Couture Round Up

I'm a little late to the excitement of the Autumn/Winter 2011 couture shows that were held at the beginning of July, but I thought I'd share some of my opinions with you anyway.

Couture is a special kind of fashion week. It is, in essence, a big publicity drive for fashion brands. The market for couture is incredibly small, many of the labels showing will be happy to sell one or two pieces from these collections. When you consider the price points for these garments (generally over £5000), this is hardly surprising! What a good couture show does do, however, is tell us more about a designer, his skill, propensity for innovation, and his appreciation and understanding of quality.

There were a couple of labels this season that really played to the "big publicity stunt" idea, and gave us some looks that were perhaps a bit wild for most tastes. Most notably, On Aura Tout Vu, with their bizarre legs and arms sprouting from weird places, and Iris Van Herpen, who put out a lovely collection that appears to be inspired by sound waves, using curves, ripples and spikes. I rather like this dress, soundproof rooms are surrounded in this kind of triangular surface. (You can zoom into any of the photos by clicking on them)

 

The week as a whole has left me a little flat to be honest. McQueen is notable by their absence, the injection of sheer decadance is slightly lacking this season, and overall I wasn't as impressed as I have been previously. But their were a few lovely moments. The big winners were those who took couture ideas and made them into something both wearable and beautiful. For me, this was Armani Privé, Stephane Rolland, and by far and away the king was Gaultier.

Armani Privé had a lovely concept (and I love a good concept), mixing traditional Japanese shapes and fabrics with modern formal tailoring. There are some lovely, very wearable pieces at the start of the collection before the arrival of some stunning evening wear. This is a label that will sell couture, so the mixture of wearability and beauty is key. My favourite is this fitted look:

Gaultier also had a very clear concept. Oh, how I would have loved to be in their studio when this was going on. Looking through this collection you step back into the time of Al Capone, and, a few dodgy male model choices aside, the gangster and his moll are very clearly represented. If you check out one collection, it should be this one, go on, look here! There are a couple of knits here (they are almost entirely absent from couture), and as expected, they are very exciting.

Without doubt I would just live in that second one.

Third of my favourite collections was Stephane Holland. A much smaller label, this collection, like Armani's, mixed in a lot of formal tailoring into what was overall just a beautiful, feminine and interesting collection. I absolutely love this oversized jacket:

So film noir!


Lastly I couldn't not show you this knit, as you're bound to see it at some point. Harking back to "couture for publicity" this gown of cables surely fulfils that brief!

All photos from catwalking.com

Post Knit Nation doings

 Since the chaos that was Knit Nation I've been taking a bit of time to catch up on all of the things that were postponed during all that crazy (and what wonderful crazy it was!) It was only this morning I was reminded that I have yet to give you an update on what I bought and what I've since been up to.

I did get a couple of bits...

 Such as this lovely skein from Habu! When Habu were announced as once of the vendors for Knit Nation I danced around the room, very excited to get to see more of their yarns in person. As the time grew closer and circumstances changed I knew I wasn't going to be able to indulge myself as much as I may have liked. As such, I carefully searched through their beautiful stand before coming across this fantastic skein of 100% cotton bouclé laceweight. This really was my only real treat to myself at Knit Nation (frozen yoghurt aside), and I have no idea what will become of it as yet!

 The next skein was bought with the complete opposite of intentions. This gorgeous skein of Old Maiden Aunt 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon sport weight is destined for a special design coming up soon. The colourway, Baobhan Sith, is a really deep wine, with a lot of subtle semi-solid texture.

 I was very lucky to receive 4 skeins from Tash, one of our fantastic crew members at Knit Nation (you may have seen her calling the bingo!). Tash runs yarn store Holland Road Yarn Company in Wellington, New Zealand, well worth the trip if you're in the area. She was handing out samples to all sorts of important people and somehow I managed to persuade her to let me try some yarn too.

The top photo is of some Zealana yarn, which is made with possum fur and merino. I'd heard alot about the use of Possum in yarn production, and the debate around it's usage (Possum fibre is reclaimed from the pelts of culled possum in New Zealand). Many of you know that I am and have been a vegetarian for many many years, and as such I did read around this issue carefully. Ultimately I cannot object to the use of what would genuinely be an otherwise wasted product, and, unlike the leather industry, the possum fibre industry is not impacting the decision to kill these animals.

The yarn itself is far more unusual to the touch than I expected. The closest analogy I can make is that stroking it feels like stroking my cats. Which I guess makes sense when you consider that the possum fibre is hair and not wool. I can't wait for a spare minute to start swatching with this, it's going to be so much fun!

