What a wonderful holiday Thanksgiving is – one of my very favorites. Slowing down, enjoying the coziness of home with food and family (in the broadest sense of the word).
We wanted to say thank you to all of our readers and customers for your continued support and friendship.
Wishing you a special day, no matter where your table is.
Resuming this morning with more imagery from October in Harrsiville and the surrounding landscape.
You’ll notice a reflection theme running through these images. The nearby lakes and ponds were all so glassy and still – they look like mirrors in the early morning light. Beautiful.
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Just before the big crazy storm weather started, I spent the week in Harrisville at the spinning mill. The village is stunningly beautiful in all seasons, but nestling into the heart of New England in late October is particularly special. When in need of color inspiration, there aren’t too many things that can beat the myriad shades of fiery foliage that abound in this part of the country.
When in Harrisville, my shutter finger really starts twitching – so I thought I’d share some photographs from my trip with you this morning.
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It’s been a dramatic week for us here in the city. On Monday, mother nature stormed in and reminded me of a few things.
Five days later – when several are still without power, heat and in some cases, even water (the irony) – it’s hard to remember how just a week ago the pressures of day-to-day life seemed so pressing, so immediate and so important. Funny how natural disasters have a way of giving you an instant reality check.
I’ve lived in the city for 7 years and have experienced a very small number of events in which we are all forced to stop, slow down, and wait something out. The transit strike in the winter of 2005 being the first, the rest being weather/disaster related – this week certainly being the most extreme.
There’s an eerie beauty to silence in a city like New York. Maybe I like it because it forces everyone to spend their time like we introverts prefer – staying indoors, getting cozy, gazing out the window, thinking about things, watching the light change, knitting…
I was without power for just under 5 days, and though I’m so grateful to be wired again, these quiet days gave me a few things I really needed, too. Slowing down allowed me the chance to take stock on life and reorganize my thoughts and ideas – something I often have a hard time doing at such a busy time of year.
I also got the chance to spend some serious time with my knitting. A very welcome activity in the midst of a frenzied work season. Even in low light, I managed to chronicle my week in swatches.
Recovery will be long and gradual for a lot of affected areas along the East Coast – and I’m grateful to report that all of us at BT have come away safe and mostly unscathed. We are well.
Thanks, too, to all who checked in on us over the last few days. For me, being reminded of strength in community – both in our knitting world, and our big city – has been the silver lining of this story.
On my trip to Iceland I had the pleasure of visiting Heimilisiðnaðarsafnið (try saying that three times fast) – the Icelandic Textile Museum in Blönduós.
In a country where knitting is such an integral part of cultural history, I knew I was in for a treat. Below are some images of work from the museum’s collection – I remember being struck by how smart a lot of the knitting here is. I particularly love the use of tone and color throughout; the lace work was especially exciting…
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I’m happy to get to share a new design with you that I created earlier this year for Tanis Fiber Arts – the Guernsey Triangle. This pattern is a special design for TFA’s Year In Color Club, and has now been released for that project.
Ever since designing the Guernsey Wrap in 2010, I’ve wanted to work up a triangular companion piece, so when Tanis and I first began discussing this project I thought it was the perfect opportunity.
The task was to create an enjoyable-to-knit and easy-to-wear handknitting design that was suitable for a single skein of yarn – in this case TFA’s Red Label Cashmere Silk Fingering (75 cashmere, 15 merino, 10 silk; 420 yards). Because club members would be getting a limited amount of hand-dyed yarn, I was sure to include detailed swatching instructions in the pattern and accounted for swatching yardage as well, so that no one is left hanging!
The triangular shawl is worked from the top down and features knit-purl patterning from traditional guernsey fisherman sweaters (I never tire of them). The pattern also gives instructions on blocking the finished piece with wires to get the clean, crisp edge that suits the geometric nature of the whole. The slanting ribs of patterning are mirrored over the center spine of the shawl.
Tanis and I collaborated on the development of the custom colorway “Smoke” – a beautiful silvery grey that features the subtlest of variegation in tone. Just enough to attest that the yarn has seen the careful hands of a talented dyer, but not enough to distract or mask the delicate patterning of the fabric. Just right.
Currently the pattern is only available as a club exclusive – click here if you are interested in joining or would like more details – and I will be making the pattern available as a Brooklyn Tweed PDF at the beginning of 2013. So if you’re not a club member but want to knit this, you’ll have access to the pattern at that time.
The wrap is pictured with our Bedford Pullover by Michele Wang – I thought the pieces looked great together. Then again, grey layers are my fashion “happy place”. For those of you wishing to queue the pattern on Ravelry for later, click here.
Hope you enjoy!
A selection of images from my travels in Iceland – this country is truly beautiful!
Columnar basalt formations on the northern coast
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Fishing boats lit by all-night sunsets
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Abandoned coastal fishing structures
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Marshlands in the North
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A puffin colony off the coast of Reykjavik (click image to view larger)
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Icelandic Sheep – one of Iceland's most valued resources
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Black sand beaches covered in golden grasses
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Lichen on an abandoned stone fishing hut in Hofsós
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Hólavallagarður Cemetary, Reykjavik
More to come… my camera has gotten a serious workout here!
When I first began knitting sweater patterns, I never felt completely sure of myself when choosing which size to work. Quite a disconcerting feeling to experience at the very beginning of a marathon knitting project – when choosing the wrong size can mean the success or failure of all your hard work.
