Jacket for Miranda Priestly--I mean Mom

PART I
For those who have seen The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep's character Miranda Priestly is scarily similar to my mother--in both looks and attitude. My mom is beautiful, formidable and classically chic.

While in South Carolina, I visited Rosemary of The Elegant Stitch, near Pawleys Island. Rosemary is semi-retired and operates the shop out of her home in a private, gated golf community... all visitors must be pre-screened by security before being allowed to enter, so you have to call first. I called by accident because Google maps' directions, which did not account for the 10' barbed wire-topped gates blocking off Maintenance road, landed me in a golf cart repair shed.

After following some circuitous directions, I passed through the gates and arrived at Rosemary's home. I was feeling a little disoriented, because I expected that perhaps the shop would be in a little strip mall/storefront, similar to those in large planned communities. She smiled and welcomed me in and showed me upstairs to the Yarn Room. The outside of the door, sure enough, had a large wooden sign which read, "The Elegant Stitch." Turns out that Rosemary used to have two retail stores--one in Pawleys Island (in a group of upscale shops--along with a wonderful jewelry boutique and the Lilly Pulitzer shop) and one near Myrtle Beach. I wasn't sure what to expect, but about three seconds after entering the Yarn Room I knew I had come to the right place. Luxury yarns from floor to ceiling, impeccably organized, arranged by color. There was Anny Blatt, Missoni and Adrienne Vittadini everywhere. Silks, alpaca, metallics, chenilles, cottons--the finest of everything. After spending a few hours browsing and chatting with Rosemary, I settled on a jacket kit for Mom and a chenille wrap kit for myself. This, however, is not the end of the story for these two projects.

S. Charles Belled-Sleeved Cardigan in MICIO

PART II
This morning I received an email newsletter from my favorite LYS. Among the offerings was a notice that they would be at Stitches East. I had heard mention, through other knitting blogs, of Stitches West and Stitches Midwest--however it hadn't occurred to me that there might be a Stitches East. I decided to check it out. Most of the classes were already sold out. Then I saw, "Lining a la Chanel":

"Learn how to assemble, sew in a lining, and finish a jacket in the manner in which Chanel couture garments are made. . . . get hands-on experience in lining and finishing your jacket like a pro!"

This might be overkill. I might have to make another jacket for it, but we shall see. I know it might be a bit silly, making this for my mom, when she can buy her own (real) Chanel jacket. But I showed her the pattern and she really liked it, once I explained that the beauty of a hand-knitted sweater is that it is customized to fit the wearer's body--it's fully custom. Even St. John doesn't do that.


PART III
Rosemary gave me a copy of Vogue Knitting's Fall 2007 edition. While flipping through, I saw an advertisement for real fur yarns. Now, I adore fur. Weather cold enough for wearing fur is my absolute favorite thing about winter. How is this relevant? Back to the chenille wrap. It's made from a Berrocco yarn called Chinchilla and edged in a fluffy eyelash yarn that mimics fur. When I bought it, I thought how beautiful it would be were it edged with real fox. So I'm considering ordering the fox yarn from FurYarn... guess I had better knit it first. This story to be continued.

Not the End
This is only one part of my knitting adventures in South Carolina.
Up Next: Feathers and Marabou, Wild Stuff, and Island Knits.


photo credits: (1) imdb. original photo here.