Blog - Page 8 of 73 - Miriam Felton

Review: Metropolitan Knits by Melissa Wehrle

Metropolitan Knits: Chic Designs for Urban Style

This is the first in a series of Knitting Book Reviews that I want to start posting to this blog. There are a lot of really great books written for our craft, and a lot of really crap ones. I hope to highlight some of the books I think are worth your while to check out.

This first installation is a book by fellow Indie Knitwear Designer, Melissa Wehrle aka NeoKnits. Melissa has some pretty fantastic and versatile self-published patterns under her belt and has contributed many patterns to an increasingly long list of publications 🙂

Metropolitan Knits: Chic Designs for Urban Style is Melissa’s first book, and quite frankly, I love it. Her clean and stylish sensibility shines through with each design. These sweaters and accessories would be fun to knit as well as eminently wearable.

The thing that stands out most in Metropolitan Knits is the finishing details. She touches on a wide range of cast ons and bind offs that would not only broaden a knitter’s repertoire, but also give the finished piece a refined touch. Metropolitan Knits includes 20 patterns for sweaters & accessories for every season and style. I would buy this book if you are looking for some classic sweaters that you’ll want to reach for again and again.

I was able to ask Melissa some questions about the book:

Bleecker Street Cardigan

Question You’ve got a wide variety of shapes & styles in Metropolitan Knits. What do you think makes a classic or timeless sweater?

Answer A classic sweater is a style that you can wear season after season, and it never feels out of place. However just because something is “classic” doesn’t mean it has to be extremely simple or boring. For my designs, carefully considered details and little surprises keep the knitter engaged, and the finished product is easy to slip into anyone’s normal wardrobe rotation. Most importantly, it needs to fit your style. A “classic” sweater that stays hidden in a drawer and never sees the light of day doesn’t really do anyone any good.

Question The photography is great! Did you get to collaborate on the photos? Did you pick locations or get to do any of the styling?

Answer Thank you! The team that Interweave chose to work on the photography, styling, and makeup was fantastic. While I certainly can’t take most of the credit, I did have a little bit of input into the process. I was able to consult with the Art Director before the final decisions were made for the photography. We discussed the type of models, styling, and locations I had in mind for each story and the overall feeling I wanted to achieve. Even though I wasn’t involved directly for the final decisions, I’d say that everyone did a really great job understanding the vision that I had in mind with the final product.

Contrast Pocket on Magnolia Cafe Cardigan

Question One theme that shines through the whole book is the detailed finishing. You use techniques like tubular cast ons & bind offs, pintucks, button tabs, and contrasting pocket linings. What is your favorite finishing detail? What details just make you squee?

Answer I really love tubular bind offs on 2×2 ribbing. It’s takes a little patience to master this finishing technique, but the outcome is so beautiful. For details, the contrast pocket linings on the Magnolia Cafe Cardigan make me so happy. It’s a nice little unexpected pop of color, plus it’s very easy to work. I also love how the contrast lining is tied into the contrast stitching used to sew on the large wooden buttons.

Question Your full-time job is in commercial knitwear design. How has your work there influenced your hand knit designs?

Answer Because I’m so limited in a price conscious sense by my day job, my hand knit design is a way for me to unleash my full potential as a designer. One of the largest responsibilities of my job is researching trends and colors. As I come across interesting ideas that don’t work for the mass market, I file them away for later when I’m allowed to play with my yarn and needles. Between hand knit and machine knit design, I am always learning new things that benefit my work in both areas.

Open Air Pullover from the “Heart of the City” section of the book

Question How do you choose the perfect yarn for a sweater project?

Answer When I’m sketching, I always have a general idea how I’d like the fabric to behave, what type of gauge I’m after and the look I want the final sweater to have. For the book, most of the yarns I used I had previous experience with, so there wouldn’t be any surprises in the process since deadlines were tight. A lot of thought went into matching every design up with the perfect yarn and color that matched each of my three themes. In the Heart of the City, the yarns are a bit more luxurious and polished with a jewel tone color story. In Urban Bohemia, the overall feeling of rustic, heathered yarns is carried throughout with neutrals and a pop of color. Finally, for City Gardens, the yarns are warm weather friendly in a fresh, clean mid-tone pastel pallet.

