Bordeaux
In some non-knitting related stuff, we attended a concert as part of the Skaneateles chamber music festival.
I had never visited Skaneateles, NY before and it was quite a revelation. A lush misty romantic Victorian town with gorgeous architecture. We picniced by the lake and window shopped the quirky, upscale shops along the main street before making our way to the concert location.
Now comes the knitting-related content. In one of the shop windows I saw a knitted shawl with a ruffled edging.
This shawl was a deep rich bordeaux color, bordeaux being apparently one of the big Fall 2011 trend colors (according to Neiman Marcus’s fashion director Ken Downing).
In the back of my mind I was thinking that the shawl looked quite familiar. And sure enough, a Ravelry search turned up what I was looking for. The shawl in the shop window looked very similar to the Rococo Shawl by designer Elena Rosenberg in the Debbie Stoller book Superstar Knitting.
Image from Tickled Pink Knits
I think this might have immediately jumped into my queue, but I have to find just the right yarn, a slightly fuzzy yarn with good drape and, of course, in JUST the right color (from rosé to port).
Another pattern for this type of neck wrap is the Ruffled Neck Kerchief from designer Laura Irwin.
This pattern is from the gorgeous collection Boutique Knits.
Although this is written for a fairly compact sized neck wrap, the pattern is very versatile and could be easily adapted to create a ruffled shawl as in this fantastic version from Raverly member blonderogstrikk.
ⓒ blonderogstrikk
Fur
Fur is apparently another Fall trend.
I did not fully appreciate how one can knit something and have it look like a strip of fur until I saw this piece from Vladimir Teriokhin in the latest Issue of Vogue Knitting Fall 2011.
The creation of this piece is ridiculously simple. Just a spiral ring in single crochet.
It’s a cliché to say this but truly “the yarn does all the work”. In this case, the yarn is Fourrure from Bergere de France.
This yarn is 100% acrylic but must be good quality and very thick to get the real fur effect. I wonder how other eyelash yarns compare? I have some Berroco Zap in the stash.
I wasn’t sure what to do with my Zap stashed yarn and was thinking a some kind of teddy bear or stuffed toy pattern, but maybe a fake fur look might just be the thing.
The fur doesn’t need to be fake, it could actually be real. I’ve always wondered what the real fur yarn from Paula Lishman would be like to handle. It looks luxurious and gorgeous. A fox fur trim like this one constructed by Ravelry member bushbunny looks quite amazing.
Of course there are lots of nubbly/fuzzy/chenille/bouclé yarns out there that can give an modern take on the animal skin look.
Two such yarns I particularly like are the slubby bulky yarns Rowan big wool tuft (sadly discontinued) and Natasha from S. Charles Collezione (which I think might also sadly be discontinued).
The look of these yarns is showcased nicely in this scarf pattern from the Knit it Up yarns blog, and by pattern such as Dusty Beret (free pattern available here)
and the Erykah “Fur” trim pocket scarf and hat from the S. Charles Collezione ROUND MIDNIGHT Collection.
Color blocking
The last fall trend I want to touch on is the color blocking trend.
Good color blocking in knitwear is really really tricky to execute.
That is why I was thrilled to see this project from Ravelry member ekindeniz.
© ekindeniz
So chic and modern! Such perfect color blocking! And her own design, where the different lace patterns bo together just beautifully with the color changes. A very inspirational garment.
Posted by pascalenary 
