Friday night was the first Fiber Fashion Showcase hosted by Cambridge’s own Common Cod Fiber Guild. Even as models and designers assembled backstage to prepare for a runway show featuring local designers, guild members, guests and other fiber fans gathered outside decked out in fine fibery fashions from head to toe.
What is the fashionable fiber maven wearing for Fall 2009? Let’s take a look at some of the red carpet looks sported by attendees.
With a fall nip in the air, warm accessories are a must for the discerning knitter. Cowls in bright colors are out in force this season. LouLou Cabor (Lousquared) sported the Saturday Siren Cowl, a personal pattern knit in lively Noro colorways. MollieWoodworth (molliebatmit) wore the Yarn Harlot’s Pretty Thing (new this season), and Amy McElwain (mcelwainamy) complemented her lilac cardigan with a smart green Embossed Leaf Cowl, her own pattern available through Ravelry.
Amanda Marcus (delayedreflex) showed us that there’s more than one way to wear show off a small ribbed cowl. Ward off the chill, hide messy bed head or protect your hair and ears from a blustery Nor’easter by pulling your cowl up around your ears.
Hats were another popular item Friday evening, ranging from fanciful to sassy. Carolyn Ross reminded us that spring wasn’t so long ago as she modeled a warm green number festooned with dandelions. Patience Boyd (JPatience) brought a literal interpretation to the Common Cod guild name with her Fish Hat hat (don’t miss the warm hand knit sweater with coordinating stripes!).
Graham Hiesmann kept his ears warm with a sophisticated leaf-patterned Ruth Sørensen hat. Stacey Lee (staceychi123) gave her Embossed Leaf Beret (another Amy McElwain original) flair by pairing it with a featherweight cardigan in a cheerful blue.
Scarves are occasionally forgotten, being considered a “beginner” project by some knitters, but many guild members show that the right scarf can complete any outfit.
Kelly Fitzgerald was wearing a fuzzy brown and black scarf, proving that “fuzzy” scarves are not just for show. Amanda Klasen paried a bright shirt with her mauve and fuchsia scarf and hat, pulling all the pieces together for a cheerful look. Jean Hotley wore her tan shirt with a woven scarf in muted rainbow tones, completing a classic look.
Suzanne Elsasser (doublehelix) gave scarf wearers an alternative to the traditional around-the-neck scarf styling, donning her Noro remnant seed stitch scarf in a hip(py) new way. Pam George matched an orange fluffy scarf with a classy orange cardigan (not pictured), while Stephanie Sampson sported a cute berry-colored number.
Heads and necks are not the only target for knitted accessories, as these show attendees proved. Don’t let Karen Moore’s confetti speckled scarf take all your attention – she was also wearing a well-executed first pair of socks! The blue in Claudette Newhall’s festive scarf was complimented by her equally festive felted handbag. Beautiful sage and mauve hand warmers graced the hands of Pam Evans, who was spotted with one of only a few pairs of knitted hand accessories on Friday.
Rectangle wraps return this season, continuing to prove reliable as a versatile autumn garment. Margery Meadow’s (mmeadow) wrap is an olive rendition of the KnitSpot Hypotenuse, Maria DeRovertis’ stole is a delicately beaded Swan Lake, and Bernadette Vaughan brightened up the night with her entrelac Lady Eleanor.
Our next fiberistas showed the world that wraps don’t have to be square to be fashionable this season. Alanna Nelson of Tactile Travel showed us a playful green confetti wrap, sporting a sleeve to keep everything in place. Betsy Bouche wore a lovely poncho, featuring a bold leaf motif wrapping around the garment.
As the astute knitter might have noticed, shawlettes worn as neck scarves are all the rage this season.
Melanie Sherwood kicked her black cardigan up several notches by topping it with a silk/mohair Pearls and Diamonds shawl in a coordinating variegated colorway. Beth Levine’s version is a snappy red Flower Basket Shawl with coordinating shawl pin, guaranteed to bring pop to any outfit.
Another trend we saw on Friday was the cropped knitted cardigan. Abby Noyce knit her Vine Yoke Cardigan in a calming blue-green colorway, while Annabella Wewere lends a little extra sun to her Sunrise Circle Jacket with a sunny yellow yarn.
Our next event attendees opted to dress for the season wearing pullovers in warm autumnal tones. Judy Gauthier (bunifufu) selected a New England Leaf Orange for her hooded Rogue pullover from The Girl From Auntie. Katheryn Zmrzuk brings extra class to a cowl neck pullover with her choice of wine colored yarn. Ira Dearing continues the fall theme with her brown and orange pullover featuring contrasting stitches.
Another New England closet staple is the cardigan. Our first set of cardigan wearers chose shades of blue for Friday evening’s show. Lucy Lee (mindseyeyarns) of Mind’s Eye Yarns showed us her stylish surplice wrap. Christina Englund’s elegant choice is the Hanne FalkenbergDesigns Mermaid Jacket, while Thea Colman wore Short Lucky, a short sleeved option of her own design (coming soon!).
Some cardigans spotted on Friday sport backs that are just as exciting as the fronts. Jill Ammerman wore a Kaffe Fassett inspired number knit in shades of blue and green.
Kimberly Reynolds (SomeBunnysLove) models her rendition of Ysolda Teague’s Vivian with a twist – knit in the luxurious worsted Classic Elite Yarns Posh instead of the suggested bulky weight, the sweater is transformed into a drapey long jacket that is just right for fall.
Last, but in no sense least, we had even more interpretations of the classic cardigan. Kathy Provenzano wore a beautifully cabled lilac cardigan, while Ericka Marshal chose the updated classic February Lady in a soft pink. Jess Forbes Marshal compliments her look with a hastily-loaned (thus, knitter unknown!) example of the ever-popular Noro striped scarf.
Many thanks to all of the fine knitters, crocheters, fiber lovers, and people who love them who came to the fashion show on Friday. Thanks also to Guido, whose inspiration and dedication were a driving force, Kimberly (SomeBunnysLove) for helping me with the note-taking for this writeup, as well as the models, designers and crew who made the show possible. Keep an eye on the Common Cod blog for a full report on the rest of the show, coming soon!
Please note that you can find large versions of all of the photos in this post here: Make Mine Local Fiber Event on Flickr. I’ve done the best I can with getting all of the above projects tagged, attributed, and Ravelry names and links to patterns tracked down. Please let me know if you see a mistake or know who or what one of the unidentified people or patterns are so that we can give full credit where it’s due!
Wow, neat! Some very interesting and fun fiberwork here. (And a shout to Abby and Jess!)
Thanks! I had a lot of fun meeting people and talking about their knitwear while I photographed them. All sorts of cool, creative stuff.
What a fantastic wrap up! There were photos of people I didn’t manage to see and now I’m putting in the queue.
You did a great job. Part of the fun of the guild for me is getting to know people via their FOs.
I’m up there with the blue Pretty Thing, and my Ravelry username is molliebatmit!
Thanks for doing this — the photos are lovely, and it’s wonderful to keep seeing everybody’s beautiful handknits.
You might want to add these fab photos to the Common Cod Flickr group.
Wonderful work by all!