It's a Stitch Up

Things I’ve been looking at on the web…

Inspiration

There’s just about time to catch the Tsars exhibition at V&A before it closes this weekend, worth a look for the fantastic military jackets. I’ve long been interested in military inspired fashion, epitomised by Jimi Hendrix’s over-the-top brocade. Military themes have also inspired knitwear design - the ‘Heroine’ oversized felted coat from Twist Collective, ‘Revolution’ from Knitty and Veronik Avery’s Military Cardigan from Knitting Classic Style.

Prepare for summer

Kim Hargreaves’ new summer book Breeze is out today, and there’s a sneak preview of Rowan Studio 15, full of summery designs, on the Jannette’s Rare Yarns blog. I’m particularly fond of the ‘Flotsam’ sweater with asymmetric hem. Kemps Wool Shop have RYC Luxury Cotton DK for the amazing price of £1.39 / ball if you’re thinking of a springtime re-stash.

Design tools

I’ve started sketching out a few new garments with the help of Fashion Templates’ free technical templates. The female torso template is proportioned like an Olympic swimmer but it’s fine for sketching out ideas. They do paid ones too which I’m sure are better. Have a look at their rendering tips too if you’re thinking about brushing up your fashion illustration.

I’ve been for graph paper PDFs for planning fairisle in real size. There are lots out there, but the best one for knitting was the graph paper generator on Knitting on the Net – all you need to do is type in your required gauge, et voila! Others I looked at couldn’t produce the rectangular grid needed to accurately represent knitted stitches. Though, this variable triangle generator (scroll down) could work for the chevron shape of stocking stitch with a bit of tweaking.

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