6/23/2014 – Knits That Breathe

Here’s the thing about writing a new knitting book: you work feverishly for months to source the perfect yarn for each project, and stretch your imagination to design all the wonderful, drool-worthy  projects. This is when you keep a little notebook on your bedside table, because inspiration tends to strike in the middle of the night. And your cat gets cranky because she’s not getting enough attention… or so she’d have you believe.

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Next, you spend hours and hours with calculator in hand drafting the patterns (and sometimes redrafting them, because of course you want to be inclusive and provide grading for several sizes…). This is when you might want more than one glass of wine with dinner because if you’re not math-oriented, at the end of the day your brain is fried. Distracting yourself with something really pretty is restorative, too.

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Then you focus on the book’s physical details like the font, the tech-editing content and style, the layout, and the project photography. You take pride in your work, so you want it all to be perfect. Your name is going right there on the cover, after all! This is when you trust your instincts, and try not to second-guess yourself.

And finally, one day, you get to write this:

Many cases of Knits That Breathe copies are on their way to Amazon this week. It makes me sooo happy to be able to write that last sentence, you can’t imagine. Or maybe you can.

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The wait has seemed long – and to someone not known for her patience, I’ll admit the wait has seemed impossibly long. But at last, it’s nearly over. Several additional cases of Knits That Breathe are on their way to me so I can send out copies to those of you have waited so patiently.

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I have a feeling the postal carrier and I are about to become very good friends!

6/21/2014 – Summer Solstice

As we slog into Chicago’s typical hot and sticky summer weather, I’m getting wonderful use out of the sample knits from Knits That Breathe. Local yarn company/indie dying wizard Beth at Lorna’s Laces put up photos on Facebook today of the designs using her yarns; the luxurious silk and bamboo blend Pearl,

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and the wool and high-tech Outlast blend, Sportmate.

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Now that my recent spate of house guests have all scattered to their respective homes around the country, I’m getting back to work. I’ve begun to ship hard copies of Knits That Breathe to the very patient folks who pre-ordered their copies here. It’s quite a process – and a new one to me – but as I get comfortable with the various steps, it’s going more and more smoothly.

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Quite soon, Amazon should be shipping out copies ordered there, and the LYS owners who placed orders at TNNA should receive their shipments around the end of June. Lots of time yet for summer knits, so I look forward to seeing the finished projects popping up on Ravelry!

After waiting far longer than I would have liked, I finally planted the summer garden out on our balcony a couple of weeks ago. Now that the plants have settled in and seem happy in their containers, they’re ready for a few close-ups.

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Trader Joe’s hibiscus is positively ravishing! The plants’ glossy emerald green leaves set the stage for the daily appearance of fresh vibrant blooms that appear in time to brighten every morning as I sip my first cup of coffee in their company.

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Must admit I’m a sucker for spotty, veiny leaves… not sure I want to know what this says about me, other than the variegation resonates. Perhaps these dramatic plants remind me of the infinite variety we have in yarn colors these days.

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As soon as my tender young basil plants put out some flowers, I’m dying to try a yummy-sounding iced tea recipe that my friend Hunter recently posted on her blog.

Of course, Hunter has far more exciting news these days. Her newest book, Knitter’s Curiosity Cabinet Volume III is out! I’ll be reviewing it next week, so come on back soon, y’hear?

6/18/2014

This is for those of you who’ve procrastinated about ordering your copy of Knits That Breathe: 12 Breezy Projects To Keep You Cool. I know how it is; it always seems like there’s plenty of time… and then suddenly, time runs out.

But now, you’re excited about the project photos you’re seeing up on Ravelry and you just want to start knitting already! And I understand, really I do.

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The pre-order special offer of 10% off the combined purchase of both hard copy and digital download has been extended through this Saturday, June 21st. That means you can still have both for $39.50 (plus shipping of the hard copy). Your patience has been rewarded.

