13 January 2015

Meet me at Vogue Knitting Live! 12-1pm 1/18/15 booth #710

I'll be chatting and selling patterns in the Knitty City booth (#710) Sunday 1/18/15 from 12-1pm in at Vogue Knitting Live NYC. The rest of the day I'll be wandering the Marketplace in a wool-fume-induced haze with my dear friend Annie. So much fun - I hope to see you there!

Now, to get ready for VKL, I have to decide what to wear. This is especially fraught when I won't have any other samples with me (the booth is just too busy for me to bring (and have to keep track of) a bunch of samples. So, I'm thinking one sweater and one accessory (shawl).

I wore Sailor's Valentine to Knitty City last week, when it was very cold (it's a super-warm sweater and the wool is a little crispy to wear without a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath). Since the weather is supposed to be more amenable on Sunday, I'm thinking Sotherton (I wore it for the first time this winter about ten days ago and was pleasantly reminded of just how flattering a piece it is) or Wavelette (lightweight lace is so easy to wear in the over-heated wilds of NYC) with Upon the Spanish Main (the MCN yarn is such a pleasure) or In the Shallows (such a great go-with-anything piece)/Thistle Leaf Shawl (there's always something extra-special about the latest design, isn't there?), respectively.

Any favorites for which you'd like to put in a good word?

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

12 January 2015

Trip report: Knitty City talk 1/8/15

I had such a lovely time last Thursday! As you may know, the lovely folks at Knitty City invited me to meet their knitters at the monthly Young Designer Meet & Greet for January. I brought a couple of carry-ons filled with wool and took over every hanger in the place to share my knitwear designs.

Holding Benwick at Knitty City

Wearing Sailor's Valentine next to my rack o' wool
The knitters I met were a lovely and dedicated bunch (it was frigid that night - enough so that a pound of Bartlettyarns' Fisherman 2-ply on my upper half seemed just about right). As supportive and lovely as my family is, most of them (my darling sister excepted) don't necessarily understand the finer points of my work like an avid knitter does. So, it was fun to be able to discuss the finer points of various patterns:

  • the hood on Sailor's Valentine is basically a big turned heel that allows the Heartstrings cable to travel uninterrupted up the back and over the head, and if you eliminate the ribbing (which pulls the fabric in and gives your figure a bit of flattery without waist shaping), you would have a project suitable for any man
  • the bindoff for In the Shallows is a k1p1 rib so the edge stands up rather than turning to one side or the other - there is truly no right or wrong side, and it's a great way to knit up a special skein of sock yarn
  • Benwick has integrated epaulets in the saddle shoulders and a heart on the sleeve (individual Ravelry download coming soon)
  • only three stitches are cast on and off for the Ozark Wrap - the rest is created as you go - we also decided that with slight modifications, this would make a great blanket (Interweave Knits, Winter 2015 should be at your LYS any minute now, if it isn't already - my Quadrille Pullover is in there, too!)
All in all, a lovely wooly time! If you'd ever like me to bring my woolies to your LYS, drop me a line (greater New York, New England, and Chicagoland are places I get to on a regular basis).

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

04 January 2015

Young Designer's Meet and Greet at Knitty City 1/8/15


What are you doing Thursday? If you're in New York City, be sure to meet me from 6-8pm at Knitty City! I'll be talking about my design process, showing samples, and will have a selection of printed patterns for purchase.

Want to know which samples and patterns? 
  • Quadrille Pullover* - Interweave Knits, Winter 2015
  • Ozark Wrap* - Interweave Knits, Winter 2015
  • Kellynch Cardigan* - Jane Austen Knits 2014
  • Strawberry Picking Shrug* - Jane Austen Knits 2014
  • Thistle Leaf Shawl
  • Honest Woodsman* - Enchanted Knits 2014
  • Bloc Party Cardigan (old & new) - available free on Knittyspin
  • Upon the Spanish Main
  • A Vest for Charles* - Jane Austen Knits 2013
  • Benwick* - Jane Austen Knits 2013
  • Wavelette
  • Bloc Pulli
  • Sailor's Valentine
  • Mermaid's Cardigan
  • Hap-py
  • Castaway Shawlette
  • Sotherton
  • An Aran for Anne
  • Bixby (provided I get the zippers sewn in on the new sample)
  • An Aran for Frederick
  • Turn of the Glass - available free on Knitty
  • In the Shallows
  • On the High Seas
*Recently published in an Interweave publication, so you can check out the sample but will have to buy the pattern in the magazine or online from Interweave

Visit my designer page for more details on any of these patterns. Or let me know if I've missed a sample you want to see. My apartment smells like a sheep farm in a downpour as I wash and block the samples I plan to bring, so please let me know ASAP for anything else to have time to dry!

Do you know my favorite part of this whole thing? Aside from getting to hang out at Knitty City? ... Go back and check the post title, if you need a clue. ... Yes! It's that I'm considered a "Young Designer". Hehe! Well, I'm young at heart anyway.

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you Thursday, and I hope your New Year is off to a tremendous start filled with knitting!
xoxo,
Kathleen