Capelets

January 19, 2012 in Cowls, Debbie Bliss, Elsebeth Lavold, Louisa Harding, shawl, Uncategorized

For the secret superhero in you. Because we all know women are superheroes when it comes to the amount we juggle.

And why not look awesome and stay warm while doing it?

You can’t remove a coat with flourish and pizzazz and instantly demand attention. The cape (and capelet) does this.–Helen (@Anchorgirls on Twitter)

Now when you think of a cape you probably envision Superman’s or Batman’s ankle skimming garment. I’m sure you can knit a floor length cape if you want, but I think these elbow length, or maybe waist length, capelets are more practical.

First, they won’t take as long to knit as a floor length one. Second, you’ll probably have more opportunities to wear them.

You’ll find capelets are more structured than a shawl and more flattering than a poncho. They are good transition pieces for the spring when we shed our heavy coats but still need a little something to keep warm. They are also useful during the winter if you live in a drafty old house like I do and want to wrap up rather than crank the heat!

In Magazines

Vogue Knitting Winter 2011/12, photo by Rose Callahan

The pattern for this “Cabled Cape” is in the Winter 2011/12 issue of Vogue Knitting, which hit newsstands at the beginning of the month. It is designed by Yoko Hatta and takes 9 balls of Noro Retro.

Retro is a 64% Wool, 24% Silk, 12% Angora blend that comes in 110 yard hanks. This is sure to be a warm cape and the touch of angora will give it a soft halo.

From "Jane Austen Knits" in Silky Wool

While Hatta’s Cabled Cape has a poncho like structure with slits for your arms for ease of movement, the “Northanger Abby Hood” is more of a traditional cape with an open front.

This pattern, designed by Catherine Salter Bayar, is in “Jane Austin Knits 2011.” This magazine is a special publication from Interweave Press. It came out a few months ago, but should still be available.

The Northanger Abby Hood uses 4 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. This yarn is a 45% Wool, 35% Silk, 20% Nylon blend that comes in 192 yard hanks. There are 6 new colors this season, so it will be easy to select one that matches your wardrobe.

Louisa Harding

Poetry from Louisa Harding

“Poetry” from the Three Graces book is another lacy, split front capelet. It uses a mix of Grace Hand Dyed, Grace Hand Beaded, and Grace Silk & Wool.

This pretty garment can top off a casual outfit but is still elegant enough to wear with a party dress.

Anise in Millais

“Anise,” is from the “Absinthe” book.

Knit using 5 balls of Millais, a 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic blend that comes in 65 yard balls, this garment is a little more substantial than Poetry featuring a textured stitch instead of lace.

Wear it under your winter coat instead of a scarf, then keep using it alone when Spring makes a return.

Debbie Bliss

Shoulder Cape knit in Riva

Another substantial capelet is the “Shoulder Cape” from the “Riva” book.

The pattern takes from 4 to 6 balls of Riva, a chunky, 70% Wool, 30% Acrylic blend that comes in 88 yard balls and 12 colorways. This cape is worked flat and seamed, so it should be easy for a beginner to tackle. The chunky yarn means it will work up quickly.

Cabled Capelet in Cashmerino DK

For a little more challenge, consider the “Cabled Capelet” from the “Charlestown Collection” book.

This garment has a more tailored look with four big buttons highlighting the front.

It is knit using Cashmerino DK, a 55% Merino Wool, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere blend that comes in 121 yard balls and 46 colors. This yarn will knit up into a wonderfully soft and warm garment.

Lace Capelet in Debbie Bliss Angel

For a capelet that is lightweight, but still warm, you’ll want the “Lace Capelet” from the “A Fine Romance” book. This feminine project takes between 2 to 3 balls of Angel yarn.

A 76% Super Kid Mohair, 24% Silk blend, Angel won’t weigh you down, but it will keep you warm because of the air caught in the fuzz from the Kid Mohair. There are now 24 colors of Angel available for all your moods.

And if your mood is glamorous, you can just as easily use Party Angel, a 72% Superkid Mohair, 24% Silk, 4% Metallic Polyester blend. The Metallic Polyester will give your capelet just a hint of shine.

Get Stitching

As you can see, capelets come in a wide variety of styles. From simple cowl-like garments like the Riva Shoulder cape to textured beauties like Anise and delicate shoulder covers like the Lace Capelet.