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It seems only fair, since the shipment of books took its time arriving, and has only now reached port. Pre-ordered copies will be available to ship quite soon – wish I could be more specific than that!

Thank you for your understanding!

6/17/2014 – Mental Knitting

It’s been mentioned on Facebook, but until now I haven’t brought it up here; I’ve had a torn rotator cuff since the beginning of this year. I managed to do it at the gym, in spite of my careful attention to form and my complete lack of competitive or show-off behaviors.

How did this happen, you ask? Why, lifting weights, of course. The household’s power-napping fur ball doesn’t understand I’d want to lift anything heavier than a bite-sized piece of chicken.

IMG_0954I took a few weeks off, then went back to the gym and, paying even more attention to careful form and lifting even lighter weights, I pulled it all over again. And despite several months of physical therapy and exercises, it really doesn’t feel much better. Not even with liberal applications of this well-known, expert-endorsed icing treatment:

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The physical therapist made me promise that as soon as the samples for my next knitting book were complete, I’d take a full month’s hiatus from knitting. You read that right – a full month. Now halfway into that month, my suffering is silent but profound (get out your violins…).

Knitting is like breathing to me, I’ve come to realize. It’s difficult to wait on any line without knitting a few rows to make the wait go faster. Long car trips with no knitting to make the miles speed by? Boring. Watching TV at night without knitting in hand seems pointless, no matter how enjoyable the program. And no soporific knitting before I turn out the bedside light at night? Insomnia!

To her credit, the household fur ball keeps me honest, fixing me with her unblinking yellow eyes as if to say, “Don’t even think about it!”

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But I can still think about knitting. And I certainly do.

Sketches of ideas for future submissions? Check.

Perusal of my knitting books to “refine” the collection? Check.

Fondling my yarn stash under the pretext of tidying and sorting? Check.

But to be honest, halfway into my self-imposed knitting moratorium, I’m feeling just a wee bit prickly.

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6/13/2014 – A Podcast and A Book Review of Solefull Socks

To hear my podcast interview on Yarn Thing with Marly Bird, and our discussion of the projects, fibers, and inspiration for Knits That Breathe, just click on her name above. Read the show notes here for all my pertinent data.

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Marly is an interviewer’s interviewer. She puts her guests completely at ease (at least, this one certainly was!), and asks thoughtful questions that keep the conversation going effortlessly.

On the new books front, I’m loving Betty Salpekar’s Solefull Socks: Knitting From the Ground Up. Betty and I met at a Visionaries self-publishing workshop earlier this year, and I was enchanted when I took a look at her book.

And what a gorgeous book it is. In a large format hardcover, Solefull Socks contains beautiful, tempting photographs of the projects, painstakingly detailed charts and diagrams, explanations of the sock architecture, and useful tips and hints to make your own journey into Solefull sock-knitting as enjoyable as possible.

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Betty has completely re-imagined sock-knitting, devising a method that should please even the most sock-averse knitter. Her technique builds up from the sole, wrapping the sock around the wearer’s foot and up from there.

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But make no mistake; this is not like any other toe-up sock knitting you’ve read about. In fact, it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before in the world of socks. Amazingly, Betty’s invention lends itself equally well to lace that traverses the foot and ankle:

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and colorwork, such as this diamond pattern:

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as well as textured stitches:

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It seems that no matter what pattern one incorporates into this technique, the end result will be wearable, comfortable, and attractive on the foot. This is a book worth seeking out and adding to your knitting library, whether or not you consider yourself a sock knitter. The technique is so unusual, yet so practical and visually appealing, that every adventurous, curious knitter will want to give it a try. I know I will!

6/11/2014 – Coming Up: Podcast Interview with Marly Bird!

Tune in tomorrow to hear my podcast interview with Marly Bird on her Yarn Thing:

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Really excited about this one – I met Marly at a recent trade event (TNNA), and she’s absolutely delightful! Not to mention, I love her logo! So charming:

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6/10/2014

A couple of days ago, an article appeared online that got me thinking again about yarn substitutions and cast-on methods for the projects in Knits That Breathe. This article was by Pam MacKenzie, who recently reviewed the book for her column in My Central Jersey.

