Making a hat - in cashmere yarn This fall, I received an email from Cassandra Harada wondering if we could collaborate. Through a Zoom conversation, Cassie and I quickly realized that we have much in common, sharing beliefs about making and the clothing we wear. Ways in which we could collaborate quickly emerged. Meet the designer First off, let me tell you about Cassie. Cassie grew up in Illinois and right after university, went to Japan to teach English. The way of life in Japan resonated with Cassie and she never left. She lives in the Tokyo area with her husband and family. In her working life, textiles have led the way. Cassies owned a yarn shop from 2012-2018, has worked for Japanese knitting...
Cashmere Cowl Season - Is it a thing? For me, yes. When the weather gets chilly, I don a cashmere cowl and literally wear it All. Day. Long. . . and oftentimes, all night long, too - especially when it's cashmere. That's the beauty of this fiber - it's lightweight, warm but also regulates with your body heat so not too warm, and when I wear it around my neck, it keeps me toasty and comfortable. Knitting a cashmere cowl I designed this cowl so that it could be knit from just one skein of our DK weight cashmere. It's a fun, satisfying weekend knit, meant for all knitters. I opened up the cashmere fabric by using a US size 6,...
Introducing Steppingstones. Working with cashmere yarn. Meet Steppingstones - shown in our new limited edition color, pine. It's my new pattern whose name has a twofold meaning. Peppered with random-looking yet planned squares of stockinette stitch, these little squares invoke for me the notion of steppingstones scattered along 'rivers' of lace. The intent of the pattern is also a steppingstone - a 1-skein introduction to our fingering weight cashmere yarn with basic stitches opened up on a US size 5 knitting needle so that the result would be ephemeral and beautiful, simple enough for new knitters yet interesting enough for seasoned ones. A scarf is born. Often, I design from stitch patterns. I love to knit swatches of various knitting stitches and...
Knitting through your fears Two months ago, I introduced you to my sister-in-law Linda and her journey to knit the Wanderer wrap as a new knitter. (Read Part I) This weekend, I made a quick trip home to visit family in Northern Lower Michigan and connected with Linda to check in on her progress. Ready to be blown away? Look at this! Linda only started knitting this year, completing just two hats in chunky yarn on US size 13 and 15 needles. I'm blown away and so stinking proud of her. When I looked over the knitting, I couldn't find a mistake. Linda confessed that when she cast on, she still wasn't sure she could do this project. That confession was a...
There's a lot of vulnerability for designers in launching a new pattern. How will makers respond to your creativity? Will they want to make your design? Will all your hours of work be rewarded by positive energy and income? With all that anxiety, it's no wonder that I have felt sheer joy hearing from makers about the Wanderer pattern. I'm delighted that my sister-in-law Linda wanted to jump in and make it, not at all deterred by common knitter worries: working with smaller needles, being a new knitter working with cashmere, learning to read a pattern and chart, taking the time to swatch to learn the stitches, become familiar with the yarn, and get gauge. It's all the...
