By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
MK Carroll shows the many knit and crochet possibilities available through patterns in books in the Hawaii State Library system.

The culinary world is known for its wine, cheese, chocolate and cigar tastings, or tastings of whatever ingredient happens to capture the imagination.

The Hawaii Public Library’s main branch hosted a tasting of its own on Saturday, to introduce yarn afficionados to its vast collection of knit and crochet books, as well as its large craft-book section. When deciding whether to borrow or buy one’s craft books, librarians shared the wisdom of adding stitch glossary books and classic patterns to one’s collection, while borrowing some of the trendier titles with designs likely to go out of style in a few years.

Designer MK Carroll was there to introduce her favorite books, past and present, and guests were able to share information as well, such as the pitfalls of trying to recycle yarn from thrift-shop sweaters. Depending on the garment’s construction, you could a continuous strand of yarn, or hundreds of barely usable 2-foot long pieces. The audience oohed when told of recyclers who, knowing what to look for, have unwound skeins of cashmere for a mere dollar.

In addition to sharing such book titles as “Stitch’n Bitch Nation” (I borrowed this one) and “Get Hooked: Simple Steps to Crochet Cool Stuff,” staffers shared Web sites such as Ravelry.com, a social community for knitters and crocheters, and yarnstandards.com. You can also check out mkcarroll.com for the designer’s latest goings-on and Etsy sales.

Shown clockwise are some of the yarns in my “tasting.” From left is a Maui Yarns sample of its hand-dyed 100 percent Merino wool yarn; a blend of wool, soy silk, cotton and chitin made from crab and shrimp shells; a Mini Mochi ball of 80 percent Merino wool and 20 percent nylon; and Araucania 100 percent sugar-cane fiber yarn.

Of course the highlight was looking at some of the newest yarns on the market, and taking them home to see how they knit up. It’s great that crafters always see the beauty in raw materials and have the creativity and imagination to see alternative possibilities. They’ve always been green minded, so yarns incorporate chitin and unusual plant fibers that might otherwise go to waste.

When it came time to actually borrow the books, I didn’t have my library card. I don’t know why librarians always make a person feel 10 years old. It’s been a long time since I borrowed any books, and cards expire in five years so I was hoping my card had expired, but it was still good so a friend borrowed two books for me rather than pay for a replacement card. The last time I borrowed a book was when I was living in Kailua and the parking situation made it easy to go to the library. (Market forces prevail even in the free public sector.) Now I just stop off at libraries mainly to drop off (recycle) magazines. I leave some and pick some up, although the titles are limited. People tend to pick up the fashion and women’s magazines first and leave the news and finance ones, though once I hit the Mother Lode and scored a bunch of Japan fashion magazines.

At the end of the session, all were invited to join the Aloha Knitters group (crocheters and spinners are also welcome). The group meets at Mocha Java Cafe in the Ward Warehouse from 7 to 9 p.m. each Thursday. There are no dues, and it’s OK to be a newbie. As Carroll said, they just want to be able to talk to people who understand them and who don’t think it’s weird to want to spin one’s dog or rabbit hairs into yarn.

One of the knitters in the group shared one of her recent projects.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Clinton Kelly hosted a fashion show at Macy’s Ala Moana for women sizes 14W to 24W.

Clinton Kelly made a quick return to Macy’s Ala Moana after appearing in Honolulu in June for a petites fashion show, on Saturday afternoon for HER, an event showcasing styles made for women sizes 14W to 24W.

One of the points made by the “What Not to Wear” TV host is that larger women tend to hide behind baggy clothing, which has the effect of making them look not only larger, but sloppy. A better option is to choose styles with shape built in, and at best, styles that nip in the waist, to enhance natural curves and give the illusion of an hourglass figure, no matter what your size. It’s actually advice that would work for anyone and he doled it out with self-deprecating quips and humor characteristic of the TLC series.

Clinton Kelly signed copies of his book, “Freakin Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Drink, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally Be Better than Everyone Else” after a fashion show and Q&A session.

One of the event’s attraction was a prize drawing of a $500 Macy ’s Women shopping spree. The winner, Natasha Nairn, is a social worker with Child Protective Services, and, having dropped 100 pounds over 10 months, proved ready for a new wardrobe. Congratulations, Natasha!

Shopping spree winner Natasha Nairn with Clinton Kelly before going shopping. Natasha already started with a good sense of style.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos

There was a sea of T-shirts at the Incubus concert. While there, I took a photo of Patrick Simmons and the amulet he was wearing, which he picked up in Tahiti. It inclues the figure of a surfer carved into seal bone, set with a black pearl. For Simmons, it serves as a protective talisman whether he’s in or out of the water.

You can find similar amulets at Summer Vaimaona’s Soleil boutique at 909 Kapahulu Ave.

Then, at Green Door last night, I spotted Thaddeus Pham dining with his friends. He had just come from work as an H.I.V. counselor at Diamond Head Clinic. I liked his geek chic style with short-sleeved shirt and bow tie that he just started wearing this year “to play to my strengths as a nerd,” he said.

I didn’t get it into the photo, but inked onto his forearms are verses from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and “Song of the Open Road.” “I read a lot,” he said.

If you’re going to have any words on your body, those are pretty cool choices.

“Song of the Open Road” begins:

“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road. …”

“Song of Myself” begins:

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death. …”

By Nadine Kam

If you like gofugyourself.com, maybe you want to cuddle up with the book, just released for $19.95.

