Knitwear Review. Milan/Paris FW, Fall/Winter 2019

A little bit later than it should have been done, but here it is – the last knitwear review from the fashion weeks fall/winter 2019, Milan/Paris. These two cities are always interesting to watch in the terms of knitwear, as the designers usually come up with innovative, but still wearable pieces. London and New York tend to be much more crazy in their design approach.

Monochrome total knitwear look is definitely “a thing” – Christian Wijnants, Aalto, Agnona and Max Mara, all played with this tendency in different variations.

Skirt + sweater look keeps transitioning from one season to another, just changing its form a little bit. If in previous seasons we saw classic, feminine and romantic looks, this time the combinations are more bold with knitwear taking sharp edges and distorted forms in the collections of Issey Miyake, Jacquemus, Chloe, Chanel, Alberta Ferretti, Luisa Beccaria, Philosophy di Lorenzo and Fendi.

One of the most beautiful knitwear pieces, in my opinion, was seen on the runway of Genny – soft as a cloud white dress gradually transitioning to a more transparent look as it flows towards the floor.

Men’s knitwear was especially interesting to look at – Bottega Veneta showed us out of ordinary knitwear, with innovative approach. Unusual shapes, cut outs and combination of fabric created quiet dramatic looks.

The overexaggerated forms, almost knitwear sculptures, could be seen on the runways of Anrealage, Isabel Marant and Arthur Arbesser.

Sparkle. Bottega Veneta and Ermanno Scervino added some spark to their sweaters.

Altuzarra used quiet an innovative technique in its knitwear – if you look closely the knitwear fabric gradually “disappears” into the usual fabric, with its pattern fading away. I would suggest that is done with the help of felting – creates very interesting effect!

I hope you enjoyed this review and found something interesting for yourself! Have a wonderful Sunday!

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By Alina| 2019-04-14T06:27:31+00:00 April 14th, 2019|Knitwear Review Fashion Weeks|0 Comments

Eugenia. Cable Sweater Pattern

Eugenia sweater was published 8 a.m. London time – to celebrate the first day of Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2019. Eugenia sweater was created in collaboration with Moeke Yarns that will be hosted by Cross and Woods yarn store at EYF. If you are lucky enough to be in this part of the world, make sure to visit their stand, where you will find not only natural colors of Moeke, but also a batch of Elena yarn dyed with plants!

You will also be able to see the whole Moeke knitwear collection prepared for this event – Eugenia, Mariora and Aurica sweaters knit by our wonderful test knitters! We call them Romanian beauties – all the names we used for the sweaters are traditional Romanian names, but Eugenia has a very special meaning to me. This is the name of my dear Granny Eugenia, back in Russia. She is the one who taught me to knit and made me fell in love with this craft that has so much meaning in my life right now!

But before I came up with the name for the publication, this sweater draft was saved in my computer as “Puzzle”. I wanted to create the image made of pieces that are intertwined together, but also easy enough to knit. You start with the cables, creating the asymmetrical line with the use of short rows, “break down” the sweater in half with the use of icord cable bind off and then continue in the mix of different ribbing stitches – each element is easy to knit, but when put together create a visual effect of the complicated puzzle.

The sweater is knit with pretty generous ease – at least 10″, but Moeke creates such an amazing fabric drape that the sweater easily “flows” around the body without creating the bulky feeling. Make sure to block the sweater after you are done – it will make a huge difference in the fabric!

Details. This sweater is like a mini collection of different techniques that you are discovering as you are making your way up to the neckline. I had self doubts of how the final piece will look like and I am so happy that it turned out exactly as it is. It took me months to put it together, but it was definitely worth it adding it to The Gift Of Knitting designs collection.

General Pattern Information

CONSTRUCTION

Eugenia sweater is knit bottom up in the round, creating cable rich fabric with the asymmetric cut produced with the help of short rows. Then this part is bound off with the cable bind off, the stitches are picked up from the cable bind off and the sweater is divided for front and back to be worked flat in a new stitch pattern. The sleeves are knit in the round top down in a simple 1×1 ribbing.

DESIGN DETAILS

Texture

The sweater features numerous textures that create the effect of the puzzle pieces put together. The sweater starts with the fabric covered in simple cables, the cable bind off is added to visually break the sweater in two parts and then the mix of different ribbing stitches is added.

