Friday, January 19, 2007

Inspired Knitting with Louisa Harding

Today I took a class today at So Much Yarn. The instructor was Louisa Harding.



If you haven't seen her designs, you should. They are timeless designs with a modern twist. I love knitting "the classics" but her designs and the yarns she uses have gotten me more excited than I have in quite some time. You can see some of her books here.

We had fun using Louisa Harding yarns to make a little purse. This is mine in progress.


She told us her story how she went to being a gopher at Rowan in the late '80's to having her own yarn label with complete design freedom. What an interesting journey she has taken!

If you've ever seen her books, you may have noticed the beautiful photography. She didn't want her books to *look* like knitting books. Her husband does all the photography for her books and he is an artist in his own right.

I caught up with a couple women I haven't seen in awhile. One is Sue. I know her from Acorn Street and she livess a few doors down from my sister Trish in the Bryant neighborhood of Seattle. Here she is showing off a beautiful shawl knit with Louisa's yarns. She lined it beautifully with silk fabric and added lovely Swarovski beading - only in the back so that the beads don't bother her arms in the front of the shawl. The photo just does not do it justice.


I also caught up with Beth that I had met taking a class at So Much Yarn a couple of years ago. She is a hoot! We exchanged information again and I hope we can get together for those once-a-month Saturday morning knitting sessions!

The great thing is Louisa brought samples of her designs. I tried some on and I love how they fit. So I bought some yarn to make the design "Gilt" from Winter's Muse Portraits. What this lady is doing with the picture frame I'm not sure. This design looked great on both me and Lauren(owner of So Much Yarn).

I won't do it in those colors. I'll do it in these:

In my prior post I commented that I wasn't sure what project to take to Jean Wong's Tailored Knitting class at Madrona next week. I'll take Gilt. (note - Gilt, not Guilt!) A catholic girl like me has plenty of Guilt - I don't need more! :)

I close this entry with a picture of me and Louisa. She is a very kind and interesting person. The reason I am no longer shy about taking a photo with someone *famous* is I saw the Yarn Harlot about a year and a half ago at Weaving Works and was too *shy* to ask to get my photo taken with her and have regretted ever since!

Thank you Louisa for an inspiring morning!



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous!!! I was so glad that you posted because I knew you were taking this class and I was dying to know how things went. Also, the sweater you are wearing in the photo is amazing! Did you knit it?

Finally, the wee sweater is finished (and adorable I must say). I will send a photo tomorrow, but just wanted to say hello!

Anonymous said...

I love that photo of you and Louisa! And you in your koigu sweater ~ TOO CUTE!

Karen said...

In all, it sounds like a wonderful experience. Great photos! (But I hope your head doesn't get too turned away from the traditional stuff -- !)

bizyhands said...

Hi Naomi!
I'm back and I see you are posing with famous people. Good for you! The sweater you are wearing is lovely. The Vogue one, right? Wish I could see the back. Lovely! Sounds like it was a great class.
Love-T

Sam said...

Hi Naomi,
Please tell me more about the sweater you are wearing in this picture -- it is stunning!
Thanks,
Sam