Posts Tagged ‘friends’

An Interview with: Cecily + Melissa!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

We, like many of you, are super excited about the release (TODAY!) of Melissa LaBarre +  Cecily Glowik MacDonald’s new book with Interweave Press, New England Knits! (For a complete list of the projects on Ravelry, click here).  We have a few special connections to the book — firstly, we adore Cecily + Melissa and have been waiting (not so patiently) for the release, secondly, Kate has a pretty strong affinity for New England (in fact, she is in the car driving there right now for her annual family vacation) and thirdly, there are two really stellar projects in the book featuring Fibre Company yarns, Kate’s Whale Watch Hat (blogged here) + the  Mystic Pullover by Melissa -  so we are doubly excited to be able to do an interview + contest with them celebrating the release!

Here goes!

Kelbourne Woolens: Let’s get back to basics.  When did you start knitting and what led you to start blogging?  Did you know each other prior to starting your blogs, or did you meet via the online knitting community - either Craftster, Ravelry or reading each other’s blogs?

Melissa LaBarre: I learned very basic knitting in the mid-90’s, while working in a nursing home. I picked it up again 6 years ago and never put it down again. Cecily and I met a long time ago through mutual friends, but we lived in different states. We reconnected once we found each other on Ravelry and realized we had a lot in common.

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Montpelier Jacket by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Cecily Glowik MacDonald: I have a BFA with a concentration in painting and moved to NYC after college where I soon found it impossible to find space and enough ventilation to use oil paints in our tiny apartment. I had mentioned that I would like to learn how to knit to a non-knitter friend and she gave me a copy of the Stitch-n-Bitch book as a Christmas present.  I quickly became addicted. And, yes, thanks to Rav Melissa and I got to really get to know one another.  I feel like I am still very new to blogging and don’t quite have it all down yet.

KW: Did you find yourself designing your own original patterns from the start of your knitting experience, or did you evolve into a designer as time went by?  What led you to become designers if the process was an evolution from ‘casual’ knitting?

ML: I accidentally made patterns by just making things up for myself. I never thought that I’d be writing them down for others.

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Hampton Cardigan by Cecily Glowick MacDonald

CGM: I immediately began adjusting and adding to the patterns that I was knitting for myself or for gifts.  Once I found out that anyone could submit designs to most knitting magazines, I started submitting.  I think because I started so early after learning how to knit, I had no fear of rejection.  I just had a lot of hope that someday one of my designs would get published!

KW: Can you talk specifically about your book, New England Knits?  What was the inspiration behind the book — (besides how awesome New England is!), and why did you want to work together on your first book?  Did you find the process for the book was different than your process when knitting an individual garment for a magazine or other publication?

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Providence Hoodie by Melissa LaBarre.

ML: I think New England is kind of notorious for being both awesome and then unpredictable, weather-wise. Really, that crazy weather was major inspiration for the book, and why it’s loaded with cardigans, which are great pieces over several seasons here.

CGM: The wonderful and intense temperature changes through the seasons and even within the same day in New England makes for great inspiration for hand knits that are versatile.  I wanted to work with Melissa because she is one of the most wonderful, interesting, talented, kind and thoughtful women I know. Because I had a job in the knitting/yarn industry, I had experience needing to have a bunch of designs brought to completion at the same time. I just had to remember to balance my knitting time with my pattern writing/ grading time.

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Mystic Pullover by Melissa LaBarre (featuring Organik in Atoll + Aquatic Forest)

KW: What is your favorite item in the book and why?

ML: Oh boy, of Cecily’s patterns, my favorite is the Hampton Cardigan.  It’s in my house right now and i might not give it back! Of my own sweaters, I’d have to say the Providence Hoodie. I know I’ll wear it lots after the trunk shows.

CGM: Melissa’s Salem Hooded Jacket! Pockets, a hood, and the beautiful ribbon detail = love.  From my projects, it would have to be my silliest one, the Montpelier Jacket.

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Salem Hooded Jacket by Melissa LaBarre

KW: You asked 4 other designers, including Kate - lucky her! - to design an item for the book.  Why did you choose Kate, Kristen, Carrie + Cirilia to participate?