Tash also has her own range of hand dyed yarns under her label Knitsch. I highly highly highly recommend you check these out, her colours are amazing. I don't have any photos of them in the skein because the first thing I did upon returning from Knit Nation on Sunday night was wind them. I just needed to feel them properly, and they feel amazing! The ball on the left is Auburn, and by the end of the weekend I was boring all of the crew by continuously showing them how great it is. This is going to become a bright winter cowl (I think). The ball on the left is Heart of Glass and will be perfect for socks. You can buy yarn from her website, and she does ship internationally!

Tash also wrote a very lovely post about me and my designs (and my incontinent cat) that you can check out here, she mentioned the schematic for Koho being what attracted her to the design, so I have now added that to the Ravelry pattern page here.

The final 3 skeins of yarn that I bought at Knit Nation (of the 5 total) are already well on their way into my new design, the Ropery Pullover. As you can see, progress has been speedy, I've already finished the back and sleeves, although the front is where the fun really is. I'm using Easyknits.co.uk Merino/Cashmere/Nylon (which I suspect may be the same base yarn as the OMA I bought, but don't quote me) in colourway Gun Metal.

Please don't mock the sketch. The only A I ever got in art was for drawing a shoe. :)

I'm hoping to publish this pattern by the end of August, leaving the perfect amount of knitting time before the cold weather really starts. The pullover is unique in it's deep and flowing cowl front, making it a perfect second layer in the autumn, or a great shape for accessorising with handknit scarves and shawls. It is an exercise in short rows, and uses the Socktopus Shadow Wrap technique extensively, so makes a great tutorial piece too, although any short row technique can be used.

Kōhō

The third pattern that I was able to release at Knit Nation is Kōhō. This vest top incorporates details inspired by Japanese fashion with a completely new and unusual construction.

A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to visit the recent Yohji Yamamoto exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum, accompanied by Pippa of Sweet Clement Yarns and Ruth aka Rock and Purl. For those of you who don't know this designer, over his 30 year career he has really pushed boundaries and challenged preconceptions of traditional silhouettes, and was a key inspiration to much modern deconstructivist fashion. One of my favourite things about him is the subtle integration of traditional japanese dress into beautiful modern garments.

Specifically, in the construction of Kōhō, I was inspired by his use of back detailing, layered armhole edgings and texture combinations. Additionally, and with help from my boyfriend Andrew (who knows about these things) I was able to develop a pattern piece that could be transformed into a unusual knitted garment.

Kōhō begins with a wide knitted hem, that uses a simple 7 stitch twisted rib pattern and which is shaped between hip and waist. The strap is then bound off and the right front and back are worked as a single piece to the armhole.

The back is then worked and the knit is continued in one piece over the shoulder and down to form the left front. As such, the knit is worked both bottom up and top down.

The next stage is finish the right front. This is knit up and over the shoulder and finished with a decorative shoulder detail.

The piece is finished with two sewn in edgings, which provide a subtle double layered effect around the armholes.

There is one side seam to sew, and in order to achieve symmetry pseudoseams are used on both sides. This enables the real seam to be hidden inside a purl ridge, so even those with less than perfect mattress stitching skills can achieve a professional looking finish.

Kōhō is a new twist on traditional garment construction and provides a challenge for experienced garment knitters wanting something different. That being said, in terms of stitches and techniques used, this knit should not be beyond the ambitious intermediate knitter. The garment uses twisted stitches, extensive shaping, grafting and requires a degree of sewing skill in setting in the edgings.

Kōhō is knit using Sweet Clement Beloved yarn and requires between 3 and 4 skeins depending on the size knitted (pattern is provided as 30"- 44" in 2" increments). It is a great pattern for semi-solid yarns due to the regularly changing stitch count reducing any pooling that may occur. 

Kōhō is a lightweight summer vest inspired by the twists and turns found in modern Japanese fashion. Using a unique one piece construction including knitting both bottom up and top down (indeed, Kōhō is Japanese for “backwards”) this knit will have you thinking about the way you knit garments in a whole new way. It is available for £6.00 and you can buy now.

Tumbledown Set

I mentioned briefly yesterday that I was fortunate enough to be able to sell patterns at Knit Nation this year at the Sweet Clement Yarns stand. If you were at Knit Nation you may well have seen the samples, I do hope you liked them!

