Fade to Grey

Fade To Grey

Spring is just around the corner and I'm still knitting as fast as I can from my favorite fall and winter books. 

Fade to Grey by Louisa Harding has been my favorite book from this fall/winter season.  Fade to Grey is filled with 14 pretty projects all knit in Louisa's luxurious Grace and Grace Hand Dyed yarns. 

Wondering where Louisa's inspiration came for this book?  I was curious myself so I asked Louisa.  Louisa told me...

"The title is taken from a song called Fade to Grey by a UK pop band "Visage" which was released in 1980.  The song conjures up memories of my teenage years."

"I wanted the book to be about that teenage spirit."

I certainly think Louisa captured that youthful spirit with Fade to Greys pretty "girly" projects.  Louisa hopes this book appeals to knitters of all ages and all abilities. 

Sophie Gloves

I adore all the projects in Fade to Grey.  My favorite is the Sophie fingerless glove pattern.  Mine are knit in Grace Hand Dyed, color 17.  I receive rave compliments anytime I wear them.  I am so proud to say that I knit them because they really look like they came from a fashionable boutique. 

This is a pattern, I will be knitting over and over again.  I just love them!

Rosette

I love Louisa's trademark rosette. 

I actually learned how to make my first Louisa Harding rosette from Louisa herself!  (How lucky am I?) That was back in January 2009 when I met Louisa and took her Juliet scarf class, here on the West Coast.

I love that the Sophie gloves and Millie beret feature a Louisa rosette adorned with buttons.  I always have so much fun going button shopping for my Louisa projects. My Sophie glass buttons have a vintage patina but are actually new buttons.

Grace Hand Dyed

For a Louisa Harding fan like me, it is hard to select a favorite yarn of hers.  I really love them all.  Right now though my reigning favorite is her Grace and Grace Hand Dyed yarn.  It's silk and wool fiber combination is a dream to knit with. 

My next project to cast on is Louisa's Millie beret.  I better get going on it because I know there will be so many more projects that I'll want to knit in her new upcoming spring/summer books!

I'm knitting as fast as I can and I just can't keep up with the fabulous Louisa Harding!  How about you?

Be Sweet

 Be Sweet Trunk Show

I love Trunk Shows! 

Last month I attended a Be Sweet Trunk Show at Knitterly in Petaluma, California.  It was a fun night complete with lots of sweet treats:  Be Sweet yarns, Be Sweet patterns, Mielie bags,  pink cupcakes and candies, too. 

The best part of this sweet affair though was meeting Be Sweet's owner, Nadine Curtis! 

 Nadine Curtis

 (Wearing the Au Natural Poncho )

Nadine was just as sweet as could be!  I was awestruck at just how young she is as the founder of such a wonderful and amazing company, Be Sweet.

  I love the Be Sweet story.  Nadine founded Be Sweet in 2003 while living in South Africa, with the principal of being kind to others.  Be Sweet works with job creation programs in South African communities and donates a portion of its profits to educational programs. 

Attention knitters, this is written on the Be Sweet yarn label: 

"Enjoy this beautiful product knowing that you have brought hope into a South African community and that a portion of your purchase is helping support the local school!" 

After chatting with Nadine and knowing  "the world of good" she is doing, I couldn't help but ask Nadine, "why haven't you been on Oprah?"  The Be Sweet story would certainly touch Oprah's heart.  Hmm, maybe there is a way to get Nadine and Be Sweet on Oprah's last season? 

 Try me, Try me!

 I first discovered Be Sweet yarns in 2006 "across the pond" at Loop in London.  I fell in love with Be Sweet's Magic Ball and beautiful mohair yarns.  It was fun to discover later that Be Sweet is now based in my home state of California! 

The Magic Ball is still Be Sweet's most popular yarn.  It was such a fun night at the Trunk Show seeing all the new and exciting products that Be Sweet offers.  Be sure to check out their web site and blog for inspiration and even free patterns.

 Sonoma Scarves

My favorite pattern at the Trunk Show was the Sonoma Ruffle Scarves.  I think they look quite Parisian!  They're knit in Be Sweet's Extra Fine Mohair. I'll be knitting the smaller scarf in the color Sea Green. 

Nadine & Shelli

What a treat to meet Nadine Curtis and discover more of the Be Sweet products in person.  I even wore my Frilly Wrap that I knit with Be Sweet's Magic Ball and Nadine loved it! 

Thank you Nadine and Shelli for another fun filled night at Knitterly!

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! 

Pretty Knits

Pretty Knits

I love Pretty Knits!

Pretty Knits is a knitting book by Susan Cropper, the American owner of the popular yarn store Loop in London.  

Pretty Knits was published back in October, 2007.  Once I saw the cover...I knew I had to have it!  The book's cover features Louisa Harding's pretty and romantic Cameo Shawl. 