This time, Pam was going full-speed ahead, casting on for her personal favorite book project, the Iced Frappuccino tunic. Her yarn of choice is a luscious turquoise UltraPima cotton yarn from Cascade, so clearly she’s already working the yarn substitution angle.

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It sounds like Pam is already familiar with the Cascade yarn and knows for certain that she’ll knit to gauge with it, because she immediately cast on to start the project… not a swatch in sight.

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For her, the issue was more in the choice of cast-on method. Using the Long Tail, Pam experienced the very problem that originally turned me off that method; in other words, she ran out of yarn several stitches short of the number she needed. Here’s my sympathetic “Aarrrgghhhh!” Despite my best efforts to calculate the necessary length of yarn for the correct number of cast-on stitches, I often experience the same heartbreak; it’s the “day late and a dollar short” of yarn woes. And Pam had this happen to her not once, but twice.

Then she tried something new for her: Cable cast-on. All I can say is, great minds…

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I use the Cable cast-on for almost everything these days. Its neat finished edge appearance (especially on the right side) combined with its relative stretchiness, often makes it the ideal choice. And for the projects in Knits That Breathe, that’s often just what you’ll want.

In case you’re not already familiar with this technique, here’s a brief tutorial:

First, put a slip knot on the needle, and knit a stitch into that.

Put that new stitch back on the left hand needle without slipping the first stitch off.

Knit the next stitch in between the first and second stitches, and transfer that stitch back onto the left hand needle.

Continue adding stitches in this manner until you have enough for your pattern on the needle!

 

 

6/8/2014 – Sail Away Project Particulars from Knits That Breathe

The shrug is one of knitting’s most versatile projects. Yet there are many who assume it’s necessary to be thin, or young, or flat-chested to wear one. I might even have thought that myself, once upon a time.

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Now that I’ve been taking advantage of every possible opportunity to wear my Sail Away shrug, though, I’m newly converted to its charms. Sail Away takes its name from the wavelike all-over lace design I chose for the project – it was perfect. There are only two short seams to create the sleeves. And, you have the option either to leave the sleeves wide, kimono-style, or to knit Garter stitch cuffs for a bit more structure, as shown here.

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When would you want to wear a shrug? you ask. Maybe the better question is when wouldn’t you want to wear a shrug?

Movie theater feels like a walk-in freezer? Unfold it from your purse and wrap up in it.

Office ventilation system making you shiver? Pull it out of your desk drawer and put it on.

An unexpected chill in the air on your early morning power walk? Thank goodness you had the presence of mind to bring it along!

As one of the few wool-blend projects in Knits That Breathe, the Sail Away shrug is an anomaly. But Sportmate yarn from Lorna’s Laces was too good to pass up. That Superwash merino wool is blended with Outlast™, a high-tech fiber used in the aerospace industry to regulate body temperature. That means if you’re feeling a chill, the Outlast helps retain body heat. And if you’re running hot, it helps cool you down.

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As Lorna’s Laces puts it:

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6/4/2014 – Zephyr Project Particulars from Knits That Breathe

Sometimes I like to pretend that I have a long, lean, and elegant figure. For those occasions, I need a garment that perpetuates the fantasy successfully enough that it becomes a temporary reality. That’s when I pull Zephyr off the closet shelf and shimmy its silky softness over my head and shoulders.

IMG_2613Other times I just want to stride out into the world without a purse. For me, going purse-less is a bit of a novelty. Not that I carry one of those gigantic designer bags. You know the ones I mean; they’re so big the bearer could easily run away from home with nothing but that bag’s contents in hand.

No, not me. I prefer a tiny, cross-body bag that holds the essentials and nothing else. Still, there are times when even my littlest cross-body bag seems like an imposition. And for those times, I want pockets. That’s also when I pull out Zephyr.

