This Spring's Hot Trends

This Spring season contains a wealth of new fashion trends, many of which you will find hidden away in your wardrobe. Here are 5 of the latest Spring 2013 fashion trends, and their knitted or crocheted partners.

BLACK AND WHITE CHECK

Source: ©Vladimir POTOP

Star Pattern:

Check Slouch by Triona Murphy 

Source: ©Knitscene, Accessories 2012

Another great pattern is Envy Checked Mittens by Sarah H Arnold!

BOMBER JACKET

Source: ©Vladimir POTOP

Star Pattern:

Bomber Jacket to Knit by Val Love

Source: ©Val Love

Another fantastic pattern is Bomber Baby by Patty Davis!

WHITE SHIRTS

Source: ©Vladimir POTOP

Star Pattern:

Bel Air by Anne Hanson

©knitspot

Another great pattern is Windsor by Marie Wallin!

FEMININE HANDBAGS

Source: ©Vladimir POTOP

Star Pattern:

Knitting Needle Knitting Bag by Pam Allen

Source: ©mma

Another great pattern is 98-54 bag with cable pattern in Eskimo by DROPS design!

ORIENTAL

Source: ©Vladimir POTOP

Star Pattern:

Seamless Kimono Sweater by Jacki Kelly

Source: ©fuzzysox

Another great pattern is the Kimono Wrap Cardigan by Hilary Smith Callis!

So those are just 5 of Spring 13's fashion trends, I hope you've found some inspiration for future knitting and crochet projects. Pop on over on Saturday for the article "Knits You Need in Your Wardrobe this Spring!"

Knitwear of the 50s

The 1950s has to be my all time favorite decade. I love it for it's films and music, but I love it most for it's fashion. Dior challenged the world with a 'new look', which focused on women. He got rid of the military-like clothes, and brought in full-calf length voluminous skirts, strapless boned tops with full skirts, fitted jackets and straight fitted skirts to the knee called pencil skirts.

Coco Chanel introduced the Chanel Suit, which played an important role in 1950s fashion. The boxy jackets and slim skirts gave the wearer a slim silhouette. One of the largest trends that emerged in the 50s was the circle skirt. Teens embraced the bright colours and prints, layering a stiff, crinoline petticoat underneath to make the skirt stick out.

The main staple of the 1950s though, was the twin set. It compromised of a short or long-sleeved sweater and a matching cardigan. The actress Lana Turner brought sweaters back into fashion when she was nicknamed 'sweater girl' after her role in the film 'They Won't Forget'.

This season Pringle (the fashion designers, not the crips!) have said it is inspired by the 1950s sweater girls; such as Grace Kelly, Lana Turner and Margaret Lockwood. So we can expect twinsets to come back into fashion - yay! And do you know what that means? More knitting projects!

This is the Twin Set - Cardigan pattern by Patons UK, which was originally released in the June 1952 issue of Stitchcraft. It was knitted in lace (!) weight yarn, on 3mm needles. Can you imagine how long it would take to knit that?! 

Scouring Ravelry I found some lovely 50's inspired twinsets, but with a contemporary twist, such as:

by meghanballog  Flickr

#15 Twinset by Mari Lynn Patrick

© Kollage Yarns

Spumoni Tank and Cardigan by Sandi Rosner

I can't wait to get started knitting Molly's cardigan, which is also 1950s inspired! If you haven't seen it already, I'm going to be making Peggy Sue by Linda Wilgus using Stylecraft Special DK in Emperor (1425), as Molly looks gorgeous in purple!

After looking at it for a little while, I am starting to worry that you won't be able to see the cables because of the yarn colour, but we shall cross the hurdle when we get to it! I can't wait to cast this project on, it'll be my first "adult garment". 

So, question time. What is your favourite fashion era/decade, and why? x

And the Winner is...

Last week Lisa Millan and I held a giveaway for one knitty person to win a washcloth pattern of their own choice. The giveaway is now closed, and the winner has been chosen thanks to www.random.org.

And the winner is...

                                    C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S   T O   D E B B I E !

Well done Debbie, you will be the proud owner of Angel Kitty washcloth pattern, I hope you have fun making it! I will message you on Ravelry with the details on how to receive your prize.

Big thank you again to Lisa for allowing me to ask her questions and offering the giveaway, it was very kind of you!

Would You Like a BonBon?

I've been so busy casting on projects lately that I don't actually remember the last time I finished something. This week though, I finally have something to show you! :D

Last week my friend bought me a pile of vintage (and modern) patterns, which I will show you next week, there are some lovely patterns! So because she got me such a thoughtful gift, I thought the best way to say thank you would be by knitting her something.

It's still pretty cold here at the moment, so I thought I'd make her a pair of gloves. I wanted to try something new with this project, so I thought I would give my first thumb gusset a go. I can't believe this was the first time I've knitted mittens in the round, I always thought knitting flat and seaming was the easiest way to do it. How wrong I was!

The pattern I chose was BonBons by Susanna IC. I was going to use a different pattern and DK yarn but my stash is running thin for DK, I have plenty of Sock yarn though, which is why I chose this lovely pattern.

The stitch used is Eyelet Mock Cable, a really simple stitch pattern that I've used in a few of my own designs (Twisted Sister, and the other is to be published soon). No cabling is required, you just twist stitches and use yarn overs, which makes it a great substitute if you're not a fan of/never tried cabling.

I really enjoyed knitting these, I didn't want to finish actually. The yarn I used is RICO Design Superba Chinée, a yarn I got given a few years ago by my Nan. It was originally for my first pair of socks, but I didn't like them so they got frogged. And since Amy is more of a Tom-boy, I thought a dark purple would suit her tastes. It's not the nicest yarn I've ever worked with and I doubt I'd buy it again, but I did like the end result!

Thumb gussets were so simple, I'm not sure why I thought they were so complicated. I whipped each mitten in a few of hours, but it was spread over the course of a few days.

Knitting these mitts has inspired me to do my first "in the round" mitten pattern, which I've already designed and look forward to knitting it up soon. I think it'll be my best pattern yet, if it works, and I can't wait to show you :D

Head on over to Tami's for some FO goodness, and I hope you have a lovely weekend :) x