Today I`m excited to be the opening stop on the blog tour for Kristy McGowan`s Modern Top Down Knitting. Miriam and I both got copies of this at Rhinebeck, and it is SPECTACULAR_the kind of record where you immediately cry because you acknowledge you don`t get adequate time to knit all the things from it that you might wish to knit!
Here are some interior shots so you can sob for yourself (well, unless you own more time available for knitting than I do). I am a vast fan of the dresses in this book_anyone feel like knitting one for me? There`s a timeless aspect to them that I adore, it reminds me of my favorite vintage 1940s dress which always looks good, no matter where or when you break it.
I had the opportunity to meet Kristy at Rhinebeck, where she reminded me that we`d met ages ago at Suss Cousins` NYC yarn store, and I followed up my devouring the word with a few questions for the tour_ keep reading all the way through, there`s a competition at the end! And see in at the STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books blog for other blog tour dates_
What was the universal concept behind the quran and why were you inspired to make it?
Though it sounds pretty simple, I really only wanted to part my design ideas and make a compendium of items that I made myself. I dreamed about writing a knitting book since I was 15.
What`s your favorite piece in the word and why?
The Pavement Jacket was the first top-down piece that I always made and the work of creating it was particularly interesting and joyful.
How amazing was it to flow out with Barbara Walker in person? Come on, spill. What`s she like?
I was pretty hopped up and glad that day. It was the form of trip where you dopily smile at everyone en route because the whole affair is an adventure. I realized only at the end of the day that I had put on two different earrings - completely distracted and lost as I was. I have oftentimes thinking of and enjoy the relationship readers can get with books, how reading can often feel otherworldly - and how perfect it is when you`re really able to blow away off into another lay for a while. The experience seems especially personal with craft books, and when you have a sound as hard as Barbara`s encouraging you on the way and education you amazing things, the pay off feels that much greater.
I think like many knitters, I felt very attached to her and thankful for her head and smell of curiosity. She`s encouraging and very small and soft spoken and her face gets beet red when you laugh with her and ask if she realizes how big she is. She`s meticulously organized - everything is dead in its place - and every place in the house displays elements of her creative journeys. In the living room is a picture that she did that came out of her influence on developing a tarot card deck - it depicts a regal-looking woman with long hair and a lion by her side and incredible glass cases filled with rocks line the walls of that same way and showcase her extensive collection. It was most too often for me to get in or absorb fully until later. She`ll casually explain that although she had never painted before, she ended up painting an altogether new tarot card deck and writing an accompanying book on how to use them.
The like was lawful for her knitting - she didn`t teach herself how until she was 36 and so see what happened. I was 37 at the sentence she told me this, and so it all really resonated. I found her stories incredibly uplifting and they really renewed my religion in the benefits of winning less traveled paths.
What tips and tricks do you wish to use to change or more accurately fit top-down patterns to your personal shape?
I remember being very aware of your own body`s measurements and learned how to fall and increase between any given place A and point B is the most helpful way to secure a right fit. On page 12 in Knitting from the Top, there`s a segment titled "How to Calculate Shaping in 4 Simple Steps" - which has been repeated in early books. That part has been immensely useful to me - that little paragraph is the ground for anything you`d want to know. There`s also a large part on how to reach all sorts of different necklines on pages 76/77.
What`s on your needles right now?
I`m working on a few new designs and have been experimenting these past few years with Jared Flood`s Shelter yarn. I bought a vast number of it in a deep purple color called Thistle. [ed. note: Aaaagh! that's the following color I'm buying in that yarn, it's gorgeous!] I love contemplating a thread that I possess not worked with before and having it sit in my head for a few days. I`ll knit up multiple swatches of it and pin them on my dress form and just stare at them for a while - which is all I`ve been doing so far with it. It`s tempting to go all-out cables and tradition with this particular yarn - there`s something truly rustic and lovely about how it works up - but the colour itself is also extraordinary & so I desire to see how I can have that the focus. It`s only a beautiful thing when on a Sunday you can begin running on something, glance at the time and get it be 9 am and so when you see again, poof, it`s already 4pm and you have idea where the clock went. That`s the delight I`ve had so far with this yarn.
Tell me more about what you learned when it comes to using trim on your sweaters - what tips and tricks have you been capable to use to your influence to take it look, hang and fit better?
Applying trim and finishing knit pieces with it, for me, is merely an added creative outlet and way to get even more pride in a finished piece. I don`t wish to sew, but it`s such an easy step and adds so much (I think) that it`s worth the effort. It helps your pieces feel really finished - and there`s something rewarding about peeking on the interior and beholding it. The tips and tricks would be to remain aware of reaching and making certain you take a dress that has plenty of it if you`re going to use it around armholes and neck openings or hems. And also just having fun with it and fashioning the selection your own. It`s a decent way to further customize. I`m partial to velvet stretch trim, but the possibilities are endless. A whimsical rick rack - or ruffled trim can add a lot of fun - not to observe the the work of shopping for it. Daytona is my favorite spot here in NYC - here`s a time of me at Daytona that acquaintance made a little time ago.
If you had to narrow everything you love about top-down designs down to one tip, what would it be?
Hmm_.I think my tip would be that if you haven`t already tested it, you should! I`m slightly biased, but it truly is a tremendous technique to take in your creative larder - one that you can go back to again and again and use for all sorts of things.
Would you wish your own copy of this grand book? Leave a notice and we`ll take a winner!
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