ML: Well, New England Knits started out as an idea for a multi-designer book, but evolved into our own book after talking with Interweave. We were still hooked on the idea of having some of our talented friends participate, so we got to keep 4 guest designers.

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Whale Watch Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn. (you can read about this design here).

CGM: All 4 of these wonderful and talented ladies have New England connections and are incredible people with amazing design skills!

{Kate takes a moment to blush/pat self on back}

KW: You both have a very impressive portfolio of published designs.  All demonstrate a wide variety of items - sweaters, accessories, even some skirts.  Do you have a particular item you like designing best, or technique that you are most drawn to, or are you more “equal opportunity” designers?

ML: I enjoy knitting hats and sweaters the most, so that’s what I tend to stick to design-wise.

CGM: I definitely enjoy designing garments the most, cardigans and skirts are my favorite items. I think that I might actually enjoy grading patterns more than I would like to admit to myself.

KW: If time - or possible practicality - was not an issue, what would you most love to knit/design?

ML: If time was never an issue I’d design only fingering and sport-weight sweaters. unfortunately time is always an issue.

CGM: Oooo, more dresses!

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Chelsea Skirt by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

KW: As designers, you have published your patterns in a wide variety of formats, including Interweave and Vogue magazines, your own book, New England Knits, for yarn companies (including our own!), and also self-published patterns.  Did this just ‘happen’ as a natural result of your designing or did you make a conscious choice to not limit yourself to one variety of publishing media?

ML: What I most enjoy about designing is working with a variety of yarns and working with and meeting new people through each opportunity. I’ve learned a lot this way.

CGM: Yes, I am just so thrilled to now be able to design with any yarn that I want to.  I feel like each new yarn I get to knit with brings new ideas for designs.  There are so many amazing people in the knitting world that getting the chance to work with many people and many venues provides tons of new chances to learn more about designing.

KW: When designing, do you have a project in mind and then choose the yarn to go with it, or do you first swatch and then design a project specific to the yarn’s properties? Do you find that your methods change depending on the project or do you have one way you always work?

ML: For self-published designs, I’m often inspired by yarns (I work at Webs, it happens a lot), for other publishing routes, I have to submit the design without knowing what yarn I’ll use, so I often pull design ideas from the notebooks I have around the house.

CGM: My methods definitely change.  When submitting for magazines or books, you need to have the design ready to go and keep the details true to your accepted submission.  When designing for self -publishing, the idea that I begin with often transforms as I work on it.

KW: Is there anything else you would like to add?

ML: Your yarns are dreamy.

CGM: I second that!

KW: Thanks, guys!  We think you’re pretty dreamy, too.

But wait, there’s more! As a little added bonus, we wanted to give you, dear readers, an opportunity to win a copy of their fabulous book, New England Knits, AND the yarn to make Kate’s Whale Watch Hat (rav link here, blog post with more details here).  That is 4 (count ‘em, FOUR!) skeins of Canopy Fingering, one each of Orchid (white), Macaw (navy), Blue Quandons (bright blue) and Fern (mint green) AND a brand spankin’ new copy of New England Knits!  Woot!

How does such an amazing thing happen, you ask?  Just post a comment here answering this question:

What project from New England Knits is at the top of your Ravelry queue and why?

The contest is open from now until July 11th, 12 midnight EST.  Once all comments are in, we will randomly choose a winner!  (Please be sure to include contact info - an email will suffice - in your comment).

(Unless specified, all images © Interweave Knits and used with permission from the authors)

**comments are now closed!  We will announce the winner this evening, July 12th.  Thanks SO much to everyone who participated!**

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Whale Watch Hat, aka Kate’s ode to New England

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

When Kate was asked by Melissa LaBarre last year to design a hat using Canopy Fingering (two of her most favorite things ever) for her and Cecily Glowik MacDonald’s book, New England Knits, she didn’t hesitate for one second. (And now that the book is on the precipice of coming out — and is AWESOME — she is even more excited to be involved!)

