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So, as many of you in the Northeast know, Rhinebeck was this past weekend! We’re still recovering from the rush of spring photography and I almost bailed for some much needed rest, but when I woke to a gorgeous fall Saturday, I grabbed my keys and my knitwear and I hit the road! I didn’t regret it for a minute =)
The drive along the Mass Pike and the Taconic Parkway was absolutely stunning. The weather was perfectly Octoberish, grey and cool with vibrant leaf squalls swirling around me. The weather report was grim so the night before I had started a Hill Country Hat (a free excerpt from Clara Parkes’ new book) using 1 skein of Cuzco in Prune Mix. It wasn’t exactly as chunky as the pattern called for, but I used my size 10 needles, confident that I could adjust it if I needed to (the hat is knit top down). I knit it exactly as written and while it might be a little lacier than the hat from the book, it stretched and fit just fine. I had plenty of yarn, too! I bound off and wove in my ends at a scenic rest area on the Taconic:
It kept me perfectly warm! I took loads of pictures while I was at Rhinebeck, you can view them here. I had a few key Berroco spottings at the Ravelry party! First up is Sarah from Team Rav wearing a Ripley that she knit using the Vintage that we donated to the Sock Summit prize bags. So cute!
Next I met a witty woman named Thea Colman from the blog BabyCocktails who showed off her very cute Ultra Alpaca cardigan, pattern coming soon! The picture I took was very blurry, but I promise, it’s adorable!
Last but by no means least…I give you, Bob, Team Ravelry mascot. Well, it’s our Scottish friend Ysolda wearing a ridiculously accurate BOB HEAD that she knit in A WEEK. The best part? Bob’s tongue and ears were knit using Comfort Chunky! Besides those eyes, these are arguably the cutest parts of Bob!
If you went to Rhinebeck, I hope you had a great time! And if you didn’t, spend some time poking around the Internet, I think you’ll find plenty of excellent travelogues. I can’t recommend fiber festivals highly enough. Between the beautiful countryside, the excellent nosh and the bevvy of likeminded fibery friends, it’s the perfect way to kick off autumn.
Happy knitting,
CR
I whipped up a hat in record time this week! I used a ball and a half of Jasper, a gorgeous self-striping merino wool that knits up so quickly I can hardly believe it (about 4 hours, which for me is superduper fast). I used Jared Flood’s wildly popular Turn a Square pattern but instead of striping two yarns, I just let Jasper do it’s stripe-y thing. I think the cast-on edge is especially good looking. I used Ysolda’s tutorial for a 2×2 “stocking stitch” tubular cast-on and really elevates the simple toque. It’s a little big on me, but it’s going to someone special, I’m just keeping it warm (or the other way around…)
Some other cute patterns for Jasper and/or hats: Janine, Jester the cozy (and free!) Bell Rock Turtleneck and the Josepha cowl. I already have plans to knit another Jasper hat as a last minute birthday gift for a new friend. Jasper, I <3 you!
CR
Hi everyone! The winner of our Vintage giveaway is…blog reader Barbie! She commented with the correct answer so we’ll be mailing her the prize pictured below (I’ll need a mailing address and color preference though so Barbie, please email me at crose AT berroco DOT com, replacing the words with the usual symbols).
The prize includes several styling items that we used in Booklet #290 Vintage Arts & Crafts from Recycled Planet, a company that heads to the recycling bins for their raw materials. As a designer who is also concerned with the constant stream of waste that the fashion cycle seems to encourage, I’m always interested in any company or person who can manage to straddle the line between conservation and novelty. Two such projects have popped up on my radar and they manage to do that:
- Waste Not Want Not in Providence, RI. Part boutique, part resale shop, part artist’s workshop, part social club. Located in a very crafty nook of Downtown Providence, this store has a really novel approach to retail, and locals take note, they’re hosting knitting nights!
- The Uniform Project is a thought-provoking fundraiser that also raises consciousness about how we dress ourselves. By wearing the same basic garment everyday and accessorizing it with vintage and donated items, Sheena Matheiken is hoping to raise money for schools in India. I’m sure many of us are still shopping conservatively this year–f you need any inspiration on how versatile one staple wardrobe items can be, head over to her photo galleries.