Over the years – mostly from trial and error – I learned about the importance of ease when making (and more importantly, wearing) garments. Ease refers to the difference between a given measurement on a finished garment and that same measurement on the wearer’s body. Most commonly ease is discussed in reference to the chest/bust, since this is the measurement that most patterns are built upon – at least for traditional shapes and construction types.
True, there are “rules” about how much ease is recommended for a given style and fabric weight (a very important factor to remember), but I’ve also found that individual ease preferences significantly vary from person to person, depending on their own personal style and what they are comfortable wearing.
In our garment patterns at BT, we like to list a recommended ease amount – given by the designer – but also share how much ease is shown on the model in the photograph as a reference point for knitters to consider when making the fateful decision about which size to knit.
This week on our Facebook page, we’ve been sharing side-by-side images of a selection of the garments from Wool People 3 photographed on both of our models. Aside from having very different personal styles, Tessa and Hannah have different body shapes and sizes as well, so I thought it might be fun (and instructive) to share these images with specific fitting information, to help give knitters a better idea of how these small changes in size and fit effect the overall look of a garment. Below is a recap of those posts with this information – I hope you find this helpful!
Reine Cardigan by Alexis Winslow: shown here dressed up on Hannah (left) with 1″ of negative ease, worn over a light, summery dress. Tessa (right) dresses it down with a sleeveless top and jeans, with 2″ of positive ease. Because the fabric is knit with Loft, a fingering weight yarn, designs with negative ease are more wearable than when worked with a heavier fabric/yarn (worsted weight, etc.) Cardigans are often easier to wear with negative ease as well, since the open front allows fluid movement and versatile styling.
Breckon Cardigan by Amy Christoffers: Tessa (left) wears it relaxed over a light shirt dress with 3″ of positive ease. This comfortable fit is casual but not messy. Hannah (right) wears a more fitted style with zero ease (wearer and garment bust measurement is the same) over a collared shirt and pencil skirt.
Boardwalk Shell by Heidi Kirrmaier: This cap-sleeve garment is a versatile wardrobe item. We styled Tessa (left) with a denim shirt and skinny jeans. Tessa’s bust measurement is 2½” smaller than the garment. Remember that the addition of the shirt effects the final ease amount slightly. Hannah (right) wears Boardwalk alone with ½” of negative ease (her bust measures just slightly larger than the blocked garment).
Öljett Hat by Jenny Gordy: Hats are generally worn with 1-2 inches of negative ease at the brim measurement. Tessa’s head circumference is 1½” smaller than Hannah’s, so the hat fits in a “slouchier” way. Hat sizing is less of a mystery than garment sizing, but I threw this one into the mix, just for fun.
I’m off to Iceland for 10 days – one of my knitting “bucket list” destinations – for a much needed vacation, and to give my camera a workout. The best part is that it’s definitely sweater weather up there, so I can rouse my wool garments from their summer hibernation. See you in a couple of weeks! –Jared
At Brooklyn Tweed HQ we always laugh to ourselves a bit about summer knitting. When all the seasonal publications are touting cotton and linen yarns and beach-appropriate knitwear designs, we find ourselves still knitting away with our wool, year in and year out. Since we know we aren’t alone in this religious use of wool, we figured why let fall and winter have all the fun? Why not do something for the devout wool-lovers of summer?
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It’s hard to believe that our third issue of Wool People is already here. Ever since launching our first issue last August we have had such a great time working with knitwear designers from around the globe for this series. While design work from our in-house design team is constantly under way, it’s fun and refreshing to get a chance to exchange input and ideas from a broader range of creative folks. The finished collections always feel like a secret that slowly reveals itself over the months from concept to production. You never know exactly how everything will come together until the end, which keeps the anticipation and excitement strong even from this side of the curtain.
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For this collection, we envisioned something clean and airy that focused on lightweight layering pieces and a summery palette of neutral heathers. We asked designers to think about soft, clean and wearable garments that would utilize Loft’s airy fabrics and tonal color range. The designers rose to the occasion and brought together a collection that is both diverse and cohesive. We really love what everyone came up with!
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As has become customary for the launch of a new collection, we’ve indulged ourselves a bit with a lusciously photographed Look Book – it’s the best way to get a feel for the range of the collection which features a total of 17 designs. You can view the Look ook in fullscreen mode by clicking “Expand” below. Remember that when viewing full screen, you can click anywhere on a page to zoom in further to read text or have a closer look at design details. If you’d like to download a free copy of the Look Book PDF for viewing on your tablet or smart phone, just click here.
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While the collection focuses primarily on garments – there are a handful of smaller-dose projects as well: hats, shawls, wraps and scarves. We like variety in our own knitting basket, so bring that same mentality to the table when putting together a collection roster.
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Thanks to everyone for supporting our last two issues of Wool People and making #3 a possibility. We feel fortunate to continue exploring and refining our designer-friendly model of publishing, which hasn’t changed since our first round – Wool People designers receive a portion of every sale for the lifetime of their pattern, no matter what. We think this is important and allows designers to be compensated fairly for this highly specialized type of work. Don’t forget to check out our “Meet the Designers” section at the back of the Look Book to read about our talented contributors!
Happy summer knitting to all and enjoy the patterns!
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Resources: All 17 patterns in the collection are available now as digital downloads on our web site here. Our Wyoming-grown wool yarns are available for purchase here. Download a free PDF version of the Look Book here.
Busy days, but simple pleasures.
We are really fawning over classic cables around here lately. What else would we be doing during a heat wave?
Simple pleasures.