Three New Patterns and Stitches Midwest!

On Wednesday, August 5, I released three new patterns! Two of them were shawls that were inspired by my recent trips to the Republic of Georgia; Lenjeri is a lace pattern inspired by a small village in Svaneti, and Polyphony was my attempt to knit a tangible interpretation of the traditional 3-part vocal tunes prevalent in Georgia.

When Doug and I visited Lenjeri on our honeymoon, we were enamored with the greenery and flowers finding homes within cracks of stone walls. When Leading Men Fiber Arts gave me a skein of green merino-silk lace yarn (the Ghost Light base) at Vogue Knitting Live, I immediately associated that green (Envy) with the green I saw in that small village. Fortunately, I had the chance to return this summer with my Georgian Choir on a tour to learn folk songs.

I'm fascinated with traditional Georgian polyphony, most often sung in three parts with close harmony (each word links to a different style of three-part singing in the country--I could not decide). I decided to combine this fascination with my love for knitwear design, and came up with Polyphony, a warm, color-block stole with a lace center. I tried to make the colors work together to make a whole, as well as illustrating that the middle part in Georgian polyphony is often the most detailed. I knit it out of Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer base (80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon) in the colorways Dames At Sea, Dusty Quartz, and Sandcastle.

I modeled it by a river in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
The third pattern I designed for the Leading Men Fiber Arts boot at Stitches was a fun hat pattern called Zipadee, using elongated slipped stitches forming zig-zag zippers that meet at the top.

I knit it out of their Playbill base (dk weight single-ply merino) in the Seaweed colorway. It was a fun, quick knit after all the shawls!
On to Stitches! We set up the Polyphony wrap on the model next to several kits that Steve and Andy picked out to go with the pattern.

I had a wonderful time meeting other designers, fellow yarn-addicts, and seeing some old friends.

If you came by the booth, thank you! I loved the opportunity to meet you!

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Much Ado About Beading

 Today I added the Much Ado Shawl to my pattern store, and I'm so happy it's available!  The cast-on edge is a beaded picot, which adds a glimmering detail while wearing it.  The beads I found are green at some angles, and red at others, making them appear to be either dewdrops or berries.  When I came home with them, I rummaged through my stash and found a fantastic skein of Leading Men Fiber Arts Showcase in the colorway Steve and Andy, the names of the yarn's creators, but also the names of my cousin and uncle, who are woodsmen of the most badass degree, and the color makes me think of them!

 Doug and I went to the forest preserve in Des Plaines, where he was about to play saxophone at a Romanian festival.  I stole him away from the goulash for a moment and he took pictures while I frolicked.  Or I did my best at frolicking.

 I stood still for him, too, wearing the shawl in a way that was actually practical.  It's fantastically soft, and the length means I can wrap it around my neck a few times, creating just as many layers of the beaded edge.

I hope you like this shawl!  If you do, twirl on over to Ravelry and buy it now!

Design Binge Update

Whew!  I designed and knit and designed and knit and have come up with the following pieces:
First up is Kedzie, a mock-slouchy hat that can be worn and not blown off your head during this gusty October in Chicago:

 Next up is Altgeld, a sporty beanie that works equally well for men and women.  I love the sort-of art-deco feel I got from the texture!

The last hat of the mix is the Dearborn Cloche, with a pure silk lined brim and linen-stitch "ribbon", with a tweed alpaca-silk-merino blend for the body:

 For a fun little accessory, conceived by Grace and engineered by moi, the Bomber Collar using Skacel's new Caribou yarn!  Everyone who sees and touches this can not believe that it's knit, but they never want to stop touching it, either!

 And it wouldn't be a Sarah collection if it didn't involve at least one shawl!  This is a bottom-up shawl with a beaded picot cast-on and a simple lace stitch.  Oh yes, and it is a silk-cashmere blend, so it's amazing to wear!

None of these patterns are ready for publication, but if you'd like a free printed draft with your yarn purchase, come by booth 320!

Vogue Knitting Live: Making Samples!

Yesterday my friend Grace & I went through boxes of yarn for our booth (mostly hers, but I'm helping!) and we had a great time sorting, scheming, squealing, and sighing. I fully admit that the Art Yarns evoked involuntary yelps and giggles from my lips.

Upon sorting, we had to decide which yarns to create into samples, and what we could knit up (and design!) in two weeks out of this:

Over the next two weeks I'll be posting my progress and linking to the new designs as I finish them!  Because of the time constraint, the photos will be not-too-fancy, but hopefully good enough to give you the idea of what they would look like, knit up!  Then, after VKL, I'll bribe my trusty photographer to get some real, publish-worthy photos, now that she's spoiled me with what those actually look like!