Denise Kovnat

Denise Kovnat

Multi-talented, Denise spins, knits, dyes, sews, and weaves beautiful garments and accessories. She lives in upstate New York and aside from her Etsy shop, sells at local shows and galleries.

ethelruby

ethelruby

Australian Sharon Clues speaks about her work: 

"I created the label ethelruby - named after my great grandmother who taught me to knit.

at present, ethelruby offers a range of hand and machine knitted accessories made from natural yarns, fibres and fabrics including cashmere, silk, alpaca, linen, merino and cotton. each piece is unique and reflects my love of simple, elegant design, muted tones and luxurious fibres."

knitonefelttwo

knitonefelttwo

Jo Bagge of Australia describes her work:  "My etsy shop is knitonefelttwo. I love working with colour and coming up with fresh and bold designs. I love my work and enjoy using high quality materials and try to source these locally where I can particularly for felting. I mainly use 100% Australian fine Merino tops in my felted items which creates very soft luxurious fabric."

Fearless Fiberworks

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Carole makes beautiful garments and accessories using a variety of felt techniques.  She is from BC, Canada.

DEsigned by Diane Evans

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Bazaar Bayar

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Design Talented One

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dbk design arts

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Papaver Vert

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Jwrobel

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Wrapture by Inese

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rensfibreart

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TAFA Winter Wear

Fingerless Gloves by Brenda Abdullah

It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which means we have to keep those fingers, toes and heads warm!  Gloves, socks and hats are always a favorite gift to both give and receive during the holiday season.  Even better when they are hand made!  Our TAFA members have a gorgeous selection of knitted and crocheted winter wear.  

Explore the tabs at the top of this blog to see our shops at a glance.  You will find the winter items mostly in Accessories and Crocheted/Knit.  Oh!  And, we can't forget about Felted!  Lots of warm clothes and accessories in there, too.  Click around and see which shops catch your eye.  You are sure to find something that you will love!

Click on the photos on this post and it will take you to the item on Etsy.  Just a small example of what we have...

Fingerless Gloves by Nothing But String, $25

Felted Hat by Ariane Mariane, $162

Knitted Baby Hat by broodbaby, $36

Hand Dyed Silk Scarf by SilkMari, $39

Free-form Crocheted Shawl by rensfibreart, $285

Mohair Knit Wrap by Wrapturebyinese, $80

Nuno Felt Scarf by BlindSquirrel, $55

There are many, many more to choose from, every price range, gorgeous colors, inspired techniques.  Another way to search for TAFA member items is to use key words in the search bar on Etsy.  Type TAFA and then a keyword to see what comes up.  Our members tag their items that way to make them easy to find.  Here are a couple I have already done for you:  TAFA hat, TAFA scarf, TAFA booties, TAFA gloves, TAFA coat.

Keep yourself and your loved ones warm with TAFA Winter Wear!

Tafa Team Etsy Pick of the Week: Handmade Purple Pom-Pom Scarf

When I saw this pom-pom scarf by Berniolie this morning, I instantly fell in love with it.  Then, I read a little bit more about the maker and found out that her day job is costume design for the circus!  Now I love it even more! She has many other designs available in her  Etsy shop, and if you're the kind who likes to make it yourself, she has a very popular pattern shop! 

Pom Pom Scarf by Berniolie

You can read more about her and see more of her work by visiting her on the her Etsy site. 

*Etsy Pick of the Week feature by Stacey Sharman from Peppermint Pinwheels.  Every Thursday, we will post one item from a TAFA Team affiliated Etsy store. In choosing a Team member photo, we will be looking for beautiful, Etsy Front Page worthy photos.

WHY I DO WHAT I DO

I came across this video on another blog. She says exquisitely why I do what I do. She seems to be a spinner/weaver/knitter, but I think it applies to all the fiber arts or anyone who works with their hands. Enjoy.

The TAFA Team on Etsy Sees Red

Raspberry Ice Paillette Party Wrap

Sin, guilt, pain, passion, blood, and anger

-Wikipedia:

Red is used as a symbol of guilt, sin and anger, often as connected with blood or sex. A Biblical example is found in Isaiah: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." Also, The Scarlet Letter, an 1850 American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, features a woman in a Puritan New England community who is punished for adultery with ostracism, her sin represented by a red letter 'A' sewn into her clothes. This all comes from a general Hebrew view inherited by Christianity which associates red with the blood of murder, as well as with guilt in general. Often, things will be in red to scare. Another popular example of this is in the phrase "caught red-handed", meaning either caught in an act of crime or caught with the blood of murder still on one's hands. At one point, red was associated with prostitutes, or now, with brothels (red-light districts). In Roman Catholicism, red represents wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In Christianity, Satan is usually depicted as colored red and/or wearing a red costume in both iconography and popular culture. Statistics have shown that red cars are more likely to be involved in accidents.