Okay, over and out everyone. Have a craftastic weekend!
CR
Today is an exciting day for me! As you’ll read in KnitBits #307, Booklet #290 Vintage™: Arts and Crafts is my very first complete collection. When we planned the fall collection, we talked about the need for a book of designs for young, preteens and yes, “tweens,” a cutesy word for a really underserved demographic in the knitting world.
Since I was the closest thing to a tween on staff, the task fell up on me to design for this age group. Knowing that some tweens grow faster than others, we decided to include sizes that go all the way up to a ladies’ large. The lovely model wearing Miroux is my size (5′8″, around 34B):
I confess, I was a bit nervous designing for tweens. I spent hours looking around websites, trying to get a feel for what that age group wants to wear. I remember being insanely particular which probably drove my mother crazy. As long as I was WARM, it didn’t matter what color or brand or whatever I was wearing…I, of course, felt differently!
One lucky day, Mary, one of our sample knitters, stopped by with her beautiful daughters and their friends in tow. I seized the opportunity for a little market research and asked them to draw some sketches of the sort of things they would like to wear. I was delighted when they brought in their sketches–they were TOTALLY in line with what I’d been working on! Simple, earthy colors with touches of bright, stripes, blouse-y shapes, comfortable details like pockets, hoods and handwarmers, all tween approved =)
I had so much fun styling this photoshoot. I sourced some awesome jewelry made from recycled materials (the tweens also noted that they were way into being green, which thrilled me). The model above is wearing some necklaces made from recycled magazines and the models below are wearing pins made from soda cans!
ETA: OK, so it wasn’t as hard as I thought! Glad so many of you know the film (rent it if you don’t, it’s very crafty!!) I’ll pick a winner from ALL the comments. But enough about the patterns, it’s PRIZE TIME! Tell me in the comments what inspired the names for these patterns. Next week I’ll pick 1 lucky winner from the correct entries who will win these accessories , a copy of Booklet #290 Vintage: Arts and Crafts and Vintage yarn to knit Diorama!
Okay, over and out everyone, have a great weekend!!
CR
Last week a KnitBits subscriber wrote in asking if we’d ever think of designing a maternity sweater. To be quite honest, we don’t have any in the works but we had fun coming up with a list of sweaters that we think would work for ladies who are in the family way. Though we’re flying blind here, so please feel free to chime in with your comments!
Left to right, top to bottom: Nuss, Anhinga, Haight, Paron, Peace, Moska, Pucker, Bitok, Cosima, Bantam, Remember, Montparnasse, Juliana, Pike, Hibito.
Any others?
CR
“Just as the bird’s wing evolved to fly, the human hand evolved to manipulate. An idle hand is not a happy hand. We really need to use our hands; they’re not happy if they’re not doing something.” [Barbara G. Walker]
The quote above captures my impression of Sock Summit 2009 pretty accurately! I’m very familiar with trade shows like Stitches, NENA, TKGA, TNNA, etc. and I have been lucky enough to attend many of them in the past few years. This year marked the first Sock Summit, a sort of knitter’s retreat on steroids! It had a fantastic marketplace full of amazing artisans, an impressive array of super fun events (like breaking the Guiness World Record for most knitters knitting in one place) and a truly astounding roster of knitting luminaries.
Berroco was there displaying a range of our sock yarns: Berroco Sox, Berroco Sox Metallic, Comfort Sock and Ultra Alpaca Fine, as well as a few of our more popular sock yarn patterns (not socks, incidentally): Celestine and Celestine Crochet, Saige and Johnny Boy are some of my favorites. I was also encouraging people to enter our Sock Star competition. There are still more than 2 weeks left to whip something up, give it a go!
I’ve put together a video of some highlights here and some of my snapshots in a Flickr set–I apologize for their quality; I’m not the best photographer in the world, I’m afraid. To be honest, things happened so quickly that it was a challenge to even get the cameras out and on! I was Tweeting constantly though and you can catch up with those Tweets here.