The patterns were released exclusively at Knit Nation but I can announce that they are now available for download via Ravelry, and due to the genius of Ravelry even non-members can now use the site to make their pattern purchases.

Firstly there is a pair of patterns based around falling leaves in mid-flight - the Tumbledown Set. The first is a wristies pattern, first seen at the UCL MODO show back in March, but reworked in Sweet Clement Besotted lace yarn.

In Sweet Clement Besotted

The original pair

The wristies are perhaps unsurprisingly a quick knit, and a pair can easily be made over a weekend. They make great gifts, and the simple lace insertions add a layer of elegance and a great way to practice lace knitting skills. They are great for travel knitting, and have a very effective stretchy rib cuff, providing the wearer with confidence that they will not be lost. As a bonus, the pattern has instructions for knitting the wristies both flat and in the round, allowing you to choose based on your skill level or personal preference.

Since making the first pair in March I've been wearing the first pair rather a lot, they are a fantastic finish to a great winter coat, or spice up a simple summer outfit. This pattern is available for £2.50 and you can buy now.

The second pattern is the Tumbledown Scarf. This pattern was specially developed to compliment the wristies and the two patterns share many features. The inspiration for these patterns was that of leaves falling from trees at the end of autumn, and I feel that the modular nature of this scarf does a pretty good job of representing that.

Again the scarf is knit using Sweet Clement Besotted, a laceweight yarn, and like the wristies, uses a simple 8 row lace repeat that is fantastic for improving lace knitters, or those looking for a pattern great for traveling or social knitting. The scarf is cresent shaped, forming a full half-circle when complete, and as such forms a very comfortable curve around the back neck. This is a scarf that wants to stay wrapped around you!

The pattern is great for topping up your winter wardrobe, but is also delicate enough to be worn as an accessory in itself. The pattern is available for £2.50 and you can buy now.

As a special treat, I am offering the Tumbledown set for the discounted price of £4, saving 20%, when both patterns are purchased. Simply add both patterns to your cart and the discount will be automatically applied.

Knit Nation Post (sort of)

Last weekend saw the return of London's most international of knitting expos, Knit Nation. Last year I was a mere visitor, but thanks to some fortuitous seating in Anne Hanson's class, the wonderful Hayley was able to introduce me to my near and dear knitting group. Now, I'm not a soppy blogger, or one to gush, but this really was one of those life changing moments. Thanks to meeting this fantastic group I've been able to forge relationships with some funny, passionate and loving knitters, as well as been able to get to know many of the real movers & shakers in London knitting. Without this, I couldn't possibly have had the confidence to make this push into designing as I am at the moment, and as such I am very grateful. (Gush over.)

As part of this new foray into the world of London Knitting I was able to forge the close friendship with Alice, aka Socktopus, who I have mentioned on this blog before. As half of the Knit Nation team, I was able to persuade her to let me get elbows deep in Knit Nation organising, and as such ended up as Crew Coordinator. If you attended Knit Nation you probably would have seen me running around making sure everything was going smoothly!

As a consequence of all this running around I didn't get a chance to take a single photograph over the 3 days of the event, and as such won't discuss it too much further, except to say a super duper thank you to all of the crew for making my job super easy, thanks to the vendors for being really lovely, thanks to the visitors for really getting into the spirit of the event, and making my life really easy, and super thanks to Alice and Cookie for letting me be involved. There have been a few really good posts gone up about the event, I'd strongly recommend In The Making's report on being a Crew Member, Knitspot's review of being a Teacher, and VisaLisa's photogallery.

Additional and super duper thanks go to Pippa of Sweet Clement and Emms and Lou of Loumms who allowed me to sell 3 new pattern designs through their stall (and did all of the hard work of actually "selling" them for me). This was really generous, and really awesome. Thanks guys!

The list of people I was able to chat to is almost endless, if someone was at Knit Nation, we almost certainly crossed paths. Of the teachers, the only 2 I missed were Susan Crawford and Julie Weisenberger (Cocoknits), which was a shame as I find her patterns really inspiring. Highlights included Judith MacKenzie complimenting my spinning, Anne Hanson giving me her phone number, Juliet Bernard (editor of The Knitter) saying she couldn't wait to hear from me regarding submissions, and Jon Dunn-Ballam (of EasyKnits) agreeing to come to our Knit Night. I could go on, but you'd think me a terrible bore!