These are just a few of the patterns we have available. You can see more cape patterns on our website.

Now that you’ve seen the potential, use the “find a store” feature on our website to locate a local yarn store near you and prepare to cover your shoulders in style.

Then visit us on Facebook and share a picture of your finished project. We love to see what you’re making.

Tags: capelets
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Purses and Bags

November 18, 2011 in bag, Ella Rae, Louisa Harding, Noro

The holidays are fast approaching and you know what they bring with them.

Cookies? Yes, but not what I had in mind.

Gift projects? Yes, and I know you are knitting and crocheting furiously to get them done.

Holiday parties? That’s the one!

Holiday parties are a great opportunity to visit with family and friends and take a break from the rush of preparing for either travel or house guests. On the other hand they take you away from your knitting or crocheting, but there is no reason yarn can’t still be close at hand.

Why not dress up your little black dress with one of these cute purses?

You can find these books, and the yarn to make the projects, at your local yarn store.

Party Purses

There are two version of the Grace purse in Louisa Harding’s new book “Three Graces.” These sweet little purses will work up quickly because of their petite size.

The first uses one skein of Grace Hand Beaded yarn. The simple design allows the yarn to shine.

The second version takes two skeins (one each of two different colors) because it is jazzed up with a fun, knit flower. If you can’t settled on which color you like best, this purse would be the way to go.

For a slightly larger purse, consider the Pink Cotton Purse from “Knitting Little Luxuries,” also by Harding. There are three different version shown in the book, illustrating how it can be dressed up or made for every day use.

The varied lace patterns will make this purse fun to knit as well as to use. You can make it in Grace Silk & Wool yarn with a contrasting lining for an elegant look. The matte finish of Willow Tweed yarn will still make a dressy purse, but with a different style. Or you can use Ella Rae Phoenix, a 100 percent cotton yarn, for a more practical every day purse.

Speaking of practical purses, you can download the complimentary pattern for the Hawthorn Bag from the Little Cake book from our website. This pretty purse uses six balls of Willow Tweed and has many options for embellishment.

Practical Purses

If pretty little purses like these aren’t your style, try your hand at one of these larger bags that can be used as your go-to purse for daily use. Another bonus to making bags is you don’t have to worry about whether they “fit” when you’re done.

This striped beach bag is knit in Elle Rae Phoenix and is from the book of the same name. Phoenix comes in 24 colors, which gives you many options for combining just the right colors for your wardrobe.

The Margareta Shoulder Bag is from the Noro book “Meet the Man Behind the Yarn” by Cornelia Hamilton. It shows off the beautiful Noro colors and allows you to always have some of this special yarn with you.

Felted bags are great because they are nice and sturdy. Additionally, the felted fabric gives you a “canvas” for adding embellishments to make your bag unique.

This felted bag from Sirdar is dressed up with some fun felted flowers. It is knit in Eco Wook DK yarn and the pattern is in the book of the same name.

This fabulous carpet bag is just one of 12 patterns in an Ella Rae book devoted to felted bags. The patterns all use Ella Rae Classic Wool, a 100 percent wool yarn that comes in 220 yard balls. There are 27 new colors of Class Wool this season, bringing the total to over 200 colors! With that many to select from you’ll sure to find one to please.

As you ponder the approaching holidays remember to take time to pamper yourself. Take a break from knitting or crocheting gifts for other people and whip up a cute purse for yourself. Or when your gift knitting is done and the thought of making another hat or scarf makes you gag pop a purse on your needles for some relaxing stitching.

And after you finish, share a picture of your purse with us on our Facebook page. We love to see what people make with our yarns.

Tags: bag, purse
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Madelena, YO!

November 15, 2011 in Louisa Harding, Scarves

Have you started your project for the Simonetta Holiday Glitter KAL?

I cast on for my Madelena scarf on Saturday and have been happily knitting along.

I've worked 3 repeats so far!

According to the Craft Yarn Council of American standards this pattern would be considered “intermediate” because it has lace. However, I don’t think that should intimidate you. Every project should advance your skills. After three times through the pattern repeat I can assure you the rows repeat regularly enough that they will quickly become familiar (which is not to imply that I’ve memorized the pattern yet!).