In the season of awards, one timely arrival is “The Fug Awards,” a book from Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the creators of gofugyourself.com, that regularly digs at what our favorite celebrities are wearing.

Yes, it’s catty, but most of the time, you can’t help but agree with the pair, like when they say of this photo of Scarlett Johanssen, “That is not sexy, provocative cleavage; that is what happens when a stray ostrich wanders over and gives birth to twins in your bodice.”

There are the easy targets of course: Britney, Lindsay, Victoria Beckham, Paula Abdul and Bai Ling. But no one is spared, not even those most women generally like, such as Jennifer Aniston, chided for her boring column dresses; Gwen Stefani (”deranged showgirl”); and the generally classy and lovely Cate Blanchett.

Then there are the moments when I feel vindicated and glad I have found someone to agree with me on the matter of Chloe Sevigny. Heather wrote, “It’s well-documented that we here at GFY HQ find it perplexing that so many people and publications laud Sevigny as blessed with unerring and fascinating taste. We think she’s brutal.”

Examples of Chloe Sevigny’s “unerring style.” (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Dior hosted an informal party Dec. 27 to welcome the house’s 400-page 60th anniversary tome, “Dior,” which recounts the history of its creator Christian Dior, whose name became synonymous with the post-war New Look.

The book is beautiful to flip through, with page after page of photos capturing the ambience of 1950s Paris, the couturiers who succeeded him, and Dior models from past to present, immortalized in iconic photos by Irving Penn to Nick Knight. Printed on heavy coated stock, it requires some heavy lifting to bring home. The books are $150.

Nadine Kam photos
Marisa Gey, front, and Branka Knezevic model current Dior designs.

The event also featured informal modeling of current Dior designs and was a little more sedate than usual because a lot of people are out of town or a bit worn by the holidays. Kristen Chan, just back from roughing it during trip to the Grand Canyon admitted, “I forgot how to dress.”

Me too. I wore a 3.1 Phillip Lim dress but forgot my Dior purse at home. Those sharp-eyed fashionphiles can recognize a brand a mile away. I thought my necklace was nondescript enough, but it caused some of the globe trotters to ask if it was from Rome. Pretty close. Picked it up in Kailua at Balcony Gallery, but it’s by artist Antonio Greco, who’s from Italy. The necklace features charms bearing scaled down images of his paintings, which I love for their exuberance.

Kristen Chan is flanked by models Marisa and Branka.

But it appeared she got her act together minutes before the event. While I’ve usually seen her wearing Gucci and Pucci, she’s an equal-opportunity shopper who turned up in a BCBG dress, with a fur from the Max Nugus boutique at the Kahala Hotel, Manolo Blahnik suede boots and Dior purse.

Pualana Lemelle of The Contemporary Museum showed up in a Rebecca Taylor dress with vintage faux fur, while Hiro Soma chose to dress in threads from Dior designer John Galliano’s own line. His jacket, T-shirt and underwear were Galliano’s, worn with Armani jeans. The glasses were Alexander McQueen’s and his belt and shoes are by Gucci. (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Footwear addicts will get a laugh out of “The Shoes of Salvation,” a mini book by Edward Monkton, deemed “poet, artist, philosopher and interesting fellow,” on his book jacket.

In about 30 pages of handwritten text and rough sketches, Monkton seems to be a guy who gets it, offering the shoe’s point of view as to why a woman would want to spend all her cash on Manolos or Louboutins that pinch and hurt, rendering her nearly unable to do the one thing shoes were created to do. That is, walk. Or is it?

I’m sure you know one or two women like these, the ones impossible to go out with because they always have to sit down! I really hate that … unless mine are the feet hurtin’.

The book is $9.95, available at www.edwardmonkton.com or www.andrewsmcmeel.com and would be a cute gift for the fetishists that walk, or hobble, among us.

Be the first to post your comment on how much pain you will or will not endure for the sake of beautiful shoes and I’ll send you my one copy of the book.

In other shoe news:

Stuart Weitzman will be hosting a Celebrity Shoe Auction next month to benefit ovarian cancer research.

The designer has asked celebrities to design and autograph a Stuart Weitzman pump to be auctioned off at www.stuartweitzman.com from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, 2007.

The celebs were asked to create a design reflecting their personality and interests. For instance, Charlize Theron designed the shoe to reflect her roots in South Africa, while Molly Sims and Queen Latifah decided to honor their current projects, creating “Las Vegas” and “Hairspray” -themed shoes, respectively.

Other participating celebs include Courteney Cox-Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Kelly Ripa, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Cross, Nicolette Sheridan, Sharon Stone and Vanessa Williams, among others.

Doggie troubles

If you’re tired of your pet gnawing on anything from your rubbah slippahs, Chanel pumps to Nike Dunks, just got word of a product that might put an end to that.

Dog behaviorist Kathy Santo offers Don’t Chew Dare, a natural anti-chew product with a scent that repels your dog, but not you. It contains such organic bitter tasting herbs as patchouli, sandalwood and peppermint leaf along with imported essential oils: clary sage, spearmint and rosemary extract.

Her Web site says it’s non-toxic, but you should test it first before using on fabrics, keep it out of child reach and need I remind you to avoid splashing it in your eyes.

It’s $13.95 for an 8-ounce bottle, available at www.kathysanto.com.

Lastly, if you missed my Aug. 23 Honolulu Star-Bulletin story on what goes into the making of some Louis Vuitton shoes, check it out at http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/23/features/story01.html