I do, however, have photos from Thursday. This was the "calm before the storm" so to speak, and was spent first in the V&A, on a tour given by Judith MacKenzie, and later enjoying a delicious afternoon tea. Judith's tour was fantastic, I don't think I've ever met someone so genuinely passionate, knowledgable, and without ego. She would spot textiles from across the room and before we'd even got close she'd tell us how, where and when they were made, and a story of how she knew (mostly involving a visit to tiny cottage industries in exotic locations). For example, I must have walked past this rug in the Islamic exhibit a hundred times,

And never thought much about it except "blimey, that's massive, imagine the picnic you could have on that!" But with Judith's guidance we learnt about how the fibres were extracted, how it was woven and the knots tied, how it would wear (did you know a good wool carpet takes 20 years to reach it's peak condition? Walking on it slowly shears off some of the wool scales giving it greater lustre. In some Muslim countries babies were given carpets, so that by the time they were old enough to marry it was of the highest quality) and how the museums had restored it.

We also saw some fab Muslim Menswear (I have to get Andrew into some of these):

And the creepiest thing I've seen in ages (even Judith couldn't explain this):

Just for Alice, we found a pug dog in the hideously beautiful ceramics gallery:

After the tour we went for tea. We had tea (duh), sandwiches, cake and scones, and a glass of bubbly. Twas awesome. In this terrible picture you can see Steven West, Marjan Hammink (Yarnissima) and Judith MacKenzie, but I was also sat with Merike Saarniit, Ysolda Teague, Elise Duvekot and Alice. (Non-knitters note: This is awesome).

 So yes, all in all, twas a fantastic weekend and I am a very lucky girl!

Men's Fashion Shows

There's been a lot of talk in the blogosphere of late about the pros and cons of "Fashion Forward" knitting. It seems that this happens almost every time a new issue of Vogue Knitting hits the stands, and it's such a shame to see this fantastic resource being blasted simply for showing some creativity.

I agree, there are times when knitters have been presented with patterns more suitable for Lady Gaga than your small town mom, but I think that's missing the point. So many times have I heard "I'm not interested in fashion, it doesn't cater for me". Now listen to this, as it's important:

There is no such thing as being too old, large or impoverished for fashion, as long as you're buying clothes you are in some way influenced by the High End world. 

When was the last time you bought boot-cut jeans? Or a scrunchie? Or those formerly ubiquitous "combat trousers" of the late 90's? You couldn't find them if you wanted to, because, whether we like it or not, these clothes don't fit in with our modern aesthetic.

As such, I can't help but feel that it's of interest and importance to be aware of what's going on in the wider fashion world when designing knitwear and choosing which patterns to make. Yes, that top down raglan pattern you've had for 20 years may fit you very well, and you may well have memorised it for speedy easy knitting, but if it clashes with everything else in your wardrobe is it really worth it? 

Of course, surely one of the the main benefits of making things ourselves is being able to create things that are unique, personal, and otherwise unavailable to us. Surely that's one of the reasons why cable and lace insertions into knitted garments are so popular, creating an effect so different to what we can buy on the high street? The difference for me perhaps, is that rather than taking the cardigan off the high street and putting in that lace insertion, I'd rather play around with the vast array of shapes and silhouettes we see in fashion, and take inspiration from the fun twists on traditional ideas we find there.

So hurrah to Vogue Knitting, for giving us something fresh, and hurrah for fashion week, for expanding our horizons. You're far from perfect, but I wouldn't have it any other way.


As such (and thanks blog, for letting me vent), I wanted to share some of my highlights from the recent Men's Fashion shows for Spring 2012. There's only space for a few, but I'd direct anyone interested to take a peek at Vivienne Westwood's Olympic themed collection, Givenchy's fabulous digital prints, and the rest of the John Varvatos collection, which is just awesome.

Firstly I wanted to share my favourite piece from all the shows, this gorgeous sweater from Bottega Venatta. I don't know how clearly you can see, but it's knit using similar techniques to Barbara Walker's Mosaic Knitting, and there are different patterns in the saddle shoulders (obviously!) across the top of the chest and down the arms, giving a subtle textured effect. I'm so hoping this will be stocked in London so I can go look more closely!

One of my favourite collections was from Burberry Prorsum, who have been fantastic for the last few seasons across the board. Excusing the ridiculous crocheted hats, these Aztec inspired sweaters, particularly the first one, are simply fabulous. I may have to have one!

I can't even believe I'm saying this, but this sweater from Giorgio Armani is awesome. I can readily imagine it knit in some really slowly colour repeating yarn. That wouldn't quite have that same dip dyed effect, but would possibly be even cooler! (For some varigated yarn usage, check out Missoni and Pringle, Missoni in particluar has some great pooling effects)

Not a knit, but this jacket from John Varvatos is fabulous. I love assymetric fronts, and this buttons way up into and across the shoulder. I may get Andrew to make me one of these! Plus the trousers are sexy too.

