Holly Chayes

Welcome! I'm Holly Chayes.

This online space has been around in one form or another since 2010, it focuses on making, creativity and living a curious life, plus a lot of clothing.

Some of the projects I've worked on in the past 10+ years include...

Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes

An interview podcast that's all about clothing (and also, not *really* about clothing at all). Find all the details and listen to conversations about comfort, style, change and shopping here. Or search for Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Who Wears Who?

The Self-Made Wardrobe Project

Predecessor to Who Wears Who, a year-long challenge in 2014/2015 where I only wore clothes I made. That year would have been a lot easier if the clothes had magically made themselves. Learn more about The Self-Made Wardrobe Project and explore the archives here.

The Shawl Geometry Book Series

Enough shawl shapes to keep you knitting for a lifetime. A multi-year exploration of math, shape and space in knitting, where I documented traditional shawl shaping, and iterated on those traditions to create new recipes of shawl shaping. Ultimately this lead to 75+ shapes, and 400+ pages of common and uncommon shawl shaping instructions. This project was inspired by a dozen individual shawl designs, each encapsulating a love of geometric lace design. You can find The Shawl Geometry Series here.

Thank you for being here with me. –Holly

“Ordo” – a new brain bending shawl pattern

13 Apr 2015

FOs, Pattern Releases

Order and chaos. Order created from chaos. Chaos facilitating order. One begins – the other follows. The two swirling around each other. Two strands of yarn, twisting around each other, creating a whole new color. Intertwining paths, built with negative space, splitting, intersecting, looping back around. ‘Ordo’ is Latin for “order, rank, or class.” Order begets chaos. Chaos begets order. Add a stitch. Create a hole. Make some lace. The Important Pattern Details: Yarn: 1,750 yards of lace weight yarn; 2 skeins of Toil & Trouble’s “Filament (Merino Silk Lace)” colorways: ‘Smoke Signals’ & ‘Apollo’ Two strands of lace weight yarn (one strand of each colorway) are held together throughout the shawl. This gives you a marled fabric, and at the same time, lets you use a not so itty bitty needle. Needles: US 5s (3.75mm) 40″ circular needles; larger needles for binding off Notions: stitch markers (8); tapestry/yarn needle...

Thinking about the divide between what I enjoy wearing, and what I enjoy making. – The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 36

10 Apr 2015

The Self-Made Wardrobe

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made. It’s a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels – it’s a year about noticing patterns, trying things, and observing what happens. Day 246 – Friday, April 3rd Archer button up shirt // black tank top // jeans black scarf // black flats // various rings Day 247 – Saturday, April 4th deconstructed sweater // black sweater // black tank // cascading flowers skirt black flats // various rings Day 248 – Sunday, April 5th hand knit sweater dress // black leggings black scarf // various rings Day 249 – Monday, April 6th Versio sweater // black tank top // jeans robot clock necklace // various rings // black flats Day 250 – Tuesday, April 7th boring black sweater // black tank top // jeans bead crochet bracelets // long necklace // various rings //...

sweater planning, skirt sewing, spinning, and bundles of shawls

08 Apr 2015

what's in the works

Each Wednesday, I take stock of the projects I’m working on. What I’m working on… : planning a new sweater – I’m thinking a light, easy, breezy tunic. Simple to wear & simple to knit : sewing a new skirt – just a waistband & miles of hemming to go. : spinning – I started spinning the 2nd half of the yak/merino blend from a couple weeks ago. : also! I took advantage of Ravelry’s designer bundle feature, so come browse through some bundles of brain bending shawl pattern & stunningly simple ones. No related posts.

Welcome! I'm Holly Chayes.