Pantone's Fall 2012 Colors

Need ideas for a custom sweater for fall?  Have a look at Pantone's fall colors for 2012.  And what GREAT colors they are!  The jewel tones are amazing!  Those bright colors look especially fantastic on babies and little kids.  They're a particularly nice change for infants, who often get trapped in the pastel rut.  And, I'm super excited that I have yarn in all of these colors.  So email me at yellowhouseknits [at] gmail.com if you would like to see one or more of these colors in a fall sweater for your little one!

Peppermint Twists

I picked up these red and white buttons when I was stocking up on some other buttons.   I saw them peeking out of their box at me, and I couldn't resist them.  I love how bold and graphic they are--a little bit of 70s mod on today's baby.  And the holes are on the back, so the design of the button isn't interupted by the yarn used to secure the button to the sweater.

These would obviously look great on a red and white sweater.  But they'd also look terrific on a solid red sweater or as an accent to a sweater in a totally different color.  I'm thinking purple or turquoise.  The buttons are about an inch in diameter.

I have FIVE of these buttons only.  All five could go on a single cardigan, or fewer buttons could be used on several sweaters (at the shoulders, on a pocket in front, etc.).  But I don't know if I'll be able to get more.  So speak up now if these buttons are speaking to you! 

A Dog and His Hydrant

These dalmatian/hydrant buttons crack me up every time I look at them.  I think they'll be such a fun addition to a little sweater.  They would work well in pairs--maybe one at each shoulder or on two pockets in front.  Or, how about a cardigan with a series of dogs and one hydrant in the middle?  Charming!

They'd look great with red, obviously.  But for those of you who can tolerate color only in small doses, these would also be perfect on a charcoal gray sweater.

Email yellowhouseknits@gmail.com if you'd like to talk about a custom sweater with these clever buttons.

Peabody Street as a Cardigan

I just finished up this custom order.  R. loved the Peabody Street sweater, but she reallty wanted a cardigan for her son.  So I tweaked the design just a little bit and . . . Voila!  I think it looks darling!  I hope R. sends a picture of her son wearing it!

I hope this example will remind customers to think of the sweater designs on the website as mere starting points.  I'm always happy to play around with any design to make it best suit your needs. 

Buttons for Girls

In a previous post, I featured some new buttons for boys' sweaters.  Not surprisingly, I also got some new ones for girls' sweaters.  Check out these candy hearts and purple stars--sounds like something you'd find in a Lucky Charms box!

I might use the pink hearts on that new Lilly Pulitzer custom sweater I'm working on.  I think the stars are going to go on a purple and gray sweater that I've been thinking about for a while now.  I think it should be a pretty sophisticated color combination, and the buttons will really pull the whole thing together.

Sailboats and Baseballs

You may recall that I've written before about my commitment to knitting sweaters for little boys.  It's hard to find high-quality, clever buttons that are appropriate for boys' clothes (setting aside solid-colored buttons, which are always a good fallback but are less interesting).

So I'm really loving these new buttons I just got featuring sailboats and baseballs.  I think I'm going to use the baseballs on a blue cardigan, but I'm still trying to decide whether to make it a solid blue or stripe it.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the sailboats yesterday, but I know they'll look great wherever they end up.

In a future post, I'll feature some new buttons I got for girls' sweaters.

New Custom Sweater Order

I'm really excited about a new custom sweater order that just came in.  I just love the colors--light and bright pink, orange, and green.  I wonder if the customer is a fan of Lilly Pulitzer?  The colors seem very "Lilly" to me.  I think they're going to look fantastic together. 

The sweater is going to be a mosaic sweater, like this one.   I'm still toying with button ideas--I have some ideas, but I might need to finish the sweater to see what's going to look best.  Stay tuned.  

Anatomy of a Custom Order

I'm often surprised at how reluctant people are to order custom sweaters.  I think they don't trust their own abilities to pick out what's going to look good.  Generally they order an in-stock sweater in a different size or they defer to me entirely to pick colors and styles.

For those who are interested in a custom sweater but don't know where to start, I often suggest they start with an in-stock sweater they like and tweak it to make their sweater unique.  So consider the brown and turquoise sweater on the left below.  If we change the dominant colors from brown and turquoise to pink and sour apple green, make it a cardigan instead of a pullover, change the neckline, and swap out the buttons, we have an entirely different sweater.  But it's really not such a leap from the first sweater to the second.

So while I'm always happy to sell an in-stock sweater or to make one to order in a larger or smaller size, I really encourage buyers to consider customizing a sweater so it's exactly what they want.  If you're going to invest in a handknit baby sweater, why not make it perfect?

Button Obsession

I am obsessed with buttons--kind of like some people are obsessed with shoes.  That's actually a pretty good analogy because the right buttons can really make a sweater, much like the right shoes can make an outfit.

When I see buttons I like, I buy them, regardless of whether I have a real or anticipated need for them.  On occasion, I've actually designed sweaters around a great set of buttons.

When possible, I like to use handmade buttons, both because I like to support independent artists and because I like the buttons on my sweaters to be unique.  That's not to say that there aren't some really great mass-produced buttons out there, and I buy them too, but the handmade ones are particularly special.

So imagine how pleased I was when these beauties arrived yesterday.  I had special-ordered them from an artist in Israel, and they ended up getting lost in the mail.  We were at the point where we were ready to assume they were gone for good, and then they miraculously showed up.  And they were definitely worth the wait!  I just love them.  The blue swirls are perfect for a sweater I'm just finishing.  I don't have an immediate use for the others, but I know they'll look spectacular however I use them.

Works in Progress

Since I was homebound this past weekend on account of the snow, I spent much of the time watching movies and knitting. (Also made some awesome chili, but that will have to be the subject of another post.) I got tons finished, including two cardigans, which are being blocked right now. I hope to have them ready for posting on Etsy in the next few days.

In the meantime, here's a little teaser of something in the works. I'm still looking for the right buttons, so I'm not quite sure when this one will be finished, but I'm really excited about it!

Handknit Sweaters for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just over two weeks away. A handknit pink and red sweater is a perfect present for your little sweetheart. Or a red and white striped sweater would be adorable. Need some inspiration? Check out these great buttons. I particularly like the blue hearts, which are great for a little girl who's not too girly. There are five different buttons in the whimsical little set. I'm picturing a striped cardigan in dark and light blue and white, with the heart shaped buttons. So cute!

Color Inspiration

People often ask me how I come up with all of my color combinations. They want to know whether I'm just naturally good with color or whether I copy color schemes I see elsewhere. The answer is both--I am pretty good with color, but I'm also always looking for color combinations that appeal to me. I see sweater patterns everywhere--in paintings, rugs, and upholstery; in display signs, product labels, and graphic advertisements; in other peoples' clothes; and so on. I carry a camera with me almost all the time, so I can take a quick picture of color schemes that are worth following up on.

I often find clever color arrangements on note cards, which already reflect an artist's eye. Below are two note cards I really like with colors that I'm planning to borrow.

These colors are actually quite similar to another sweater I'm just finishing (preview to come soon!), but that sweater doesn't have any red. I'm hoping that by playing up the red and aqua/turquoise and downplaying the brown, the two sweaters won't look wholly identical.

After I took the picture of the yarns, I realized that I'd forgotten the blue-green in the background. I'm not sure I have a yarn that will match that color, but I'll hunt around. Or maybe I like the colors well enough with out it. I don't have that yellow-green color in some of the smaller leaves, but I think the butter yellow will be good enough.

I'm excited about both--stay tuned to follow my progress!