When Laura Zwanziger emailed us last year, she had sketches and a plan. An aspiring knitwear designer and college student, Laura was making two dresses for Cornell University’s annual fashion show and she knew she wanted to use Berroco yarns.
“I found the Berroco Comfort Chunky and loved the way it felt. The Metallic FX looked like it would knit in well and complement the ivory color of the body yarn.”
Laura’s Knits & Zips Cabled Dresses, individually known as The Queen & The Princess, were hits on the runway this spring. The idea of contrast is central to each design. The texture of the cabled center and smoothness of the stockinette stitches on the sides, the matte & metallic yarns and the long & short lengths of The Queen make for interesting and beautiful silhouettes. Laura used a machine for the side panels of The Queen, but the rest was knit by hand. Anyone interested in the patterns and can email Laura: laurazwanziger92@gmail.com.
Any interesting stories about the process?
I learned how to machine knit in order to knit The Queen, which was a great experience. When I did my first photo shoot with the dress, my model said, “I would say it fits me like a glove, but it’s knit, so I think it fits me more like a sock!” Since then, whenever I create a knitted garment, I try to get it to “fit like a sock!”
What’s your favorite project you’ve ever made?
I think my favorite piece that I have ever knit is probably The Queen. I am so proud of how it came out, and I learned so much creating it. Not to mention, the recognition that both of these dresses have received. The Princess was just accepted into the International Textile and Apparel Association‘s Live Exhibition for this October!
If you could knit something for anyone in the world it would be?
Baby clothes for Kate Middleton’s baby!
What’s your favorite thing about knitting?
I love how relaxing knitting is. Though, I am currently knitting a sculpture out of USB cables, which is quite physically difficult, but I love that there are endless possibilities of what you can do with a knit.
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.