Designer Wear Inspiration

Very recently I made a Kate Spade Inspired Sweater and it was such a successful project I started looking for more things I can make that look like other designer clothing I covet but refuse to spend the money on the price tag.

As if to answer my unasked question Crochet Concupiscene blogged about Marc Jacobs Fall 2012 collection and all the crochet pieces he used. You can see her blog post here.

That is where I saw this shawl:

Image from Vogue

Image from Vogue

Doesn't that shawl look awesome? But at $1,800 bucks a pop, there is no way that I will be buying that. I know that it is a crocheted waffle-knit shawl, it is wool and the safety pin I can buy at the craft store for cheap. I am pretty sure this can be replicated without too much trouble. 

Continuing my quest to find more designer clothing I can recreate brought me to Anthropologie and this tunic:

You can find the top here

It is another crocheted piece and it is beautiful. I of course took to Ravelry to look at the Anthropologie Group and sure enough they have a discussion going on on this exact top. While reading the thread I saw that someone has created a very pretty top inspired by the tunic. You can see her blog and picture's here. I am definitely going to give this a try using one of the many patterns that the Anthro Group suggested. Not sure which I will use, I just know I do want the flowers going down the spine.

Are there any knitted or crocheted designer clothing that you would like to re-create?

Until next time, Happy Knitting Crocheting!

~Knitting Chica
 

Sweater Progress

I started my sweater on Sunday of last week. After a few days of knitting I decided to read the whole pattern, something that I should really get in the habit of doing before I start a project, but I digress.

After reading it I saw that they collar is knitted onto the sweater at the end. I could not understand why the designer did it this way. It is her design, it is great and I am happy that it exist but I had to make a change. So I frogged the sweater and started over this time with the collar.

The collar. The markers is where the sweater pattern starts and ends.

Sweater progress 

As you can see the collar and bow are there and I am half way done with the yoke. I hope to finish with the body by tomorrow and just have the sleeves left to work on Monday and Tuesday. I have all the needles and yarn information on my Ravelry page here so feel free to check it out.

What do you think of the progress so far?

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

New Yarn!!

As much as I say that I will not buy new Yarn when I enter a Yarn Shop, I always some how find a way to come out with at least one skein. These are some of the recent additions to my Yarn stash:

This Yarn I purchased at Nature's Yarn:

This yarn is a very pretty bronze color with shimmer. I tried to capture the color but failed

I will be making a very pretty scarf from the Louisa Harding Queen of Hearts Pattern Book with this Yarn.

This Yarn I purchased at Fibre Space:

Black, White and Gray self striping yarn.

I will be making myself socks with this yarn.

Last but not least, here is the Yarn I purchased from WEBS for my Kate Spades Bardot Sweater:

Soft and squishy!

Have you added new Yarn to your stash? Let's see it! Let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

Happy Friday! It is Road trip time!

I am going on a road trip today to visit family and friends. I am still awaiting for my yarn order from WEBS to come in so that I can start my Kate Spades inspired sweater. In the mean time, I have decided to cast on the 198 yards of Heaven Pattern that you can download for free on Ravelry. It is a small enough project that will keep me entertained while I sit in the back of a car for 4 hours.

Not my picture... It is a picture from the project page on Ravelry

I have not forgotten to give a follow-up on my Spinning class from Wednesday. I will have a post up when I return. I still have to download the picture's of the yarn that I managed to make. I will just say that they class was a lot of fun and I cannot wait to get better at Spinning.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

My "Kate Spade Bardot Sweater"

After my Mad Hatter adventure I decided that I needed to do a quick project. I have had this:

 Kate Spade Sweater  on my Pinterest for weeks, but with a price tag of $195 there was no way that I was going to purchase it. So it stayed there on my inspiration board until I saw this:

This is the St. James sweater pattern on Ravelry. Does it not almost look identical? I just have to knit the body in a cream color yarn, the red in a black color yarn and the bottom sweater band in black and I got myself a "Kate Spade Bardot Sweater" look alike! 

The Kate Spade sweater is made out of a Merino Wool/Cashmere blend, but I ordered Acrylic/Wool blend yarn. I know it is not as luxurious but I wanted something that was low maintenance while still cute and feminine, that I can wear on girl's night out or on date night with the boyfriend. Also, lets face it, I wanted it to be affordable, in total my sweater will only cost me $68.10 to make, that is including: Needles, Yarn and shipping. 

How is that for a savings? I cannot wait till my order comes in and I can get started on my sweater!

Happy Knitting!

Knitting Chica

*Note: I am sure you guys have guessed already but the red and white sweater is not mine nor did I take the picture. The picture belongs to a member on Ravelry, you can find it here.