The frill is so fun to work! When I read the pattern I said, “Huh?” but as soon as I started knitting I realized I was working short rows. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that until I was holding needles in my hands. It was probably late at night. haha! Each frill works up quickly and is immediately noticeable so they really make you feel like you are making progress.

The body of the scarf is a fairly easy lace pattern. As long as you stay alert you won’t have any problems. However, you might want to give some thought to how you make your yarn overs.

An Eye on Eyelets

As you know, lace is (basically) formed by positioning decreases and yarn overs to form a pattern.

A yarn over (YO) between two knit stitches is made by bringing the yarn to the front as if to purl, then taking it to the back again over (not between) the needles to form the eyelet. Between two purl stitches you’d do the opposite.

Yes, you know all that.

But what about between a purl and a knit stitch? This situation comes up on five rows in the pattern repeat.

Your instinct will be to lay the yarn over the needle when you move it back to knit, rather than taking it between the needles as usual. And that is an option. It will make a YO and you can keep knitting.

However, you might notice that a YO created that way is a little smaller than a normal YO made between two knit stitches. That is because the yarn isn’t traveling as far so you don’t have as much slack to form the eyelet.

Because of this I have elected to make a “Backward YO” instead. This method creates a larger eyelet more in keeping with the others.

To work this YO you would finish your purl stitch, move the yarn to the back between the needles as if to knit, bring the yarn back to the front over the needle (creating your eyelet), then move the yarn to the back between the needles again. Knit (or work as directed) your next stitch as normal.

Basically, you are wrapping the working yarn entirely around the needle. It’s a very quick gesture when you execute it while knitting.

The Backward YO presents twisted.

Now, one caution: a YO made in this fashion will present twisted on the next row. You’ll have to work it through the back leg to untwist it and keep the eyelet open.

In the picture this twisted YO is marked the the red arrow. See how it looks different from all the other stitches?

The green arrow is pointing to a normal YO that was worked between two knit stitches.

You can test the different types of yarn overs out with some practice yarn to see which method you prefer before starting your own Madelena.

Tags: KAL, Simonetta
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Simonetta “Holiday Glitter” KAL

November 11, 2011 in Louisa Harding

A few days ago we received a email from a knit blogger named Lisette who is a huge Louisa Harding fan.

Madelena scarf

She wrote that she planned to celebrate how lovely the new Simonetta yarn and patterns are by organizing a knit along (KAL) in the “Louisa Harding Lovers” group on Ravelry (free registration required).

Obviously we thought this sounded like a wonderful idea and happily provided the two balls of Simonetta she requested to use as a prize at the end of the KAL.

Since not all knitters are on Ravelry, we set up a parallel KAL on the Louisa Harding Facebook page. We’ll give a prize away there, too.

Details

The KAL starts on Nov. 11, 2011, and ends on Dec. 23, 2011. (Lisette points out the end date means you’ll be done in time for gift giving or wearing your finished project for the holidays.)

To participate you can knit any pattern from the Simonetta book using any color of Simonetta yarn you want.

When you enter your project into Ravelry use the tag “lhholidaykal” to make it easy for participants to find your project.

To be eligible for the prize on Ravelry you have to be a member of the Louisa Harding Lovers group and post a picture of your finished project with pattern name and yarn color in the KAL thread (no word yet on how the winner will be determined).

To be eligible for the prize on Facebook you also have to post a picture of your finished project with details on the Louisa Harding page wall. The winner will be selected by a random drawing.

Inspiration

The Ravelry group is buzzing with projects people are planning to make.

I’m going with the Madelena scarf in color #12-Charcoal. The picture at the top of this post is of the Madelena scarf from the book in color #3-Gesso.

This scarf sounds like a popular choice because it will make a nice gift. Both the single color, one ball version and the two color, two ball version are being discussed.

Isabella as a cape

Isabella, which can be worn as either a cape or a skirt, takes three balls. At least one person is planning to make it.

Two color Giovanna shrug

The Giovanna shrug has a single color or a two color version. Shrugs are great accessories for a little extra warmth on a cool evening and adding spark to an outfit.

Dress version of Lucrezia

Lucrezia can be made as either a dress or a top. Someone is planning the dress version. If she finishes it on time she won’t have to worry about buying a new dress for the holidays!

Which project are you planning to make?

Tags: KAL, Simonetta
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We Love Scarves

October 19, 2011 in Araucania, Euro Yarns, Filati FF, Free, Katia, Louisa Harding, OnLine, Scarves

The Craft Yarn Council had declared this past Friday, Oct. 14, to be “I Love Yarn Day.”