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On really hot days when I need to exude an attitude of organized competence (oh, and not sweat my way through meetings), I reach for Zephyr with its delicate lace motifs, short sleeves, and the subtle sheen of its silk and bamboo fiber to keep me comfortable. The cool touch of this fabric against my skin works wonders.

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I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Lorna’s Laces Pearl yarn for this project. It was a lovely choice…the teal, aquamarine, forest, and emerald variegation in the color #1111, The Skyway, mimics the ebb and flow of waves on Lake Michigan on a windy day.

Sumptuous and special, the 51% silk/49% bamboo blend offers the sheen of silk and the wonderful soft drape of bamboo. Available in Lorna’s Laces’ entire palette, it’s a treat – and with 220 yds. per skein, only a few skeins are needed to make Zephyr your own.

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6/3/2014 – Splash Cardigan Project Particulars (Knits That Breathe)

Long overdue for a new post here at Julie Turjoman Design. Chalk it up to house guests and the need to finish up edits and proofing of my next book.

Let’s talk about the Splash Cardigan from Knits That Breathe, shown below fastened asymmetrically with a shawl pin.

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Here are the characteristics I invariably look for in a cardigan, and was happy to incorporate into Splash:

  • Lace or openwork design for air flow
  • Short or elbow-length sleeves (so I don’t have to keep pushing up longer ones, which drives me crazy)
  • Breathable fabric that allows me to wear the cardi all day (cotton and bamboo blend here)
  • Drape-y, body-skimming design because that swishy style makes me feel instantly cooler

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Designing Splash as a top-down cardigan was another deliberate choice, leaving only short underarm seams to complete before blocking. If you’re going to make a hip-length cardigan, after all, do you really want to have to sew lots of long seams when the knitting is done?

I didn’t think so!

Let’s take a look at a few more details:

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The lace design repeats in a simple border toward the end of the sleeves. Lest you get tired of all that lace on the fronts, I kept the back side plain Stockinette.

The top-down shoulders also include simple yarn overs, adding to its cool feel and appearance.

I included faux side seams, made by carrying a slipped stitch up into the next row before knitting it to give the appearance of seams. It’s the kind of design element I like to use – another detail that makes the finished garment just a little more special.

And the yarn… oh, yes – the yarn. Can I tell you how much I enjoyed working with Valley Yarns’ Southwick? The 52% pima cotton and 48% bamboo fiber blend is absorbent and drapes beautifully. Minimal blocking was required. Despite the fact that it’s a swanky Italian import, this yarn is well-priced (and on sale right now at WEBS for only $5.39/ball) and available in a veritable rainbow of 26 colors. Although it was a little splitty on the needles, I found that a minor inconvenience once I saw how beautifully it knits up.3669.24YELLOW.detail.2

As far as Splash is concerned, the overlapping lace fronts mean that you can wear it either open or fastened with a shawl pin as demonstrated above. I like the added versatility… this allows for changing up the look of the cardigan just enough to keep it interesting.

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I wish I was on that San Francisco beach right now, toes in the sand, bracing tang of salt in the air. But if I can’t be there, Splash at least allows me to pretend!

5/22/2014 – New York State of Mind

For those of you who don’t know this, I have a daughter who lives in NYC. She just had a birthday, and since we hadn’t seen each other since last Christmas I was overdue for a Dose of Daughter.

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Last Friday, I was up at 3:30 am to catch my flight – and freely admit I’d stagger out of bed that insanely early only for someone I love. I stayed over at my uptown sister’s informal B & B, otherwise known as a very comfortable couch.

The early flight meant that my daughter and I had an extra whole day to visit, and she was kind enough to take Friday off from work so we could really enjoy ourselves. And by “enjoy,” I mean mostly shopping and eating, though not necessarily in that order. Dinner at Hotel Chantelle on the Lower East Side included this duck pâté with all the fixins.

