Jane Thornley Knitwear

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

inVESTment PORTFOLIO

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Exhibit A: Jane in Riverstone

As my amazing Ravelry group gears up for another knitalong, this one featuring any one of my vest patterns, I promised more photos of my recent investments on a different body type: mine.

As you've probably noticed, I ask a beautiful young woman, Hannah Epstein, to model my designs on her young, svelt, form. Not only does this impart a young, hip, vibe (yeah, man, I grew up in the 60's) but it also shows me how young people wear my designs ,which is not only exciting but informative. How did I know that fashion approves of shirts hanging down beneath vests and jackets alike? My mother used to call that sloppy. Like, who knew? And I read the fashion magazines! I'm even a bit addicted to them yet somehow I missed all those trailing shirt tails. Maybe I just chose to avert my eyes.

But what about those of us who are neither that young or that svelt or for whom trailing shirt tails are not only unflattering but put too weighted a meaning to the term 'hip'? Take me, for instance. My body has always been bodacious, abundant, and insistant on bulging where I'd rather it lay flat. Time is not improving matters. My solution? Study the gentle art of camoflage.

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Exhibit B with tree

On this cloudy spring day, I have roused my husband as he recovers from two surgeries in as many weeks (one of which was eye surgery), and dragged him outside, camera in hand, to photograph moi. The squinting, one-eyed photographer begs to be forgiven if his wife looks vaguely out of focus. In Exhibit A, I am wearing Riverstone, the long version, happy that it's skimming my mountains and bridging my valleys without heaping too much attention to the terrain. I am not sure why I have my hand on my butt. When Hannah applies her hand to her butt, the effects are totally different. In my case, it looks like I'm trying to shove back the encroaching years.

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Exhibit C: Jane in Come Spring with Pin

Due to my build, I have trouble finding things that will fit across the chest without being too big in the shoulders. Often I prefer wearing jackets and vests open so as not to bring attention to any extreme button fatigue that may be going on front and center. Scarf pins in lieu of buttons provides flexibility and can add a jewelry-like effect. Here I'm wearing one of Jackie and my new scarf pins from (coming soon!) line to bring closure to my issues.

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Exhibit D: Jane head down

I wish you could have heard the conversation going on between photographer and photographee. It went something like this:

Photographer (while in the midst of a winking spasm): "Put your head down. Why do you have your face turned up like that?"

ME: "Because it's more flattering. More light means less wrinkles, see?"

Photographer: "No. You look unnatural like you have a kink in your neck. Put your head down."

ME: "Like this?"

Photographer: "No, not like that. Try again."

ME: "Like this?"

Photographer sighs mightily and gives up. See Exhibit D.

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Posted by Jane on 05/06 at 08:25 AM
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

OF ROCK AND STONE AND ALL THINGS ELEMENTAL…RIVERSTONE VEST PATTERN POSTED

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Riverstone: the tunic version

Born of rock and moss, twig and leaf, the inspiration behind this vest is organic and elemental. The stones around my house, heaved up by glaciers in primordial times and texturized by nature over the eons, influenced the hues blended together in this tunic-length vest. When I wear it, I imagine I’ve donned a sheath of lichen like some (large) forest nymph. All right, so like some VERY LARGE forest nymph (just remember, they don't make nymphs like they used to).

I enjoyed knitting this. Something about those furry, soft, silky yarns moving across the needles seemed simultaneously comforting and inspiring. When such skinny textured yarns are knit on size 9mm/US13 needles, all those textures seem netted among the strands like scraps of leaf and twig.

Color inspired by…

Knit from carry-along yarns spiced by a few of Habu Textile's ever-inventive textures—skinny, nebulous yarns like ladders or railroads, caterpillers and gossamer-light fairy fringes usually knit together with sturdier fare—this will knit up quickly on big needles. Still, the vest remains light.

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Habu's Kasumi: these yarns have personalties!

Wear it belted or loose. Knit it long as in the original or make a shorter version. Eliminate the gently rounded shirt-like tails. Or not. Experiment by making one in lace-weight linen or some textured filament yarn. This is a design just begging to be tried in different ways and is perfect for the season.

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