On one hand, it was sort of like celebrating Valentine’s Day with your spouse since we’re always together and expressing our love. On the other hand, it was fun to have an excuse to make even more noise about our affection for yarn.

We took the opportunity to decorate the office.

It's fun to spruce up the office for a holiday.

And to decorate ourselves.

Everyone loves scarves!

We posted the original version of this picture (without identifications) on Facebook and everyone started asking about the scarves and what yarn was used.

Well, of course you all would ask that! Silly me for not anticipating those questions. But we’ve tracked the scarves down and identified them all for your enjoyment. (You can click on the picture to see a bigger version.)

Starting with the Front Row on the left

The dark pink scarf is the “Titania” pattern from the new Louisa Harding Nerissa book knit in color #7-Cherry.

The variegated fringed scarf in red tones is knit in Euro Yarn Prancer in color #109 – Grey, Magenta, Salmon. You can download the free pattern for this simple cabled scarf from our website.

The sparkly mohair scarf in the middle is knit in Louisa Harding’s new yarn Simonetta. You can download the free Cosimo Scarf pattern, which takes one ball of Simonetta, from our website.

Cosimo Scarf by Louisa Harding

The ruffled green scarf, which generated the most interest on Facebook, is knit in Euro Yarns Sparkle. That green color is sold out, but there are 12 other lovely colors available. Once you select one, download the free Sparkle Scarf pattern and cast on.

If you had your heart set on a green scarf, you should consider Triana Lux from Katia, which comes in 14 colors including a lime green one. This fun yarn is a souped up version of Triana, the difference being the Lux version has metallic threads for some sparkle. Both yarns will create fun ruffled scarves following the free Triana Scarf pattern.

Back to the staff picture, the chunky blue scarf on the end takes one skein of Euro Yarns Quick Thick Merino, which comes in 10 colors. The free pattern features an elongated stitch, which shows off the texture of the yarn nicely.

Second row starting from the left

The first green scarf is in Sparkle, again.

The next scarf, which is just peeking out, is Euro Yarns Tinseltown. This fun yarn has ruffles and sparkles and works up quickly using the free scarf pattern. Currently there are 10 colors of Tinseltown available, but we’re expecting new colors to arrive in a few weeks…just in time for finishing up your holiday gift knitting!

More colors of Tinseltown will be available soon.

The puffy white scarf in the middle is On Line Zico. This fun novelty yarn comes in 8 colors and works up quickly on US size 19 needles. Two balls are needed for the free scarf pattern, which really shows off the texture of the yarn.

The ruffled black and silver scarf is Euro Yarns Broadway, a new yarn that should be in stores by Thanksgiving.

Finally, the multicolored orange “hat” is actually a sampler strip knit from various shades of Araucania Patagonia meant to show off the different colors. It would have worked just as well for a scarf and is a good option if you can’t decide which of the 40 colorways available is your favorite.

The red vest is knit in the ribbon yarn Kristha from Filati FF. This yarn has limited availability so you’ll want to be sure to call your local yarn store to ensure they have it.

You can search for stores that carry Filati FF, and all the brands we represent, using the “find a store” feature on our main website.

As you can see, we had fun on “I Love Yarn Day.” We hope you did, too, and that you enjoy keeping the celebration going with some of these scarves.

Tags: scarves
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Magazine Round Up Fall/Winter 2011

October 12, 2011 in Debbie Bliss, Inspiration, Louisa Harding, Queensland Collection

Nothing is quite as inspiring as a visit to your local yarn store where you can see and feel all the beautiful yarns in person. That will definitely get your creative juices flowing with the desire to start a new project.

Blue Thistle Shawl Interweave Knits Gifts. Photo by Joe Coca.

If all the beautiful yarn leaves you dizzy you can bring some order to your thoughts by cracking open a current issue of one of the fabulous knit or crochet magazines available in print or online.

Nothing beats flipping through a magazine at your local yarn store and being able to leave with everything you need to start a project. Unless, of course, you’re a subscriber then you get to relax at home with your new issue as you plot your next shopping trip.

Our yarns are featured in five current issues, as well as the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Debbie Bliss Magazine (of course).

