David Loom arrives at a Michigan Shop

Look how cute these new Jul Pedestal Buttons are, patent leather with different colored centers! We have a lot of great new products coming out for next season. I can't wait to see everything myself!

I was so excited to see this post from Nancy at Woven Art in Lansing. I am not a weaver (yet!) but I still love the tools, looms and creative projects. The David Loom from Louet is assembled and ready for visitors at Nancy's wonderful shop. Last time I went to see her there were two weavers working on gorgeous projects in the back room. Very impressive!

I finally put all of the new patterns up on Ravelry. There are 5 now, with more on the way very soon! The Rivulet shrug is being test knit, and I will be starting a shawlette soon, and then getting back to more designs for fall. When I was in Maryland this week, Laura got an email from a famous-name designer with sneak peek pictures of pieces featuring the new Montreal Closures and Pedestal Buttons. Can't show them, but look for them at TNNA in Columbus in June if you are in the biz, otherwise they will be in your LYS for Fall 2011. So exciting!

Pattern Support for Jul

When Laura and I decided to roll out the new Pedestal Buttons and other Jul Silver closures, very last-minute, for TNNA in Long Beach this January, we figured we would need some pattern support to help show how the things worked and how cool they were. We talked about how we wanted to keep the designs fairly simple, both to offer an accessible project for people of all knitting skill levels, and to best spotlight the hardware. We thought that all that would really be needed was a basic shape in an attractive stitch pattern--because of the transformative powers of the closures (they are movable, removable, reversible, interchangeable, require no sewing, pre-planned buttonholes, or commitment!) a rectangle could easily become a hat, a scarf, a cowl, an earwarmer, or whatever! We wanted to keep the instructions short, and decided if the whole thing could not fit on the back of a large postcard in 10.5 point font, then the pattern was too complex. We half-jokingly said the collection should be called "Barely a Pattern," and so far the name has stuck.

I rustled up some yarn and got busy swatching, knitting, and writing, while Laura worked around the clock (I think literally!) to finish preparations for the booth display and to get the new products, pricing, and everything else ready. I finished the Infinity Scarf and the Cowl in two Fibre Company yarns. My flight to Long Beach left Thursday morning. It was Tuesday afternoon and I was not sure who my models would be, but we sure did need the photos, and I had said I would take care of it. Out of necessity, I became much more comfortable both asking for help and talking to strangers.

These three lovelies are my first subjects. All attractive, open-minded, and willing to stand outside on a chilly day--great qualities in knitwear models! Seeing Manish in his cowl reminds me that I should work on more unisex designs. Doesn't he look great?

The first two patterns have done really well, and many shops are reordering, and in larger quantities than their first orders. (yay!) The Buttons are selling the patterns, and the button/pattern combination is selling more yarn for my LYS customers. The same is true for other shops around the country, and even internationally! This is what we had in mind, and hoped would happen. There are additional patterns now, for a super-slouchy hat, and another small, quick, and cute neckwarmer. Soon we will add patterns for a larger stole and a transitional-weather shrug. Stay tuned!

This is Christie's Swatch. Christie is a very helpful woman who is in charge of sales at the hotel I am staying at this week in Michigan. She happened to be at the front desk when I came by looking for some emergency label printing help on Saturday night. I told her what I needed, and it had to do with the printed patterns, so of course I showed them to her. She told me that she had taught herself to knit and enjoyed it, but had never knit from a pattern before. I told her that in exchange for the labels (Kinko's was going to charge me a ridiculous amount to do what I needed) I would give her an Infinity Scarf Pattern and give her a quick lesson on working from a pattern. We exchanged info, since I may find my self in need of some meeting space someday (or another model, she is gorgeous!) and so she could SOS me if she had trouble with the scarf. Good for her for doing a swatch--I never did them when I was a beginner, and only reluctantly and quite recently became more disciplined with my knitting habits. I was happy to have a real case study of a beginner tackling a Barely a Pattern project. I forgot to ask her what yarn she is using. I have requested that she keep me updated with her progress and I will share that here in the blog.
Here is Jade, pretending to text, and wearing the finished sample of the Infinity Scarf on another coldish February day (shown with the Spiral Bridge Closure, which has also been a good seller so far--it's jewelry for your knitting!) At some point, we will have an online gallery of all of the designs shown with different styling options.

In the meantime, there has been some back and forth about the collection name "Barely a Pattern." What do you think? Do you like it? Does it make you want to knit the pieces? Would you buy the pattern? Do we even need a name for the collection?

I would love to get some feedback in the comments :)

Context, texture, photo shoots

Now that part of my job is to design knitting patterns and take pictures of the pieces, I have found myself increasingly drawn to different all-over textures, both in the stitch patterns that I am settling on for the garments, or out in the world. I am attracted to richly textured stitches, dense, "nubbly" fabric in luxurious yarn, in mostly muted colors. I also am interested in the look of lumpy, bumpy, person-made surfaces, for instance in walkways, roads and walls.
Above is some melting snow on my stamped concrete walkway. It's pretty neat that concrete can be trucked to my yard, poured, and stamped with a rubber mold to resemble natural rock.