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Saturday was absolutely gorgeous – sunny, 70s, and breezy. Exactly what a day in late spring should be like. Perfect for a guided tour of my girl’s new neighborhood (she’s moving in early June) as well as a trip to Brooklyn for a visit to Smorgasburg – an artisanal food fair held every weekend in Williamsburg. In other words, more eating.

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In the midst of Williamsburg’s beanie-wearing crowd of twenty-something hipsters, I felt ostentatiously uncool.  But my lack of urban hipster cred did nothing to impair my appetite. 🙂

And Sunday gave us more sunny skies, inspiring a walk with my daughter around the reservoir in Central Park.

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I had a bit of a thing going for the Central Park bridges that lead to an outer path. Each one was different, and each one had its own wealth of beautiful, graceful design details.

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After the exercise, it felt a bit less gluttonous to go to my sister’s apartment for brunch, even though she made a french toast casserole that was as decadent as it was delicious. Got to see my niece and nephew, a rare occurrence but a happy one.

Then back to the airport and home by dinner time. It was a lovely – and much needed – break from my routines.

5/21/2014 – Breezy Project Particulars, Knits That Breathe

Worked in two pieces – front and back – Breezy is one of those summer projects that works up quickly but looks like you slaved over it. Its A-line shaping means that it epitomizes comfort, but those deep lace borders mean it looks smashing over a skirt as well as with jeans.

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Picot cast-on and the extravagant lace pattern are the special details that take a bit of time and thought, but give you the satisfaction of knowing you’ve earned those rows of easy Stockinette for the upper body. A centered chest pocket features the same lace motif as the deep borders, and adds interest to the swathe of Stockinette from the waist up.

On cooler days, pop this tunic over a lightweight tee shirt and you’ll be happily comfortable. On hot days, I’m happy to confirm that the absorbent organic cotton and sleeveless design combine forces to keep you cool.

And because the top is not at all sheer you needn’t worry about modesty. In fact, you won’t need to wear even a camisole underneath when a glance at the thermometer tells you it’s tropical outside.

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And maybe it’s just me, but one of the things I love about those deep lace panels is that I can reach my jeans pockets easily by sliding a hand in from the side.

Classic Elite Yarns Verde Collection is the company’s range of environmentally conscious fibers, which are all about natural comfort. Seedling is the smiling poster child for organic cotton; robust yet surprisingly lightweight, machine washable, and available in a lovely color palette. For our purposes, it’s important to note that it’s also highly absorbent, blissfully soft, wonderfully textured, and well-priced.

Seedling yarn Classic Elite

 

Book Review – 52 Timeless Toys To Knit by Chris de Longpré

And now for something completely different! Let’s take a little break from Knits That Breathe (maybe I should call it a “breathe-er”…?) to review a book by one of my fellow Visionary authors.

What do the Blue-Footed Booby, the Kiwi, the Puffin, and the Chicken have in common? Besides the obvious, that is. While it’s true that all of them are birds, that’s not the answer I’m looking for!

 

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Answer: This menagerie of adorable knitted creatures is featured in Chris de Longpré’s newest release, 52 Timeless Toys To Knit . Another treasure from her independent press,  Timeless Knits Publications , this is a volume knitters will definitely want to add to their personal libraries.

The book’s front section provides thorough explanations of the necessary materials and equipment (even down to the preferred type of stuffing), the stitches, abbreviations, and techniques, and illustrations of the embroidery embellishments used to give the toys their many special details.

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Because they require only small amounts of yarn, the toys can easily be worked from remnants of yarn left over from larger projects, and of course they make terrific stash-busters. Divided into nine sections that identify either the land of origin or the species represented, 52 Timeless Toys To Knit includes an impressive variety of animals including those from: Down Under, Flock, Heartland, Midnight Sun, Reef, Serengeti, Southwest, Wetlands, and Woodland. And at $29.95 retail, the book is an excellent value at less than a dollar per pattern.

