Argyle-Fashion trend AW2019

Once the uniform of middle-aged golfers, argyle, the traditional Scottish pattern, has had its highs and lows in the fashion world. But, according to this season's most popular runways, it's officially back in favor.

Pringle of Scotland

 Pringle of Scotland

Antonio Marras

Anrealage

Gucci

 I'M Isola Marras

I'M Isola Marras

 Molly Goddard

 Molly Goddard

 Molly Goddard

 Preen by Thornton Bregazzi

  Victoria Beckam

 Victoria Beckam

Markus Lupfer

Get inspired by the catwalks  and knit your own jumper or cardi!

The following charts will help you creating your design:

Anonymous woman knits 75 winter hats for those in need

An elderly woman is making sure children stay warm in this bitter cold.
The 87-year-old woman, who wants to remain a mystery, has knitted 75 hats for kids.
“I like doing them. I think it’s fun. I just like to stay in the background,” she said. “Just because it makes me feel good that I can do something for someone.”
She wants no recognition for the 75 hats she has made for kids in need this winter. It takes her a full day to make just one hat and has been hard at work for months before the holidays.

Her daughter hung all 75 hats along a fence at Nelson Memorial Park in Plymouth. A few days later, only four hats are left. She hopes they go to kids who really need them in this freezing weather.  

“Just these little things would mean so much to someone who doesn’t have anything,” she said.
She also donates her hats to homeless shelters and plans to do the same next year.
“If I ever see anybody in Market Basket or something wearing one of the hats, I’d be thrilled to pieces,” she said.

Source:  https://www.boston25news.com

the Slipper Man of Ottawa

(Ash Abraham/CBC)

They call me the Slipper Man, but my real name is Robert Lacombe. I’ve probably knitted 20,000 pairs of slippers in my lifetime. 

(Ash Abraham/CBC)

From tattoos to yarn

I was a tattoo artist for about 10 years. I'd tattoo out of my house, but then my eyes started getting bad, so I had to quit.
My wife owned one pair of knitting needles, so I started knitting with chopsticks. She bought me my first pair or real needles.

We were married for over 30 years. During that time, my wife became sick. She had kidney dialysis three days a week. While she was on the machines getting her treatment, I’d wait for her in the lobby, knitting. I’d knit little things for other patients in the hospital, especially patients who didn’t have any visitors. I’d give them something, and they’d be happy.
It’s been 10 years since she died, but I am doing pretty good.

(Ash Abraham/CBC)

Nothing but a stitch

I could sit inside all day and watch television, but I like talking to people. After my wife died, I started knitting in places other than the hospital. Now, I knit all day long.
The only time I am not knitting is when I am at work. Even if it rains, I am knitting outside. I put a plastic bag over myself and keep knitting.
When I am not doing anything, I start to think about my problems. But when I am knitting, I have no problems. I am thinking about nothing but a stitch.

Robert Lacombe carries a shopping bag filled with needles, yarn and finger puppets he has made for children he meets. (Ash Abraham/CBC)

Comforting Patterns

I knit the same slipper pattern my wife taught me. It takes about 16 hours to make a pair. I go through tons of wool a week. And, I figure, there’s more feet in the world than anything else, and it’s really cold in Ottawa, so I’ll just keep knitting slippers. People who are sick or don’t feel great can wear my slippers and feel a little better.
I don’t want to sell my slippers online because I hate computers. It’s nice when I sell a pair, but talking to people is what I love the most. I’ve met people from all over the world.
I have no reason to stop. It makes me happy. Why would I stop doing something that makes me happy?
Knitting keeps my mind active, and makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I’ve done something with my life.

When he’s not knitting, Lacombe enjoys spending time with his cat, pictured here. (Ash Abraham/CBC)

Source: newsinteractives.cbc.ca

knitted camouflage by Joseph Ford and Nina Dodd

Your eyes aren’t fooling you — these models are carefully camouflaged into their surroundings without use of any digital manipulation. each subject is wearing meticulously-knitted garments tailored to blend seamlessly with their surrounding environment. ‘knitted camouflage’ is the brainchild of photographer Joseph Ford, who worked with knitting friend Nina Dodd on a collection of custom hand-sewn sweaters. ‘all the clothes are real, not photoshopped,’ Ford tells us.

