In Between

It has been quite some time since the end of #SlowFashionOctober, and I have been busier than a bee with design stuff and the upcoming gift-giving maker event planning, that I have not had an opportunity to update the blog. Well, consider it time right now.














Initially, I want to thank each of the makers who worked up items right alongside me during my Flyings Sticks + The Poncho Escapade a-long. As evidenced from a sampling of the finished pieces, we indeed completed some lovely projects - and ponchos were definitely the item of choice. There was also a lovely mix of neutrals and jewel tones, which made for really outstanding looking finished items. I personally was really thrilled that two makers from the Southern hemisphere were in the maker mix. While almost all of the projects were crocheted (yah!), one person completed a knit project she had been working on for a while - you'll see her lovely orange version of the Coleman Embossed Muffler in the top right corner of the collage. It's worked up in the same yarn as the original sample, Lost City Knits' Twin Canyon Merino/Silk in the pretty penny colorway. It looks fantastic with that jean jacket, doesn't it? One of my Ravelry group moderators completed two versions of the Mixlace Poncho, one of which is in the collage (bottom left collage photo). Those colors look so stunning on her - she's going to gift one of them, and I hope it's not that one.

I completed a second sample of the Mixlace Poncho (seen above at right) in Knit Picks' Chroma Twist Bulky (which happens to be on sale right now, go figure!). I liked the colorways, and it was quite fine worked up, but quite honestly not as soft and cozy as the Lion Brand Scarfie used in the original sample. This second sample became the one photographed for my self-released version of the design, now that my rights have reverted back to me. 

Additionally, I worked up a Quimby Hooded Cover-up for moi, moi, moi. I love how the colors turned out and am super thrilled with the final piece. I am also about 1/2 of a sleeve and trim away from finishing up an Aviatrix Pullover in deep blue. As soon as that gem is done, I will provide photos. I really want to wear it now so, hopefully, very soon.

I must say I am pleased at how October has evolved to become my go-to month for me making. It is a perfect time of the year to spiff up one's wardrobe with handmade things. Well, ok, I suppose that could be every month for me!

And now that we are well into November, I am thrilled to let everyone know that I once again will be a participating designer in the Indie Gift-a-long hosted on Ravelry. Every year for the past five years (yes, it's the GAL's five year anniversary!), independent knit- and crochet-wear designers band together and bring all of their awesome designs to makers who make gifts-a-plenty for those worthy of handmade at the holidays. This will be my fourth year as a participating designer, third as a group moderator. We've been making lists and checking them twice now since the beginning of the month, so that the big participating designer reveal (set for next Tuesday, November 21st, at 8:00 pm EST) will be the best it can. You can check out the Ravelry Indie GAL group (with currently over 7,500 members, and growing!); also check out the GAL's Instagram account, where we have already posted our hashtag challenge prompts throughout the six weeks of gift-making. We've already started the GAL countdown there, too. 

This is my favorite time of the year for a reason, folks. I hope to see each of you there.

 

 

Make A-longs Past and Present

As most everyone who reads this blog knows, I am in the midst of a final K/CAL (knit/crochet a-long) celebrating my five year design anniversary. While I will get to a progress photo of my projects (and they really are coming along), I do want to provide an update on a CAL I hosted last Fall in the Crochet! Magazine Ravelry group.

I wrote several blog posts last year around the design that was the focus of that a-long, the Gradient Flower Cowl. I made several cowls for myself using up stash (so pleasing!), and have worn them in the intervening months. However, the (now) editor of Crochet! Magazine's special newsstand issues as well as Crochet World Magazine, Jackie Daugherty, was also participating and trying to decide on exactly what form her project should take: cowl, shawl, or (gasp!) blanket. 

A process photo of Jackie's
amazing shawl, based on
my Gradient Flower Cowl
design.

Well, I am so thrilled to report that Jackie has completed her project - a stole - and all 505 motifs are made with amazing Koigu fingering scraps given to her by a friend! Isn't that shawl a piece of art? I think it looks like a springtime flower bed. You can read more about the journey of this beautiful shawl on the Crochet World blog, as Jackie has provided some additional background tidbits (including a great photo of the heap o' Koigu) in today's post. The shawl will also be on display next month at the Fiber Festival of New England, so if you are around that area and attending the event, definitely seek it out.

And now, onto my current K/CAL projects:

Pieces of another New Wave Skirt (on bottom) are topped by the
beginnings of both a Bomber-inspired Hoodie Vest (the cream textured
 piece on the right) and a Mixlace Poncho in awesome deep green.

My New Wave skirt pieces are almost completed, but as I have told my K/CAL peeps, I am having a devil of a time finding a short zipper in an appropriate color. I have been to three different places, and I have one more on my list before I give up the ghost and go online (but there's something about buying so small an item online that really doesn't sit right with me - all that gas for travel time and such). I am thoroughly enjoying the textures of my other two projects, as well as that gorgeous fall color palette. This is definitely my color sweet spot. I want to wear all of this right now!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season and making all kinds of wonderful projects. Get thee to thy needles and hooks and yarn!

It's Time for Slow Fashion October - Take 2

I am so excited about the second year of Slow Fashion October! Fringe Supply Co., the mastermind behind organizing around this concept, has provided all of us with a month's worth of weekly prompts to get us thinking and writing about this free-wheeling (and sometimes unwieldy) concept.

