Chanelling Chanel

Perhaps you have a certain fetish for all things Chanel, but can't afford, or don't wish, to lay out the several thousand dollars it would take to buy a genuine Chanel piece. And, since you've got some knitting skills, you wonder if you might create a Chanel-esque piece for yourself. If so, you're reading the right blog post, because I've paid my own little tribute to the House of Chanel by putting together a post of ideas and information on how to knit your own Chanel-style vêtements et accoutrements.

The photo above is of a genuine two-piece Coco Chanel knitting pattern, published in 1935. It has a Ravelry pattern page, but you may have great difficulty tracking down a copy of the pattern as it is long out of print. But if you succeed, it will be well worth the effort, as the booklet that the Chanel pattern is in also contains a genuine Elsa Schiaparelli design for a one-piece dress. (I mean, holy shit, that Bucilla booklet must be the holy grail of vintage knitting pattern booklets.) Recreating the pattern from the picture is also a possibility for skilled knitters.

The most accessible Chanel-style knitting project is probably a Chanel-esque jacket. If you're serious about knitting yourself a Chanel-like jacket, you really must begin by reading an excellent article from Yarnstylist on how to do so. In it, the Yarnstylist poster discusses the reasons why a Chanel-style jacket must fit perfectly, must be knitted with a fine-gauge, high-quality yarn, must be expertly lined, and must be carefully finished. There is also an accompanying article on why it's so difficult to find a knitting pattern that looks enough like a Chanel design to be satisfactory.

And once you've read those, perhaps you'd like to have a look at the selection of Chanel-inspired knitting patterns that I've put together.

The Window Panes pattern, by Judy Andersen, probably comes as close as any pattern I've seen to looking like a genuine Chanel jacket in terms of texture, details and fit. Alas, it may take some doing to find this pattern. It was in Knitter's Magazine 80 which came out in Fall 2005, and the issue doesn't seem to be available on their website anymore. (ETA: As you can see from the comments for this post, one of my readers tracked down Knitter's Magazine 80, and it seems that despite what the Window Panes design's Ravelry page says, it is not in that issue, but is in Knitter's Magazine 81, Winter 2005, so if you're interested in making this pattern you'll need to look on eBay for that number instead.)

The Chanel-ish Cardigan, by Mary-Heather Cogar, is probably the other nearest knitted imitation I found to a Chanel jacket. This, unfortunately, is a rather lacklustre picture. This project has been done many times by other Ravelry members and you'll be able to see from their project photos that this sweater can look very sharp indeed. This pattern was published in Greetings from Knit Cafe, by Suzan Mischer.

Perhaps, though, you don't care to make a too-literal Chanel jacket, but only to evoke it by knitting something in a similar cut with one or more of the Chanel jacket's trademark characteristics. I love this Basketweave pattern, by Jean Frost, for its strikingly graphic rendering of a Chanel-like texture. One of the biggest challenges of making a knitted Chanel-style jacket is imitating the woven texture fabric in knitting without bulking up the sweater. This pattern tricks the eye into believing that this has been accomplished. This pattern appears in Jean Frost's book, Custom Fit Knit Jackets: Casual to Couture.

This Ladies Jacket pattern, by Renate Foos, offers Chanel-like details on a more casually styled version of the jacket. This pattern appeared in SMC Select Moments No. 014 by Coats GmbH and is available for free here.

This pattern, by the Phildar design team, looks to me like an updated version of a Chanel jacket, and it's adorable. But the pattern, from Phildar No. 066, Hiver 2011/12 Edition Limitée, is only available in French. Je suis très désolé!

If you don't care to make a too-authentic looking project, Khloe Chanel-Inspired Jacket, by Teresa Chorzepa, as it simply evokes the Chanel style with its texture and cut. This pattern is a $6(USD) download.

If you want something to wear with your newly finished knitted Chanel jacket, or the idea of knitting a Chanel jacket is too much, you might consider knitting the CoCo purse, by Janine Le Cras. The pattern is a free Ravelry download.

If you don't care to wear any knitted version of Chanel's designs, you could always make some Chanel-inspired toys. The Chanel-suited bunny and Chanel modiste bunny patterns, both by Loly Fuertes, are available for $4.50(USD) each.

Knitter Profiling

Papillon, which stars Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall alumnus), is a comedy sketch series about an ultra low budget airline. In their very first episode, a passenger takes out knitting needles, and all hell breaks loose.