Using New England as inspiration - especially the (ridiculous) uber preppy whale themed summer beachwear of her polo shirt and khaki filled youth  - Kate designed a Fair Isle beret, the Whale Watch Hat, (rav link) in rich blues, sea green + white with whales as the main focus.

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© Interweave Press. Photo by Sadie Dayton

The beret starts with a contrast color cast on and solid ribbing that turns into gradating chevron Fair Isle stripes that simulate the waves on the ocean.

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© Interweave Press. Photo by Sadie Dayton

Then, in a certifiable whale-explosion, there are three stripes of the aquatic mammals, with the third proudly spouting water at the top.

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The beret is finished with a repeat of the waves at the top and symmetrical decreases.

Sizes 18″ brim circumference, un-stretched, 10.25″ diameter at widest point

Yarn The Fibre Company Canopy Fingering (50% baby alpaca, 30% merino, 20% viscose from bamboo; 200 yd/50 g): orchid (white), macaw (navy), blue quandons (bright blue), fern (mint green), 1 skein each.

Gauge 28 stitches and 32 rows = 4 inches in whale pattern on larger needles

Tools
• Size 0 (2.0 mm) needles
• Size 2 (2.75 mm) needles
• Markers (m)

Ravel It!

Be sure to check out the many other fabulous patterns included in the book, including the gorgeous Mystic Pullover designed in Organik by Melissa LaBarre!

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Next up, an interview with the lovely ladies of New England Knits - and a surprise you will NOT want to miss!

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Knitscene Fall 2010 - continued!

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, besides the gorgeous sweater designed by Hannah Fettig in Organik, both Kate + Courtney have designs in the 5th Anniversary issue of Knitscene that feature the Fibre Company yarns.

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Oscilloscope Shawl.  Photograph by Joe Coca + © Knitscene

Kate’s design, the Oscilloscope Shawl, (rav link), named after the sawtooth waves made by Oscilloscopes, went through many permutations in its young life. Ultimately, she wanted to highlight the simple beauty of pairing diagonal increases and decreases on a garter stitch background for the body of the shawl and is very pleased with the final result!

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Oscilloscope Shawl.  Photograph by Joe Coca + © Knitscene

Constructed form end-to-end, you cast on a small number of stitches, then increase to the center, and decrease down again to the other end.  As you ‘turn’ for the center point, the direction of the garter lace changes as well.

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An attached i-cord on the top edge and diagonals provides a smooth and finished look.

Project Specifications:

Size 53″ wide and 23¼” deep at center point, after blocking

Yarn The Fibre Company Canopy Worsted (50% alpaca, 30% merino, 20% bamboo; 100 yd [91 m]/50 g): yerba mate (olive), 4 skeins

Gauge 14 sts and 22 rows = 4″ in garter st, after blocking

Tools

• Size 9 (5.5 mm): 24″ or longer circular (cir) needle
• Yarn needle
• Pins for blocking

Ravel It!

Next up, Courtney’s cardigan in Terra!

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Knitscene Fall 2010!

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

As always, when we were presented with the opportunity to work with Lisa Shroyer for the Fall 2010 issue of Knitscene, we jumped at the chance!  The 5th anniversary issue is packed with a wide variety of projects covering a broad spectrum of techniques, styles and yarns.

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One of the unique and interesting aspects of Knitscene is that each issue features a designer in a mini collection of original patterns.  Past designers have recently included Connie Chang Chinchio, Melissa Wherle + Cathy Carron.  This issue features a good friend of the Fibre Co and Kelbourne Woolens, Hannah Fettig!  If you remember, our most recent interview was conducted with Hannah, and we are so excited to see her latest mini collection in Knitscene.

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Lapis Yoke by Hannah Fettig. Photograph by Joe Coca + © Knitscene

One of Hannah’s sweaters is knit out of a gorgeous shade of Organik, Seawater, a deep rich navy blue.  It begins with a yoke with ribbing that increases for the body and sleeves.  The body is a longer with a lean cut.  We believe it is a really beautiful example of Hannah’s clean and wearable designs paired with the soft hand and gorgeous hue of the Organik.

