Osborn Kate Gagnon - Vintage Modern Knits: Contemporary Designs Using Classic Techniques

Contemporary designs using classic techniques

COURTNEY KELLEY & KATE GAGNON OSBORN

EDITOR Ann Budd

TECHNICAL EDITOR Karen Frisa

ART DIRECTOR Liz Quan

COVER AND INTERIOR DESIGN Karla Baker

MODEL PHOTOGRAPHER Joe Hancock

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER Lynn Osborn

PHOTO STYLIST Carol Beaver

HAIR AND MAKEUP Kathy MacKay

PRODUCTION Katherine Jackson

2011 Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley Photography 2011 Interweave Press LLC except as noted.

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kelley, Courtney.

Vintage modern knits : contemporary designs using classic techniques / Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59668-240-5 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-59668-492-8 (PDF)

ISBN 978-1-62033-174-3 (ePub)

1. Knitting--Patterns. 2. Womens clothing. I. Osborn, Kate Gagnon. II. Title.

TT825.K445 2010

746.432--dc22

2010025828

This book is dedicated with much love to Julia Ann, Lucy, Yvette, and Verna, our very patient grandmothers, who taught us a love of needle arts at a young age.

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to all of the wonderful people at Interweave for making our vision a reality. We couldnt have done it without Tricia Waddell, who put the bee in our bonnets to write a book, and Ann Budd, our patient and phenomenal editor, who guided us through every step of the process.

All of our love and thanks go to our dear and supportive families who made our dinners, went on countless dog walks, clocked many hours of childcare, and put up with watching endless movies during the long winter as we frantically knit and wrote the patterns for this book at every possible spare moment.

A very special thanks goes to Iain and Daphne, for creating an amazing yarn company and putting the trust of its continuation in our hands. We will always be in awe of your creativity, forward thinking, artistic vision, and organization and forever grateful for the opportunity to work with Fibre Company yarns every day.

And to those with the most thankless job of all, the test and sample knitters: Jennifer May, Abby Wheeler, Lisa R. Myers, Daphane Marinpoulos, and Jenna Wilbur. Your patience and hard workusually demanded at the last minute and with little rewardare what made much of this book possible.

The advent of electronic technology and the speed of the Internet have educated and joined the regions of our world together in ways heretofore unheard of. This hyperconnectivity has made it possible for individuals to access information that would have previously required years of research and apprenticeship. With this in mind, we wanted to provide a book that enabled the knitter to take some time to delve into the craftsmanship behind the vast history of our shared pastime. While this book, the projects, our inspiration, and our research was aided by the ability to access hard-to-find information online, it also pays direct homage to a time when life moved a little slower, and things were made to last.

High-quality items produced in small batches and meant to last well beyond a season or fashion trend (through generations, even) and attention to detail seemingly no longer hold value in our fast-paced consumer-driven society that values disposable goods and trendy fashion. However, the handmade has prevailed with its ability to tap into world traditions and continues to engage us in a celebration of knitting archives. The charme and beauty of the handmade sweater has stood the test of time, moving from necessity to practicality to simple hobby. While machines and manufacturing have brought all the comforts of our modern world, knitters find satisfaction in delving into the past and discovering that what was once a necessary means to keep the masses warm has become something that inspires, motivates, and moves us to be better in all that we do.

At the core, our individual aesthetics differ. Kate tends to hold firmlyif not with a bit of ironyto her New England roots, where practicality is paramount and multiple layers are a must (especially if there is a stripe or two in there). Courtney, instead, is inspired by the romance of historys necessity for handcraftsalways scouring flea markets for the handmade, much worn, and often repaired item, regardless of its usefulness. However, we always agree when we find ourselves at the intersection between tradition and modern styling. Our appreciation for vintage cuts, shapes, and techniques in knittingfine-gauge Fair Isle patterning, intricate lace shawls, and allover cablingtranscends our disparate personal aesthetics. When daydreaming about knitwear designs and bouncing ideas off one another, we pull inspiration from similar sources and eventually find a balance between vintage and contemporary, practicality and sentiment. Whether choosing a slightly larger yarn gauge, including waist shaping, adding a twist to a style, or modifying construction, we love to update vintage-inspired knitwear to create a look of timelessness.

This book is the culmination of our shared love of tradition and the desire to make it contemporary. Each original project has its roots in a particular style or technique that has been updated for a modern application and aesthetic. As a whole, youll find a collection that embodies our personal tastes, styles, and appreciation for the handmade. We hope that these projects inspire you to try something different, learn a new technique, and create timeless pieces of your own.

AS SUMMER FADES , the breeze turns from soft and warm to cool and sharp with the weight of departure. Autumn evokes memorythe lingering scents of warmth. It weaves images of the changing landscape; the tapestry of leaves along the mountainside changes from green to gold, crimson, and finally brown.

Imagine a patchwork of valley farms busy with the last days of summer harvest; walk through the woods as the leaves fall and acorns crunch underfoot. The shortening days, crisp dry leaves, and the damp earth speak to the need for soft sweaters, unwrapped from tissue-paper cocoons after their summer hibernation.

The transition from warm days to chilly nights requires a versatile wardrobe with many layers. The projects in this collection focus on ways to keep warm while celebrating the history of knitting as the perfect marriage of function and form: a Faroese shawl to wrap around your shoulders while sitting by the fire on a falls evening; warm Fair Isle kneesocks paired with summers favorite jean skirt; a short-sleeved sweater to wear over a lightweight long-sleeved tee; and more. All of the garments and accessories in this section pay tribute to the useful industry of handknitting in its purest form.