Question I have a lot of handknit sweaters, but there are a couple that I wear far & away more frequently than all the others. Do you have a favorite sweater?

Answer Once my trunk shows for the book are over, I expect the Bleeker Street Cardigan and the Washington Square Cardigan will both be worn quite frequently and become my new favorites. I really like wearing cardigans, in fact, when sketching up the designs for the book, I had to make sure there was a nice balance between cardigans and everything else.

Skyline Tunic, a tribute to Manhattan.

Question What is your favorite spot in NYC?

Answer The Rambles in Central Park. It’s a nice quiet area that I love to escape to from time to time. Plus, it’s a great place to knit!

I think Metropolitan Knits would be a great addition to your bookshelf!

2013 Year of Making in Review

Like most women I have body issues. I’m getting pretty good at ignoring them most days, but some days the little voice in the back of my head is extra whiney and hard to ignore. It tells me I’m not good enough, that I’ve never been good enough, that everything I do is a fraud, that I’m badly proportioned, that I am fat, that my thighs are ugly.

When I try on a dress in a store that voice comes out full force and tells me that the reason the dress doesn’t fit is because I’m shaped wrong. I start with the assumption that the dress will fit. The designer does this for a living and must know what he’s about, so when I try it on and it doesn’t fit, then it must be me that’s shaped wrong for this very nice dress.

Crepe Dress | 155/365, Tiramisu Dress | 17/365, Pebbles Dress | 120/365, Wiksten Dress | 141/365

But when I sew a dress, I start with the understanding that the pattern is a template. The template has to be tweaked for each individual using it, and if it’s a guideline I could throw caution to the wind, change the skirt, change the collar, take off the sleeves and use the template however I want.

So when I sew a dress and I fit it to myself, I do it without judgement of my body. I can add darts, and take in side seams, or redraft the hips of the skirt. I am the one in control. I am making decisions about my clothing instead of letting the ideal proportions of a designer who’s never met me determine my worth. It’s powerful. It’s magical. And every time I wear a dress I fit to myself I feel amazing.

I’ve always thought of myself as a wannabe artist. In my 5 year old journal, I filled in the “What do you want to be when you grow up” blank with “Artist” in a childish scrawl, but despite working in creative pursuits in my spare time, and (for the last 5 years) full time, I never considered myself an artist. I preferred the term Maker, feeling that what I do is more Craft than Art. Art is big brilliant canvases. Art is grand sweeping symphonies. Art is the Guggenhiem.

My knitting basket | 155/365, Mason Jar Cozy | 150/365, Airplant Pods | 46/365, Two Mini Gnomes | 363/365

Perhaps that’s why I relate so much to the Arts & Crafts Movement. The idea that Craft IS Art when you do it with passion and skill. I’ve been striving my whole life to believe that idea, and never quite getting there.

But the last year, my Year of Making, has brought into stark contrast for me that not everything I do has to be a grand project. It can be a tiny folded paper crane. It can be a properly prepared pot of tea with a slice of an expertly homemade cake. It’s a symphony of things done just-so. There is just as much beauty in a perfectly sized sweater or a freshly grown tomato as there is in the Mona Lisa. You don’t need expensive materials, or $60,000 of Grad School debt to accomplish it.

In a way striving to show something Made-by-Me every day has taught me to accept that even if it’s small or seemingly insignificant, or fleeting in its life span (like a midweek meal), it has value because I MADE it. Not because posterity will hang it on a wall and discuss its significance for years to come.

