Vogue Knitting Fall 2007

(DavidBowiereportedly
createda sensation.
ownedtre sanwmn] oeadedan
by LesliePetrovski
publisheda patternfor tf|e rra-m,usflfl:ants were
I98y'.,McCallsmagazine
knitterson thissideof the pondcouldstitchtheirorrn-r*rr:iafilm
n|llggings'sno
hatknitters
contextualize
historyin partthroughsweaters
might
It wasa decadeof glorious
m'rnerd of the c
excess,
or at leasturetrFm
startlecivilians.
Aska knitterwhatsheor he wasdoingwhenRea- fashionreflected
thatopulence.
Supeaized,
tarted-upknib ce'm}sh caredli
ganwasshotor the Challenger
spaceshuttleexploded,
andthe tiriy,croppednumbers.
Thenighttime
soapopera@nastyslwwsilhouettes
yarn,
pattern
memoryis likelyto include
a
andsomeneedles.
ableintarsia
sweaters
andsweater
dressesbristling
withcloudsd -(uieted dowr
years,we haveseensweaters
In twenty-five
comeandgo-and shoulderpadsthesizeof grapefruib.
Arrylereturned,
butthistinr iKnittingh\gl
returnto liveanotherday.WehavegaspedoverPhildarpatterns(fin- outsized,
recolored
anddeconstructed
for a postmodern
age.Inbnrftena desig
in t
ally,a glimpse
of European
chic!),wornAdrienne
Vittadini
knitsover peacocks,
Santas,
NativeAmericanmotifs,RalphLaurenbAmerir:arPopular
stinuppants,succumbed
to ponchos
andknitmilesof novelty-yarnpetroglyphr-if it barked,mooedor waved,it showedup on a s,r,eaandstitcher
scarves.
Whenthegoinggetsweird...well,leaveit to usto swatchit.
fn 1985,knittersflippedfor KaffeFassett's
GloriousKnds.S-dthe UnitedI
Tuckedawayin ourmentalcedarchesbareknitswecan'tforget.Whether sweaters
becamecrnvasesuponwhichknitterscouldplaywithcob th around-t
its because
weworethemwhenwewereyoungandthin,or because
they
stashes.
MaryMcGurn,co-oMlerwithBonnieBurtonof Colorful
$E/ereon even
represented
a fashionepoch,
orweresorevolutionary
wecan't
helpbutremember,
someknits
---likethe BillCosbysweatersforgoodor ill,are iconic.
RonaldReagan
w?Spresr
dentwhenVogueKnittingwas
rebornin 1982.lt wasthe Decadeof Greed,yellowneckties,
Flashdance
(1983),Madonna,
(7986),
Pretlyin Pink
WallStreetQ987)and-make way
for bobbins!-theDecadeof Intarsia,
thanksto SashaKagan(TheSasha
KaganSweater
Book,7985)and hercolleagues.
FrompreppyShetland
crewnecksto oversized
V-necks
fromTheLim(worn
pearls),
ited
backward
withflapper-length
we whipsawed
between
the ladylikelooksof NancyReagan-Chanel-inspired
knitjackets,tidy
suits-andthe boho,thriftshop
aesthetic
of CyndiLauper.
In the early1980s,the craftwasin thewaningyearsof a boomleftover
fromthe DIYethicof the late'@s and '70s.Sweaters
werehot,especially
traditional
Fairlslesfavoredby adultpreppies.
Diana,Princess
of Wales,
regularly
rockedsweaterloverswithhercheeky,prepster-tweaking
knits.
Earlyin theirrelationship,
Dianawasphotographed
withPrinceCharles
wearinga brightPeruvian
importwitha llamamotif.Everybody
coveted
that
jumper.Anotherwhimsical
pullover-redwitha flockof sheep,oneblack-
Lenox,Massachusetb,
remembers
tfrebooksellinglikecashmere
cr-q popularlr
but it took hands-onworKhopsand FassetfsfamousTumblingBrcreallthes
Vi
sweater---an
easier-tefollcnrv
intarsiaknit oublishedin RowanBmk fu-rMargery
usof manl
4 (1988)-for knittersto feelcomfortable
tacklingthosechalleng:ng
period
Thiswasnota
thatfearedcolor.TheltaliancompanyBdnuary 19
priced,colorfulknitwear,
ton,whichspecialized
in moderately
sps-g, Hillarytl
firststorein Manhattanin 1980.Supportedby controversial
ad ca1 a poltcy:
thatemphasized
multiculturalism
andtolerance,
andwithstorestir* popular
giant
lookedlike
Crayolaboxes,the European
companyand its svdworked d
-and s0c1
causedAmericans
to fall in deeoamore.
Theerawasnotable
toofor itsplayfulness.fhe
Ftashdance
lmk c.|r.? Elasttc
fromthefilmandfromfitnesscentershadeveryone
sportingJennifaicting to I
Jt
slouchydancerstyle-sweatersand sweatshirts
wornoff the shoui,oattened'
and legwarmers.MollyRingwald's
vintagevibein films like TheLdruas the r
Ctuband Prettyin Pink sentsweaterfansscurryingto second-hancs and Dc'
gloves
Fingedess
arestill a favorib,
ftanksb MissM
(left).MollyRingwald(below)
made
DIYhipforGenXercinPrefryin
Prhtr(1986).
