7-25-17 The Rare Creature

One of the things I love about living in New York City is that you're surrounded by really talented people. (I mean not all the time, there's also mean people, and dirty people.) But the point is when you're surrounded by so many people the odds are good that some of them are awesome.

I met Lisa from the Rare Creature thru a DM in Instagram "Hi, I'm Lisa from the rare creature, I'm a knitter and I see you're also located in NYC, do you want to meet up for coffee or a drink?" Lisa is a graduate from Parsons with a strong focus in sustainable fashion and good material practices.

We met up on a rainy night and indulged with all the wines. She told me about her new winter yarn - the Big Softy. A super bulky alpaca yarn that felt like when you smush your face into a really fuzzy puppy. That kind of cozy happy. 

Over last winter I got to create a couple fuzzy wonderful things including the Seam Beanie, and the Tea&Toast sweater using this unique yarn. Both went over very well - so fun and fluffy. The sweater in particular is a super beginner-friendly pattern that takes only 6 skeins!

So you can imagine how excited I was when Lisa reached out to me this spring to experiment with her new fiber - LOOP. It's a unique 100% certified organic cotton that features a reach-out-and-touch-it texture, and clean sheen.

At first all I could do was play with it and take pictures of it. But I did eventually get my notebook out to start the design process. Task: Bikini. I had never made bottoms before so planning and measuring and fitting was new for me, and there was a lot of frogging and restarts. I wanted to make something that was flexible enough for any kind of booty.

I had a lot of notes and ideas to start. After a lot of playing I came up with something I loved, it utilizes the unique loopy texture and I called it the Bleu Bikini (Bleu like super rare, you know?) It features a high waisted bikini bottom with corset-style ties up each side. It also features a modern crochet lace line along the top and sides. The top is reversible! It features a corset style enclose which can be worn on the front for a bit more cleavage, or on the back for a bit of design intrigue. The straps mirror the same modern lace edge found on the bottoms.

I love this bikini, and because it has so many options for more coverage, really anyone can wear it. I hope you love it too, and you can find the pattern through The Rare Creature website (coming soon!). Both pieces only take 4 skeins! The texture is so unique and gorgeous (and washable...)