One of the highlights of the show for me was meeting Meg Swansen (I’ll admit it–I was too nervous to say hello to Barbara Walker!). Meg is true knitting royalty and SO beautiful! She was hilarious and kind, to boot. Norah says we have the same eyes! As you can see, I could barely contain my joy at meeting such a legend:
One thing that came up during the luminary panel over and over was the value of her mother Elizabeth Zimmerman’s book the Knitter’s Almanac. When I worked on the retail side of things I would constantly tell people to skip two lattes and buy a copy of the Knitter’s Almanac instead. It is my desert island book, it contains so much more than knitting advice. It gives you a glimpse into Elizabeth’s life and her amazing curiosity, bravery and wit.
Yesterday I proposed a year-long project to Norah involving the Almanac and Ultra Alpaca. So many of the projects seem well-suited to the Ultra Alpaca family and we know that the folks at Schoolhouse Press are fans. In fact, Cully Swansen, the handsome model/son/grandson in many of the Schoolhouse Press publications, has a hat pattern in the most recent Wool Gathering that calls for Ultra Alpaca! We’re still batting around ideas, but we’ll keep you posted.
I’m still catching up on my rest but I will say that my imagination has been running on overdrive thanks to the Summit. I’m sure you’ll feel it’s effects in the months to come 
Cheers,
CR
Find more information and an entry form in KnitBits #300! Dig into your stash or head to your LYS for these eligible yarns: Berroco Sox, Berroco Sox Metallic, Comfort Sock and Ultra Alpaca Fine and start sketching, swatching, SCHEMING!
I’m busily preparing to head to Sock Summit 2009 where you can visit the Berroco booth (#418) to learn more about our sock yarn offerings or get inspired for your own sock yarn designs. I’m not much of a sock knitter but I am over the moon for sock YARNS for a lot of reasons. It’s affordable (so much yardage for so little money!), it’s not overly delicate, the colors and the cool striping effects are right up my alley and the finer weight makes a really wearable fabric. It’s also highly stashable!
Why do you love sock yarn? Let me know in the comments!
CR
What can I say that hasn’t already been said all over the Interweb? I was Tweeting our trip, you can catch up at our Twitter page. It was a whirlwind! It was my second time attending the The National Needle Arts trade show and I felt a lot more comfortable with my new perch. The new collection was really well-received and I was thrilled to see my first design sent down a runway (Locus from the Booklet #289 Lustra). With all the excitement surrounding supersoft Blackstone Tweed™ and the mega-affordable Vintage™, I feel like Lustra™ is getting lost in the shuffle! I’m designing with it now and it’s gorgeous–so shiny and the colors are soOoooOoo pretty. It’s hard to pick a favorite!! That said, I’m knitting with the deep violet blue Provence =)
It is always inspiring to be around so many knitting greats, but the highlight of this show for me was catching up with the younger ‘new guard’ knitters, too many to list here but you know who they are! It’s staggering to look around and see all the bloggers I’ve read for years working for yarn companies, publishing books, going on book tours, building websites and generally kicking butt in the yarn world. And oh yes, having a mess of fun while doing it…Casey from Ravelry suggested that Ysolda and I have a knitwear model walk-off, a la Zoolander (I can only find this Lego version on YouTube)…madness ensued in the lobby of our hotel, with an audience of knitting stars that quickly became our paparazzi.
Watch the Great Model-Off of 2009, graciously shot and compiled by the lovely Laura Chau.
Ysolda and I did our best to recreate all of the most notorious cliches of the knitting fashion world, including one of our favorite tricks, putting on a sweater upside down (a la Violette-de-Luc and Linear)! This usually happens by accident when a stylist misunderstands a garment but with Norah Gaughan sweaters it is often pretty uncanny, they look amazing and completely new! In the videos below you’ll get to see Potter from Norah Gaughan vol. 5 upside down and it looks fantastic. I’ll admit, I was pretty neutral about this sweater before, mostly because it wasn’t very Norah-y. After wearing it all night and noticing the details (perfect collar, cool sleeves, ability to look good when worn “incorrectly…”) I’m sold! And you have to love Mimosa, an energetic new shade of Pure Merino.
