Yesterday the Los Angeles Times premiered “Image,” a new dedicated lifestyle and fashion section (now one Sunday a month, eventually weekly), and of course I was excited to see it. It’s largely devoted to LA Fashion Week this time, but includes plenty of other features as well, like a photo-driven interview with “red-carpet rebel” Chloe Sevigny, Deadwood-inspired fashion for men, and a weekly guide to sample sales and events.

Predictably, I was most taken with the [Art + Craft] page and Amy Scattergood’s “Stitches in No Time” article, which highlighted runway-style chunky handknits to make yourself, and included not only a scarf pattern by Wenlan Chia on the page, but a link to her tuxedo sweater pattern on their site (both adapted from Chia’s book Twinkle’s Big City Knits; registration is required to access the sweater pattern, fyi).

I am a truly mediocre knitter and have gotten right out of the habit of knitting (especially in this climate!), but I have to say I’m so glad that the paper is focusing on handcrafted anything, really. I’m interested in fashion, but the scene here more often focuses on uber-trendy/mass-produced 80s revival stuff, or high-end label-heavy designer work, that aren’t my cup of tea. So it’s refreshing to see not only the one-page DIY section, but that the larger Chloe Sevigny feature applauds her (largely pre-1979) vintage aesthetic and refusal to work with a stylist. I love many things about LA, but I find its fashion and entertainment industry are pretty specifically commercial, so it’s cool to see the paper of record reflect something a little to the left of that.

Anyway, just one girl’s take on it… and free knitting patterns are always a good thing.

On that note, I’m off to see the WACK! feminist art show at MOCA — I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.