Here Comes Design Preview #4

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We were fogged in early yesterday morning, and this is what it looked like:

Since there's a body of water in the foreground just underneath the fog that Kenmore Air pilots take off from and land on, I wonder if that fog delayed any flights (it burned off completely about 30 minutes after I snapped this photo).

I have thought a lot about the impact of weather conditions while researching the female aviators for this book. The next design preview might not have helped them navigate the fog, but it would have kept each one stylishly warm:

The Leather + Lace Aviatrix Cap pretty much speaks for itself. I used leather shank buttons on both sides, and the double suede ties actually work in the attached d-ring on the other ear flap, so one could actually wear the cap with it strapped under the chin.

However, most wearers might want a more casual approach, and I think the strap looks super with the suede ties just hanging down. This one skein project (and I used this llama blend sock yarn from January Yarns) works up quickly; I use this pretty lace pattern in an additional design in the book, but with a very different outcome. In this cap, with its sleek edging, it's incredibly modern. 

This design is dedicated to all the pilots in the book via the first Women's Air Derby, coined the "Powder Puff Derby" by Will Rogers, who attended the take-off ceremonies on the west coast. For nine days in August,1929, twenty women agreed to the rules (yes, they all agreed) for the first transcontinental race in which women, not men, were allowed to participate (the male pilots, as Will Rogers sarcastically established, didn't think too much of females in the cockpit). Of the twenty that started the race, only 15 crossed the finish line; one lost her life. The big name, Amelia Earhart, placed third; Ruth Nichols (see design preview #3) came within yards of the finish line only to crash once on the ground (yup, weather conditions did her in). While I write more about the race in the book, it led to the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an international non-profit that survives today and promotes female aviation through a number of programs. It would also bring Earhart and Nichols together in real friendship; they were kindred spirits, each with their respective humanitarian streaks. Nichols would, regrettably, give a moving speech at Earhart's memorial service a year after her plane went missing over the Pacific. 

We're about at the halfway point in the design previews and I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am enjoying revealing them. Until next time ...

The Third Design Preview is Here!

Hello everyone! Wondering what we'll be previewing today? Well, wonder no more my dear friends, I present to you the Nichols Cardigan:

This is motif work at it's most sophisticated for a pilot, Ruth Nichols, who was as sophisticated as they came. Born into wealth and privilege in New York City (one of the few of our early female pilots in that category), she graduated from Wellesley College in 1924, but not before defying her parents and secretly learning to fly while she majored in pre-med. She went on to not only hold women's speed, distance and altitude records at the same time, she also dedicated much of her later flying to various humanitarian causes. In 1940 she founded Relief Wings, which eventually became an ancillary relief service of the Civil Air Patrol during WWII. While her death was rather tragic (suicide by barbiturate overdose in 1960), it was her early flying career that I want to celebrate, and do so much more in the book. 

Just get a look at that wonderfully saturated color, courtesy of Karida's dye pot magic over at Neighborhood Fiber Co. This Studio Worsted in the Shaw colorway has so much depth and character, it really made this cardi come to life. Amazingly simple construction makes this project something everyone can make, and the unconstructed nature of the front makes it forgiving on a wide range of body types. I note that the same size is being worn by two different models with very different shapes, yet it looks great on both of them.The front can be worn in several different ways (I show two in this preview), and it has nice drape when not worn closed. The sleeves are deliberately bracelet length. One can make the skirt length longer or shorter, depending on preference.

The back has slight gathers to make the skirt rounded as well as provide style interest, and that's probably the most difficult thing about this project. Otherwise, it's just a rectangle and squares, a rectangle and squares. 

I am incredibly thrilled to let you know that pre-release book sales are occurring! If you purchase the soft cover print book here in my Big Cartel online store for $24.99 + shipping between now and the end of the year, you will automatically receive a free electronic .pdf version. After January 1st, purchasing both together will cost more. Of course, if you would just like the electronic version, you can purchase it in pre-release in my Ravelry Store for $18.99. The full e-book will be delivered at the end of the year; however, purchase either version and you'll receive a sneaky peek first few pages!

I hope everyone is enjoying the design previews as well as the wee introduction to these amazing female pilots. Risking life and limb, they each set a unique bar for courage that is hard to match.

Until next time ...

The Next Installment of Design Previews ...

... is happening right about now.

I am thrilled to introduce the Markham headband, named in honor of Beryl Markham, the English aviatrix with the private life that Just.Wouldn't.Quit.

Born in England, her parents moved her to an African British colony when she was four. Beryl loved the outdoors and loved men even more, with a particular affinity for writers and thrill seekers ... with money. While she married three times (her third husband was the writer Raoul Shumacker), it was her lovers that were so darned interesting - Antoine St. Exupery (author of Le Petit Prince), and both Karen Blixen's husband Blor and Karen's lover Dennys Finch-Hatton. Beryl rejected Ernest Hemingway, but didn't get the man she really wanted: the one who taught her how to fly.

Don't let Markham's love life lull you into flying complacency, because in the end she was an ace pilot. She was the first female to fly west-to-east across the Atlantic (it took almost a full day to accomplish), was Finch-Hatton's personal pilot, and spent many years flying to far-flung places in Africa acting as messenger, taxi service, ambulance, supplies carrier, you name it. 

Beryl led a full, unconventional first half of her life. During that time, there's a photo of her at a formal affair in which she wore a tiara. Now, a tiara wasn't quite what I had in mind for this book's purposes; nevertheless, it was that photo which inspired this headband. Worked up in Louisa Harding's Grace Handbeaded, this one skein project is quick and utterly gorgeous. Initially, the lace inset is worked (it's super easy), and then a square edging is worked; button/button hole tabs are added at the end. 

I photographed this in the mechanical area at Kenmore Air, and somehow I think Markham would have totally approved of the mix of conventional feminine and the unconventional backdrop. Below is what's just behind and out of the shot's frame:



As I think you can tell, I had fun photographing these designs.

See all that lovely bling?
The beads are woven
into the yarn by hand.

Pre-release orders for Leather, Lace, Grit & Grace are now being taken in two places: (1) the .pdf e-book version for $18.99 through my Ravelry Store, and (2) the soft-cover print version for $24.99 + shipping through my Big Cartel online store. If you order the print version during the pre-release period (through the end of the year), you'll also receive the electronic .pdf version free. After the first of the year, it will cost more to purchase both versions together.

I'll provide updates here as more online channels are added from which the book can be purchased. In the meantime, look for the next installment of design previews later this week, and do feel free to like Leather, Lace, Grit & Grace's Facebook page and/or follow its wee Twitter feed @LeatherLaceGrit.