natty nathan

Nathan dropped his favorite vest into the wash by accident, and when all was said and done, it came out shriveled like a prune and about 5 sizes too small. bizarrely enough, a simple men’s vest matching Nathan’s specifications is rather hard to find in stores these days.  we decided to knit him a replacement, using our luxurious cashmere. (more…)

eloquent elif

we named Elif after a literary friend of ours who weaved together a blindingly brilliant and hysterically funny novel about growing Turkish in American and researching Russian literature as a chosen profession.  somehow she lyrically pieces together and achieves a mesmerizing eloquence about all her disparate and chaotic life experiences.

with that in mind,  when dreaming up Elif we mixed together wavy lines, trapezoids, squares, dew drops, textural lace patterns and color in a way that speaks to us.

we like to think of Elif as a wardrobe statement piece that works year round.  we’ve thrown it over shift dresses on summer evenings and we can’t wait to wrap it around our necks during the winter months.

tutorial: one row make buttonhole

hello buttonholes!  we’ve posted a step-by-step photo illustrated tutorial  on the one-row buttonhole we used in our Ziggy pattern. it’s a bit more complicated than the basic yarnover buttonhole, but a lot sturdier!

practice the buttonhole a few times and it will become second nature to ya! (note: click read the rest of this entry for the tutorial)

(more…)

dapper dad

we designed roger (a bowtie) & somerset (a necktie) for a mighty dapper friend of ours.  we’re making them available in our pattern library in case you’re looking to knit dad something handmade and unique for father’s day on june 19th

indian cross stitch

Don’t throw the pa-ast away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again
– Peter Allen, Everything Old is New Again lyrics

THE LO-DOWN

indian cross stitch is one of those stitches that we consider a minor miracle.  it’s the same on both sides, works up quickly and is quite a bit easier to execute once you get the hang of things than it may seem. we’ve provided a step-by-step tutorial to illustrate the tricky bit.

it also turns out an openwork pattern that manages to straddle the old and the new — looking both geometrically modern and intricately vintage.   hooray for indian cross stitch!

note: when knit in enough columns and rows, the garter stitch section of indian cross stitch will exhibit a slight wave effect, which can be more clearly seen in the Aurélie cocoon cardigan pictured in the related patterns section below. (more…)