Stripes

This striped top is our original pattern that we will be giving away for the Chicago Area Yarn Crawl starting this Friday. I was inspired by all the cute striped tops I have been seeing this past year as well as the many tops I have seen in this shape over the summer. It is done in lace weight mohair so it is light, airy and super-soft to wear. It has a keyhole on one side that can be worn either in the front or back. And look, even Dylan, our part-time helper, approves!

Trendspotting

I recently got the March Anthropologie catalog. I see that hand-knits are still a big presence for Spring. This tank would be a great piece for this season and such a quick knit. I am going to get to work on my version. I will let you know when it is finished!

Chunky Cable

This is a picture from a recent Allure magazine showing the Prada headband that I wanted to highlight in my last post. For those of you who don't like to wear hats but hate cold ears, this should be your next project. Very simple, very of the moment.

Chunky Cable Sweaters

This look by Prada for Fall 2010 has been showing up everywhere. My "runway to realway" advice is to choose one chunky cabled piece per outfit. But I think this serves as inspiration. If you are not up for knitting an entire sweater, notice her headband. It is a great way to incorporate the trend in your fall wardrobe with minimal investment in time and money. I hope to have a better picture of this headband soon- please check back.

Trendspotting - Chunky is Big

These cowls/neckwarmers are from Spratters and Jayne Knitwear and were featured in DailyCandy Chicago earlier this week. They are another example of the chunky cowls we are seeing all over this season. Big knits are huge again. These would be so easy to knit and are a great use of cool buttons if you have any you are dying to use!

Trendspotting

I just got the latest copy of the Anthropologie catalog. There is a lot of knitting inspiration in there. But today, I am focusing on striped sweaters. These two sweaters bring to mind Rowan's Colourscape Chunky or Noro. I am so inspired, I think I am going to start a cardigan out of Colouscape Folk.

Trendspotting

This Fall, chunky knit cowls are showing up everywhere. Cowls make a lot of sense from a practical point of view- they require no decisions about your favorite method of scarf-tying and stay in place once on. The photo above is from the October issue of Vogue. The photo below is a cowl that I knit up yesterday afternoon from one skein of Twinkle's Soft Chunky. It was super quick- a fast way to update your Fall wardrobe. It is also great for gifts. Plus, the pattern is so simple, it would be easy to change it for a smaller gauge yarn if you would like a softer cowl with more drape to it.