Phildar love...

been a while since I've done a Phildar post (and please note, in no way am I compensated for gushing about their patterns --though I would definitely not be adverse to that if I'm being completely honest and if it were to happen!) free patterns? God yes. But I do like to peridoically check in with them and see what's new. Can't beat the French for subtle styling tips...

One of their newer pattern books has a whole Mad Men theme happening:
(and N.B the following images are all from the same book, Fall #59, sorry French only so far for this one)



There are lots of fabulous reto-styled patterns like the one pictured above.

And while I am definitely a vintage lover pre-Mad Men *and* a lover of Mad Men itself (seriously it must be one of the most well-written shows on TV to date). I find myself even more enamoured of some of the other knits in the same book:

LOVE:


LOVE,


LOVE!

(always a sucker for hearts...it's like a sickness I have) and bows. and ruffles. Could that admission be any girlier?

Now before anyone emails me asking me to make.copies.of.all.these.patterns for them (seriously this happens a lot) I need to be clear that I do not own this book. (yet). I am debating on waiting to see if they are coming out with an English version of it. Phildar often does this though it's kind of hit and miss. I will likely order it in French (once it goes on sale heh).

Also that said, please don't email me wanting me to translate a pattern for you. I have done this once or twice but will likely never do it again.

Geez, was that way too crabby? While we're on the topic, what are everyone's thoughts on pattern-sharing?

I don't usually have an issue with it if I deem it is a pattern this is not readily available. For example, if you are emailing me asking me to scan you a copy of a Vogue Knitting pattern that is still available on newstands, I will probably take issue with that. I mean, are you just too lazy to walk to the corner store? If your excuse is that you "can't afford it" then you likely can't afford the yarn for it either so why bother? (but I am clearly being overly-judgemental here to make my point, I suppose you could easily have lots of free yarn in your stash as well!).

You would also be surprised what knitting books (and magazines) you can find at your local library, and as a result I have pretty much stopped purchasing said knitting books. Is that legit? I hope so, cuz the idea of spending 40 bucks on a book that I will only knit one pattern out of makes me feel even more overwhelmed by the amount of already useless crap on my bookshelves.

But if it's something old or out of print that I have at my disposal I will usually be happy to do it (I hope I haven't made anyone afraid to email me now!). I find there is a fine line between knowing when that is ok or not, and the more you get entrenched in the online knitting community, the more some of these people become your friends that you want to look out for, so if it's a PDF that is readily available, please spend the three bucks (or whatever) and help that knittah out.

Just sayin'.

And while I am now completely off the rails in terms of topic, can I also just add that I have gotten several requests from people asking me to knit them the Missoni-inspired blanket. I am somewhat speechless about that (tho flattered)--clearly these people are not knitters which I can appreciate, but huh? What would I even charge for my time on something that size? I am obviously not going to do this (tho have often thought about selling knits via etsy at some point) but that blanket? I am tempted to ask 2 grand for it and see if anyone goes for it (if they do I will definitely knit it for them! ;) Still waiting to see if anyone pays 31 grand for those rubber boots on ebay that I bought for myself for 30 bucks (disclaimer: *I* did not post those boots for 31 grand, I just have the same ones...) people are obviously still Missoni CRAZY.

But by far the thing that I probably get emailed about the most is the Twinkle Biker vest. Seriously I knit that thing almost 4 years ago when I was a relatively new knitter and had a heinous time of it. I scrawled a few notes about it and then bam! I feel like every person who has ever attempted that pattern has contacted me about it. Aye yi yi. Sisters, I feel your pain on that one, but I definitely no longer remember the finer nuances of how it even got knit!

So anyway, after that looooong digression (as usual) time to get back to our regularly scheduled Phildar cuteness:

OOH LA LA!


C'est si bon!


C'est super-fantastique!



and a little something for you to put on in the background while you peruse the Phildar website...
Brigitte Bardot singing Harley Davidson, a long time fave.
(I wish I was smart enough to know how to directly embed that video)