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Lapis Yoke by Hannah Fettig. Photograph by Joe Coca © Knitscene.

Ravel It!

But that’s not all!  We are delighted to each have a pattern in this issue — Courtney designed an incredibly wearable cardigan for the “Geek for Ribbing” story, and Kate designed a lace shawl for the “Fundamental Yarnover” story. Stay tuned for photographs and details on these two projects.

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An Interview with: Anne Kuo Lukito

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

This post is a long time coming, and we’re so glad to have found the time to finally put it up!

We met Anne, of Crafty Diversions and the Handicraft Cafe at our first TNNA in January of 2009.  She has always been a huge fan and supporter of the Fibre Company and our yarns.  Last fall, she contacted us about using Canopy Fingering in a new and exciting project she was working on, her Liberation pattern collection of six hats.  Since we love hats — and the idea in general, read more about it here — we were delighted to provide yarn support for not one, but two, of her designs.

The first design, Septima Clark, features Canopy Fingering in Yerba Mate.

anne-septima-clarkphotograph courtesy of Anne Kuo Lukito

The second, Alice Paul, features Canopy Fingering in Paw Paw (pictured below) and Cat’s Claw

alicepaul-1479photograph courtesy of Anne Kuo Lukito

We were lucky enough to have both hats in our both at TNNA in January, and everyone who saw them — including us! — was really impressed with the attention to detail and craftsmanship in design.  Both hats have been on our “must knit” list for some time.

Okay, onto the interview!

Kelbourne Woolens: Let’s get back to basics.  When did you start knitting and what led you to open both the Crafty Diversions pattern shop and Handicraft Cafe yarn store?  What came first the patterns or the store?

Anne Kuo Lukito: Good question! I think the patterns came first, but I didn’t think to do it seriously at first and Crafty Diversions just started out as a blog to show off my stuff since at that time, I didn’t know anyone else that knit.  I only started knitting about 5 years ago and taught myself first from a terrible book that told me that left-handed people can knit like left-handed crocheters by using a mirror. I quickly found out the limitations of that method!

The store came later. I always had a dream of opening some sort of artsy-fartsy boutique / hippie coffeehouse. So, I began thinking more seriously about it and decided to try it.  Well, we were slow getting started but now we have and sell through our website. However, the economy, as you know, has not been very good and we’ve postponed opening a brick and mortar store for now. Once the economy is in a more stable upswing, plans to open a physical store is something that we’ll definitely be re-visiting.

KW: You have a large variety of techniques covered in your knitting patterns, and all types of designs — accessories, sweaters, home decor, etc.  Do you have a particular item you like designing best, or technique that you are most drawn to, or are you a more “equal opportunity” designer?

AKL: I do love accessory projects because they are so versatile and can be worn almost any time of the year, especially hats.  With sweaters and garments, I personally tend to gravitate towards a more fitted look that may have 1-2 key elements without being too fussy. As far as techniques that I’m drawn to…that’s a harder question. Generally, I am really drawn to alternative construction and techniques and I also like to challenge myself into doing things that I wouldn’t normally think to do, if that makes any sense.

KW: We’re so happy you use the Canopy Fingering for 2 of the hats in your Liberation collection.  What about the yarns do you think made them great for knitting your hats?

AKL: What’s not to love about Canopy?!? Seriously, Canopy Fingering was one of the first yarns I thought of to include. The colors are fantastic and it’s one of those yarns that I’d like to sleep with everyday. (Road to China ranks pretty high on my sleeping list too.)

KW: Let’s talk about your design process. For these two designs, Alice Paul and Septima Clark, did you have a project in mind and then choose our yarns, or did you first swatch and then design a project specific to the yarn’s properties? Do you find that your methods change depending on the project or do you have one way you always work? If the design came first, what made you chose our yarns for each design? If the yarn came first, in what way did the yarn “inform” the designs?  More specifically, what about the fiber content, gauge, drape, or colors helped you in your design process?

