HRYC

A guest post! Of sorts, anyway. Megan is the most wonderful feministy knitty sexy voiced friend. Plus, she has the odd afternoon off during the week so she's great to hang out with when the shop is closed. Here is our collaboration on the most important of topics: the return of the hat.

The lovely Tash and I finally got around to seeing unveiled this week, and spent a delightful couple of hours wandering through Te Papa exclaiming at fabrics, tiny waists, and bemoaning our 2012 lack of elegance.

Not that we're not elegant in our way, but we're not swanning around in gorgeous red dresses, dolled up, complete with gloves and hats. So, we've decided we're bringing back hats. Now, if you've been reading here a while, you'll have seen photos of me wearing hats - in varying states of success. So, we're on a mission.

Tash, as is her wont, immediately thought of the beautiful things she could knit:

Cloche, to my ears, is one of the more beautiful sounding words in our language. Naturally the cloche is one of my favourite hat styles - jaunty, elegant, sophisticated, tongue slightly in cheek.

Hats, to me, are a lovely way of finishing off a well-thought outfit. I suppose these days as we accessorise to the nth degree hats may seem a bit superfluous. In this city, famed for our love of black, I'm excited that this new 'bring back the hat' mission of ours will allow more colour into a winter wardrobe of black, grey, and black.

Ironically enough, I (Megan) have that Escargot hat in my Ravelry queue. My only concern is that I have knitted myself several hats, and I never end up wearing them. Right, first on the agenda is to wear one of them to the book launch this evening. Yes, Tash? I have a bright pink one that will do for the "bringing the colour" part. In fact, I believe it's even in a Knitsch yarn.

Now, to add to my queue - cos, you know, it's not nearly long enough - look how cute this cloche is! (though not in that scary green.)

For something a little more casual, this cabled slouchy-beret (What? It's a technical term) is gorgeous.

However, were I too lazy to knit, I could also shop. "Were" and "Could" being euphemisms, of course. Hats are something you really need to try on, but some internet shopping will do for now.

So I did some hunting around the interwebs. Look how cute! I'd wear this to casual saturday afternoon drinks in the sun.

This one, I'd wear while shopping. In a coat and some kind of matching scarf/glove arrangement.

But let's face it, Cloches are where it's at. Cute and sophisticated, and with Ebay, available in actual vintage.

With this, I'd just need red lipstick, and a cigarette holder.

And lastly, it's not a cloche. And yet, again, I'd really just need red lipstick, and an LBD. For that excellent Black Widow At A Funeral vibe. That sounds sarcastic, but that actually is one of my favourite looks.

Creepy mannequin, but.

So that's it. Hats. They're back. One thing I would say, is that hats - like red lipstick - take a bit of getting used to. It's not like putting on a new dress. Yes, the pattern might be different, but the foundation is the same. But a hat changes your look, and it messes with your hair and your face and looks really odd in the mirror if you're not prepared. Stick with it. We're wearing them, and being elegant and interesting. Are you in? And what will you wear?

Hooray! We're so excited and very honoured to be featured in the revised edition of Ann Packer's Crafty Girls' Road Trip. Tash has been a fan from way back - there is a copy of the first version in her bookshelf already.

Even more exciting is the chance to attend the launch - and you can, too!

Join Ann in releasing the book to the wild:
Friday, 20 April
from 5.30pm
Minerva, 237 Cuba Street, Wellington

There have been some very furrowed brows in the shop when it comes to making decisions over yarn colour for garments.

It's no small task - this is an investment: something you're going to spend a substantial amount of precious time on, and wear until it falls apart.
Well, hopefully.

First things first - be sure that:

a) you won't hate the colour after spending 60 hours knitting with it
and
b) it's a colour you will wear

Besides the first, very important point, here are a few handy guidelines in making your colour selection.

For the sake of this post, let’s pretend i’m hunting out a colour to knit both Dark and Stormy and Larch.

1. Look to the designer.
Ever wonder why so many people end up knitting a cardi in either exactly the same colour or very close to that used for the sample? Because it works. All sorts of considerations go into which yarn to use for a sample - and all are things you want to be aware of. When it comes to choosing colours for photography, a designer (or their creative director) will be thinking about what colour will show the stitch pattern to best effect in harmony with the yarn used. It’s also why you won’t see many samples knit in very dark colours - definition is lost with darker shades. You don’t want to spend lots of time knitting cables and have them practically invisible.