This is cobblestone in front of my house. Beautiful and functional, and put there by human workers. I think I like the orderliness of it. Brick next to brick, placed carefully (I imagine) like a consciously formed row upon row of knit stitches.
I'm glad I saved this basket, I love the look and the contrast with the washed, uncombed wool and the corner of a new knitted piece, done in The Fibre Company's Terra in one of my favorite colors, Butternut. The pattern will be debuted at an event March 6 at "...Have You Any Wool?" in Berkley, MI, then will be available at your LYS, along with the Jul Pedestal Buttons and closures, which give you the ability to transform your work for fit, look, and functionality.
Here is a little piece of a larger wrap that reminded me of cobblestone. There are so many options for how to wear it with the closures. This pattern is being test knit as we speak, by one of my new Pittsburgh area Ravelry friends.
This is a picture of the hand rivet press at Laura's Savage MD studio. I think this is from my first visit to the Jul studio, in March 2010. I thought it was a beautiful image and I surreptitiously took the picture with my phone. Did you know that each piece that comes from Jul, whether a shawl pin, a bag handle, or the new closures (jewelry for your knitting or crocheted work) passes through Laura's hands? EVERYTHING in her line is made by people, and she makes sure it leaves her studio as beautiful as it can be. I have been "apprenticing" with her a little to learn how to fill orders, so that she will be able to make a trip to Indonesia this summer. It is great, but challenging, to make something by hand and to send it out so that people can enjoy its beauty and usefulness.
Above is a picture of the lovely Jade, a friend of my friend Marilyn, who did a great photo shoot for us yesterday. My husband, Keith, took all of the pictures, and he got some exceptional shots. This is a new slouchy hat shown with two large, one medium, and one small Pedestal Button in patent leather. The pattern and buttons will also be available at a LYS near you! Such a simple pattern that knits up so quickly in The Alpaca Yarn Company's Snuggle, an alpaca/wool blend in a bulky weight. Jade said she liked wearing the pieces because they were both functional (warm) and beautiful, and the feel of the yarn and the creative styling ability of the closures made it more special, and unique. We took the photos within half a block of where Jade and Marilyn work, which makes me happy. I think it is cool that there is so much visual interest right in our own backyards, and all around us where we live, work, and hang out. Also, I had worked at the same place 20 years ago (that's where I met Marilyn,) which is getting me started thinking about context. More on that later...

There are two walls that I have had my eye on that I will photograph later today, and another model shoot is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

A Dream Within a Dream

This feels so weird. My day today consisted of taking a test knitter/new knitting friend--for one of my new designs...that's the weird part--out to lunch to give her the yarn and draft of the pattern. Then more knitting on a new piece, then some pattern writing, some wrangling of my attractive friends to model for me and scouting locations for a photo shoot, and communicating with other Pittsburgh knitters who are willing to help me with test knitting. Sure doesn't feel like work!

Apparently I am in charge of pattern support for the Jul Silver Pedestal Buttons and Closures. Our pattern line is called Barely a Pattern. There's not a whole lot of hard-core designing going on, and it's hard for me to think with a straight face that I am a designer. I guess I am afraid that if I am not sufficiently humble about these simple designs, I might make Real Designers crabby. I guess, to my credit, it has been more work than I thought it would be. Lots of swatching, a little measuring and very little math (so far!) Still I have the issue that I think something will be totally awesome in my head, and that somehow does not translate into real life. I was gratified to hear Kate and Courtney say on a recent Never Not Knitting podcast that they still have that experience--and they are for sure Real Designers. I mean, they have a gorgeous book!

So, what will it take for me to feel like I can call myself a designer? The patterns are selling. Better than I had imagined. So far the Barely a Pattern Infinity Scarf (above) is the best seller. Laura (my Jul partner) tells me people are calling her studio asking where can they buy this pattern. Really? Cool, kinda famous people who have a lot of followers took pictures of me and put them on their blogs! And I am spending quite a bit of time and effort working on this stuff. That counts for something, doesn't it?

Jul Silver part 1

Jul Silver is one of my tremendous creative partners. I really had never been inspired to make a felted bag before, until I fell in love with this handle (the Amazon Explorer) and the Noni Nomad bag pattern. Now I can't wait to do more bags!

All of the leather handles are designed by Laura Bellows of Jul, and HAND MADE by the DESIGNER in her Savage, MD studio. Only the highest quality leather is used. this one is called the Big Sexy Handle. The 2.5" steel rings give a very "rock-and-roll" look. These are hot and come in 24" or 30" lengths.

This is the Earth Explorer Hinged handle. I can't imagine using a lower-quality handle to finish a piece I have made. I have gotten so many compliments on my first bag. I have also seen cheaper handles in shops. They are usually really thin leather wrapped around a fabric core. I have seen them crack when touched. What would happen when you actually use the bag?

You may not have seen the different colored leather for the handles. This is the Botanical Explorer handle. The rivets are cool looking and make the handle very sturdy. You can also rivet right through your knitted bag to attach the handle. Jul offers a home riveting kit, or knitters have told me that they take their bags to a shoe repair person who can attach the handles for them.

Here is the handle that started it all for me. If you own a LYS, please let me know if you would like to see the collection in person. If you make a sample bag for the shop, your customers can special order their handles. Why not do a felted bag class? Felted bags are only "over" if you let them be over. Take a look at the Noni Fall collection with the Jul handles and you can see how current and sophisticated knot felted bags can be. It is a great way to sell patterns, yarn, and bag hardware (handles, decorative items, and don't forget the bag feet--see above--to extend the life of the bag) which come in a wide range of prices.