Follow Friday | September 26

One of the things I love most about Ravelry is the opportunity it affords to see people knocking it out of the park in a way that you would never even attempt. While style is fluid, there are certain truths that we all eventually identify about ourselves and what style works for us. Which makes discovering someone who is rocking the hell out of a style we do not rock ourselves amazing.

Leah, aka yarnstylist, is one of my favorite examples of people with impeccable style whose projects are always amazing and (almost) always patterns that don't make it on my radar. Case in point: her Dior Jacket.


© yarnstylist

Let's, for a moment, put aside the fact that the knitting itself is gorgeous, the choice of yarn is amazingly inspired. I don't think I've ever taken that much time to evaluate yarn like this, but Leah knew what kind of texture and pattern she wanted to achieve and went in search of the materials that would permit that. In fact, Leah's entire thought process about her pieces is worthy of admiration. She doesn't just pick up needles and yarn and go, she considers not only how to modify the measurements to suit her figure, but how to adapt the construction of the garment to match her vision. That she has a vision at all makes me starry-eyed. And her pieces, when finished, do look like couture. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that she's approaching them the way the fashion houses approach their top-end pieces: as investments. I am floored anew each time she cranks one of these out.

But what really makes Leah so worthy of awe, is that the styles work so perfectly on her. I love the look of Chanel jackets...on someone else. On me they just don't work and would be so at odds with my wardrobe as to stand out in a bad way - like I was trying way too hard. Whereas Leah's aesthetic perfectly incorporates these highly stylized pieces (I kind of hope that she would feel out of place in knee high stiletto boots, a mini, and a moto jacket so that we're even) She never looks like she's trying too hard, she looks perfectly polished and incredibly fashionable. I get really excited when I see a new project on her needles because I know the end result is going to be gasp-inducing. While I might not look to her project page for inspiration on what I should make next, I am learning a lot about being deliberate in my knitting and this might result in fewer finished objects I never get around to wearing. And the eye candy value can't be beat!