AKL: My design process started with 2 rough sketches: Amelia Earhart and Septima Clark. The moment I envisioned Septima Clark, I knew that I wanted to use Canopy Fingering (CF)  - it was a very easy decision for me and I did not even swatch ahead of time to see if it’d work, because I really didn’t need to. I had been fondling the CF in the shop for some time and had been dying to use it for a project. I knew that the sheen, texture and drape of the merino/alpaca blend in CF would lend itself beautifully to a beret, especially knit at a slightly looser gauge. The hardest part of choosing the yarn for Septima Clark was choosing the color! I wanted a deeper, earthy color and finally settled on Yerba Mate for the subtle melange colors.

The design and yarn decision for Alice Paul was a little more challenging. Alice Paul was one of the last designs in the collection. I sketched out the idea, but I hemmed and hawed for some time because I was not sure how it would work. What I did know was that for it to really work, selecting just the right yarn was imperative. Initially, I thought that I would also use CF for Eleanor Roosevelt, a slouchy hat with 2 shirred panels and a visor. While that would have worked out well, I really did not want to use CF for the 2 slouchy beret-type hats in the Liberation Collection. I then thought about Alice Paul again and how structured and rigid the hat itself could appear, which was not what I wanted. I wanted the hat to have a sense of structure with a nice balance of softness, so I turned to CF. My main concern with the hat’s construction was to make sure that the visor added additional interest without looking hard and busy, so I swatched and worked a prototype test piece of the visor with CF. The result was more amazing than I had hoped or imagined! The fiber content of CF gives any fabric created from the yarn a nice soft drape and a light halo, which was exactly what Alice Paul needed to juxtapose the more structured look of the shirred panel and shirred visor.

KW: You have been a stockist of the Fibre Company yarns for a long time.  What about The Fibre Co yarns appeal to you and how do you think they contribute to your designs?

AKL: What attracted me to The Fibre Company initially was how refreshing, earthy and colorful all the yarns within each line seemed. After I met and talked to Daphne and got a sense of her wonderful character and passion for her company (which was fairly new at the time), I fell in love with the company even more.

Shortly after stocking the Fibre Company yarns, Savannah DK and Bulky quickly became one of my favorites. (Canopy was not out yet at the time).  At that same time, I was starting to submit designs to publications. I used Savannah in 2 designs that I submitted, and to my delightful surprise, both were selected for publication. One was Morgan, which uses Savannah DK and was published in Knitty, Fall 2008. The second was Mermaid, which uses Savannah Bulky and was published in 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders.

KW: For each project, you picked different colors from the Fibre Co palette.  With a yarn shop full of beautiful yarn, you must have many many options to choose from.  How does color inform your design process or do you just pick based off of what colors you like on that particular day?   More specifically, why did you choose the Cat’s Claw (buttery orangey/greeny yellow) and yerba mate (deep rich greeny-brown) for the hats?


AKL: As I mentioned earlier, choosing the yarn was easier than choosing the color! No kidding, I really love all the Canopy colors. Generally when choosing colors for samples, I cannot always choose my favorite colors, because first of all, that means many of my patterns will all have the same colors. Another consideration in choosing colors for the samples is making sure that the colors will photograph well. As much as I love deep, dark colors, like chocolate brown, burgundy and red, those colors do not photograph well, especially with finer and more intricate details.

I chose Yerba Mate for it’s depth and richness and for the fact that the color would lend a nice sophistication to Septima Clark, but it was very hard to photograph. Even though the details of Septima Clark as less intricate than that of Alice Paul, I spent twice as much time photographing the hat. For Alice Paul, I really wanted a lighter color so that the textures of the hat would photograph well relatively easily. So for Alice Paul, I chose to work samples in both Paw-Paw and Cat’s Claw.  I wasn’t going for an animal theme - that was pure coincidence.

If photography was not an issue, I may have chosen some of the darker colors in the collection. Honestly, if I find some time later, I would love to work another sample of Alice Paul or Septima Clark in Macaw or Acai for myself.  I almost chose Macaw for Alice Paul, but I was afraid the darker blue would not photograph well enough to show all the details, but in person, I know that it would be fantastic.

KW: Is there anything else you would like to add?

AKL: I think I’ve said enough already and may have been to verbose! Thank you so much for your support of my work and my designs!