The color red is associated with lust, passion, love, and beauty as well. The association with love and beauty is possibly related to the use of red roses as a love symbol. Both the Greeks and the Hebrews considered red a symbol of love, as well as sacrifice. Psychological research has shown that men find women who are wearing red more attractive.

Mandarin Orange

sunshine animal print hand knitted silk wool scarf

 

 ^Flow

 

 ^{Martini Neck Tie}

Eastern and African tradition

-Wikipedia:

In China, red (simplified Chinese: 红; traditional Chinese: 紅; pinyin: hóng) is the symbol of firesouth (both south in general and Southern China specifically). It carries a largely positive connotation, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer. In Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (where brides traditionally wear red dresses) and red paper is also frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other things. Special red packets (simplified Chinese: 红包; traditional Chinese: 紅包; pinyin: hóng bāo) in Mandarin or lai see in Cantonese are specifically used during the Chinese New Year to give monetary gifts. On the more negative side, obituaries are traditionally written in red ink, and to write someone's name in red signals either cutting them out of your life, or that they have died. Red is also associated with both the feminine and the masculine (yin and yang and the respectively), depending on the source.


In Japan, red is a traditional color for a heroic figure. In the Indian Sub-continent, red is the traditional color of bridal dresses, and is frequently represented in the media as a symbolic color for married women. The color is associated with purity, sexuality in marriage relationships through its connection to heat and fertility.  It is also the color of wealth, beauty, and the goddess Lakshmi.
 
In Central Africa, Ndembu warriors rub themselves with red during celebrations. Since their culture sees the color as a symbol of life and health, sick people are also painted with it. Like most Central African cultures, the Ndembu see red as ambivalent, better than black, but not as good as white. In other parts of Africa, however, red is a color of mourning, representing death.  Because of the connection red bears with death in many parts of Africa, the Red Cross has changed its colors to green and white in parts of the continent. 

 

Table or Lap Quilt in metallic gold copper rust and brown.

 

Sealily fabric wrist cuff

 5x7 matted pink flowers batik print

 Crochet Cotton Flower Embellishments

 ^{Do you see red?}

 ^{Click on the tabs at the top of our blog to visit our Catalog of Shops.}  

^{You will find more red and many other beautiful colors!}

The Girl Effect: Educating Girls Can Change the World

By Catherine Salter Bayar 

There are no coincidences. Just as I was about to post on my blog, Tales from Turkey, about my primary motivation for creating our handcraft workshops, the Universe beat me to it.

Please read more here. Learning about the "girl effect" is no big deal. But it may just save humanity.

http://bazaarbayar.blogspot.com/2010/11/girl-effect-hits-home.html

Variations on a leaf, a knitting design.

 

by Catherine Bayar

There is a saying that "variety is the spice of life". When I'm designing knitwear, variety means experimenting with color, texture and pattern. When I like how a pattern turns out the first time, I'll try that same motif in not only other yarns, but other sizes. Varying the knit gauge can completely reinvent that motif, letting me create several garments quickly, since I only have to remember how to knit that one pattern. 

Shrugs are simple to knit - just a rectangle and two sleeves, which have the leaf on the cuffs, though I  added a smaller dot pattern above just to keep things interesting.

See how the leaf motif changes when I stripe the yarns, even though the gauge is the same.

The shape is the same as the first shrug too, but adding contrasting sleeves makes it appear completely different.

In this version, the gauge goes way overscale - only two repeats cover the entire torso from hip to shoulder.

The sleeves have yet to be completed, but using the flow of the motif gives the front edge of this sweater a lovely wavy cut-away finish.

Taking the scale small produces a delicate effect, quite distinct from the chunkier patterns above.

The garment here has a vintage fitted look, by starting with medium needles at the bottom and going smaller as the garment progresses to the shoulders.

Finally, why only use the pattern vertically, when horizontal works as well?

In the case of this Mobius wrap, circling the body with these flowing shapes creates yet another take on leafy variety.  All these garments will be posted to my Etsy site, just as soon as I can get my niece to model them for me. Though I can still think of more variations of this pattern, it's time to turn a new leaf!

Catherine Bayar is spending the winter dreaming up ways to translate traditional Turkish handcrafts into modern works of art…read more here