Debbie Bliss Magazine

Fall/Winter 2011

The new issue features patterns by Debbie and other designers for both adults and children, as well as some home decor items.

The cover scarf is knit in her new yarn Riva, a chunky 70% Wool, 30% Acrylic blend that comes in 12 variegated colors.

Lace Capelet knit in Angel

This adorable Lace Capelet was designed by Brooke Nico and is sure to delight the little miss in your life. It’s knit in Angel, a 76% Super Kid Mohair, 24% Silk blend that has six new colors this season.

Vogue Knitting Fall 2011

Photo by Paul Amato

This stunning Nordic Cardigan is designed by Shiri Mor. It is knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Angel. One of Debbie’s signature yarns, Cashmerino Aran is a 55% Merino Wool, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere blend that added six new colors this season.

The Nordic Cardigan comes in sizes X Small/Small (Medium) and requires 9 (11) balls of Cashmerino Aran in #28 charcoal; 3 (4) balls of Angel in #6 ecru. You can see additional pictures on VK 360.

Knit Simple Holiday 2011

Photo by Paul Amato

Designer Renee Lorion used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino to create this cute layette set. Like Cashmerino Aran, the lighter baby version is a 55% Merino, Wool, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere blend that added six new colors this season.

The layette set has sizes for Newborn-3 months, 6-9 months, 12-18 months. Yarn requirements are:

Pants amounts: 3 (3,5) skeins in #40 celadon
Cardigan amounts: 3 (3,4) skeins in #40 celadon
Blanket amounts: 5 skeins in #40 celadon

You can see additional pictures on KnitSimple Up Close.

Interweave Knits

The Holiday Gifts 2011 issue features two projects.

The pretty blue shawl at the top of the post is the Blue Thistle Shawl by Susanna IC. It takes 6 skeins of Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran, a 85% Merino Wool, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere blend. The shawl in the magazine used color #172 ocean blue, but there are 30 colors from which to select, including six new ones.

Photo by Brad Bartholomew

The Northwoods Coasters were designed by Robin Ulrich using Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed in colors: #281103 (A; brown), #281114 (B; moss), #281104 (C; beige), #281101 (D; black), #281109 (E; blue), and #281102 (F; gray), 1 skein each.

They would be quick to make for yourself or as a gift.

The Knitscene Winter 2011 issue comes out at the end of October.

Photo by Brad Bartholomew

It includes the lovely Tereza Pullover by Melissa LaBarre. This sweater is knit in Louisa Harding Millais, #03 crumble (raspberry heather), 9 (10, 11, 12, 13) balls. Millais is a 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic blend that comes in 11 colors, of which four are new for this season.

You can see additional photos on the Knitscene website.

Curling up with a good knitting magazine is almost as fun as curling up with your knitting! When it’s time to give your hands a rest by taking a break from your knitting why not flip through an issue?

Tags: magazines
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Spotlight: Louisa Harding Nerissa

October 4, 2011 in Free, Louisa Harding, Scarves

Did you enjoy Louisa’s discussion of her new fall yarns and pattern books?

It is so fun to get a peak inside the designers’ creative process and see what inspires them.

The three new yarns–Grace Hand Beaded, Simonetta, and Nerissa–are all lovely, but I had to stick my needles in Nerissa first. It’s been a while since I worked with chenille and I wanted to see what Louisa had come up with.

Since the free pattern for the Cosimo scarf works with all three new yarns, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

The Cosimo scarf can be knit with all 3 new yarns.

If you used chenille yarn back in the 90s the idea of returning to it probably makes you cringe. Believe me, I remember those days and how tough those old, fuzzy chenille yarns were to work with.

I can honestly assure you Nerissa is not like that.

The short, tight plush slides over itself easily as you knit without any sticking or grabbing.

The yarn is also durable, as I found out when I had to frog my picot cast on at least twice. There are some cast ons that require too much counting to be compatible with a good TV show!

After one repeat you can already see the pattern.

I was feeling rebellious and didn’t bother to do a gauge swatch. This made my scarf swatch a bit wider than the dimensions in the pattern, but it would just give you more scarf to enjoy. It was also wonderfully soft with good drape. Those qualities will translate nicely into the garments in the Nerissa Book, especially something as dramatic as the Ophelia cape.

The Ophelia cape takes advantage of Nerissa's drape.