Sleeves

Sleeves are knit in the round top down. The length is adjustable.

Neckline

The neckline is a simple shaping free boatneck. The pattern gives the tips how to make it wider/narrower according to your taste.

Sizing

The sweater is graded for 8 sizes with approximately 11” of ease. The sample is shown in size Small with 11″ of ease.

B O D Y S I Z E S:

XS 31¨ (78 cm)
S 34¨ (86 cm)
M 37¨ (94 cm)
L 40¨ (101.5 cm)
XL 43¨ (109 cm)
2XL 46¨ (117 cm)
3XL 50¨ (127 cm)
4XL 52¨ (132 cm)

G A U G E

1 rep = 5″ in Cable stitch after blocking.

Take time to check your gauge!

Y A R N

500 (530, 580, 620, 660, 700, 750, 780) g of Moeke Yarns “Elena”.

T E C H N I Q U E S

Basic cables
Short rows
I-cord cable bind off
Twisted stitches

Eugenia sweater is available for $7 USD.

BUY NOW

Thank you for your support!!!

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By Alina| 2019-04-11T06:01:12+00:00 March 21st, 2019|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Eugenia Sweater Project for Moeke Yarns

When Ioana from Moeke Yarns contacted me back in Fall if I would be willing to be a part of a new knitwear collection for Edingburgh Yarn Festival 2019, I said yes immediately – you know how much I love this yarn company and am proud to be a part of their story since 2016. We discussed the concept of the sweater with Ioana – she had in mind a texture rich knitwear piece with the vintage feel and with the variety of stitches to show off the beauty of Elena yarn. Texture and mix of stitches? I am always in!

I started with creating the moodboards in Pinterest and with swatching. Though my goal was to really get out of the standard logic of the pattern, I still wanted the knitters to enjoy an easy, not overly complicated knit. Something that will look like a puzzle, but where each piece of the puzzle is easy to put together.

So I had the idea to cover the lower part of the sweater in cables with the use of the short rows to create an asymmetric cut and then throw in a mix of ribbing stitches. The sweater is broken down in half with the cable bind off.

Ioana organized an amazing photoshoot for the collection. Check Moeke Yarns IG to see the amazing work by Josh and Valentina – it is an honor to be a part of such an incredible team! Also make sure to enter the giveaway on Moeke Yarns instagram page – it is open until Monday!

I hope you will pick up your yarn kits at EYF next week and I will see Eugenia on many needles! The sweater pattern will be available online March, 21st.

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

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By Alina| 2019-03-17T08:07:00+00:00 March 17th, 2019|Knitting, Pattern|1 Comment

Knitwear Review. New York/London FW, Fall/Winter 2019

Happy Sunday! Today I continue my knitwear review series that have already become a tradition here – every season the designers are showing their collections in the course of the main 4 fashion weeks – New York, London, Milan and Paris. I try to look at knitwear from the different points of view and the fashion weeks are a great chance to browse through the tendencies and techniques.

New York and London have presented the mix of classic, innovative and exaggerated knitwear ideas.

Pringle Of Scotland, known for its knitwear, showed monochrome neutral total knitwear looks and presented variations of their signature classic print.

Colorwork was presented in different variations – Victoria Beckham, Fashion East and Eckhaus Latta used intarsia technique to draw patterns and even pictures on their pieces.

Margaret Howell took the conservative road and used classic patterns for her colowork. Love the gradient effect of the white sweater!

Ulla Johnson played with stripes in their golden beige sweater – the stripes are changing direction, angle, the width and the pattern. Pejina Pyo used the contrasting colors – different for each sleeve (because why not?!), I love the effect it created – a simple classic pullover automatically turns into a statement piece! Fashion East integrated the color into shape and structure of the cropped cardigan.

Colorwork was also presented with patchwork – ALEXACHUNG, Moddy Goddard and Eckhaus Latta created the color ¨puzzles¨.

Cables are always in vogue. The tendency of mixing yarn with other materials that was really big last year continues this season as well. Cables could be spotted in the collections of Badgley Mischka, Area, Emilia Wickstead and Christopher Kane.

One more unusual trend that I spotted is knitwear layering – it could be done for the runway show effect or who knows maybe we will see variations of this styling in mass fashion as well.