ThePeople\Princess
(riglrt)
woreherheaft
onhersleeve
and
herknilswih style.
Jennifer
Beals(middle)
wasnottheonlyone
making
sweatshifts
chicrNorma
Kamali's
softunstruc{ured
looksepitomized
eady
'80sspoltswear.
Utat
KarlLagefeldrcvivedCoco's
classicsweateFsuit
styleswhenhetookoYeras
executivedircctorof fie
Houseof Chanelin 1982.
#.
:;'
:
'.*f,
Fndmiu
t
lriscent
Vltladini's
oversized
a6b lng,Koil
(above)
caused
a kniEfu [ still h
frenzywlrenit wasprhli*d b it
UKFalUWinbr
1986.
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a stitchlntir-ne
(continuedfrompage105)
peopleturnedto warm,homey
thedomestic
arts.Looking
for comfortandsecurity,
pursuitslikeknittingand crochetas buttresses
againstuncertainty.
Almostovernight,
knittingbecamean ultrahipenterprise.
Lapsedknitters
returned
to findyoungtattooed
boysandgirlsknitiingin publicwithgiant,quickyarns(famously
putto workin
knittingneedles
andeyelash
andself-patterning
pullover
Cornelia
TuttleHamilton's
2ffi4 Klaralund
in the Noroyarn"SilkGarden").
Felting
exploded,
andscarfknittingbecamethe "newyoga."Andwhoamongus
didn'tknitKateGilbert's
Clapotis
wrapfromthe Fall2004editionof knitty.com?
The"Oughts"haveseenhandcrafted
knitwear
turn up on catwalks,
in fineboutiquesandon the backsof celebrities,
manyof whomareknitters
themselves.
Knitterssnappedup titleslike Hip to Knitand TheYarnGirls'Guideto SimpleKnits
(2002).In 2004Jessica
generated
Simpson
seismicinterest
in shawls-andoodles
of knockoffs-when
shewrappedherselfin Argentine
designer
CeciliaDeBucourt's
fringe-heavy,
hand-crocheted
numberon the MTVseriesNewlyweds:
Nick&
(Sheditchedthe husband,
Jessica.
butdid shekeepthe shawl?)
ln 2@5 MarthaStewart
launched
a thousand
crochethooks(andreinvigoratec
thecraft)whenshemarchedoutof Alderson
Federal
PrisonCampwearinga
poncho.Thatsameyearyoucouldn'tswinga skeinof yarnand nothit
handmade
someone
knittinga shrug---or,
in 2006,a capelet.
Theknittingworldspawned
itsowncelebrity
culturewithrockstarslikehumorist
Stephanie
Pearl-McPhee,
the
YarnHarlot,drawingstanding-room-only
crowds.Nowknittingcelebshavetheir
ownyarns-SouthWestTrading
Company's
VickieHowellCollection,
Loop-d-Loop
Teva
by
Durhamfor TahkioStacy
Charles,
the LilyChinSignature
and
Collection
VannaWhite's
eponymous
Vanna's
Choicefor LionBrandYarnCo.
Currently
the "market"is experiencing
the inevitable
conection,
thistimemore
of a settling
thana crash.Lifelong
knitters
willcontinueplodding
along,and hopefullymostof the knitters-come-lately
willremainpermanently
hookedastheywatch
theirskillsprogress.
Thelasttimepassions
ebbed,in the late1980sand '90s,those
leftstanding
turnedto theclassics,
andthesameis happening
todayas knitters
seekout naturalandorganicfibersandchallenge
themselves
withfancy"footwork"
socksandsexy,prettylaceshawls,
sweaters
andembellishments.
What'snext?Hardto say.Butwe'rethinkingthenexticonicsweater
mightbea skirt.
\ oGt li,-s...,
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+-
VOGUES
BOC' :=
KNlTIltrG
hl
"*.*r=!
fficu
LesliePetrovski
is a Denver-based
freelancewriter.Shechroniclesher knittind
writinglfamilylifein her blog,nakedknits.com.
MarthaStewart
exposed
hersofter
poncho
pandemonium
sideandcaused
whensheleftprisonin onestitched
bya fellowinmate.
Yarncompanies
enjoyed
a hugespikein sales.
Fashion's
loyeaffailwithhohemianism
putcrochet
backinthelimelight.
lt's
onemorcexample
of needleaft
fads
andsfeetstylesbeingin sync.
'106
wvogueknitting.com
Thecurrentincarnation
of
Vague
Knittingis celehrating
year,but
its twenty-fifih
Cond6
NasfsVegueKritting
Boafris celebrating
aneuen
biggerbinhdayr
Thisfatl,
gtrsprogenitor
tums?5. As
earlyasthe1920s,fashion
magazines
werepublishing
knittingpatterns
as
specialfeatures.Bythe endef that deeade,an irEtr!
numherof womenwereusingknittingas a wayb irr
price.To keepup uil
fashionably
for a reasonable
demandfor pa$erns,a new magazinedevotedenitt I
hand-knitting
wasspun0fi,anda newfashionicu