Mary-Heather from Ravelry captured Norah jumping to my aid and Jessica from Seattle’s Fiber Gallery captured the SCREAMS of laughter. I’ve uploaded a gallery on Flickr with some iPhone snapshots…not great quality, but hopefully they’ll make one thing clear: Berroco <3s Columbus!
CR
ETA 5/26/2009: Congrats to Joyce, our contest winner! Thank you all for participating. The comments at now closed and we will be posting a follow-up blocking Q&A soon.
“You blockhead!”
One of many epithets hurled at long-suffering Charlie Brown, but if you called Norah and me blockheads…we’d grin from ear to ear and say “Yup!” You can be a happy blockhead too! This week’s free KnitBits pattern is the Jubilee scarf, knit in Ultra Alpaca Fine and it provides the perfect opportunity to show off why we are in love with blocking!
Blocking has a magical ability to transform your knitting. This power has even become an office joke. The way Norah says “a little steam….!” in a chirpy infomercial lady way (heard at the end of our Shoulder Seam video tutorial) is her version of “Make it work!!”
There are so many ways to block a garment, and trying to sort out the all the opinions and “rules” can be daunting. I’ve used practically every method imaginable and I have some tips:
Choose the sort of blocking that is appropriate for your garment or item. If it looks pretty good and you haven’t been carrying the work around with you much you might be able to get away with a light steaming or spritzing. Fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of a wool wash like Soak and spritz your sweater until it is damp. Pat it into shape and allow it to dry flat. I also use this to freshen up knitting that I don’t feel like laundering, or wet blocking, a more labor intensive process which I’ve shown here (note that the iron and steamer aren’t used in wet blocking, if you’re steaming you should pin first, then apply steam by hovering the iron or steamer ABOVE the fabric, not ON the fabric):
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- soak prize
Clockwise from top left: 1. Jubilee lace, unblocked on left and blocked on right, 2. Trusty upright steamer!, 3. Trusty heavy iron with steam function, 4. Blocking helpers: colander, blocking wires (the wires ensure that you get a nice straight edge and they only require a few pins versus a meeellion), Soak wash, rust proof T-pins, 5. Warm water bath, 6. Soaking, 7. Gently press water out of item (sometimes I use a salad spinner for this!), 9. A towel can help squeeze out excess water. 10. Blocking board inspection, 10. Blocking board declared up to code!, 11. Thread wires through edges of knitting, 12. Stretch, pin and allow to dry!
Blocked to perfection:
Wet blocking and laundering are essentially the same in my mind and they’re absolutely crucial for lace projects like Jubilee. It offers the most dramatic transformation for your knitting; while wet, knitted fabric is a lot like clay and can be shaped to your specifications. This can come in handy when a piece didn’t come out to the exact measurements you intended it to. Even if your knitting is the right size, a wet blocking will smooth your stitches. I like to hold it at the corners and stretch it in all directions like pizza dough. I shake it a lot and then pin it. This makes my knitting look so much more even than it does fresh off the needles.
I’m working on a project in Ultra Alpaca Fine right now and Norah’s scarf has totally inspired me to keep plugging along so I can BLOCK it an reveal it’s beauty. Besides all the benefits, blocking is just plain fun! Seeing your crumple of knitting turn into something polished and beautiful is extremely surprising and always rewarding.
Thanks for reading! I’m excited to offer a blocking starter kit to one lucky blog reader–the blocking kit will contain a set of blocking wires and an excellent prize pack from Soak with labels for your handknits, sample sizes of all their scents and a full size bottle of my favorite scent, Celebration. Soak Washes have been in my arsenal since they debuted in 2005. It is gentle, which is perfect for fine fibers, concentrated which makes it budget friendly and the best part–it is so pretty!! The packaging is worthy of bureau display and the scents are so incredibly delicate. I sent a Soakified sweater to friend and he commented that it smelled “so good!”
soak prize
Good luck and happy blocking, Blockheads!
Cirilia
Contest Rules: Contest open to readers in the US and Canada only. Berroco employees not eligible. Contest closes 5/21/2009 12:00 a.m. EST. Duplicate entries will be deleted.
Things are crazy in the design studio! So many things to get ready before the last leg of photography! We’re in the home stretch though. Follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates…
CR & NG