One caveat: I’m not a toy knitter. In general, I’ll admit I’d rather wear my knitting. If I had a few free hours and some random but compatible scraps of yarn, it would never occur to me to knit a toy with that time and those scraps.

Until now.

Even I – with no small children to knit for, and no grandchildren (so far!) – am completely enraptured by the projects in Chris’s book. These wonderful, whimsical toys have such incredible details and provide such tactile and visual pleasure to all who see them, it quickly became obvious that I’ll have to make several to keep on our coffee table for guests to play with.

Close examination of the individual projects reveals a wealth of detail:

The beaver has a flat paddle tail and long white teeth made for chipping away at wood, and the walrus has his pearly white, curving tusks.

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Let’s take a closer look at the turtle, one of my particular favorites: his head and legs can be drawn up into the shell, just as a real turtle would do when startled.

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Then there’s the crab, with its bulging eyes and articulated claws:

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Another sea creature that caught my attention is the starfish, with its lifelike spiny bumps:

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Back on dry land for a moment, consider the armadillo with his ridged tail and leathery armored back:

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My other favorites include the flamingo and the lizard, both of which are colorful, bendable, and have a kind of goofy realism that pleases the child in all of us:
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Finally, consider this family of owls:

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I can already tell that their sheer adorable-ness will be my gateway to toy knitting. With my stash and needles at the ready, 52 Timeless Toys To Knit will get quite the workout. I may as well leave it permanently in my knitting bag, because I have a feeling that whenever I complete a larger project, my next one will involve one of these toys.

The book is available through Amazon and at fine yarn stores through Unicorn Books & Crafts, Brown Sheep Company, Notions Marketing, and Knitting at KNoon Designs. A digital download version should be available at the end of this year. For convenience, it may be divided into nine shorter e-books, one for each of the chapters in the book.

5/15/2014 – Pochette: Knits That Breathe Project Particulars

Pochette (poe – shėt, from the French for “little pocket”) has long, lean lines with gentle set-in waist shaping that accentuates, yet skims gently, over a woman’s curves. Its airy sheerness looks beautiful worn over a camisole, but maintains its cool breathability when knitted up on US Size 5 or 6 needles.

With elbow-length sleeves, a flattering V-neck and color-blocking to add visual interest, this tunic goes from the office to a night out with ease.

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Although it’s elegant enough to wear with a long, minimalist necklace as shown here, Pochette would also be spectacular with a patterned silk scarf draped around the neck.

Curved pockets grow out of the color blocking, and are achieved with Short-Row shaping. To my eye, the colors “Apple” and “Tar” sang in perfect harmony when combined. I love this serious shade of gray next to the chartreuse; each color becomes its best self when edged with the other.

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The lovely linen yarn used in this project is Shibui Linen. Softer than your average linen, it nonetheless has the lovely dry, crisp hand that we associate with linen fiber. Airy and light, this is a quintessential summer yarn, with a unique chain ply structure that is an absolute dream to work with. Never splitty or rough on the hands, it slides through the fingers and has just enough texture to stay put on the needles.

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While the tunic is a natural over leggings or jeans, it would dress up beautifully worn belted over a long, floaty skirt.

Adding Beads To Your Knitting

PLACE BEADS (PB): I prefer the crochet hook method for adding beads to leaves, hems, edgings, and other small embellishments in my knitted projects.

To place a bead using this method, place a bead on the crochet hook, insert the hook into the stitch where you want to add the bead and lift the stitch off the left needle, and slide the bead onto the stitch. Place the stitch back on the left needle, and knit the stitch.

Lily Chin wrote a great description of this technique in Knit and Crochet with Beads , on pp. 48-9. She calls her method “Hoisted atop Stitches,” but by any name it is a simple and relatively quick way to add a small number of beads to a knitted project without the need for tedious pre-stringing.

Instructional photos coming soon!