Last but not least a couple of jerseys from Lanvin. I can really see this kind of jersey cutting taking off in handknitting, particularly as the use of fingering weight and sock weight yarns increases in popularity. This first top has an unusual collar construction, but we've made a few t-shirts like this at home already, so maybe one day I'll show you how it's done. Notice also that contrast across the top of the chest, similar to the Bottega Venatta top. I found a few more examples of this, so it's possibly a trend in the making.

That second top is rather feminine in itself (you'd be amazed how many female models were used in the men's shows!) but I love the layered twisted neck. There were a few lovely layered jerseys, I just don't have space for them all.

Hopefully you've been inspired to have a look at some shows, the best place is Style.com

Spitalfields Sheep & Wool Fayre

Sunday saw the return of the annual Spitalfields Sheep and Wool Fayre. Held at Spitalfields City Farm, a little bit of rural life was brought into central London. I love Spitalfields City Farm, I spent the summer after graduation working as a volunteer there, and as such it holds a special place as one of the few places in London that really seems to "get" community.

And they have a wool fayre. With a Y.

There was a heap of cool stuff to see, from their "Pop-up Museum"....

To a fun little folk band....

To kids....

To sheep shearing (this was awesome)!

I also got a great chance to chat to Lyn from the London Guild of Weavers Spinner's & Dyers, who showed me how to use one of their tabletop looms (and Ashford, not sure which one). What was really interesting was looking at how they follow their patterns, using charts familiar to knitters. The whole process was much easier than I'd expected, and, while I'm sure that setting up the loom is pretty skilled, I'm much less intimidated by weaving than I once was!

The fayre will be on again next year, if you're in town, be sure not to miss out!

UCA Rochester Graduate Fashion Shows

This Wednesday saw Andrew and I make our way out of London, south into Kent. We were to go and watch the final degree shows of Fashion students at the University of the Creative Arts, who are based at the university's campus in Rochester. These shows are open to the public, but as Andrew has been teaching these students on and off for the last 3 years, we were incentivised to go. And it was a very good day!

The student's final collections, all of 6 pieces, were split into 3 shows. I'm afraid I don't have any photos of the first show, as our seats weren't great, but we had much more luck with the other two shows. There were garments I would wear myself, garments that will help me as design inspiration (really, the whole 3 shows were great inspiration), and the odd bit of knitwear used in some really interesting ways.

From the second show I liked this jersey dress by Lauren Christensen, inspired by Elizabeth the First's dual roles as powerful queen, and vulnerable woman. I wear a lot of jersey dresses, often because Andrew likes to make them for me, and always like a bit of asymmetry, so this is right up my street!

This collection by Letisha Gayle was great fun, inspired by the early sixties. This look doesn't actually use any braces on the trousers, the black stripes are a t-shirt detail, but it's certainly reminded me to hassle Andrew to make me some summer dungarees!

 

These two looks are from Egle Meciute's collection, inspired by several authors and ideas regarding "life existence questions". The top picture shows one of the mohair knit skirts used in the collection, and the lower one a really fun felt top, with 3D flowers attached. While the hat may not be terribly practical, it is very good fun!

The third show held some other treats as well!

 This collection by Chelsea Antwi, inspired by traditional religious artwork, was lovely. She used some realy cool shapes (love the jacket on the left here), and the colour was great.

One of the few collections to use true knitwear was this mens collection by Lauren Lynn. I love the big shoulders in the cardigan above, but I'm not completely convinced by the bobbles on the back.

One of the more modern looking collections came from Samantha Sutton, in a collection titled, "Electro Metropolis"

My favourite collection of the day came from Becky Whitbourn's exploration of the Sussex coast. I'd wear a lot of things from this collection, and, while I probably wouldn't wear a latex t-shirt, this garment (top photo, forgive the blurriness!) is fantastic. Using a knitted mesh under sand coloured latex this awesome texture is revealed. I love the sleeves on this too!

Last but not least, I couldn't resist putting in a picture of Jennifer Allen's collection, inspired by none other than Prince Harry! I particularly like the look on the far left of this picture.

All in all I got a lot of cool ideas over the day, and we had a great time chatting with the judges for Graduate Fashion Week. Congratulations to all of the UCA graduates, and good luck for the future!