Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Retro chic- Dish cloth dresses

When my friend told me she was selling a pattern for dish cloth dresses, I had no idea what she was talking about.
 Recently she showed me a copy of her new book for Leisure Arts- aptly titled "Dishcloth Dresses." For the uninitiated, they are indeed dresses, and they adorn a bottle of dish detergent.  Unlike the ubiquitous toilet paper dolls of the 60's and 70's, dishcloth dresses are actually functional.  They are perfect dishcloths, perched right where they are most useful.


 I love the idea of something so eco friendly, and tongue in cheek.
For a look at more of her patterns, here is a link to her website.
KnitSewStudio
Congratulations Debbie!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Vogue Knitting Spring Summer 2013

When I started this blog I never intended to just post my published pieces.  I have been so busy knitting and preparing other submissions that  it seems as if that is all that I have time to post.  The latest issue  of Vogue Knitting is out now- Spring/Summer 2013.  I designed and knit the Cropped Tank and Cardigan #14.
Cropped Tank and Cardigan

In this view you can see more of the striping sequence.

The runways were full of cropped tops, and although I would not sport a belly baring piece under a cardigan, it is a great warm weather look for those who would.   Of course, the tank could be easily  lengthened to suit your needs- just knit more rows to the underarm .

I never knit with novelty yarns, and was surprised at how wonderful they were to use, and how much I loved the finished product.  Even DH who kindly ran to mail this for me at the nth moment of the deadline, picked it up and said "I really like this- more than the usual sweaters you send in."! The sweater was quite a quick knit- a  pleasant change for me, because I usually knit at a very small gauge. This is on my "to knit" list!

As today is St. Patrick's day, I thought I would list some of my favorite Aran knitting books.  Extraordinary that such a small remote isle would inspire a knitting tradition that is admired and copied world wide.
Shelagh Hollingsworth
Alice Starmore- She is amazing!
Gladys Thompson
I own and love this leaflet
The age of some of those books just reminds of how timeless those designs are.  And, cable knitting is far simpler than it looks, and is so much more rewarding and interesting to knit than plain stockinette. Start small- a hat, or pillow, and you will be hooked.
 The first sweater my mother knit me was a gorgeous cable encrusted pullover of lanolin rich aran yarn from Ireland.  I loved helping her pick out the cables- even then I was fascinated by knitting.  I wore that sweater often, although, as I recall, it was very warm, and a little itchy!
Do you have a favorite Aran book or leaflet?I 'd love to hear...