Knitting in the Details!

 Knitting in the Details

First there was Knitting Little Luxuries...

now there's Knitting in the Details. 

I'm a true-blue fan of knit-wear designer Louisa Harding's books!

Knitting in the Details has 24 projects presented in four sections (embellishing ideas) in the book: 

Embroidery, Beading, Added Elements and In the Details. 

This book features Louisa's trademark romantic style, pretty flowers and embellishments and is sure to inspire knitters of all ages and skill levels.

Lisette's Vintage Treasures

(I'm ready to knit in the details!)

Besides beautiful patterns and photographs (taken on the coast of France), I always enjoy Louisa's introduction in her books.  Her introductions always give a glimpse of who she is and how special her family and knitting are to her. 

This book's introduction shows us her personal studio filled with her vintage treasures.  She says "In my studio, I have an evergrowing collection of boxes, tins and jars that contain my many treasures".   How about that...I do, too!


This excerpt from the book really sets the stage for this book on embellishing:

"My desire to collect all things that sparkle or glisten is insatiable.  I love anything that looks as if it has a hidden story, such as a vintage brooch at the thrift shop, a jar of old belt buckles in the dusty corner of my local haberdashery shop, and my mother's jewelry boxes filled with broken trinkets.

I'm not only a collector of vintage buttons and embellishments, I'm a huge collector of Louisa Harding yarns.  I'm so glad I'm a stasher...I've already selected four projects to knit from the book with yarns from my stash.

Here's a look at my four favorites from the book: 

 Erin

My favorite hats to knit are Louisa's berets!  As soon as I saw her Erin beret with its pretty embroidered flowers, I knew it would be my first project from the book.  It's knit in her luxurious Grace Wool & Silk yarn with oddments of yarn for the embroidery.

I'm currently knitting Louisa's beautiful Cameo shawl in Grace and purchased all the Grace colorway my LYS had.  Luckily for me, I have enough Grace to knit this beret and her Victoria gloves from her Knitting Little Luxuries book to wear with my shawl.  What an ensemble it will be!

 Nina

I adore pretty and lacy knits so I love Louisa's Nina scarf!  This project is embellished with beads and pretty flower embellishments.  Louisa says "Although it looks complicated, this scarf is very simple to knit-the excitement is in the beads".

It's knit with four balls of her sparkly Jasmine yarn and one ball of Jasmine for the flowers.  Luckily for me, I just happen to have Jasmine in my stash, too!

April

April is my favorite garment in the book.  This "tres chic" bolero features Louisa's trademark flowers and button embellishing.   Louisa offers two versions, one knit in Hulda a discontinued yarn (I have enough in my stash) and one in Rosetti.

Louisa knit the flowers in her Grace yarn and adorned them with petal-shaped buttons from the Parisian store La Droguerie.  Luckily for me, I'm going to Paris in May so you know where I'll be button shopping!

 Ella

Louisa's Grace yarn range is my most favorite yarn to knit with.  I love her Grace Wool & Silk and her Grace Hand-Dyed.  Luckily for me, I have a huge stash of her Grace Hand-Dyed to knit her beautiful button embellished Ella scarf. 

Her Ella scarf is knit in three hanks of Grace Hand-Dyed or there is a bulkier version knit in discontinued Hulda requiring three balls.  I love that it is embellished with mother-of-pearl buttons. 

Knit Details!

Can you tell, I love this book and love Louisa's idea of...

 Knitting in the Details! 

The Perfect Button!

Louisa Harding Aurora Flower

Button, Button, Who's got the Button...

Britex Fabrics in San Francisco has buttons. In fact, their 3rd floor has an entire wall devoted to buttons. For me, Britex is the place to go button shopping when you need to find that

"perfect button"!

The Perfect Button!

Last month I finished my Louisa Harding Aurora beret and it's adorable knit flower embellishment. I wanted to give my beret some vintage flair so I had planned on using a vintage earring for my flower's center. It looked pretty nice but somehow I knew I could do better.

I love my Louisa Harding projects so much I am often a fussbudget about their finishing details. I've learned as a knitter that the right details and embellishments really can elevate your knitting to more "boutique looking" results.

Britex Buttons

In one of my favorite books Knitting Little Luxuries , Louisa Harding writes about memories of her Grandmother's button box. Louisa encourages knitters to use found objects, buttons, flowers and ribbons to make their knitting projects unique. I took Louisa's advice and went searching for buttons.

Of course, I ended up button shopping at Britex Fabrics. Button shopping there can be overwhelming...there are so many buttons to choose from. Thank goodness, I brought my knit flower with me to help me make the right button choice. After about ten attempts at trying buttons, I finally found the "perfect button".

My "perfect button" is a lovely lavender glass Czeck button with vintage flair. It certainly looks as though it could have come right out of my very own Grandmother's button box!

I think Louisa Harding would approve!

Lisette Shops Portland!

Lisette Shops Portland!

Portland is a knitter's town!