Homemade Sushi | 228/365, Strawberry Harvest | 214/365, Fruit Tart | 62/365, Turnips | 47/365

I know I’ve said it before, but the Act of Making is alchemy. We take disparate parts and – with the work of our hands – transform them into something new, something more than the sum of the parts. But what I didn’t know before this year is how much Making could transform me.

This is not to say that I’m not still full of self-doubt and worry. I still wake up some mornings and wonder how it is I managed to dupe you all into reading anything I have to say or knitting anything I’ve pulled out of my ass. But the Making has taught me that even if I’m only making for my own satisfaction, the Act of Making has value. I learn something new, I hone a skill, I become a better, kinder, and more grounded person.

And even if the rest of it burned to the ground, this year I’ve been Making Myself.

¶ Posted 03 January 2014 † Mim § Crocheting § Gardening § In The Kitchen § Knitting § Misc. Crafting § Navel Gazing § Photography § Sewing ‡ Comments (10) °

Sayonara 2013!

Looking back from this side of the new year, I can’t say I’m sorry to see the end of 2013.

Early in the year, we thought my Dad was dying of congestive heart failure and I spent months silently grieving that I would loose him. It turns out his pacemaker wasn’t working as it should, but it took a perforated bowel, a lifeflight helicopter ride and weeks in the ICU for someone to figure it out. He’s got a replacement pacemaker and is doing drastically better now.

This year also saw the loss of my Great Aunt and my Brother in Law. There’s been death and grieving, with a whopping helping of worry.

But the thing that’s drastically changed my life this year is Fibromyalgia. I’ve been dealing with it since maybe November 2012, but it snuck up on me. I’ve had sciatic nerve pain for years, but then it started to change. Things got worse, I would push through it, and it would be better for a time. Eventually I got to the point where I had more bad days in a week than good days and I finally sought a doctor’s help. In August I got an official diagnosis and started a drug trial (for which I feel certain I was on the placebo). Thankfully the drug trial is finally done now and I’ve begun a treatment course that (so far) seems to be working.

I’m learning that a diagnosis like this can drastically change your life. I used to be able to commit to things, but now I can’t predict what level of focus, energy or pain I’ll have from one day to the next. To say it’s required a bit of adjustment would be the understatement of the century. I used to define my worth as a human being by how productive I was. I would gleefully check off my to do list and when someone asked “What did you do today?” I could rattle off a mile-long list and feel accomplished. I’ve had to shift my priorities, my self-image, and my expectations. But I have to admit that I really miss work. I’m hoping for the best with this drug therapy so that I can have creative thought again and enough energy to produce new designs.

The constant thread this year (and probably the only thing that’s kept me sane), is my Year of Making. I’ll be posting in detail later this week about how it went, but having this photo project, having one thing every day that I COULD accomplish without much effort, helped me immensely. Even on a day when I couldn’t put on a bra, or put away the clean dishes, at least I could take a photograph that would be one more brick in the great wall of a completed daily photo project.

And in the past few days a whole slew of new people have joined me for 2014’s #YearOfMaking. Frankly, it’s kind of exploded. There are people doing it who I’ve never met. I’ve been looking at the twitter and IG feeds for the hashtag and I’m in awe.

So looking forward, I have some goals for 2014 in addition to doing the Year of Making again. Some of them are carryovers from last year that I didn’t get to do, but there are some new ones too:

1. Make my own cheese
2. Learn to play the guitar
3. Make a soufflé
4. Try free motion machine quilting
5. Write more letters

When all the shit started falling down, it was hard to know what to say online. Trying to determine what should and shouldn’t be public knowledge is difficult in this time of eternal information. That worry really made this blog a last priority, and I’ve missed the connection I had because of it. I have to spend some time rebuilding my online friend network and reconnecting with the people I’ve missed over the last year. So bear with me.

I love you guys and am thankful every day for the support of this fantastic knitting community. Let’s start a discussion. What are your goals this year? What do you want to accomplish?

