I am totally in love with the new Studio Issue 32 from Rowan.  Studios are issued 4 times a year and feature half dozen or so designs based on a theme.  Patterns tend to be more edgy than those found in other Rowan publications and I have found some of my favorite patterns in Rowan Studio. The newest studio with it's monochromatic black and white theme with a sixties vibe is close to my heart, it's my teen era, when I first discovered fashion.  Now, let me take you for a stroll down memory lane, via Carnaby Street.

Etta

Janis

Lulu

Petulia

Sandy

Shirley

Dusty

Dusty

Aren't they all beautiful?  I do love them in black and white, but cannot wait to see what other knitters do and what color combinations they come up with.  My two favorites and the two that will be added to my queue are Dusty and Sandy.  There are two free pattern downloads available on the Rowan site to go along with this collection.  By the way, did you catch the names?  Named after famous singers of the 60s.  Love that.

Blue Jasmine, the new Woody Allen movie is excellent.  My husband and I both loved it for many reasons, but one thing I loved in the movie that I don't think my husband noticed was Cate Blanchett's wardrobe.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I loved her simple classic style.  Cate wore this beautiful white boucle jacket with black blanket stitch trim in many scenes.  BTW, I think she should win an Oscar for this role.




Back in 1965 I could rock the black and white with blanket stitch trim too!  One of my favorite dresses I made was a black and white houndstooth check beauty I wore with white go-go boots.  I was 14 and wore this to death and was so proud that I made it.  This was back in the day when you got very dressed up for school.  I actually wore hose with a garter belt, this was before pantyhose, and wore heels every day to school.  We used to keep clear nail polish in our purses to keep the runs at bay.  Unimaginable and almost unbelievable now, wearing hose and heels to school, but this was the style in my high school in southern California in the 60s.  I made most of my clothes but also would shop at some cute boutiques on Sunset Blvd. near my mother's talent agency.  I would go to her office after school to "help out" but really I just wanted a chance to walk and shop on the strip.  A few years later and I would crochet bikinis and sell them to the little boutiques to earn pocket money to spend on more fabric and more clothes and more shoes!  Gotta love those sixties!

Circa 1965, age 14, it looks like I have braces!  At this time my HS allowed skirts to show only half the knee, any more and we were sent to the VP's office!

The invitation (guilty)

Ahhh, big sigh.  Finally a finished and photographed sweater to blog about!  I find it easier to knit the darn things than I do to model and photograph them.  I have four more to photograph, I hope to do one a week to ease the pain of the photography sessions.  Here is the Favorite Cardigan by Wendy Bernard from her great book, Custom Knits.  I've knit a few things from what I think is Wendy's first book.  Published in 2008, I think it's destined to become a classic if it isn't already, full of very wearable and knitable projects.  This cardigan is knit top-down and is a very simple project.  In fact it's a perfect project for the first time top-down knitter or first time cabler.  There is however a mistake in the pattern, the cables are placed too close to the button band and have to be moved out a few stitches making sure you match them up to the ribbed neck.  Many Ravelers explained how to do this so I won't go into detail here, but you can see in the close up photo how it's important when making cables to have your ribbing meld into the cables.  I made the neckline higher and warmer by casting on less stitches, then after the neck ribbing making more increases before finally getting to the separation point for the arm and body.

The yarn was the sumptuous Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran in Regatta, a bright periwinkle blue.  I loved it's soft merino touch and bounce.  It's a multi-plied yarn and for me didn't split or twist up, a very high quality yarn as has been every Sublime yarn I have tried.  I purchased the yarn at Stitches West from the large and lovely Webs booth.  They always have helpful people working for them and while the line always seems long because of their good sales, they get you through pretty quickly.  Sorry I could not find a link to it as it's discontinued in the aran weight, but apparently not in other weights such as the DK.   I think it may have light to moderate pilling issues but a sweater shaver will work well if needed.

On US 8 needles it knits up to 18 lovely stitches per 4 cushy inches and soft enough for next to the skin.  Hand wash and dry flat. 
I used my Knit Picks Nickel Plated Interchangeables and the knitting went fast and the stitches glided effortlessly.  The joins are very smooth with no snagging ever and the cables are very flexible.  I have a set of the wooden Harmonies that I love and a full set of the nickel plated needles too.  I couldn't live without either, my favorite go-to needles and IMO Knit Picks are the absolute best on the market.  Don't confuse Knit Picks needles with Knit Pro, I haven't had as much luck with them.  Knit Picks does not have anything smaller than a US 4 so I have ordered US2 and US3 in Knitter's Pride Karbonz needles from Web's, they sound promising.  I think one of these days I'll do a needle review.  I don't think there are many I haven't tried.  (At the time of posting these needles are on sale at the Knit Pick site.)

before

after

the result

Big Rainbow, bottom, with Green Zebra, top and Brandywine, upper right.

Because there were golden beets, carrots and oranges picked fresh from the garden this morning,
I made this for lunch.  So good.

3 lbs. golden beets, roasted, cooled and peeled
1 lg. yellow onion, diced and slowly sauteed in 1 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter
4 cups diced carrots simmered in 4 cups chicken stock until soft
3 cups fresh orange juice
1 small minced and seeded Anaheim pepper
2 T. curry powder

Whirl it all in the blender, add salt and pepper to taste.  I then put it through my chinois strainer but don't think that is necessary.  Thin with more chicken stock if desired.  It made a lot, 12 cups.  After lunch we put the rest in the freezer, something nice to have on hand for our next dinner party.  It tasted like late summer.  Perfect!

The carrots are a colorful mix of Cosmic Purple and Carnival Blend.  The purple and red carrots are orange inside, and the white carrots are white all the way through.   In this post I share all the flower and vegetable varieties we grew this year. 

The sage green and pewter rimmed soup bowl is the discontinued Portofino from Arte Italica, as is the pewter basket below.