trib sez it's IT

sal f. is making headlines again. check out his
"IT bag of the summer," featured yet again, this time in the chicago tribune.

look away from the television

right. see? i can do this. because, this is, after all, a knitting blog, not a reality show blog. (at least until 9:00 PM EST tonight.)

so, this is me not blogging about project runway. it's so easy! it's so fun! i can write whatever pops into my head! um. as long as it's about knitting.

the idea that i had this morning for a blog post was actually thwarted by the fact that my camera's battery is dead. and if it wasn't a hundred and billionty degrees out, i would haul my ass to the CVS down the street and get a new one. which means i can't show you the amazingly green fake-a-gamo clutchlet i am in the midst of making. let me see if i can describe it. well, it's green. and it's in that fancy fake-a-gamo stitch that apparently eluded every stitchery book known to man and caused a flurry of obsessive compulsive consternation among knitbloggers far and wide. it's just two pattern reps of the stitch. and it will have a zipper. maybe orange.

next. speaking of orange, i am thinking of making that multi-layer shawl from alterknits. the one that is row after row after row of stockinette stitch. fellow knitchick kelly brought hers to knit club last week and it is just dreamy. row after row after row of sheer, crazy, silky, orange kidsilk crack. which is what i must be smoking to even consider a project that is row after row after row of stockinette stitch.

AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS. my kpixie order of karabella silk came today. ten balls. (can someone please tell me: what is the difference between a ball and a skein?) it's all shiny and crunchy. did you know silk is crunchy? this, i will use for the hucci cucci cropped cardigan i am trying to devise a pattern for. my genius knitting friend olga is also thinking on this one. which is a very good thing, because i don't have a freaking clue how to work the bodice of this thing.

the balenciaga cable sweater. must make the balenciaga cable sweater.

the other thing i've lately been thinking about for fall: the turtleneck, batwing sweater from rowan 39. ok. they call it the "wallis." which sounds about a thousand times classier than "turtleneck batwing." can you picture the duchess of wales in a sweater named "turtleneck batwing"? i can't. it actually sounds like something one of the olsen twins would wear while carrying a giant starbucks doublecaramelespressomacchiatocappucinofrappe and walking around manhattan in bug-eye sunglasses bigger than vince vaughn's head and about 500 layers of marc jacobs knitwear. oh, yes. i must make the turtleneck batwing sweater.

get out your handkerchiefs

call me cynical, but i think malan is a big phony. i don't buy that sob story about his mommy dissing his sketches for a SECOND. (ok, those crocodile tears did have me going for a second, but just ONE, before i snapped back to reality.) trust me: that guy will be back. the producers know exactly what they're doing. it was way too much of a sappy setup to have been authentic. which is why you gotta love that show--there is nothing "real" about it. (except for MK's snippy zingers and nina's icy stares.)

malan actually has a post on his blog entitled "maybe this will explain," featuring (brace yourself) the lyrics of "nature boy" (ya know, cue the heartstrings: "there was a boy...a very strange enchanted boy...") posted in english, spanish AND japanese. give me a break.

trust me. the guy is a poseur. albeit, a very talented poseur. not that that is a bad thing. c'mon. it's just freakin' television.

that said, i can't honestly believe they aufed him over whiny angela. he's a thousand times more entertaining. which is why i am predicting he will be back, daniel-franco style.

btw, cynicism apparently runs in my family. my brother insists that vincent is a plant. and not of the leafy green variety, although i'm sure vince would enjoy that. my bro says there is no way anybody is truly that whacked. i have my doubts, but am leaving all options open at this point.

"this is not fashion camp"

ah, but it is, tim, it is. the campiest fashion i've seen since austin scarlett fashioned a couture gown out of wilted corn husks. in short, project runway is back on the tube. and last night, i actually had to put down my knitting so i could watch. twice. (to be honest, i was in the middle of the learn & burn turbo jam DVD when my friend peggy called to ask if i was watching. but that's another story.)

first impressions:
malan breton. verrrry greeeeeeeezy.
the architect. is she a he? no matter. that coat rocked. and i say that chick is the new kara saun.
the chick that got auf'd. totally deserved it.
the guy who won. fuck the red buttons. what's so innovative about a bedsheet?
vincent is a loon.
the dress made out of coffee filters? brilliant.
nina needs to be bitch slapped.
the a-hole who decided it would be entertaining to force the exhausted designers to sleep in their still-ransacked apartments needs to be bitch slapped.
i like the shaggy dude who made a skirt out of a down comforter.
not one of them holds a candle to jay.
and finally, "wackadoo?" ok, michael. whatever.

carry on.

bonnie knitting

leave it to an icon like faye to inspire a whole new generation of...knitters? it turns out there is not just one, but two incredible takes on this smocked stunner. eunny's features amazing cable detail in lieu of the smocking. coralie's has a closer take on the original with a nipped waist that's got me yearning to take up my needles and learn how to smock! no word yet on whether either will be sharing their patterns anytime soon. i, for one, am keeping my fingers crossed!

put up yer balls!

two designers. one yarn. it's just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

FO: razor cami

finito! modified the pattern slightly with the different colored band at the top in ST st, rather than continuing the razor stitch. it gives a little more coverage so you can just wear it with a strapless bra. i also did the straps slightly differently, casting on 3 sts on US5 needles and knitting in garter for about 10 inches...the same strap as in the butterfly cami.


i also think it would be cute as a vest over a little t-shirt. the straps on mine ended up a little wide in the front. if i made this again, i'd probably just make it as a tube all the way around so the straps could be placed in more at the front instead of at the far edges of the right and left sides. the yarn is suss fishnet, a fuzzy, soft and stretchy acrylic/nylon/alpaca blend that comes in a yummy color palette.

balenciaga cable?

check out this 28-row cable. it looks to be the exact one from the balenciaga that's got me a-ga-ga. this is from an amazing and free aran cable reference site provided by the incredibly prolific and generous elizabeth from the u.k. she has tirelessly transcribed a whole collection of traditional cables, diamonds, chevrons, and the like for the taking. thank you elizabeth!

i just realized i've actually made this cable before...

...back in the 90s in this gigantic adrienne vittadini sweater. (hey, big is the new black! esp with skinny jeans! might be time to dust this golden oldie off and put it back in my sweater rotation...)


the yarn is vittadini "daniella," a scrumptious merino/cashmere that gives good stitch def and really makes the cables POP.