etsy love: off kilter fair isle by good egg

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how kick ass are these offbeat, incredibly intricate fair isle sweaters (and knitwear patterns) by etsy-ian good egg?
get this: they are HAND KNIT (the top and bottom one). wow. just...WOW. the cowl in the center is a pattern you can buy from ms. good egg, so's you can knit one yourself.
all the trend-slingers say fair isle is back (well, i think it never went away, but whatever). but it makes sense, because a.) it's winter, and we're all wearing sweaters, knitting sweaters, blah blah blah. but also, b.) there's this feeling of very traditional things being resurrected and exalted in fashion (and also interiors, really) these days...classic is back in.
but what i think is cool about these kind of fair isle pieces, what makes them so delicious? that good egg takes it to the next level...works with the colors, the contrasts, the patterning, so something classic is in the end wrought so perfectly new and modern. breathtaking. i haven't seen anything quite like this around, have you? if you have, do dish!

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(related aside: i so so so want to try my hand at fair isle...anyone else into it? good books or tips to suggest? danke!)

reknit: sweaters redux

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(image via rekn.it)


for the whole of 2010, the industrious momma of haik avanian will take your old sweater/jumper and reknit it into something else, (re)new(ed) and wearable. it'll just cost you $30 smackers, for his mom's labor. january is scarves month over at rekn.it (haik's site). brilliant idea! i can't want to see what the remaining 11 months have in store as far as the reknitted wearables are concerned (what else is she going to tackle? gloves, mittens, hats, cowls?? color me a curious yarnworker!!). and i'd love to see a gallery of the remade/restyled knits when the project's all said and done...