We have two revelations tonight. One, the winner of my silly “Have you seen this flower?” contest; and, two, the first sneak peek into a booklet I’ve been working on with Shibui for six months now. But, first… Congratulations to…
TAMI!!!
You are the winner of a couple of super-cool knitting-themed treats I found at the San Fransisco Japantown Kinokuniya :) Send me your mailing address [fyberduck(at)gmail(dot)com] and I’ll pop them into the mail with all haste ^_^
Thank you, everyone, who commented or mailed me. It’s nice to know you appreciate the quirkiness here!
Next, we have a design that I am inordinately proud of, Bandon:
The concept of the booklet, Textures, is taken from traditional fisherman’s sweaters like Ganseys/ Guernseys and Arans. Bandon, my baby, was inspired by Gansey patterns from Northern England.
And, while the stitch patterns may be entirely traditional, the silhouette and construction is thoroughly modern.
The design starts with the bottom hem and is worked first vertical, then on the bias, and finally ends horizontal. The body is then picked up from the peplum and is constructed as a standard ribbed raglan. A square sailor’s collar & rope cable finish off the details, making it one seriously eye-catching piece. In fact, I believe there was a fight over which model got to wear it at the photoshoot.
The drape and shaping of the peplum draw the eyes to the hips and waist, emphasizing curves delightfully. And by using traditional Gansey textured stitch patterns, the peplum has visual interest without being bulky. All in all, it’s flattering as hell to wear and I won’t deny it.
I am just pleased as punch with how this came out and am seriously considering knitting one for myself. Very seriously.
But that’s only the first of four patterns I designed for the booklet, three of which I even designed the stitch patterns for! I can’t wait to show them to you, but I have to be good and stick to the preview schedule. So, with that, I’ll leave you with one more tidbit of good news…
I just received the final pattern template for my new indie pattern line and will be able to start formating patterns very, very soon! Talk about too much good news at once :)
Sara Morris Design 
Thank you Sara!
How funny! I spent a few years in Bandon-by-the-sea. Town was actually started by my stepfamily’s ancestors and a Lord got the name changed by requesting a Post Office be setup just outside of town with the name of Bandon.
Your sweater looks yummy!