Yarn Culture

YARN IS OUR PASSION

​LORI VERSACI:  Tradition with a Twist

We were delighted when Lori Versaci of VersaciKnits agreed to
come to Rochester, NY and share her experience as an emerging independent

knitwear designer.   Along with our standing room only audience, Lori filled
the studio with more than 30 samples of her designs for women and children.
Her enthusiasm and knowledge of knitting and design were evident as she
talked.  The qualities of a specific yarn are often what spark Versaci’s
design process.  While knitting with a yarn she loves, she begins to see
the emerging fabric and the possibilities for textural elements.  She will
typically dedicate an entire skein of yarn to creating swatches as large as
8"x8” to understand key characteristics of the yarn and the elements
she is choosing for a design.  Once the swatches are complete, Lori washes and  blocks them – often hanging them for several days to get a sense of how the fabric will behave as a garment.Sometimes during the swatching process, Lori’s original vision for a garment will change.  An example of this is Modern Tunic.  When Lori started knitting for this project, she intended to design a cardigan. During the swatching process, however, the yarn and the fabric it created took her in an entirely different direction.  The result is the extremely versatile and fashion-current sleeveless tunic , which can be viewed here.   

Lori recommends several Yarn Culture yarns forModern Tunic. For cooler weather consider Skein DK   A fan of ShibuiKnits, Laurie also recommends a combination of Staccato AND  Cima.  For a tunic that is comfortable year-round Lori combines Shibui Linen and Cima. You can find our selection of Shibui Yarns  here

Keep checking back to learn more about Lori and our favorite VersaciKnits patterns.