United Knitters of America

Three days ago I posted a selection of Canada-themed patterns in honour of Canada's birthday, and I can hardly do any less for the U.S. Or rather I could, but it doesn't seem politic given that a good 40% of my readers are American. These American patterns proved harder to find than the Canadian patterns. For the latter I just typed "Canada" into Ravelry's search engine and picked out my favourite ten patterns; this search had me typing in every American symbol, icon, slogan and ideal I could think of into Ravelry's pattern search and on Google before I could scrape together enough examples. But I think I succeeded at last, and hope all my readers find something to enjoy in the ten patterns I've selected regardless of their nationality.

Above, of course, we have a pair of American flag socks. This pattern is a free Ravelry download, and was designed in memory of Barbara G. Edwards, a knitter and teacher who died on the Flight 77 crash at the Pentagon on 9/11.

Here we have a Log Cabin Afghan, based on the traditional log cabin quilt pattern. This pattern is a $3(USD) Ravelry download.

I bet it never ocurred to you that you could knit (and felt) yourself a cowboy hat. This pattern appeared in Folk Hats, by Vicki Square.

If you'd like an iconic American hat, but the cowboy hat is a little over the top for you, you might prefer to make yourself a Pony Express Beanie. This pattern is available as a Ravelry download for €3.49(EUR).

Then again, maybe you're not into western American themes at all, but are more of an urban type, in which case you might like the New York State of Mind cap, which is a free Ravelry download.

If you admire the famous New York skyline, but don't want it on your head, the NYC Skyline Afghan might be for you. It is also a free Ravelry download.

If you're neither urban nor western but instead like a touch of the antique in your wardrobe, perhaps the Washington's Birthday Mitts design might be more your cup of (untaxed) tea. This pattern is a $4(USD) Ravelry download.

But then there's always the option of just making something cute that only very obliquely references a favourite American myth. This Rowan pattern for a Cherry Pie Cardigan is not only cute but is also in red, white and blue. Just be sure your little girl knows that the whole cherry tree story was made up out of whole cloth by Washington's biographer.

For an "American as apple pie" reference, you could go with the Apples! design, which is a free Ravelry download. You may want to go the extra mile and add an apple hat to the ensemble.

And then there's this version of the classic American baseball jacket, the Baseball Hoodie, which is available as a Mary Maxim kit in a range of children's sizes.

I just had to throw in the pattern for the official sweater for the U.S. team at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City because it's the most accomplished design of any I found, though this pattern is now out of print and it will take some determined effort to find it.

And I leave you with a literary example of ingenious Fourth of July-themed knitting:

Laura and Mary had wanted to make mittens for Carrie, but they had not enough yarn. There was a little white yarn, and a little red, and a little blue, but not enough of any colour to make mittens.

"I know!" Mary said. "We'll make the hands white and the wrists in red and blue strips!" Every morning while Carrie was making her bed in the attic, Laura and Mary had knitted as fast as they could; when they heard her coming down the stairs, they hid the mittens in Mary's knitting basket. The mittens were there now, finished....

Carrie put on her mittens and softly clapped her hands. "My Fourth of July mittens! Oh, see my Fourth of July mittens!" she said.

— By the Shores of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Knit Simple Fall 2013: A Review

Knit Simple has published their Fall 2013 issue. Why don't we have a look at it?

Not bad at all. A classic cabled wrap in a fun colour.

I like this one too, a basic but well-cut cabled sweater with an attractive ballet neckline. I do like a long cuff — it sets off the hands.

Cute tam.

I very much like this one. The flattering yoke (a woman can set off her favourite pendant necklace in this sweater), the lattice detail at the cuffs and hem echoing the yoke — all of that adds up to a warm practical sweater that most women can wear, and that also has interesting details and some style. This is good design.

So far so good, but then we have... this one. Colour blocking really shouldn't look as though the knitter ran out of one kind of yarn and patched in another. This sweater does have some good points but should have been taken several steps further. There needs to be a line of detail at the join where the two colours meet, because it looks rough as it is, and a corresponding line of detail at the cuffs and perhaps also at the hem would pull the whole thing together.

This one isn't bad. The yoke panel would have looked random if it were the only colour block, but the designer has pulled it together by adding cuffs in the same colour and stitch. I'd go just a little further with that and make one of the two yarns a variegated yarn that contained the colour of the second yarn.

Again, this colour blocking looks a bit random, though the actual design of the sweater isn't bad. I'd pick two colours that worked better together than these two rather than simply contrasting, or just knit the whole thing in the same colour.

