Wool Free and Lovin' Knit

I'm Porportional -- what shape are you?

"As knitters, we have the power to create a piece of couture perfectly suited to our figures every single time.  If we look dispassionately, acceptingly, at our forms, we gain the ability to turn this theoretical power into the perfect sweater."  -- Amy Herzog, "Fit to Flatter".

In addition to taking accurate measurements and sizing your sweater pattern accordingly, another key to the "perfect" fitting sweater is knowing your body shape so you can choose sweaters that flatter it. 

Your body shape is something you are born with -- it's the bones of you and really has nothing to do with how much you weigh.   

There are about 8 body shapes according to this site but for the purposes of knitting sweaters,  Amy focuses on the three main body types: top heavy, bottom heavy, and proportional.

According to my measurements, I'm a "proportional" shape which means that I have equal (or nearly so) top and bottom lines .  

This gives me a fair bit of choice in a sweater style provided that the visual elements used in the sweater balance one another.  The knitted item itself should look balanced.

In Search of Sweaters that both Fit and Flatter

On Sunday,  I drove to Portland, Maine to this yarn shop.

 

Where the lovely new owner, Susie, was hosting a class with the talented teacher, Amy Herzog.

left to right, Myself, Amy Herzog, Susie (store owner)

This was my first step on a new quest in search of sweaters that will both fit and flatter me.  Which is just what Amy aims to teach you in her now famous "Fit to Flatter" workshops. 

We covered a lot of ground in just a little over 3 hours and I learned so much about sweater knitting that my head is still spinning. 

I learned several things about myself that I did not previously know but here are just three facts that were the most surprising to me. 

1. I'm a "curvy proportional" body type  and therefore I must look for sweater patterns that are balanced in and of themselves to keep me balanced (because my body will most likely take on the shape of the sweater versus the sweater conforming to my shape). 

2. I have been knitting the wrong size for my measurements. All along. Like my whole entire life-as-a-knitter. 

3. Since I work with plant fibers, negative ease should be my new best friend. 

Amy has lots of great information on short-row shaping to accomodate a larger bust, or a large tummy, or a curved back etc. but, so far, I don't really need to worry about those modifications in my patterns. 

She also has great tips for those with one of the other two body shapes: Top Heavy or Bottom Heavy.   

If you can't get to one of Amy's classes then you should at least take some time to visit her on-line tutorial that covers most of the tips and tricks  I mentioned above. 

Her sweater designs are absolutely gorgeous too. We saw lots of them and I tried on the ones without wool fiber and others tried on the rest and you definitely want to take a look at these great patterns (which contain helpful tips for modifying them to fit you). 

Now that I've gained this important information about what will fit and flatter my own shape in a sweater, the next step will be fiber research.  

Yes, this is going to mean swatching and a LOT of it and not just to get gauge.  Look for a new fiber swatch feature here on the blog starting in 2012.  I'm actually kind of excited about it.   I just keep thinking about those future sweaters that will both fit and flatter me! 

Now, for one more parting look at  the KnitWit yarn shop. 

Such a beautiful store -- don't you love the giant mittens hanging from the ceiling?   She carries at lot of Quince Company yarns and other wools, but she did have a small, carefully chosen selection of wool-free yarns for me to pet.  I have one skein of Berroco Linsey to test swatch and I picked up some of the Berroco Weekend Chunky (it was 50% off) as a gift for my mom and I got another circular needle to add to my growing collection (you know, just to support Susie and all).  

Be sure to stop in if you are passing by and tell her hello from me!

Stash Happens and Sometimes it's Planned

Glenna shared an intriguing post today called Postcards from the Stash  on her blog Knitting to stay Sane  (if you haven't read it yet, pop on over there and take your time. But don't forget to come back). 

Her post got me thinking. A LOT. About my own stash.  And it occured to me that these were important thoughts that might be worth sharing. (Thanks Glenna).    

When I first started knitting I swore I'd never have a stash.  My BKF recalls the conversation clearly and her barely disguised chuckling throughout.  I was only ever going to work on one project at a time. When I was finished (or almost finished) a project I'd choose the next pattern and buy the yarn to knit it.  

"What about left-overs," she asked?  Well, I was only going to buy the exact amount of yarn specified and any remaining balls/skeins would be returned to the store (it honestly never occurred to me at that time that a yarn store could actually go out of business in the time it took me to actually finish up a project).  

