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Made in America Olympics Gear

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olympics sweaters ralph laurenMost people know (I think, anyway) that Ralph Lauren has long been the official outfitter of the United States Olympic team. The fashion icon designs the outfits the athletes wear in the parade of nations as well as other gear that’s used through the events.

For the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Ralph Lauren made a particular effort to ensure the items weren’t just designed in America or made in America but that all the materials that went into the garments were American, too.

And because we’re talking winter, we’re also talking wool, and the wool used to make the sweaters that will be worn during the opening ceremony was sourced from Imperial Stock Ranch in Oregon.

The knitty story doesn’t end there, of course. The 6,250 pounds of yarn ordered for the sweaters and other garments had to be spun (by Kraemer Yarns in Pennsylvania) into more than 5 million yards of yarn and dyed red, white and blue (Longview Yarns in North Carolina) and finally knit by machine at Ball of cotton yarn in Los Angeles.

It’s easy to forget sometimes when you see things on television that real people were behind them, but I know it will be a little more special when we see that opening ceremony next February knowing where that yarn came from and some of the stories behind the garments. Watch the video at the above link to learn more about how the sweaters came to be.

Of course woolies aren’t the only story, and Ralph Lauren actually worked with more than 40 partners to make 650 different uniforms for Team USA, which in all is 65,000 items. Amazing.

I’m completely in love with the polo sweaters shown above.

I hope in addition to highlighting some of the amazing small companies that still make stuff here in America that this will be a lesson to Ralph Lauren and other designers and manufacturers that it is possible to produce clothing made in America, and that’s something we can all be proud of.

[Photo via Ralph Lauren.]

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Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.