Boy do I have something special for you today! The multi-talented LLADYBIRD Lauren is here with a stylish guest post for us as we wind down Knit for Victory! Lauren's sharing a modern pattern with a vintage look. And she turns the tables, too—if vintage style everyday isn't your thing, and you're looking for ways to wear your vintage sweater with a modern flair too, look no further than this post! Ppssst, pay special ... Read more »
The best fitting dress I own, thanks Emery!
Stop the presses. My first finished project of 2014 has me grinning from ear to ear! It's my Purple Passion Emery. (No, we haven't painted our kitchen yet, I did not pick that pale pooh green. And welcome to our broom closet door. And my collection of state plates, which will look much cuter on aqua walls, when we get to painting.) Well okay, that's not quite grinning ear to ear, that's a normal smile. How about this ... Read more »
How do you see yourself in the closet of your daydreams?
Hi everyone! I'm so happy for the comments and feedback about my long-term goal to really look at my closet this year and try and shape a wardrobe I truly love. I had hoped to post more about this sooner but I've been extremely busy at work. Life getting in the way of life, argh! Anyway, I thought since part of the goal will be to look at what I have in my closet, what I love and don't, the whys of all that and how to ... Read more »
Knit for Victory: spotlight on boleros
Happy New Year and a fresh start to 2014! We're officially in the last month of the Knit for Victory challenge. Some people are wrapping up their projects, some starting over (ahem—that would be me), and some just joining us (hello to the folks who've just mentioned joining in the fun!). As you may know from my last knit-along post about working on the Victory beret charts, I mentioned I had to change my own project ... Read more »
A full closet and nothing to wear: my fledging plans for 2014
Hello everyone! Thank you all for the wonderful Christmas wishes, and I sincerely wish you all a very happy New Year and a fresh and wonderful start to 2014! I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'd like to accomplish for myself in terms of my wardrobe in 2014. I decided early on I definitely don't want to set myself any strict goals, but I do have some ideas, so I thought you might be interested to hear a little ... Read more »
Victory beret: working from the charts
Hello everyone! By now we're almost into our third month for the Knit for Victory knit-along. There's already lots of works in progress and finished projects in our Flickr group and our Ravelry group, it's wonderful seeing what everyone has been working on! As you may recall, my personal knitting plans were to knit my own Victory beret (since I gave Rochelle, my gorgeous model, the sample, which I've seen her wearing ... Read more »
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We are home for Christmas this year, and celebrated a wonderful Christmas Eve last night with friends. I thought to help spread a little good cheer, I'd share a few holiday photos from around the house. I hope you all enjoying a happy, healthy and safe holiday time full of people and things you love–friends, family, pets, a favorite Christmas ... Read more »
My 2013 sewing and knitting in review
While I've barely had time to even think about blogging in the last few weeks, I didn't want to see 2013 draw to a close without doing a roundup of my sewing and knitting projects from the year. I did one last year, and it was interesting reading the goals I set for myself this year, some of which I accomplished (namely, focusing on separates, as you'll see). I think the best part of what I accomplished this year was ... Read more »
Victory beret: swatching and casting on
Thanks for your patience, everyone! Your comments on my last post were very much appreciated by both Mel and I, I can't even tell you how much! ♥ I now can get down to a little bit of Knit for Victory business. So let's talk swatching and casting on, for those of you knitting my Victory beret! There are different ways to swatch for projects that you plan to knit in the round. And if you've already done it, then you ... Read more »
Pre-empted
I try to keep most things personal and deep off my blog. On a rare occasion however, I feel it's important that I share a little more with you. Recently, the tragic and unexpected death of a close friend of Mel's from Atlanta has left a huge hole in not only our circle of friends, but in all of the widespread and various circles of people that she touched (and believe me, it was a lot of people). Mel traveled quickly ... Read more »
Guest post: Top 10 free 1940s knitting patterns from the Vintage Pattern Files
I'm excited to share a great guest post with you today for Knit for Victory! Wendy is a talented knitting and sewing blogger from the Butterfly Balcony, (hello, look at this amazing outfit she sewed for Fall for Cotton), she was one of my Victory test knitters, and she's the brains behind the hugely helpful vintage knitting, sewing and crochet pattern database, The Vintage Pattern Files. A woman of many creative hats ... Read more »
Victory beret: intro tips for stranded knitting
Alright everyone! This post is especially for those of you knitting my Victory beret as one of your first fair isle projects, for Knit for Victory. I've talked about stranded knitting / fair isle in the past, and have two older posts that extensively cover a few of the topics I'm going to touch on today. For easy reference those are: Getting started with stranded / fair isle knitting Puckers, tension and even ... Read more »
Victory beret: getting started
Hi everyone! Today I'm going to start off my posts for those of you who are knitting my Victory pattern as part of the Knit for Victory knit-along. What to know before you start Victory is a fair isle pattern knit in the round, using 2 colors of yarn in many rows. As I've mentioned before, I'm gearing my posts for those relatively new to stranded / fair isle knitting, but not for those new to knitting. I'll touch on ... Read more »
Knit for Victory now has a Ravelry group
Just a quick Public Service Announcement today. After several requests, I decided to create a Ravelry group for Knit for Victory as another home base for the knit-along. And we already have over 50 members! Please feel free to join us on Ravelry as well as our Flickr group, to share projects, inspirations and progress with your fellow knit-along friends. Later this week, I'll be starting in on my posts for knitting ... Read more »
Victory yarn kit and discounts!
I'm very pleased to share a special promotion today, in collaboration with Susan Crawford. If you're a fan of modern vintage knitting, then without a doubt you know UK knitwear designer Susan Crawford. As you also may know, Susan has a gorgeous line of yarn produced with John Arbon, called Excelana. Excelana is available in fingering weight / 4 ply as well as DK weight. In fact, for Wovember, you can read more ... Read more »
Accessories inspirations: Knit for Victory
Friends, the last week has been a whirlwind for me! I can't thank you all enough for all of the wonderful support on my first pattern release, Victory. Wonderful doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm seriously overwhelmed by the reception. :) Of course, there's not just the pattern release—there's the Knit for Victory knit-along launch. Yes! I'm so excited how many people are interested in the knit-along and have been ... Read more »