Again, thanks so much Anne, for taking the time to do this little interview with us and sharing a little about your design process!

***
Are you a LYSO, LYSW or designer - new or veteran - who has knit a project or designed something using Fibre Company Yarns? If so, shoot us an email at info {at} kelbournewoolens {dot} com and we would love to feature you on our blog!

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Haitian Relief Auction - a joint auction with Kristen Rengren

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Like all of you, we were devastated to hear of the tragic earthquake in Haiti last week.  Many knitters immediately joined a fund-raising effort in order to support the aid to this country and it has been wonderful to see and hear of the tens of thousands of dollars that have been donated so far.  Even when listening to the news this morning, it is obvious that there is a long long way to go, and most are still suffering in need of basic medical care, food and fresh water, highlighting the need for continued support, financial and otherwise, to this country.

As a result, when Kristen Rengren, author of the inimitable book, Vintage Baby Knits, and someone we admire greatly for her wit, talent and seemingly endless energy, contacted us about doing a joint auction to raise funds that would go directly to supporting the relief effort, we were immediately on board.

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(Photograph Courtesy of Kristen Rengren)

The auction is for a custom-fit pattern tailored specifically for you of the beautiful Harlow Sweater (ravelry link), and enough Road to China Light to knit one in one of the 7 color choices shown below. Harlow is a sweater that looks wonderful on all body types, and the addition of the custom sizing just for you, makes this a really amazing prize.

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And the kicker?  Kristen will throw in a signed copy of Vintage Baby Knits as well — an added bonus worth its own auction!

The rules and auction itself can be found here, via the group forum and occurs tonight — yes! tonight! — from 7 - 10 pm EST.

We hope that you’re as excited about this auction as we were happy to participate.

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Canopy Worsted Revisited

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

A few weeks ago while noodling around on Ravelry we came across this amazing sweater, knit out of Canopy Worsted.

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It was, coincidentally, knit by Sonali (knittingowl on ravelry) who used to live in Philadelphia and bought the Canopy Worsted to make this sweater at the local yarn store we also frequent.  Small world!  Sonali is now living and wearing her Canopy Worsted sweater in Berlin.  She emailed us a few weeks ago to say:

I wore that sweater just yesterday while I waited for hours in the cold and rain to watch the celebrations for the anniversary of the fall of the wall here in Berlin. I knew it was going to be freezing and I figured the sweater was one of the warmest things I had, with all that lovely alpaca, and it did a great job.

The yarn seemed perfectly suited to this sweater.  It has the drape needed to allow the cowl to fall just so, it’s soft enough to wear next to the skin, perfect for a fitted sweater.  We sent a ravelry message to the sweater’s designer, Beth Silverstein (philosoknitter on ravelry) to ask her more about her fantastic design.

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Beth has been blogging at www.philosoknitter.blogspot.com since 2005 and, like many of us, started blogging to keep in touch with friends and family who are scattered far and wide.  Francis Revisited is a free download on Ravelry, and has been very popular, with over 400 versions on Ravelry alone.  Her design was mostly inspired by the minimally processed alpaca, from the alpaca named Frances.  She says:

When I saw Frances I fell in love. I loved the natural color of the alpaca, it was this perfect heather of grays and tans, and it was so soft and unique. Buying local and organic is important to me, and I try to do it whenever I can, whether at the grocery store or when buying yarn. My favorite stash items and projects are usually made with undyed wool or alpaca or naturally dyed fiber. When I visit a yarn shop while traveling I usually try find something that is connected to the area, whether locally produced, spun, dyed, whatever. Something that will help me connect to that place.

We couldn’t agree more.  Yarn choice ought to be a primary inspiration for design.  One’s choice of yarn will greatly affect the final outcome, fit and style, of your garment.  Beth goes on to say:

I love alpaca for the project because at such a loose gauge the sweater is light but really, really warm and the alpaca gives the perfect drape for the cowl neck.  I think they are so classic and elegant but not over the top, so almost anyone can pull it off effortlessly and look stylish.

Thanks to Beth and Sonali for your participation!

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