2. What stitches are involved?
Rules of thumb that I tend to stick with:
Cables: suit light to medium dark colours, with very little variation in colour. Think solid, heathers or barely semi-solid at best. The lighter the yarn in shade, the more light will play on the varied texture of the pattern and really make it stand out.

Lace: You can go darker with lace than with cables - especially if you plan to wear it over a lighter coloured something or other that will show through the holes and bring out the best in the fabric. You could even go black - but be warned that this WILL be a challenge to your sanity.

Stocking stitch with small sections of stitch pattern: Anything goes. Just remember: it is stocking stitch, and chances are high you will get bored. You need to be desperately in love with this yarn.

Fair isle: Fair isle calls for a neutral background - aim for shades of grey or brown, blues or less demanding colours as you don’t want the base colour to compete with the star of the show - your preciously worked fair isle. I’ll go into more about this one in another post.

3. Ravelry is your best friend.
The first thing you need to do: go to Ravelry, look up the pattern page, and then click on ‘projects.’

Assuming you have some sort of colour in mind, browse through the finished projects and see which ones stand out the most. The best ones to squiz at are the completed garments with a full length view in the images - they give a great perspective on how a colour adds to to detracts from the finished item.

Larch Cardi - all good colour choices!

Dark and Stormy  - which one floats your boat?

If you have no idea at all what colour to use - take note of the ones that literally jump off the page with awesomeness. What shade are they?

4. Take a friend, or ask your friendly shop person :D
This one is obvious - ask! Pick up the yarn, put it next to your face, and say, ‘is it me?’. Your friends and shop people are your best source of advice when it comes to what will look good on you. And we love to help. It might sound weird coming from a shop owner but from my own personal knitting experience: don’t settle for second best. If the shop doesn’t have a colour you like, ask. Or go somewhere else. It’s not worth your time or money to knit with something you’re not that happy with.

Lastly:
5. Fall in love

What we hear all the time:
‘oh, I could never wear that colour’

Really:
you LOVE that colour! It’s why you picked it up in the first place. But all this rubbish about being able to wear or not wear colours is just that: rubbish. If you really, desperately love a colour, just do it. Colour rocks my world: all of them. So if it makes you happy every time you see it, every time the hue crosses your hands when you knit a stitch: just go for it. There’s a confidence you take on when wearing something you are in love with - this will, EVERY TIME override any clashes of colour between your skin tone or hair or whatever.

Moral of this colour story:
Knit for the joy.

One last word: I haven't mentioned variegated yarn at all here. Reason: unless 99% of the pattern is stocking stitch, I advise against it. For kids: sure, fine go for it; on adults it can look a little crazy. If you do go variegated, aim for patterns that are knit entirely in the round, and knit both sleeves at once - this will help with even colour distribution. For hand-dyed yarns I ALWAYS advise to alternate two if not 3 skeins of yarn throughout to avoid weird pooling.

So: thoughts? Agree, disagree, loathe the entire process with the fury of a thousand suns?

These have come to be a bit few and far between - but better to have quality over quantity, right?

We've turned our clocks back for the winter, the light has grown grey, it's getting cold enough to consider if we own enough pairs of stockings for the next 4 months...

The first gig I ever went to featured Shihad - and I now see them every chance I get. Including this past Saturday at the Parrot & Jigger. It's a bit weird that was once a dirty old pub that wasn't worth going to now hosts some top quality acts. Rock on!

Here I am about to start writing the first of several posts about how to choose colour for a project...but as per usual I got distracted on the way.

The top patterns on Ravelry feature a surprising number of cover images with samples knit in...

yellow.

Can I say I TOLD YOU SO?

Gaze over these glories knit in radiant sunshine....

Shattered Sun Shawl by Felicia Lo

Nahui by Christelle Nihoul

My Honey by Elena Nodel

Pomme de Pin by Amy Christoffers. Ok so maybe this one is closer to golden syrup than sunshine but still - delicious.

Alright, I better stop being distracted and actually write the post I meant to!