<3, M

¶ Posted 02 January 2014 † Mim § Misc. Crafting § Navel Gazing ‡ Comments (10) °

Monthly Sale: Icarus Shawl

Hey everyone! I’m trying to do more promotion of my back catalog patterns. You’ll see some oldies but goodies pop up in the blog, and every month an older pattern will be on sale. If you’d like to be notified of the sale every month you can sign up for the Knitter’s Newsletter.

For the month of January, the sale pattern is the Icarus Shawl. To get the pattern at 15% off, just purchase it before the end of the month! The discount will be taken off during checkout.

Purchase the pdf file now through Ravelry (you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to purchase)
| add to cart | show cart

This shawl was inspired by a lace motif in Sophia Caulfeild’s Dictionary of Needlework, first published in 1882. The top-down construction allows the design to flow downward, giving the feeling of feathers dripping from a stick frame, just as in Greek mythology, Icarus’ feathers melted from their frame as he came too close to the sun.

Check out the many MANY finished versions on Ravelry! There are some seriously fantastic versions with beads, and I’ve got the tutorial up for my original beading option version here.

Gauge: 21 stitches and 38 rows per 4 inches (10 cm) square in stockinette after blocking
Finished Measurements: 72 inches (183 cm) across the top, and 36 inches (91.5 cm) from neck to point.
Yarn Requirements: 1200 yards of laceweight yarn. Sample in Jaggerspun Zephyr Laceweight in ‘Pewter’
Needle Size: 3.25mm (US 3) 24 inch circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge.
Pattern Includes: charts and text translations of charts
Stitches Used: knit, purl, k2tog, p2tog, sl1 k2tog psso, yo, ssk, yo4, knit front and back.
Other Details: This shawl is worked from the neck down, using yarn overs on each end of each right side row to shape the “wings” and paired yarn overs in the center of each right side row (separated by a center stitch) to shape the point down the spine. These 4 increased stitches are added every right side row (excluding the edging rows), making each row successively longer than the last, so that what started with 5 stitches cast on, ends with hundreds.

¶ Posted 01 January 2014 † Mim § Knitting § Sale ‡ Comments (0) °

Colorplay!

Click for the full sized chart!

Are you joining the Chromaticity KAL? Make sure you join in on the Ravelry thread. And here’s a blank-ish chart for you to fill in with your own color choices! Print it a bunch of different times and try out different progressions.

Speaking of color choices…. if you’re looking for color inspiration, here’s some of my favorite combos.

ChromaticityColors I’ve been really feeling gradients lately, as you could maybe tell from the array of grays here :D. If you’re looking for a place to start, pick a color that makes you happy and try it with a gradient of a neutral color. Or find a neutral that’s not completely neutral, like a yarn that looks gray from a distance, but up close is really a bit of green or purple. Also, don’t forget to check out the finished cowls on Ravelry for color inspiration too 🙂

My plans for kits didn’t pan out, but Rain City Knits is offering some. For those of you casting on with me on January 1, there will be prizes for first to finish (one prize each for the small and large versions). And a grand prize for the KAL favorite. Are you ready to cast on with me?

¶ Posted 30 December 2013 † Mim § KAL § Knitting ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: chromaticity, Chromaticity Cowl, KAL, knitalong

Monthly Sale: Boudica Socks

For the month of December, the sale pattern is the Boudica Socks. To get the pattern at 15% off, just purchase it before the end of the month! The discount will be taken off during checkout.

Purchase the pdf file now through Ravelry (you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to purchase)
| add to cart | show cart

These socks are named after Boudica, the rebel Celtic queen who fought the Roman Empire after they refused her daughters’ claim to the throne of the Iceni people. A Celtic knotwork-inspired braid runs up each side from the toe to the upper cuff, where travelling stitches and a horizontal braid cleverly hide calf increases. Finished off by a rolled edge, these socks are simple, but stunning.

Check out the great versions on Ravelry! My favorite is knitthinner’s version in RED!

