kitty:Book Review & Book Giveaway: Shibui Silk

Book Title: Shibui Silk Designer: Olga Buraya-Kefelian (AKA: Olgajazzy) Publisher: Planet Purl Press Approx. Retail Price: $18.00 USD (Knit & Purl) Category: Knitting/Crochet Pages: 30 Patterns: 8 Availability: Soft cover Release Date: January 1, 2012

What a way to start the knitting New Year with a great new book filled with beautiful spring knits from Olga Buraya-Kefelian and Shibui, Shibui Silk. My first reaction when it arrived in the mail was pure happiness. The book far surpassed my first impression from the photos online. As you flip through the book you also get to enjoy how good the matt heavy weight pages feel. In the day where most of our patterns we buy are in pdf format this is really a nice treat. There are 8 designs in the book; several sweaters, a pair of fingerless gloves, shawl/scarf, and a hat for woman. Over the years I have knit quite a few patterns designed by Olga Buraya-Kefelian. She is particularly known for thinking her way through a pattern, and that care is certainly shown here. Her designs feature unique construction as well as interesting textures. There are also several patterns in the book that offer a more a modular design that lend itself to multiple styling options for her customers.  This is a trend that you can see if you follow her designs.

All photos are copyright of Shibui, I took Photos actual photos from the pages of the book.

So what treasures are inside:

Francis - I have to say this is the sweater that if I had the yarn for it I would be casting on right away. I really love the little flirty surprise this sweater is hiding in the back. From the front Francis is just a simple little tee with a round neck and short sleeves, but when you turn around the back is constructed like an over lapping tulip with a graceful curved hem. Great for letting in a cool breeze for those hot and muggy summer days. Goltry - Goltry at first glance appears to be just a simple beanie, but when you look closer you notice the amazing texture spirals to the crown. Even the colour of the model fits into the trend for this spring season. Laverne - One thing that Olga is really known for with her designs are garments that have interesting construction that can be styled multiple ways. Laverne is one of those garments. The sweater is worked sideways from the front edge with an incorporated i-cord edge and drawstring. You can wear it loose and drappy, cinched, wrapped, belted, or buttoned up. Really a prefect sweater in my opinion for the spring months that will soon be upon us. I am also really impressed with how pretty the colours are for Staccato yarn. Ada - We have seen this trend before from Olga with Duplicity Pullover from her Ori Ami Knits book. By adding the fake layer to the sweater you have the appearance of a layered garment but not the added bulk. Ada is a cute little staple garment that can be worn as a vest or tank top for spring/summer. Arnett - Wow... that is about all I can say. Even M loves this design when I first showed him the pictures he thought it was one of Olga's best designs. Everything about it is just a lot of fun. The little hidden pockets, the fact it is reversible. This is just one of those designs that will last forever and once again can be styled in so many ways. Marlow - Marlow is a really good staple shawl to have in your wardrobe and something that would be a great car project. I could see many people knitting this as a quick gift for friends. Prue - You know, I am not sure what it is about fingerless gloves. They seem to have become a staple for every knitter to have multiples for our outdoor wear and indoor wear. Prue is a lovely fingerless glove using a welted stitch that just may be too pretty to go outside. Tulsa - I just started the scarf last night. I promised a friend before the holiday's that I would knit her a scarf and I thought this one would be a perfect. The pleats add enough interest so that it doesn't get boring but knitting on size 7 needles also means that it is growing quickly. Especially since my other project at the minute is on US 0's.

Okay, enough of me blathering about how much I like this book. Getting to the Free Stuff now!!! Olga was sweet enough to offer me a copy of the book to give away to my readers. I cannot express how excited I am about the giveaway. And to make it even more tempting there will be something else from me in the box to sweeten the deal. So to offer you multiple ways of entering here are three options.

For one entry, leave a comment with your favorite Shibui Silk Olga design. Become a fan of Olgajazzy on Facebook and leave a comment about your favorite design on the Shibui Silk Book Album page For a 3nd entry Tweet about the Giveaway on Twitter the message must contain the tag: #KnitbuddiesGiveaway And your favorite design from the book

I will accept entries until midnight on Monday, Feb 13th, and then announce the lucky winner in a post next Tuesday.

kitty: Fashion Exhibitions 2012

In 2011, did museums finally realize that being fashionable means that your empty hallow halls could be filled with long lines or people clamoring to see the current exhibit? Given the record breaking success last year at the Met with the Alexander McQueen exhibit "Savage Beauty", Yohji Yamamoto exhibit at the V&A in London, Balenciaga and Spain at the de Young in San Francisco, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and many more it looks like 2012 is going to be really exciting for the Historical Fashion Fans. I am sure there are other exhibitions out there, so this list is by no means complete in any way, but after a short google search these were the ones I found. If you know of others, please drop me an email. If I find out others I will happily post them. Now to decided which ones to try to visit this year:
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk	de Young Museum, San Francisco	March 24 - August 19, 2012
Ballgowns - British Glamour Since 1950's	V&A, London	May 19 - Jan 6, 2013
Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion	Costume Institute at the Met, NYC	May 10 - August 19, 2012
“Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs,” a retrospective of Jacobs’ work at LV	Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris	March 9-September 16, 2012
Yves Saint Laurent — The Retrospective	Denver Art Museum, Denver Colorado	March 25 - July 8, 2012
Fifty Years of James Bond Style	The Barbican, London	April 2012
IMPACT: 50 years of the CFDA	FIT Museum, NYC	Feb 10 - April 17, 2012
Christian Louboutin	Design Museum, London	March 28 - July 01, 2012
Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel	Fortuny Musuem, Venice Italy	March 2012
Azzedine Alaïain the 21st Centruy	Groninger Museum in Groningen, The Netherlands	Currently until May 6th, 2012
Walter van Beirendonck: "Dream the World Awake"	Fashion Museum in Antwerpen	Currently until February 19, 2012
Silvia Venturini Fendi: Limited/Unlimited	Alta Roma	Jan 28-31, 2012
Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection	Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto	May 10 - April 7, 2013

kitty: Happy New Years 2012

Happy New Years....

There really isn't a lot to wrap up on the knitting or crafting front for of 2012. Life and work really took over all of my free time for knitting. All an all this past year has been a tough one and I am frankly glad to see it end. Sadly it isn't starting off well either. Hope the year to come will be a good one for all of you guys! Take care P.S. On another note I just realized this blog has been around since November 2004. Even I have a hard time believing it has been up that long.

kitty: A new fall sweater

Pattern: Pumpkin Pie Designer: Heather Dixon Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton I haven't had a lot of time for knitting as of late, but I did just finish a fun pattern by Heather Dixon called Pumpkin Pie. It had been on my list of things to knit for awhile. So when Wendy of Knit and Tonic fame listed a lot of 12 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton on her destash list this summer I jumped on the listing. The yarn feels like a teddy bear, but sadly is already piling after just one wearing.

kitty: I scream, We all scream for good buttons!!!

I scream, We all scream for good buttons!!!

Recently I ran across an amazing etsy seller, Chocolate Bayou Shop who sales vintage buttons in fairly large quantities. A part of me wanted to keep her site info all to myself, but I decided I shouldn't be greedy and to share the info. Her buttons are very nice quality. They arrived quickly and well packed. And what always gets me the most they had a hand written thank you note. Something I always treasured when Yahaira owned her online yarn shop that kept me coming back. Here is the group of buttons that I recently picked up from her recently. I have been desperately looking for good buttons for Cria. (I even am waiting on ones from Israel.) I may have gone a little overboard, but she is having a Christmas in July sale so I couldn't resist.