Just KAL me

I am so far behind that I'm probably in another time zone.  That said, I'm going to push forward and ignore everything missed in the last three (egads) weeks, and start over.  Childish, perhaps, but also sensible when my desk looks like an archaeological dig.

By now, you're probably familiar with our Fashionknitsta's lastest knit-along, the Draper KAL.  If not, here's a quick rundown:

WHAT: Draper by Sara Morris, released by Shibui Knits 

WHEN: February 1, 2011 - February 28, 2011 

WHERE: Here, ravelry, & facebook (choose your knitwork*!) 

In the spirit of the KAL, I stole Lindsay's Draper to share her progress:

Lindsay's Draper, knit with Tosh Pashmina in "Forestry"

I believe she is was deeply entrenched in the first tier of lace.  Sources in the field have just informed me that she ripped out last night, making this progress photo deceptive at best.  Oh, well.  That's where she was yesterday afternoon.

If you want to join the fun, several of us are knitting the pattern - in a variety of yarns - and we'd love it if you joined us in the discussion on ravelry.  I'll try and corral everyone's wips next week for a group shot...

Moving on, we have Oleya's Honey Cowl:

Honey Cowl by Madelinetosh, knit with Madelinetosh DK in "Composition Book Grey"

The Honey Cowl is a free pattern available on Madelinetosh's website that is a great 1 to 2 skein project for those gems of Tosh we all stash and then don't know for what purpose.  It's super-cute and I'm betting Oleya's going to love hers when it's done.

Then, in terms of staff progress, we have my Shadow:

Shadow from Shibui Heichi, knit with Heichi in 'Canal'

I'm almost (so close!) to the armhole shaping.  And loving it, strangely enough.  I thought the miles of Seed stitch would drive me to the edge of madness, but I'm really just chugging along.  Which might be the madness in another form.  Because, really, who loves Seed stitch?

Right.

Lastly, we have a bit of an update for all our devoted Nancy Bush students.

Nancy Bush during "An Overture to Estonian Lace", hosted by Knit Purl

For the many of you who were disappointed last week by the sudden cancellation of Nancy's classes & book signing, we'd like to inform you that Nancy is doing well and in excellent health.  She had to rush home for a family emergency, but is looking forward to visiting Portland again in the next couple of months.  If you were in one of the cancelled classes, you will be first in line for the rescheduled classes and we will contact you with the details once we've confirmed the dates.

Until then, I'll leave you with a couple of teasers from her "An Overture to Estonian Lace" workshop:

L to R: Shetland lace as compared to Estonian lace pieces

L to R: two traditional Estonian lace patterns, "Lily of the Valley" and "Twig"

Until next time, why don't you KAL with us?

*That phrase is going to catch on even if I have to use it in everything, darn it.

Fashionknitsta Thursday: 2/3/11

Hello and happy Thursday everyone! It's been much MUCH too long since my last post and I hope you'll believe me when I say I've been absolutely itching to write one! (No really, ask Sara, I think I've been driving her a little crazy). Anyway, I have some great things I just can't wait to share with all of you, but before I get into that I have a proposition for all of you.

Yesterday, I cast on to begin a Draper Shawl, and if anyone would like to join me in a casual February lace knit-a-long I would love it! If you aren't familiar with Draper please check it out on the website here.

Designed by our own Sara Morris, I am absolutely in love with this pattern. A few months ago I started hinting (subtly, I promise!) to Sara how nice it would be to have a great lace shawl knit out of Shibui Staccato to wear to TNNA and, boy, did she deliver. We thought that the blend of silk and merino would lend itself beautifully to a lace pattern and were we ever right! The original is done in Staccato colorway Jackie, which is my very favorite of the Staccato multi's. Doesn't it just look great in this pattern? I'm obsessed. I think I took it off only to shower and sleep when we were in Long Beach.

There are two sizes, I'm going to do the small one. Sara is currently working on the large version for herself in Staccato colorway Poodle Skirt and it's looking great! I hijacked this photo of it from her Ravelry journal:

Inspired by Eva's Ishbel from last summer's KAL, I'm doing mine in Madelinetosh Pashmina colorway Forestry. It's going to be a birthday gift for a friend who has left us for the wilds of Alaska (sorry to ruin the surprise, Whit!), and I'm so excited to really get going! I'd like to finish (including blocking) by the end of the month so I'm going to try really hard to get through at least the first lace chart this weekend.

While I love the original Staccato, other yarns I think would be great for this project are Malabrigo Sock, Madelinetosh Merino Light, or Fleece Artist Sea Wool. If you'd like to join us on this KAL, please do! We'd love to see photos and hear your comments!

The next pattern I have to share I've been daydreaming about since the first moment I saw it. The Layered Ruffle Sweater by Kristina McGowan from her new book Modern Top Down Knitting (coming to the website soon). I think it might be, in fact, the most beautiful pattern I've seen to date.

I love everything about this. I feel like you could easily wear it dressed up or down, with the ruffle detail at the neckline, the slightly longer length, it's just so versatile! The original is done in Filatura di Crosa Zara, a DK weight wool, but I'd love to see it in Rowan Felted Tweed, Madelinetosh DK (superwash is always a plus!), or a more Springy version in Rowan Lenpur Linen (or Purelife Revive) would also be just gorgeous. This book has unfortunately not made it to our website yet, but it's up on Ravelry and there are some other really beautiful patterns in it definitely worth checking out. A couple favorites:

The Cafe Tunic

The Chrysler Skirt

Ok, I'm not trying to get into TOO much detail with these, but how absolutely gorgeous would this skirt be in Rowan Lima. Just saying.

...and finally, the Over the Ocean Slippers

The last pattern I have to share today is an adorable pair of Fair Isle knee highs, the Whitby Stockings from Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn's book Vintage Modern Knits (also too new to be up on the site yet, but coming soon!):

If you've ever read Fashionknitsta before, you probably know I have a knee-high obsession. From my very first post I've enjoyed finding several adorable versions to share with all of you and these are no exception! Something I especially like about the Whitby Stockings is the contrast toe and heel, such a cute detail! I love how these are traditionally Fair Isle inspired, but aren't overly done with patterning.

The pattern calls for The Fibre Company Canopy and I feel like that's really perfect for this pattern. I would also love love love to see these in Isager Alpaca 2 (big surpise, I still have a serious Alpaca 2 addiction). I just think the colors would look so great!

Unfortunately, Shibui calls and I have to leave you with this for today. Fashion week is rapidly approaching and I'm hoping we're going to see some really great things for A/W 2011. I'd love to post about them, if Knit Purl will have me, I had such a great time with my fashion week posts last year that I'm really looking forward to this year's!

Thanks for reading, I really miss this column, and it really means a lot to hear from all of you who do, too. I hope everyone has a great weekend and check back in a couple weeks for another edition of Fashionknitsta. Until then, stay chic, blogfans!

-Lindsay