Having satisfied my knit curiosity I decided to check out Nerissa’s crochet potential.

It seemed even easier to crochet with than to knit. Or maybe it was because there weren’t any picots involved?

My Water Wheel motif.

I worked the Water Wheel motif from “How to Crochet” by Pauline Turner, which zipped along quickly.

I see potential for washcloths paired with a nice soap as gifts for friends.

Or, considering Nerissa comes in 12 colors, a fun scarf or shawl made up of motifs of different colors.

The possibilities, as they say, are endless.

Tags: crochet, lace
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Louisa Harding Fall/Winter 2011

September 14, 2011 in Inspiration, Louisa Harding, Louisa Harding

The Absinthe book features 15 patterns.

Renaissance, meaning ‘rebirth’ symbolized an aesthetic revolution in the cultural development of Art and Literature during the 14th – 17th Centuries in Europe. The story of the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy and where my inspiration for this seasons yarn and pattern collections began to unravel.

I view this season as a small Renaissance of the Louisa Harding collection. The yarn range has been refined, with extremely exciting developments in the addition of new yarns, the pattern collections more focused, inspired visually by images from the ‘Renaissance’ and also by the ethics of a clear perspective.

This season I am introducing three new yarns, Nerissa, an opulent cotton chenille, Simonetta, an antiqued Kid Mohair with a metallic haze randomly entwined throughout and Grace Hand Beaded. Also included in the yarn collection are updated shades in Millais, Thistle, and Willow Tweed, which are showcased in LHB113 – Absinthe, a publication of fifteen projects for accessories and garments.

The story behind the introduction of my three new yarns is unraveled below:

Nerissa – Cotton Chenille

I have always loved working with textured yarns and since introducing my yarn collection I have looked to source a yarn that when knitted would produce a beautiful velvety texture. Woven in Northern Italy, velvet fabrics became very popular during the Renaissance, worn by rich Merchants and their wives in Florence, Venice and Genoa. Named after a character from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ (1596), Nerissa was a formidable young women and Portia (the heroine’s) closest companion. When I studied the paintings of Renaissance women and Shakespearian costumes I was drawn to the beautiful garments of woven velvet damask.

Hermione uses 9-12 balls of Nerissa

Going back to the roots of velvet and chenille production I have worked closely with an Italian manufacturer to produce my beautiful cotton chenille yarn. Chenille yarn like velvet is unique in its manufacture, short lengths of yarn, called the “pile”, are placed between two “core yarns” and then twisted tightly together. The edges of these piles then stand at right angles from the yarn’s core, giving chenille both its softness and its characteristic look. 15 projects using Nerissa are contained in a dedicated Louisa Harding publication, LHB115 – Nerissa.

Simonetta – Glitter Mohair

The cover portrait I used to present my yarn collection this season is of Simonetta Vespucci, painted around 1490, by Piero di Cosimo. To me, Simonetta personifies an antiqued elegance, but at the same time looks like a very modern woman with balletic grace, hers is the name I have given to the second of my new yarns, again, unique in its construction, look and feel. The yarn is constructed by entwining light Kid Mohair with a metallic haze, when knitted the light as air fabric gives the appearance of a metal covered in an antiqued patina.

I have designed 14 sophisticated garment and accessories projects using this distinctive yarn, LHB116 – Simonetta.

Grace Hand Beaded

The Charm mitts use Grace Hand Beaded and Silk & Wool

Beading was also a very important embellishment used in the creation of Renaissance garments, adornments for hair and jewelry as seen in Simonetta’s portrait. Over my career as a knitwear designer I have enjoyed combining knitting with beading and have often thought about creating a beaded yarn. This season I have collaborated with skilled manufacturers to produce ‘Grace Hand Beaded’, the third of this season’s new yarns.

Using the base of ‘Grace’, 50% silk, 50% Merino, manufactured in Italy, I have worked with a specialist yarn embellishment producer in Turkey. Beads are hand threaded onto a fine yarn and then spun together with Grace to create this exclusive beaded yarn, with each hank being hand crafted and unique.

Taking my inspiration from Ruben’s painting of the ‘Three Graces’ (1500 -1505) I have used the three Louisa Harding Grace yarns, Grace, Grace Hand Dyed and Grace Hand Beaded combined in one design publication, the yarns working beautifully knitted in garments and accessories to enhance each other, LHB114 – Three Graces.

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