Gauge: 19 sts and 28 rows per 2 inches (5 cm) square in stockinette.
Finished Measurements: Sized to fit medium woman’s foot. But length of cuff and foot can be easily changed by using the pattern as written.
Yarn Requirements: 425 yards of fingering weight yarn. Sample shown in Wooly Wonka Handdyed Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn in ‘River’.
Needle Size: Set of 5 2.00 mm (US 0) double pointed needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.
Pattern Includes: cable and texture charts with text translations of charts
Stitches Used: knit, purl, k2tog, knit back and front, knit tbl, p2tog, ssk, m1b, m1f, Right Twist, Left Twist, Right Twist with purl background, Left Twist with purl background (instructions for twists included)
Other Details: These socks are knit from the toe up to the top of the cuff. The toe is started with a provisional cast on, followed by some stockinette to make a little flap, then stitches all around the flap (including the provisional cast on) are picked up to begin work in the round. The final toe increases are integrated in the beginning of the braid that continues up the sides.

¶ Posted 01 December 2013 † Mim § Knitting § Sale ‡ Comments (0) °

Chromaticity KAL!

Chromaticity Cowl

So, how much do you love Chromaticity?! It’s one of my current favorites and I need an excuse to knit another one with my vasty amounts of leftover sock/fingering weight yarn. I’ve been using these leftovers for the Neverending Afghan, but I just keep adding to the box and the afghan is now well on its way to become a king-sized blanket and I have more scraps than when I started it!

Since I want to knit another one, and I think you should want to knit one too, I’m hosting a KAL! The basic threads will be housed over on the MimKnits Ravelry forum. I will sticky the threads and tag them all clearly with “Chromaticity KAL” if you want to follow along.

As we gear up toward the 1st of the year, I’d like to discuss yarn choices, color combinations, and I’ll be providing blank charts for you to color in with your own selections. Get your colored pencils ready! There will be prizes and drawings and voting on your favorite cowl! I’m also working on some local events related to the KAL as well, so stay tuned!

Who wants in? Comment either here or on the forum!

psst! Check out the Ravelry thread for a discount code to get 15% off the pattern!

¶ Posted 25 November 2013 † Mim § KAL § Knitting § Sale ‡ Comments (0) °

Updates and Stuff!

Brioche Vine Cowl So hi! Haven’t blogged in a while…. with some pretty good reason. There was lots of health problem build up and then in August I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. It’s more fun than reaching into a bag of angry cats trying to figure out what I can and can’t do, having more bad days than good days every week, and learning to forgive myself for not having the energy to do the dishes or vacuum the carpet.

There’s been basically no new designing, but there has been some knitting. I am enjoying what most knitwear designers never get – Time To Knit Other People’s Patterns. I have made a few sweaters, and I’ve started my Holiday gift knitting. But thanks to a Purl Bee cowl and Mercedes‘ current string of projects I’ve falled in love with Brioche.

Brioche Legwarmers Mercedes and I have weekly web chats and I’ve been watching her work on Brioche piece after Brioche piece and have loved seeing what she churns out (the woman is a MACHINE, I tell you!). I was looking for an extra project to take with me on a road trip C and I took to Northern California and I coveted the thing Mercedes was making, so she sent me the draft pattern and I wound up a skein each of Anzula Squishy in Plum and Malabrigo Sock in Alcaucil.

The cowl I knit is currently unreleased (it will be the project for an upcoming class), but her Rhoda cowl is very similar if you’re looking for a fun 2-color project! It was the first thing in a few months that I have just LOVED knitting. I kept stopping to admire it. And then I finished it and I was sad. So I did the only logical thing, change up the christmas knitting plan and make somebody Brioche legwarmers! I’m knitting them 2 at a time on 2 circulars (4 balls of yarn to wrangle!) with more Squishy in Denim, & Shibui Sock in Dragonfly.

¶ Posted 23 November 2013 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (2) °

Monthly Sale: Aspen Grove Shawl

For the month of November, the sale pattern is the Aspen Grove Shawl. To get the pattern at 15% off, just purchase it before the end of the month! The discount will be taken off during checkout.