What about small bits of left over yarn?  Oh, I'd just toss those. What could you do with a wee bit of yarn.  

You can see how naive I was.  It really is laughable and it's a credit to my BKF that she didn't roll on the floor howling.  

So the first lesson  I learned as a new knitter is that "Stash Happens."   

 

These are my two baskets of leftovers (one for worsted and bulky yarns, one for Dk and finer).   I have one more sweater bag full of single balls of leftover yarn  which I couldn't  or wouldn't return.

I blame the size of this portion of my stash on Afghan knitting.  It is impossible to knit multi-colored afghans and not have lots of left-overs. This portion would be larger but I periodically bag up some of this yarn and gift it to my mother for her charity hat knitting. 

 My husband says it's just like the feeding of the 5,000 -- no matter how much is knit there's always  a dozen baskets of left overs!   

Normally I'd  also include gift yarns in the Stash Happens category (I can't be responsible if people just give me yarn, now can I? ) But much to my amazement it looks like I've knit up all my gift yarn so I'm looking forward to replenishing that section of my stash in December/January.  Oh yes, Santa, yarn is on my list! 

Next up is the Intentional Stash.  These are yarns I specifically purchased for myself and have set aside for future projects.  

My favorite category for this list is souvenir yarns.  Despite all my travels, this is a smallish group as well because I generally don't pick up more than a skein or two of something new and I'm often excited enough about it to cast on immediately. 

souvenir yarns

Then there's the yarn with interesting textures.  I suppose you could call this novelty yarn, but for me it's just on the edge.  It's yarn that knits like normal yarn but produces an interesting texture -- like Berroco suede or plush or Polarknit yarn.  I usually buy this stuff when I see it on sale for a great price and it speaks to me.  But it's "just for fun" and very inexpensive  so if I don't find a use for it in a reasonable amount of time, I pass it on. 

fun yarns with interesting textures

Sock yarn-- I have acquired sock yarn for 2 projects.  Just in case I get the sudden urge to make socks one day. You never know. 

wool-free sock yarn

And the two newest categories to my stash are: 

My hand-dyed yarn.  At the moment, I've just been playing around with worsted weight silk but I have plans to try other yarns and other dying methods so I have a feeling that this will be my fastest growing area of stash (I can definitely dye faster than I can knit). 

worsted-weight silk hand-dyed by me

 Cone yarn (which might be included in any one of the categories above but I keep the cones separate). Cone stash is very deceptive. It may not look like much, but there are thousands of yards of yarn on those little soldiers!

silks and stainless steel deceptively hidden on cardboard cones.

If you looked very closely at my yarn, you'll see there's not a single strand of wool to be found anywhere. Mine is a "wool free" stash of silks, linens, cottons, hemp, bamboo, stainless steel and acrylic blends.  

So that's my stash today, but Glenna got me thinking about my future stash.  What yarns would I like to have on hand....hmm, that's going to take a little more time to ponder. I'll have to get back to you. 

In the meantime, let's keep Glenna's question going. "What yarns are you stashing?" 

Please Welcome Mademoiselle Alais

About a month ago I ran into this gal at HomeGoods (love that store) and I wanted to bring her home right away.  But we have a pretty small place and I wasn't sure where I'd put her and I wasn't so sure that my husband would be okay with another woman hanging around the house.  (Men can be so funny about things like that). 

But I kept going back to visit her, making sure she was still there, admiring her form, her tone, her color and her adjustable height.  She felt perfect in every way.   I named her Mademoiselle Alais (the Old French form of Alice which is my middle name) and this weekend I brought her home. 

She's the perfect model for my knitted garments don't you think? 

Husband and dog are both still a little spooked when they spot her out of the corner of their eye, but I think she fits in perfectly and after awhile they'll  forget she's even there.  

I Have a Dream -- naturally it's an organized one!

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you'll know that I keep my yarn, books, needles and notions very well organized in our small space.  Call it an occupational hazard, I earn my living as a professional organizer. 

You can click on the Organized to Knit tag on the right and see all the various bags and containers I currently use to keep my knitting hobby in working order. 

