares of ribbon yarn stitches against a background of angora.

 

 

However, the half brioche stitch was swatched by me, my mother-in-law who is a master knitter, and the helpful ladies at my LYS multiple times, without any of us ever producing anything other than this effect:

 

 

With the brioche stitch, you get a continuous row of ribbon yarn, not the little ribboned squares from the pattern photo. So I abandoned the pattern and started swatching with a variety of slip stitch patterns until I could create a tweed effect that I liked. My break-through was when I found a way to create raised garter ribbon squares against a flat angora background.

 

 

Here is the stitch pattern I discovered for the above tweed:

Row 1: (Angora/KSH) Knit all

Row 2: (Angora/KSH) Purl all

Row 3: (Ribbon yarn) Edge stitch, *slip 1 w/yarn in back, K1* edge stitch

Row 4: (Ribbon yarn) Edge stitch, *K1, slip 1 w/yarn in front * edge stitch

 

This stitch pattern creates a flat stockinette background in the angora/KSH yarn punctuated by flashes of color from the ribbon. Since angora and KSH are fuzzy, you need to make the ribbon yarn “pop” by knitting it in a garter stitch pattern. You do this by knitting one ribbon stitch on the RS and knitting the ribbon stitch again on the WS so that it will stand out against the angora. By slipping the yarn behind, you ensure that the ribbon squares are totally distinct and separated visually from the angora . It is particularly easy to see this pattern when you are using a variegated ribbon yarn like this Berroco ribbon against a solid background in a saturated color. However, I had chosen 3 yarns with colors that were very similar to each other to create a color depth effect. 

 

 

So in order to make the ribbon yarn stand out distinctly enough from the angora/KSH background, I needed to use two stitches in the ribbon yarn together to create a garter stitch rectangle. Therefore my final stitch pattern was:

 

Row 1: (Angora/KSH) Knit all

Row 2: (Angora/KSH) Purl all

Row 3: (Ribbon yarn) Edge stitch, *slip 2 w/yarn in back, K2* edge stitch

Row 4: (Ribbon yarn) Edge stitch, *K2, slip 2 w/yarn in front* edge stitch

Here is a closeup of my sweater so you can see how this pattern works to form a subtle tweed:

 

Satisfied that I had created the woven texture I desired, I turned my attention to the other problem area of the pattern, the sleeves. No woman wants to look like she has fat arms or bulky shoulders, and the unfortunate use of angora yarn on the sleeves of the Charm Pull magnifies the width of that area.

I have broad shoulders to begin with and I hate the look of “hairy arms” on a sweater that is supposed to have feminine charm. The pattern sleeves had to go! Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve. One of the great advantages of using kidsilk haze in combination with another yarn for the body of the sweater is that I could knit the sleeves exclusively in kidsilk haze.

 

Unlike angora, kidsilk haze is light and airy, with an almost sheer effect and knits up very flat, eliminating any bulk. Because the kidsilk haze color matched the ribbon yarn color so closely, you do not even notice the fact that the body of the sweater is a different color from the sleeves.

the only elements of the Charm Pull pattern that I used were the idea created by the image, the Victoria yarn, and the instructions for the ribbing at the bottom and the neck. I constructed the body of the sweater with plenty of waist shaping (-4 inches, 3 inches straight for waist, +3 inches for bust), and drew from the Kim Hargreave pattern, Delphine, for the armhole shaping and sleeve construction. Kim Hargreaves always designs tight-fitting sleeves and sweaters with high armholes which emphasize the slenderness of the figure, so I always come back to her for those elements.

 

 In order to ensure that the sleeves echoed the tweedy look of the body of the sweater, I created an extended ribbing on each sleeve cuff. There were 36 rows of ribbing, with 2 rows of KSH in blackcurrant, then 2 rows of Anny Blatt Victoria ribbon yarn. The subtle sheen of the ribbon yarn in the ribbing echoes the tweed pattern in the body of the sweater and allows it all to come together as an ensemble. Well, here it is. My first heirloom knit of 2014, which took about three months to complete:

 

 

I think I’m going to take a little break now and knit something easy and satisfying from my stash. However, I do have another heirloom knit in the works that will requires some sewing skills. I have spent the past month gathering the materials and input I need in order to begin.  But for now, I plan to curl up with a simple, satisfying Kim Hargreaves pattern for a cardigan I can wear to work. I’ll be back to you soon with photos from week six of my 100 day challenge of wearing my handknits!