Last week while vacationing in Oregon we took a day trip to Portland. I had the chance to check out four of Portland's yarn stores. I must say, I have never seen so many yarn stores in one city! It is impossible to visit them all in just one day.

Close Knit

Close Knit was the "must see" Portland yarn store on my list. Cindy, the West Coast Knitting Fever rep, told me about Close Knit. I met Cindy last January when she was touring with Louisa Harding in Northern California.

Lot's of Louisa at Close Knit

Close Knit is in the up and coming Alberta Arts district. I loved this shop! It was decorated with vintage furniture and had a funky "hip" vibe to it. If I lived in Portland, I would want to hang out at this shop.

We took the sales associates advice and lunched at nearby Petite Provence. I felt like I was in France with it's charming decor. I highly recommend their yummy Monte Cristo sandwich with raspberry jam!

Close Knit has a good selection of Louisa Harding yarn and books. I lucked out and found some discontinued Louisa Harding yarns that I have been searching for!

Thank you Cindy for this great yarn store tip!

Oleana Sweaters at KNIT PURL

Knit Purl is very close to Powell's Books in the Pearl District. This yarn store has a modern "boutique" feel to it. It is well stocked and the sales help are extremely helpful.

Knit Purl carries the gorgeous Norweigan knit line Oleana. I love their pretty floral knits! Textile and Knit Wear Designer, Solveig Hisdale is an award winning designer for Oleana. Knit Purl is working with Solveig to print a special copy of her (out of print) book Poetry in Stitches for Knit Purl. If you are interested in the book, contact Knit Purl.

You can also check out the Knit Purl blog.

Button Emporium & Ribbonry

My new knitting friend Dona on Ravelry told me about the Button Emporium. Turns out this has been a well know Portland landmark since 1997 for anyone who crafts, sews or knits. The Button Emporium & Ribbonry is located on the edge of the Pearl District. It is well stocked with buttons, trims and ribbons.

Thanks Dona for the shopping tip!

The Knitting Books

at Powell's Books

I can spend hours in a yarn store. My husband can spend hours in a book store. We make the trek to Portland mostly to visit Powell's Books. Powell's City of Books is an independent book seller that fills an entire city block with more than a million new, used and out of print books.

If you are a knitter who loves books, you are sure to find a few books at Powell's. The knitting books take up an entire aisle of book shelves at Powell's!

A Creative Knitter!

I saw this bike on on the streets of Portland and had to take a photo. I'm sure it must have been a creative Portland knitter that whipped up this knit bike guard!

I also stopped in two other yarn shops, Twisted and Yarn Garden. Twisted is a modern boutique style neighborhood shop that is very well stocked (think Debbie Bliss, Malabrigo and Noro).

The Yarn Garden is probably the largest store of all the shops in Portland. They have three rooms filled with yarn (think Rowan, Collinette, Debbie Bliss, Artyarns, Noro, Cascade, etc) a great pattern room and a complimentary coffee and tea room.

We ended our shopping day with a late night dinner at the cozy Parisian Bistro Carafe! A perfect end to a perfect day!

Portland is a great city! I love it's vibe, it's restaurant scene and of course, it's yarn shops. Since my husband is an Oregon native, I might even consider retiring there someday. Being a California girl though...I think I would tire of all the rain and miss the sun.

I suppose I could wear great knits, though!

Button Shopping in San Francisco!

Buttons Galore!

Have you ever felt like a kid in a candy store and you weren't even in a candy store? I had that "kid in a candy store" feeling today shopping for buttons at Britex Fabrics.

Britex Fabrics has been a San Francisco landmark for over 50 years. It is conveniently located just off of Union Square in the shopping district.

The Yarn Wall

The Button Department is on Floor 3. It is huge! There are buttons in every color, shape and size. If you need buttons...this is definitely the place to go button shopping!

As for my button shopping, I was pleased to finally find a large abalone shell button for my Louisa Harding Periwinkle Shawl. I also couldn't resist some vintage-inspired buttons for future knitting projects.

Floor 3 also has a small yarn and knitting book department. While I was shopping, a Britex sales associate was even knitting a lovely mohair sweater sample for the store. How fun to be able to "sit and knit" while on the job!

Pretty Pastel Ribbons

Ooh, la, la...I love pretty ribbons! I couldn't help but think of Marie Antoinette when I saw these French-inspired floral ribbons! The ribbon department is also on Floor 3 with the buttons

Cute Cotton Britex Prints

Britex is stocked floor to ceiling in fabrics. You can probably find just about anything there. I was hoping to find a cotton sea shell fabric to line my Louisa Harding Mermaid purse with. I was disappointed I did not find it amongst all that yardage!

Seeing all the bolts of fabric did bring back happy childhood memories though. My Mom sewed a lot of our clothes growing up so visiting the fabric store was a regular outing for my Mom, my sister and me.

Britex Fabrics

146 Geary St.

San Francisco, CA 94108

(415) 392-2910

If you love fabrics, trims, ribbons and buttons...

I bet you'll feel like a "kid in a candy store"

at Britex Fabrics,too!