Fashion City

It's no big secret that Portland is emerging as a city known for fresh fashion and design. The local design community has delivered a handful of winning designers on Project Runway and has been featured in fashion shows around the world. I recently discovered an amazing stage for these designers and their creations.

The Portland Design Collective is a group of local designers, vintage garment experts, and savvy entrepreneurs who have joined forces to premiere their creations in fashion shows, workshops, and a retail location. The retail store is located just a few blocks from the Knit Purl storefront and is a must see if you are in the neighborhood. The spacious 4,000 square feet of display floor is artfully arranged with salvaged signs, old store displays, and interesting architectural elements. This provides a stunning backdrop for the designer fashions and premium vintage finds.

There is a vast array of items to browse and the staff welcomes questions and comments. Women's clothing includes special occasion wear, dresses, separates, jewelry, and accessories. Menswear has both vintage finds and designer creations. Alterations are available on-site to assure a perfect fit. The quality is apparent in the garments and this is the place to find a one of a kind piece that nobody else will be wearing.

When asked about the mission of this fashion wonderland, owner Tacee Webb explains, "We wanted to bring locally curated vintage and new designers to the Portland fashion scene. We have tailoring experts in house who can expertly fit a vintage garment to the modern woman of today."

The store has received recognition in such publications as Sunset Magazine, PDX Monthly, and many features in the Portland Mercury. The store also hosts and organizes fashion shows and events which are advertised locally and on their Facebook page.

Tacee sums up her customer base as "young, urban, fashion-forward women who want quality clothing. They want something unique for a wedding, event, or occasion and insist that it be one of a kind. We are happy that we can provide the expert knowledge and tailoring to assure that selected garments will fit perfectly and look amazing."

We here at Knit Purl encourage a stop at the Portland Design Collective. It's a visual feast and you will leave feeling inspired! Be sure to look them up on Facebook. There are frequent updates and links to special events and local fashion happenings.

Portland Design Collective
902 SW Morrison Street
Portland, Oregon 97205
503-243-2433

What's New on Ravelry: Christmas Edition

Greetings, dear readers!

If you subscribe to the newsletter or looked the front page of the website recently, you'll know that we're all been pretty excited by Christmas in August. I definitely agree with the tagline "It's Never too Early to Start". And really, it's not. Think about it. It's already August, and before you know it, we'll be in the midst of fall. As long as I've been a knitter, the holiday season always crept up on me before I was ready. Even projects I started in October didn't seem to make my deadline. Why not stock up on yarny goodness and start now?

So naturally, today's blog is going to highlight Christmas knits. I hope by now you've seen all the cute ornament kits (and book!) here at Knit Purl. If you start now, you'll have plenty of time to knit this festive sweater too!

I hope I'm not the only on one the planet who wants to knit this sweater. I love that it's a Christmas sweater that's not terribly tacky. Yes, it is a bit kitschy what with the deer and trees and all, but that's part of its charm. It's not over the top at all! I love the vintage details, with the puffed sleeves and the buttons at the back of the neck.

It's knit flat and seamed, and charts are included for both the fair isle and intarsia parts. It's a 5 dollar download through Ravelry at this link here, and also available as part of an ebook here. That ebook has plenty of other cute vintage patterns in it. (I think this one's the cutest, though!)

My yarn pick: it would look superb in Marion Foale. That yarn is simply amazing in stranded knits - my coworker made some mittens with the yarn and they were spectacular! Not only does Marion Foale look good in colorwork, it's very soft and machine washable. How cool is that?

I think it would best represent the Christmas Spirit in Dark Red & Cream.


Dark Red/Cream

It would also be fetching in Cranberry & Ivory Shibui Sock.

Cranberry/Ivory

Plus you can make extra matching Christmas balls with all the yarn leftovers. Bonus!

I bet you're wondering where all the other projects are. Don't fret - I am starting to shorten up my posts to create clear, concise blurbs about Ravelry patterns and how you can use our yarn to make something truly special! And in a little while, the single project posts will be more frequent so you'll get the same amount of project inspiration, just a little bit at a time. I hope it inspires you to create wonderful things!

Happy knitting!

Oleya

Looking Back at Sock Summit

Now that the four fabulous and frenzied days of all things sock knitting are behind us, we finally have a moment to take a breath and remember some of our favorite parts of Sock Summit weekend.

We arrived Thursday morning to set up our booth amidst the sea of vendors. It was so exciting to transform our bare corner of the convention center into a miniature version of our store, complete with some favorite books, samples, and even our tiny Christmas tree!



After lots of teamwork, I must say our booth was looking pretty snazzy! Here's a close-up of our rainbow of Brooklyn Tweed, Handmaiden, Madelinetosh, and more.



Just as we were adding the finishing touches to our weekend abode, the crowd arrived. Hundreds of eager sock knitters rushed into the Marketplace at opening time on Thursday, and they never stopped! The Marketplace bustled with fiber fanatics thrilled to get their hands on all the gorgeous yarn and fiber Sock Summit had to offer.



Meandering my way around the Marketplace, I happened upon some treasures that even I could hardly resist. I swooned over the plush plaits of hand-dyed wool roving from Wonderland Dyeworks (top). I vowed then and there to improve my amateurish spinning skills so that I can someday make my own yarn with these wooly works of art!

These luscious skeins are from Tactile, creators of our new Linen Lace and Tussah Silk Lace yarns. All of Tactile's fibers are naturally dyed, making these colorful jewels beautiful and eco-friendly!



In their typically unique fashion, The Sanguine Gryphon transformed their booth into a medieval market stall with a tent emblazoned with their signature gryphon symbol. The tent plus the team's period dress certainly contributed to the buzz about their gorgeous yarns--every time I glanced over, the line wrapped halfway around the booth!



Perhaps the icing on the cake was the flash mob, where hundreds of knitters gathered outside the convention center to perform a synchronized dance with a favorite skein of yarn to the classic 80s ballad, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." Yes, the one from Dirty Dancing. It was a sight to be seen--and very impressive choreography!



We had such an amazing time at Sock Summit, and it was wonderful to meet all of you who were able to visit us! Thank you so much for making Knit Purl a stop along your journey to Sock Mecca! If you couldn't make it, we still have loads of sock goodies in stock, including our exclusive handmade hardwood Knitpods and darning eggs. They make fabulous souvenirs for you or your favorite sock knitter!

Until the next Summit, thanks for the memories!