This is one of the patterns I stare at for five minutes while trying to form a definite opinion, and then am still not sure about. The way this cloak is flaring out isn't at all flattering, but it looks to me that if the model weren't posing with her arms akimbo the sides wouldn't be standing away from her body like they are — she's just trying to show us the lines of the design. And so I think if you want to knit yourself a cloak, this isn't a bad one to make. I do wonder about what's going under the scarf, if there's any kind of fastening at the throat, and if (as I suspect) there isn't, whether this cloak will stay on during a sudden gust of wind.

Classic cabled pom-pom hat. You have the option of leaving the pom-pom off if this is too juvenile a look for you, of course.

This one would probably look better done in one colour.

I kind of like this one. I'm not sure whether those are beads or French knots — my guess is the latter. Either way it's a nice finishing touch on such a standard design.

Again, this hat would look better done in one colour. Or if you want it striped, in stockinette stitch rather than a check stitch pattern. Both themes are too much for a small hat and they just make it look rough and amateurish.

If you're making this one for an adult, I'd leave the pom-pom off. Pom-poms always look more than a little childish, and given that the afghan-style ripple pattern makes this look grandma-produced, it needs to look as adult as is otherwise possible.

This isn't bad, I guess. I might go with a more sophisticated colour scheme, though.

Love the colours in this, but not the shape. It's a little too Keebler Elf, falling over in a comical way rather than draping in a graceful way.

Here we have a "Lawrence of Arabia meets a snowstorm" look. Those unshaped garter stitch side flaps are just a big no-no, and the brim isn't good either, though the rest of the hat is kind of cute. This design needs a properly shaped brim, and if it must have ear flaps, they should look like an integrated part of the design rather than like a pair of random mud guards.

This isn't bad. A simple striped tam with a decent shape.

This is run-of-the-mill but serviceable enough.

I wish I could get a better look at the stitches used in this afghan. However, I think I like the texture, though I'd be inclined to make it just in one colour. Multi-colour afghans almost never look really elegant. But if you want this for a kid's room or some other room which you've done in a fun, colourful way, this could fit right in.

No. Just no. Unless you really think granny chic is actually a thing.

I like this one. I do love a sampler-style afghan.

Man, this is giving me retina burn. I can't even make a real effort to look at the stitchwork. I'd say the same of this as I'd say of the first of these four afghans: make it in one colour unless it's for a room with bright colours and a casual tone.

When I was a child and my mother had one of her (rare) cooking or baking mishaps such as making a cake that fell, she'd dump a sauce all over it and make up a different name for it. This looks like the result of a similar maneuvre, as though someone knitted part of a sweater, found out that she or he hadn't followed directions, and decided to call it a scarf rather than have all that work go to waste. The problem being that while no one much cares what food looks like as long as it looks appetizing and tastes good and in any case will soon disappear, a scarf is supposed to look good and be wearable for a long time.

Oh, and now we see what the maker of the scarf was trying to make: a hoodie. And she or he still didn't get there on the second try, and so this time called it a scarf with an attached hood. And I'm still not buying it.

These knitted bags are cute. I'd use a more interesting and/or better quality yarn for this project, but otherwise they're good, with a simple shape and bit of texture.

I wish I could see what's going on with this pattern. Are there side seams or is this a wrap? I'm inclined to say the latter, in which case this isn't a bad wrap. It lies reasonably well either well. The colours and the fringe make it look a little afghan-y, but that can be changed easily.

Not a bad scarf and fingerless mitt set, though I do have a few concerns about the shaping of the mitts — they look a little crude.

I rather like these sneaker- and sweater-style hat and mittens sets. They're cute and whimsical.

I like the idea of mittens as pockets on a kid's sweater, but these look kind of random. I'd add a few touches of pink to this sweater to pull it together and make the sweater look more deliberate. Do you know what would be really cute? A clothesline pattern running right around the chest, back and front, with tiny mittens hanging from it.

I like this little mandarin jacket, and I even like the matching headband. I'd do it in another colourway, but that's just personal preference, as this one works well enough. Children prefer bright colours, even though the adults who make their clothes would rather look at something more sophisticated.

This is definitely a little jacket I would make in another colour combination because this one isn't quite pulling together — the hot pink is too overpowering for the pale blue and they're just fighting one another. Otherwise this is a cute design that would look quite sharp in a better colourway. Though it is pulling open over this child's stomach. Make sure you make the sweater big enough.

Very cute design in a good colourway. My one quibble is that those bows could have been better designed. They look a little limp.

Love this. Darling daisy pattern on this vest.

Really cute little lace cardigan for a baby.


Coming up: Look for a special Fourth of July post tomorrow morning!