black & white

Inkwell pullover

The new amirisu magazine was published last week, with my newest design – Inkwell. This pullover is made up of 4 panels, with colourwork down the centre and stockinette along the sides. When I first started sketching this, I had been sewing a lot with my bodice block, which gave me the idea of incorporating a princess seam in a knitted sweater.

Originally this was only an aesthetic consideration but when I began designing it, the seam also became a construction feature. The shaping required to make the seam line diagonal on the centre panel is also what staggers the vertical stripes after each horizontal one. On the side panels, the seam line becomes a secondary waist shaping point. I think the seam could also be a great place to add, remove or modify shaping – for example to add bust shaping.

I also made a colour picker so you can visualise some colour combinations you might like, try it here!

Black & white inspiration

Black is my favourite colour to wear, which presents some challenges when you love to knit your own clothes. Part of me wants to wear black always and forever but it’s a bit too restrictive when it comes to knitting, considering it won’t show much texture, shaping, or anything really, and it’s a horror to knit with in bad lighting. It’s a fun challenge, designing something that will stand out in black yarn, but it’s a lot more limiting than a lighter colour. Often, I end up knitting in greys, so I can stick with monochrome, knit in the evening, and still enjoy all my hard work and fancy stitchin’ once I’m done. Another option is to combine a black with a white yarn. Whether marled together as one yarn or worked in a two-colour brioche/tuck stitch, thin one or two row stripes, or stranded or slipped stitch patterns, black and white knit together create a stunning high contrast effect.

I’ve made myself a black and white marled hat, a sweater and most recently a pair of socks, so all I need now is some black and white knit leggings and I’m good to go. White noise girl!

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Left to right: Viktor & Rolf | Belstaff | Brunello Cucinelli | Jill Sander | Les Hommes

From the ground up

When I first started knitting I couldn’t understand why anyone would knit socks. Spending all that time just to stomp all over your finished knit with your feet, what. Eventually I started making sweaters and suddenly socks started to seem like very enticing, quick little projects. That, and I started to wonder how much warmer I’d be if I started to knit everything I could.

It turns out socks aren’t quick after all, with the tiny needles and the tight gauge, but mostly because I suffer from intense second sock syndrome. I’ve finished some socks within a couple of weeks, but usually each pair takes me a lot longer. In the end though that might be exactly why I’ve grown so fond of making them. I tend to get a bit obsessed when I’m working on a sweater, especially when the end is in sight, so it’s nice to have something else to work on for just a few minutes at a time. Socks are where I switch over from being a project to a process knitter, although really the ‘process’ I enjoy the most in this case is simply stockinette over and over and over again, which I can put away when I get bored.

These chunky little socks were a nice little surprise, they were finished before I knew it. 3.25mm needles, crazy! Of course that second sock did take much longer than the first but I feel like I only sat down a couple of times to actually work on them and poof, a pair of socks. Each one took 1 skein exactly so they’re a little bit short but they’re for wearing at home so I think my ankles will survive. I was hoping to make a second pair as a gift but to make those in a bigger size, I’ll have to do a contrast heel, toe and maybe ribbing too, as I only have 2 skeins left. I should cast on soon, can’t be without a pair of socks on the needles anymore.

black & white

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