Ford worked closely with Dodd on a range of printed patterns suited to match urban backgrounds, like a bus seat, a tiled wall and a running track. The knitted compositions are both complex and carefully coordinated to exactly match their selected surrounding. Amongst a range of models, the photographer shot well-known parisian twins, Mady & Monette malroux, as well as street artist Monsieur Chat, who painted one of his trademark cats on the wall of a derelict factory as part of the project. 

The latest additions to the series of custom hand-knit pieces are included in the duo’s newly published book ‘invisible jumpers.’

Source: www.designboom.com

knitwear: nina dodd
photography: joseph ford
books title: invisible jumpers
publisher: hoxton mini press

Amazing art by textile artist Ana Teresa Barboza

One artist to do so is Peru-based textile artist Ana Teresa Barboza, who creates colorful embroidery art that depicts natural forms, found in plant life and landscapes. Her three-dimensional work often spills out from the confines of the embroidery hoop or canvas she’s working on, illustrating the sprawling growth of the organic subjects. Barboza’s latest work continues to push the boundaries of embroidery by incorporating different disciplines, such as illustration and photography.

Barboza’s 2017 Immersion collection features illustrations of plant life printed with single-color hues of natural dye on cotton. The artist then adds textile fringes and weaves by stitching long threads into the illustrations, which often hang loosely, or are held up elegantly by a wooden rod. 

Her Read the Landscape series merges landscape photography with textile art. One tactile piece features fragmented images of a lush jungle environment, that appears to have been overrun by colorful woven yarn. In another, thread from an embroidered lake emerges from the photo, as the viewer’s eye is lead to each of their yarn spools, attached to the gallery wall.

 "Read the Landscape" series

 "Read the Landscape" series

   "Read the Landscape" series

  "Read the Landscape" series

The Increase series similarly explores the natural world with overflowing textile fringes, flowing from embroidered tapestries. Each piece depicts the movement of a plant’s shadow over the space of two weeks, with balls of yarn gathered at the base, perhaps depicting the plant’s roots. Barboza explains, “The embroidery in these pieces was made from drawings made with the shadow of the plant for 15 days, visualizing its growth and movement. The embroidery is growing and the tangles in the pieces make evident the constant transformation of nature.”

 "Increase" series

 "Increase" series

Source: mymodernmet.com

The urchins by Jin Choi and Thomas Shine architects

 

The Urchins were created Jin Choi and Thomas Shine in response to a call for art for the 2017 iLight Marina Bay, Singapore, which had the theme for the festival of Biomimicry and sustainability. 

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This project is inspired by sea urchin shells, which are enclosed yet light weight, delicate and open.  Their textured and permeable surface interacting with light creates openness, while the pattern’s mathematical repetition brings visual rhythm and harmony.  Against light, the sea urchin natural form reveals one of the most spectacular patterns found in nature.

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The project mimics this orderly, repetitive pattern and soft forms, achieving a visual harmony from the contrast between nature and the man-made environment, and between the firmly grounded masculine skyscrapers and the hovering feminine object.

The Urchin is a hand crochet fabric shell held in tension over an aluminum frame that is suspended from Dyneema cables.  The cables fasten to steel trusses holding the Urchins in place.  Because the structure is light weight, the suspending cables are thin, and barely visible during the day.

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The crochet fabric shell is constructed of 3mm white double braided polyester chord, illuminated by multiple white spot lights, creating the illusion of an evenly glowing structure.  Each Urchins skin is use about 17.000 meters of polyester cord, with each urchin weighing about 100kg. 

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The Urchins were designed for simple installation, and are composed of 20 segmented panels, which are joined to a series of metal ribs at ground level at the site, and later fastened to a top and bottom ring once suspended.  Once assembled, the Urchins are hoisted to the final display height and secured in place.

The development of the project took about two and a half months. It included the development of the lace design and the support structure for the construction. Most of the original lace designs come from Dilmond's Needlepoint Made Lace published in 1890 and modified by Jin Choi to use the crochet as a lace instead of embroidery needle. For the construction and assembly of the crochet project in the support structure, 50 people from all over the world needed to work intensively for another two and a half months. 

 

Source: http://choishine.com/UrchinsFabrication.html , http://choishine.com/urchins.html