I don't know about you, but after experiencing this week's polar vortex, I'm more than ready to think about spring! I'm longing for warm, sunny days, blooming flowers and beautiful lightweight knits! Are you with me? I can't deliver on the weather, but I can tell you that it won't be long before we unveil… Continue reading Spring/Summer 2014 Preview
Category: designing
Norah’s Knits: Knitting Stars
I hear a lot of talk about knitting stars (celebrities), but it's geometric stars that I'm talking about today. A few years ago, when I just couldn't stop knitting hexagons and pentagons, I expanded my explorations to include 3-D shapes. Celestine is made of 10 pentagons all knit on to each other forming a dodecahedron.… Continue reading Norah’s Knits: Knitting Stars
Norah’s Knits: Twists and Turns (or Rectangles Rule!)
It's amazing how a little twist or fold can turn a rectangle into something so much more. The Gazost turban? Just a rectangle. Emily explained how to make this hat come together in a beautifully illustrated post a few weeks back. I wanted to bring it up again because this hat is the perfect illustration of… Continue reading Norah’s Knits: Twists and Turns (or Rectangles Rule!)
Norah’s Knits: Skirting the Issue – Knitted Skirts
Confession – While I was planning Norah Gaughan vol. 13, I thought Dickson was a poncho. From the time I made this wonky little sketch in my notebook, through writing the instructions, and even after the first time I put it on the dress form, I held to the belief that Dickson was a poncho.… Continue reading Norah’s Knits: Skirting the Issue – Knitted Skirts
Knitter’s Spotlight: Robyn Chachula
Robyn Chachula claims that her transition from structural engineer to crochet designer was relatively smooth. She simply changed her medium from concrete to yarn! Instead of renovating buildings, she has used her talents to produced hundreds of beautiful patterns, each a unique blend of fashion, architecture and classic silhouettes. In addition to being one of… Continue reading Knitter’s Spotlight: Robyn Chachula
Norah’s Knits: Fair Isle Style – Win a book!
I was very excited when I received my copy of Mary Jane Mucklestone's new book, Fair Isle Style. An admired colleague and personal friend, Mary Jane is our secret weapon when it come to photo shoots. She's been our stylist for the last few years, choosing the clothes and jewelry to best show off our knitwear. Her consummate eye and… Continue reading Norah’s Knits: Fair Isle Style – Win a book!
What Inspires: Deadlines!
While I like to dream of designing in calm and peace at my own pace, the truth is that deadlines can do wonders for productivity. I thought I had gotten a good jump start on designing my Spring '14 booklet (vol 14). Ten or eleven weeks ago, I had over twenty sketches of ideas and variations… Continue reading What Inspires: Deadlines!
What Inspires: Variations on a Theme
Sometimes the best inspiration is one's own past work. I had to get over the feeling that it's cheating, because a good idea is worth further exploration. It's really exciting for me when I think of different ways to use an idea. I'll explain what I mean with examples. I designed Flower Child (upper left) a few… Continue reading What Inspires: Variations on a Theme
What Inspires: Retro Fashion
I've always loved perusing books about the history of clothing. Even if I've looked through the same book a hundred times, it seems like there's always something new to see. After all, I'm looking with a different context every time. Popular styles will have evolved from the last time I looked. Different movies are in… Continue reading What Inspires: Retro Fashion
Norah’s Knits: Top-Down Knitting (or Never Say Never)
Over the years I've designed a lot of sweaters with seams and I can still think of a slew of reasons to like pieced and seamed knitting, but that's not where this discussion is heading. As I've mentioned previously, I started out preferring to knit in the round. The first few sweaters I ever designed… Continue reading Norah’s Knits: Top-Down Knitting (or Never Say Never)
Design Team Blog 