However, I have a dream of one day having a fiber arts studio of my own.  In fact, top of the list in our next home (whenever/wherever that may be) is a room for that specific purpose.  

 
I'd start by lining the walls with some basic shelving like this Billy bookcase system from Ikea:

I'd store knitting books in there (behind the glass doors to keep things dust free) and canvas baskets for my scrap yarn. Maybe something like this:

And some magazine holders for knitting magazines/loose archived patterns etc. 

 
I would continue to store my yarn stash in the canvas sweater bags I have, but on shelves inside the room's closet instead of under the couch!  Visible when I open the door, yet kept out of the sunlight so they wouldn't fade.

On the back of the door I'd mount a towel rod (or two) and slip on some "S" hooks from which I would hang all my Tom Bihn Yarn stuff sacks and other knitting totes with a label for each WIP. 

In the corner I'd add a cozy chair and foot rest that would be the perfect width and height for knitting (for those times I'd want to knit in solitude).  I might have two so I could invite a friend in to knit.

The small table next to it would have room for a beautiful bowl filled with knitting notions. On the other side would be a knitting basket with my current (can't travel) project. 

In the middle of the room (so I could walk around all sides of it easily) would be a large work surface with a removable blocking grid on  top.  There would be drawers for storing blocking pins too. And at one end I'd mount a lovely wooden Swift and a wooden ball winder.  Maybe something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My straight needles would be stored in jugs and vases something like this:

 

 

While my circulars would have custom-made drawers to house them.  

Oh, and we mustn't forget a small desk area for the laptop so I could blog and search out patterns and shop on-line for yarn. 

Ideally I'd have a lovely deep farmer's sink for soaking hand knits with some wall-mounted drying racks next to it. 

 

 

I'd have some pretty glass jars for storing my embellishments like buttons and ribbon and so forth.

 

 

 

 

 

 I can picture it all so perfectly in my dreams, can't you?

 What does your dream fiber arts studio look like? 

2kcbwday3

Choosing Yarn Colors With New Confidence

I've always been a bit color challenged when it comes to figuring out what looks best on me. I'm that annoying woman in the yarn store holding up skeins and asking anyone who passes by, "do you think this color looks good on ME? Does it look better than this one? Are you sure?"

Years ago I went to one of those parties where you they draped you in a pink cloth and a peach cloth and determined if you were a "warm" or a "cool" season.  I was declared by one and all to be a "warm" season.  I wasn't an autumn, so that meant I was a"spring".  I bought the little book of spring color swatches and I used to take them shopping with me all the time.  But after awhile I stopped using them because I never felt "quite right" in the colors that were supposed to be MY colors.  

Lately, I've been buying a lot of black because it was "slimming" and I had put on a little (okay a lot) of weight.  But since I've been shedding those pounds, I knew it was time to start putting color back in my wardrobe. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I know I don't look my best in black.  Black is also not that fun to knit with. 

A few weeks ago I decided to give color analysis another try.  This time I went to a trained image consultant who uses a system that is based on the colors in your own body (hair,skin, eyes) and she created the color palette that best reflects me not what some "formula" says I should be. 

When I saw my complete palette sitting on the tray I was sort of shocked.  Where were the peaches, the oranges, the bright yellows and greens that I'd been told were "my colors"?  No black there either.

Instead there were soft blues and greens, bright teals and soft browns and warm pinks.   I thought about my wardrobe at home and couldn't recall very much of it containing any of the colors she said I should be wearing to bring out the best in me.  But I knew, the minute I saw it that these really are MY best colors. 

My personalized color palette arrived in today's mail and the first thing I did this morning was to haul out my yarn stash and see how many yarns are a color match. Some yarn previously targeted for me got moved over to the "knitted gifts" pile, but there were actually several good matches (including the cowl yarn), yeah!!

It may take me awhile to find clothes in these colors and in a style that suits me, but I know that this palette will be a huge confidence builder for choosing yarn for projects I plan to knit for myself.  This is probably not going to be a good thing for my wallet!

Bits and Pieces

 

Thanks to Dorothy's suggestion of a pom-pom, and Patsy's suggestion of I-Cord, the turquoise hat now has this cute little topper.  I added some brown yarn to the pom-pom just to give it a more little pizzaz, what do you think?