The Cameo Shawl is by far my favorite project in the book.  I am happy to report that I am finally going to cast on for my Cameo Shawl.   My version is in beautiful blue Louisa Harding yarns that I stashed quite a while back.  I'm so glad I bought my blue yarns when I spotted them because now they are discontinued colors or yarns.

My advice:  If you fall in love with a project like I did for the Cameo Shawl, I highly recommend buying the yarns and stashing them.  (Yes, I have a huge Louisa Harding yarn stash and my husband doesn't mind!)

How I found the shop Loop

Loop in London

I love magazines. 

I have discovered so many wonderful places in the world, travel tips, decorating ideas, fabulous products, incredible restaurants and favorite recipes from magazines.

Some of my favorite magazines are from Britain.  I love English decorating magazines the most.  I found out about Loop in London in an article in the November, 2005 issue of Homes & Antiques.  I tore the article out and put it in my London file.  That write-up led to a great day out of London to visit Loop and the Camden Passage Antique Market. 

Loop

(The Original Shop)

I love Loop!

I'm a lucky American knitter to have visited Loop.  It was in May, 2006.  Back then, Loop was in it's original tiny shop tucked back on a quaint curvy street in Camden Passage in London's Islington. I remember the day so well.  I was like a kid in a candy store that day at Loop.  It was the first real yarn shop I had ever been in.  Back then I was still shopping for yarn at the big box craft stores...I hadn't discovered the wonderful world of local yarn stores yet!

Shopping at Loop in London was the real start of my true love for yarn and knitting.  Loop set me on my quest to find fabulous yarn shops in the States.  And it was while visiting my local yarn shops back home that I discovered designer Louisa Harding.  Louisa's beautiful books drew me back into knitting and inspired me to take knitting lessons so I could knit her lovely designs.

I am so thrilled where my knitting journey has taken me since that day I visited Loop... 

and I'm pretty excited to finally cast on for my Cameo Shawl! 

Last Minute Slouchy Hat

 Holiday Knitting

Four days to go 'till Christmas and I am knitting as fast as I can.  How about you?

One of my favorite last minute gift ideas this year is Bernat's Slouchy Hat.  I love knitting this hat for girls in college but I think this hat is great for ladies of all ages.  I even want to knit this

hat for me!

 Quick Knit

 

The Slouchy Hat can be knit in a night or two.  It's knit flat and then seamed up.  You only need basic skills and should know how to do cables.  If you don't know how to do cables this is a pretty good pattern to learn how to do front and back cables.  It's just may take you a little longer to knit.

I've knit several of these hats in Debbie Bliss SoHo bulky yarn.  It's discontinued now but you can check your favorite yarn shop for a similar bulky yarn or use the Alpaca yarn that Bernat recommends.

Slouchy Hat

I love this Slouchy Hat. 

 Hand knits are so much nicer than all the acrylic machine knits out in the stores for Christmas.  This hat really looks cute on and looks like it came from a fashionable boutique.  Love that!

Merry Christmas

and

Happy Last Minute Knitting!

Sparkle!

 Snowflake Sparkle

It's not just the Christmas tree that needs a little "sparkle" during the holidays...scarves need some "sparkle", too!

I love my Fair Isle scarf that I bought at Nordstrom a few months ago.  It reminds me of the fabulous Fair Isle scarf currently on the cover of Rowan magazine #48.  It's just about cold enough in California now that I can start wearing it.  I thought a snowflake pin would be the perfect "sparkle" for it!

Monet Snowflake Pin

My secret source for my snowflake pin is Macy's.  I found it this week while Christmas shopping.   It's a very nice piece of costume jewelry by Monet.  It retails for $25.00 but if you're a savvy shopper like me...you won't pay near that! 

Will you be dashing off to Macy's or Monet to get one?

Holiday Bling

Holiday Bling!

I think all scarves deserve a little holiday "bling"!

I had so much fun visiting little vintage boutique shops yesterday "on the hunt" for some holiday "bling" for my hand-knit scarves.  Look what I found!

You can read all about some of my favorite boutiques on my other blog Tete-a-Tete.  These pins were found yesterday in Old Fair Oaks Village.  The top pin is a vintage Albert Weiss rhinestone pin that I snagged at Wink and the wire flower pins are from Bungalow. 

I love the unique wire and beaded floral pins.  Kim the owner of Bungalow doesn't think the artist is making them anymore.  I can see why...the wire crochet work is so delicate it must be quite hard on one's hand to create them.  Sorry ladies...I snagged Bungalow's last two pins so there are no more of these to be found. 

Now I'm off to peak at my Mom's and Grandma's jewelry boxes for more holiday "bling" for my knits.  I bet if you look inside your family's jewelry boxes you can find some holiday "bling", too!