Simplicity in Victoria Beckham and Eudon Choi collections:

Here is one of my favorite looks from London FW by ALEXACHUNG – a simple knit dress layered over a floating light summer dress, such a great look for the transitional season!

Sleeves, obviously ¨a thing¨ rigth now, – oversized and exaggerative – could be spotted on runways of Adeam, Brandon Maxwell and Ulla Johnson.

Hope you enjoyed this review and found something interesting for you! Next week I am going to present you the project that I have been working at for the last several months – it was one of the most challenging patterns I have written, but I am so glad I ventured on this road – love how it turned out!

P.S. All photos are courtesy of vogue.com

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By Alina| 2019-03-10T11:01:36+00:00 March 10th, 2019|Knitting Inspiration, Knitwear Review Fashion Weeks|2 Comments

Peruvian Week. Machu Picchu.

I was trying to find the words to describe my trip to Machu Picchu, but every word seemed not good enough to describe how I felt there – awe, wonder, happiness and sadness at the same time, hope, faith in goodness in myself and others, infinite gratitude and love. This place will stay with me forever, I just know that. Machu Picchu, I’ve left a piece of my heart with you!

We started our excursion at 7 a.m. It was cloudy and foggy and then it started to rain. January is not really the season for visiting Machu Picchu, most of people come here in August, when the weather is clear, but the downside to that is that there are thousands of people coming to the mountain. I actually felt that the rain, fog and darkness made the whole experience even more dramatic. There was something magical about climbing up those magnificent hills, going along the paths that date several centuries back.

I am not going to try to retell you the story of Machu Pichhu, I am sure there are much better resources where you can read about this fascinating place, what I really strive achieve is to share with you this atmosphere, just a little bit, so you can relate, even just for the moment, to all the spectrum of emotions I felt there.

As time was passing by and we were walking around the town of ancient incas, the fog started to rise up and we saw majestic mountains surrounding us.

Absolutely breathtaking experience, you feel like you are floating in the air.

Then we had some free time where you can wander around and be on your own for awhile. I walked through ancient houses, met lama and just sat there for awhile, on the verge of the cliff, asking questions and just hoping and knowing at the same time that everything is going to be OK.

My farewell words to Machu Picchu were ¨Thank you, just thank you¨.

With this I am finishing my Peruvian adventures entries. Thank you for following along my Peruvian journey – I am so lucky to have this space to hold my memories here and to share them with you! I am back home, to work and to my usual routine. It feels good.

Have a wonderful day today!

P.S. See all the articles on the Peruvian Week.

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By Alina| 2019-02-17T15:31:11+00:00 February 17th, 2019|Peruvian Week, Travel|4 Comments

Peruvian Week. Sol Alpaca.

Today I wanted to tell you about a Peruvian alpaca brand that I accidentally discovered while wandering around Lima – Sol Alpaca. As it turned out later, it is one of the most famous brands in Peru and it is earning the recognition way beyond the Peruvian borders. The store is the explosion of color and textures, you can only imagine how excited I was to find it! First of all I was lucky to see the sweater knit in vicuña yarn, as you might know the fleece of this beautiful animal is considered to be the finest in the world and, as a very friendly and helpful shop assistant told me, it used to be reserved exclusively for ancient Inca royalty. The sweater knit in vicuna is sold at over $5,000 usd, a 100 g yarn ball is around $1,000 usd. Quiet a pricey pleasure, as you can see…

Most of the store was featuring alpaca, of course. Historically alpacas were of a great importance to Peruvian people, providing food, clothing and means of transport. Until the present day they are considered by the indigenous communities to be the property of the mountain gods that they have been generously loaned for this life and that caring for and preserving them are divine commandments.

Sol Alpaca is selling not only ready-to-wear knitwear, but also beautiful yarns. They are so soft to touch and of a very high quality. I highly recommend checking their small yarn selection on the website – they ship worldwide! The profits from the sales are also used for Mirasol project, committed to improve the living conditions of the impoverished children of alpaca herdsmen and provide the access to proper education and health.

It was such a great experience that I am infinitely grateful for! Tomorrow I will post the last article about my trip to Peru, which was one of the most emotional and beautiful experiences of my life – see you then!! Thank you for following along!

P.S. See all the articles on the Peruvian Week.

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