March 2010 Archives

Flickr ::: Screenshot from Dr. Martens website

Fifty years ago this April 1st, one Doctor Klaus Marten of Munich, Germany, an inventor, collaborated with the shoe-making Griggs family of Northhampton, England, and an iconic shoe was born. It was, according to the company itself, "...an icon conceived of innovation and self-expression."

Raise your hand if you *don't* own a pair of Docs.

Flickr ::: Montage by MJ, screenshot from Dr. Martens website

My first of a half-dozen pairs was the classic black 8-hole boot, the 1460, the one that started the "quiet revolution". I wore it to school almost every day. Those fantastic AirWair soles kept my feet comfortable, walking from the farthest school parking lot, through the admin buildings, up the hill, across the lunch area and quad, and up the stairs to my classes (hey, Cal State Long Beach). I was an art student; Docs were part of my uniform and half the class wore them. My brother wore his steel toe boots for work (and otherwise). "They're to kick your ass with," he once said with a wink, "so you better not eat that last slice of pie."

Flickr ::: Montage by MJ, screenshot from Dr. Martens website

The 1460 that started out as a utilitarian work boot worn by postal, factory, and union workers crossed over first into the fringe and then into mainstream society, and has evolved into so many iterations, colors, designs, and styles. My 2 pairs of 8-holes are boxed up somewhere in the garage, reserved nowadays for motorcycle riding. These days my tastes are far more relaxed and directed toward comfort, so in a heartbeat I would pick these up: the Breeze Dona buckle toe post (top left) for weekend market and lazy days at the beach, the Breeze Toa gladiator sandal (bottom left) for everyday use, and the New Authentic wedge boot (right) for work and colder weather.

Happy birthday, Dr. Martens!

Dr Martens ::: 1460 Men's : 1460 Women's
The Vintage Collection ::: hand-cobbled shoes : made in the original Northhampton, England factory
Dr Martens For Life ::: boots and shoes with a lifetime guarantee

It's finally out in the open: Rowan's announced Amy Butler's new yarn line! Named Belle Organic, it consists of a DK and an Aran (heavy worsted) yarn in an equal mix of organic wool and cotton. From this blog I read there were 16 DK shades and 12 Aran ones, all muted. However, the picture on the site seems to show some brightly-colored projects. Hm. There are similar colors to Bergere de France's Origin' line, but I'll attribute that to current color trends.

Yay!

ETA: Kangaroo have posted Belle Organic DK and Belle Organic Aran colors. Of the DK, Basil, Slate, and Zinc are the colors I'm immediately drawn to. Interestingly enough, there are no green Aran colors. This scarf, one of the patterns out of Midwest Modern Knits, apparently uses up 20 balls of yarn!

You may have noticed I added a note to Sunday's entry. Two people who attended TNNA in January saw Bergere de France (BdF)'s Origin' line and made almost the same observations as I did. Awful packaging. And, can't feel the yarn. And really, knitters, we want to pet and smell our yarn, don't we? Here's another thing: the yarn is not actually out on display, at least at the BdF stores I've been to. It's in the back. In the store you have catalogs, perhaps a few samples, and color cards. You pick your yarn, your color, and a saleslady goes to the back to get exactly what you want.

Anyway, let's move on to the catalog! ETA: The catalog is in French, which means all directions are written in French, and all sizes are metric. Brush up on your language skills! Or, use Google Translate! Or, find the French groups on Ravelry—there is bound to be one thread somewhere about French-English knitting terms and translations.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshot from Origin' website

The catalog generally reflects the yarn's perception of luxury: thick, uncoated cover stock; spot gloss on the cover; thick, glossy paper for the contents; perfect bound; nice photography with an editorial style. It averages 3-4 images per knit, and at least one of those is a larger crop of the whole, but not necessarily a detail shot. There are 23 knits, of which two are accessories. My favorites are these six below.

This first one. I love everything about it. The grey-toned aqua, the cables, the collar, the fit. It even has a set of matching buttons (second from the top on the previous image, right side). It's made from the alpaca blend—yum—but 18 balls at €8 is a bit high for me. I'd make it with another alpaca yarn with more yardage and *ahem* costs less.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

And of the next three, I like the low scoop neck and eyelet cable of this grey pulli! It calls for the cashmere blend; for 9 balls at €14/ball that's got to be one really nice (and really soft) pullover. If I ever have the time to knit this, I'll sub in a cheaper yarn.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

Do you see anything you like in this catalog?

Origin ::: Bergere de France : yarn and catalog
La boîte a tricot ::: 44 rue des Fourbisseurs, Avignon : yarn and catalog
Knit Naturelle ::: online vendor : some yarn, catalog, single patterns

All images by Origin by Bergere de France.

{ Flickr } Screenshot from Origin' website

A display of new yarns caught my eye at the yarn store in Avignon in December last year: Origin' by Bergere de France (BdF). It turns out it's not new, per se. BdF announced the arrival of Origin' in October 2009, apparently, to its newsletter subscribers, and there is a bit of discussion about it in their forum. I waited to see if more information would come out but so far, apart from their forum thread, a Ravelry thread, a Paris trade show and a listing of UK suppliers, there has been nothing. Yet? ETA BdF showed this at TNNA earlier this year.

According to its website, the line consists of "seven outstanding yarns of natural origin". It's true, most of these are made up primarily of 1 material: alpaca, bamboo, cashmere, merino wool, mohair, silk, and soy, whereas the main BdF line is a mixture of wool and acrylics. Origin' is also priced higher, possibly because of the quality of the material. This is clearly not a budget yarn line! But we all need a bit of luxury every now and then, non? Let's look at the colors.

{ Flickr }


{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, yarn screenshots from Origin website

The colors are gorgeous, aren't they? There are enough neutrals and colors for every preference, and I love that there are some touches of grey and brown in some of them. The blues are very contemporary, as are the purples, but I do wish they had more green! It makes me wonder if these were a result of some color preference, popularity, or geographical survey.

{ Flickr }

Curiosity got the better of me, eventually, so I purchased a couple balls of Soja in Brin (Eng.: sprig), a clear, bright robin's egg blue. It's a cable-ply, meaning it's two 2-ply yarns plied together to create one cable-like strand. It was also only 16% soy, with cotton making up the other 84%, but the yarn itself is soft and quite shiny. It felt luxurious! At €5/ball it's a decent price (but that's because I'd already spent €€€ at Puyricard). Now, to find a project using 186 yds / 170m of DK-weight yarn! Any suggestions?