Separated at birth? For the sheep and the lambs

In this edition of our series, we look at two patterns which contain a similar look in garments for adults and children.

First up is the banded T-shirt Tomato.

Tomato

Separated at birth with Tomato is Grace’s Tabard.

Tomato is a well known pattern from designer Wendy Bernard, first published in the book “No Sheep For You” a collection put together by the awesome Amy R. Singer, best known to the knitting public as the doyenne of Knitty.

The Tomato pattern is available free at Knitting Daily and was the subject of a wonderful series of blog posts about how to modify patterns with darts for the curvaceous amongst us. I am listing this series of blog posts from because not only are they wonderful for the knowledge imparted, but they provide one of the best guides to pattern customization on the fly. (I’m listing the series at the end of this post for reference, as they are awkward to locate on the Knitting Daily website.)

Grace’s Tabard is by Carol J. Sulcoski in St-Denis Magazine Issue 2.

I was intrigued by the word “tabard” Wikipedia, describes a tabard as a short coat, either sleeveless, or with short sleeves or shoulder pieces, which was a common item of men’s clothing in the Middle Ages. In the Jan van Eyck painting Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, Giovanni is wearing a fur trim tabard.

The link and mention to this painting bought back memories for me. When I was a teenager, our art teacher took us on a special trip to the National Gallery and I distinctly remember how we spent time in front of this painting as he talked about it, opening up our young eyes to new vistas. Although as a scientist I did not take any kind of art classes in the last 2 years of schooling, I’m always grateful to this teacher and what we learned on this trip.

Interesting transition to a 21st century garment for kids!

Next up we have Effie by Kim Hargreaves published in the booklet Precious.

The ruffled strips give a soft and sultry look to the woman’s garment. It doesn’t hurt that anything made with Kidsilk Haze is practically guaranteed romantic; this being one of the most amorous and glamorous yarns in the world.

But …. change the yarn, make the ruffles two-toned, and you have an adorable little girls cardi in Zooey, a design from the Rowan Kids brochure.

Tomato blog posts from Sandi Wiseheart

On the third day, I ripped

My surreal knitting life and that stripe

In which the commentators chant: Bust darts!

Return of the bust darts

Where the darts go

Introduction to Darts: Vertical and Short-Row

Getting Started With Your Darts: Shoulders to Bust

Bust Dart Math!

We Do The Math For You: Free Bust Dart Worksheet

Convergent evolution

Continuing our “Separated at Birth?” series we have the following:

Beanie style? check.

Bobbles? check

Cables? check

Woolly worsted? check

And how do these elements manifest themselves in the minds of two brilliant designers?

The patterns in question are Laurel by designer Jared Flood, published in Made in Brooklyn and #14 Blossom Hat from designer Norah Gaughan published in Vogue knitting Fall 2009. Laurel is shown on the left and on the right is Laurel in a lovely version knitted by Ravelry member TrudyG. Click here for another gorgeous version from the blog Behind the Smile.

Interestingly, the Ravelry pattern recommendation experiment does not pair up these hats. This may be because the Norah Gaughan version is written flat and not charted, the Jared Flood hat is written in the round and charted. Pourquoi Vogue knitting? I think the seamless method is immensely preferable for projects like this. Much more “knitterly”.

Help!!! My stash!!

Here is a flyer for a gallery event tonight at the CSMA.

But when I look closer what do I see?

My stash!!!

My stash is tormenting me.

I lurrve my stash but I seriously need to get it under control. I have ordered the ginormous 19 mm tunisian hook from Jenkins. This should enable me to whittle down the stash at a faster clip and do justice to it at the same time.