 

My Knit Happy Sto N Go Knitting Project Yarn Box Case arrived and I love it even more than I thought I would.  It fits all my afghan yarn and squares easily with a little room to spare and I love, love, love the front exterior pocket which is the perfect place to store the afghan pattern.  This is a well-made product (and nowadays it's so hard to find good quality items, don't you find?).  Full, it can sit by a chair or on a bookshelf or in the closet etc. and when it's empty the whole thing collapses flat so you could store it just about anywhere.  

Turns out Duke thinks it's "just perfect" for sitting on too (at least when full of nice squishy yarn).  But hey, with the zippered top it keeps my afghan yarn dust and dog-hair free!

In the mood to re-organize your knitting corner?

There's nothing like the start of a New Year to get me all revved about re-organizing. You too?    

I'm in pretty good shape in my knitting corner this year but there's a few things that could use "tweaking" and of course one has to make room for the "new" books and notions and yarn etc. 

Anyway, I've been browsing around and came across a nifty organizing product that I just had to share with you all. 

 
This is theKNIT HAPPY STO N GO PROJECT BOX-BLACK  -- a collapsible nylon storage tote with zippered top.

I think this would be PERFECT to store yarn, pattern etc. for an afghan in waiting and at 14" wide it could even store squares while in progress.  Best of all, it's got their cute little logo on it. I found it on-line at Knitting Today. I ordered it from there but I see Amazon has it too.  I plan to have at least one afghan on the go at all times, so it will get well used. 

Got any new organizing products you're excited about? 

MY Nantucket Diddy Bagg -- aka My Knitting Bag

If you've been following my blog for awhile you'll know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Tom Bihn Clear-bottomed Yarn Stuff Sacks  and that I carry my WIP's in these for easy transport.  I love how I can put one in my carry-on or in my purse or just carry it all by itself.  In fact, I just ordered another one.

However, each yarn stuff sack holds a SINGLE project and I've been thinking for some time now that I really need a more "general" knitting storage bag for housing ALL my knitting bits and pieces.  

I considered the Tom Bihn Swift Knitting Tote, (my BKF has one in Cork and I'm rather envious I must say) but  it is really more of a purse that can accomodate a yarn stuff sack and I was looking for more of a heavy duty,storage bag where I could keep it ALL. 

Then I spotted a Nantucket Diddy Bagg way up on a high shelf in the Iron Horse. I didn't bite right then(when it comes to bag purchases I'm incredibly indecisive), but I did research this bag on-line and after looking at a LOT of other knitting bags  I decided that the Nantucket Diddy Bagg was the one for me.

I ordered black polyester from Halycon Yarns as they had the best price at the time and it was waiting in my mailbox the very next afternoon (with regular shipping). Amazing! 

 

The Diddy bag was originally designed by a woodworker for his tools in heavy canvas. It is now considered one of the best knitting bags ever designed and comes in lightweight polyester in a variety of colors.  With 36 pockets it boasts a unique zippered construction  that allows it to lay flat, or to be zipped inside out or outside in. I think it is a very cool design.

When the bag  sits next to my knitting chair at home, I can have it zipped up with the pockets on the outside for easy access to all my tools and I can store pattern books or yarn inside.  When I take the bag on the road, I can zip it so that the pockets are safely inside (no risk of losing things) and I can toss in a couple of yarn stuff sacks with WIP's --the interior is very roomy.    

I've been having great fun deciding what knitting "necessities" I want in my bag and ironing on fabric labels so I know where each item belongs.

I have a lot of small notions that I want to have in my bag as well so I ordered some clear organizer pouches from Tom Bihn so I can group small items together for easier use.

That's probably one thing I would change about the Nantucket Diddy Bagg if I could -- I'd make the pockets clear for easier viewing, but for now, my labels and some clear pouches will work just fine. 

Do you have a favorite knitting bag?

Square Storage

With 2 afghans on the go and one more on the way I needed a place to store all my squares flat.  The GAAA squares are the largest at 12" x 12" which made the task a little tricky.  I don't keep a lot of square boxes laying around  in our small space and I definitely didn't have a one with those dimensions.

But then I looked at other organizing products I've used in the past and I found the perfect solution in this "China plate storage case". 

It's 12" x12" with a zippered lid and soft fabric lined-interior.  The squares are stacking up nicely now. 

   

How do you store your squares?