Purchase the pdf file now through Ravelry (you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to purchase)
| add to cart | show cart

Each of the 4 repeated wedges of the shawl begins with a gathering of leaves, then moves downward into the twisting, odd trunks of the aspens, culminating in the feather and fan edge, which reminds me of the strata of decay on the forest floor, shot through with the communal roots of the aspens above.

Check out all the great finished versions on Ravlery!

Gauge: 26 sts and 40 rows per 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette after blocking.
Finished Measurements: 48 inches (122 cm) across the top and 24 inches (61 cm) down the back.
Yarn Requirements: 700 yards of laceweight yarn. Sample shown in Wooly Wonka handpainted wool/silk laceweight in ‘Quaking Aspen’.
Needle Size: 3.25mm (US 3) 24 inch (60 cm) circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge.
Pattern Includes: charts and text translations of charts
Stitches Used: knit, purl, k2tog, k3tog, yo, ssk, sl1 k2tog psso, Centered Double Decrease.
Other Details: This shawl is worked from the neck down, in 4 wedges, using yarn overs on each end of every 4th row to shape it and make it larger. As it gets larger each row also gets longer than the last. The shawl begins with a provisional cast on to knit a small flap with live stitches on both ends. You will pick up stitches along the side of the flap to begin shaping the shawl.

¶ Posted 01 November 2013 † Mim § Knitting § Sale ‡ Comments (0) °

Monthly Sale: Blessing Socks

For the month of October, the sale pattern is the Blessing Socks. To get the pattern at 15% off, just purchase it before the end of the month! The discount will be taken off during checkout.

Purchase the pdf file now through Ravelry (you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to purchase)
| add to cart | show cart

The motif on these socks is Arabic calligraphy of the word “baraka” meaning “blessing”. The chart was originally published in A History of Handknitting, and was found on a pillow entombed in 1275. The twisted cuff echoes the spiraling purl decreases on the toe, which it turn mimic the garter ridges and seam stitch on the comfortable, turned German heel. Knit these for someone in need of a few blessings. With good thoughts and a prayer in your heart, the recipient will know they are cared for.

Gauge: 18 sts and 22 rows per 2 inches (5 cm) square in stockinette stitch without colorwork.
Finished Measurements: 5.5 inches (14 cm) from cuff to top of heel flap, 8 inches (20 cm) when laid out flat around upper cuff, 8 inches (20 cm) around foot and foot length to measure. The sample size fit a size 8 woman’s foot
Yarn Requirements: 375 yards of Main Color, 25 yards of Contrast Color 1, and 30 yards of Contrast Color 2. All fingering weight yarn. Sample shown in Dale of Norway Baby Ull in MC – 2232, CC1 – 5755, and CC2 – 0083.
Needle Size: Set of 5 double points in 2.5 mm (US 1.5 ) or size needed to obtain gauge.
Pattern Includes: colorwork charts and photo tutorial for cuff edging
Stitches Used: knit, purl, k2tog, knit front & back, p2tog, slipped stitches, ssk.
Other Details: These socks are worked from the cuff down with the twisted edge worked flat and then joined in the round for the rest of the cuff. The heel is a turned German Heel with a garter “seam-stitch” on the center back of the heel flap, which echoes the garter ridges on the sides. The toe is worked over 2.5” using purl decreases to give a comfortable and beautiful fit.

¶ Posted 01 October 2013 † Mim § Knitting § Sale ‡ Comments (0) °

Miriam Felton

Review: Metropolitan Knits by Melissa Wehrle

2013 Year of Making in Review

Sayonara 2013!

Monthly Sale: Icarus Shawl

Colorplay!

Monthly Sale: Boudica Socks

Chromaticity KAL!

Updates and Stuff!

Monthly Sale: Aspen Grove Shawl

Monthly Sale: Blessing Socks

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