So who am I, how do I come to this concept, and how does it impact my making and my closet? As a designer (knit- and crochet-wear) and maker, I have a fine appreciation for small-batch and handmade. To be honest, I have not always had such an appreciation. As someone from modest, blue collar roots who has actually worked in a mill (I made men's shoes for a summer), I wanted education so I could escape such sweaty, oppressive work. My grandmother was a textile worker and an avid sewer well into her elder years, and I wanted nothing to do with sewing (and you can read more about my anti-sewer stance as well as other fashion beginnings from last year's Slow Fashion October blog entries).

Nevertheless, I have always loved clothes (some things from my grandmother rubbed off on me), as well as crochet and hand-knit (and interior design, which I consider an extension of all this). It has been a long, strange trip to get to this place - complete with oodles of education - but designing and making, both for myself as well as my living space seems second nature to me now. The "small-batch, hand made ... well-loved [and] long-worn" part of this celebration fits me perfectly. Environmental, humanitarian, and budgetary concerns all definitely have played a role in getting me to think more deeply about all of this (helped along by a major portion of that education spoken of earlier), but there's an uneasy intersection between these first three influences (which can have a real dilettante quality to them) and that poor and struggling shoe-factory-working girl who wanted something better for herself. I will always have much respect for working-class values which, if a working-class person is being honest, s/he longs to escape. Please have others make things for me. Why should I mend my clothes - I want the resources to just buy something shiny and brand new. It is only with time, self-knowledge and reflection that one can make peace with and find balance among these clashing values. It also, in many instances, means walking a solitary path, so getting in on this month-long social discussion is a really welcomed gift.

Since Slow Fashion October coincides with a two-month Wardrobe Weather a-long I am hosting in my Ravelry group, I will definitely be making things this month. I am almost done with another New Wave Skirt for myself, I have (shown above) swatched for a Bomber-inspired Hoodie Vest and I am just tucking into a green/cream/taupe version of my Mixlace Poncho. Admittedly, budget and easily accessible materials have dictated my yarn choices for these projects (including using my own stash). I am looking forward to adding them to my wardrobe and showing them off.

A certain balance achieved.

What a Rockin' Start to Autumn ...

And it isn't even officially autumn yet! Nonetheless, it's been crafty busy here at chez Voie de Vie,  and I couldn't be happier. 

I am so thrilled with the response my Mixlace Poncho, published in Interweave Crochet's Fall 2016 edition, is receiving. All kinds of crafters are completing finished projects from this design - and many (including yours truly) still need to make one as part of my current Ravelry Wardrobe Weather a-long. Everyone seems to find the making easy and the finished poncho wonderful to wear. I thought I would show you a quick round-up of a few of the completed projects:

Clockwise from left: Micha of Stitches & Woes showing off, via 
Instagram @stitchesandwoes, her awesome teal version (all Scarfie),
Raveler Naptural1's version in the original sample Scarfie colors,
and Raveler Extremehaekllerin's all blue version worked up with 
Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball.

I have the yarn for my own Mixlace, which I will be tucking into just as soon as one of the a-long participants in Australia receives her magazine (but the wait? Ugh!):

My Mixlace will be green and cream/taupe (on the right), and the left stash yarn, which I am committed to using, will become another New Wave Skirt. I am also going to work up a Bomber-Inspired Hoodie Vest, and I had identified yarn in my stash that I wanted to use, but I am coming to a different yarn decision. There is still bucket loads of time to join us on Ravelry and work up a new something for your own fall wardrobe.

I do love Autumn!

It's A Maker's World

Happy September, everyone! Can you believe the end of summer is upon us? In the United States, we are about to enter the long Labor Day weekend that marks the "traditional" end of summer. We all seem to turn our attention to fall, new wardrobes, and fresh starts.

So, it is with amazement that I kick off the month with a little newsstand recap for makers everywhere. What a time to be a maker! If you love to crochet and knit, I would urge you to run - not walk - to your local bookstore and purchase these publications. Some of the freshest looks around can be found in them, all just waiting for your crafty hands to whip up. 

Now, I admit, I have a design in each of two of these fine magazines (!), but honestly, if I had the time, I could create a whole, new, vast wardrobe around so many of the designs in these three publications. The colorwork in the Fall edition of Vogue Knitting is, simply, breathtaking. As I have already blogged, Annie's special edition Stress-Free Seamless Crochet has no less than eight projects I could envision myself making, including my awesome design the Paisley Lace Shawl. And, finally, I can reveal the second design of mine to hit the newsstands this season, the Mixlace Poncho in Interweave Crochet's Fall 2016 edition. Worked up in two colorways of Lion Brand Scarfie, just two skeins makes a generously-sized poncho and, with a large hook, the making is quick and the fabric light and drapey. While this is a photo I quickly snapped prior to sending it to Interweave, the magazine has styled it beautifully to show off not only the awesome color changes but also the beautiful lace and texture. I could not, as a designer, be more pleased and proud to see this garment in print.

If you love to make as much as I do, get thee to thy local magazine stand, pick up these publications, and let the fall making begin!

I will also tell you I will have one more announcement at the end of this long weekend, so stay tuned. Yes, folks, it's a great time to be a maker. Yes, yes indeed.