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Lamp Sweater by Lise Lefebvre
Design Showcase 2009

Materials: Mohair, socket+electrical cable, CFL lightbulb
Price Point: $30-40

"Following the new EU regulations that aim to prohibit the sale of non CFL bulbs in Europe, I decided to design a simple, appealing lamp/ligh cover that would improve the quality of light emitted by CFLs...."

 
 

" I find their light very cold and unflattering when they're bare, so I knit these mohair covers using a seamless 3D knitting machine, including a really long tail to also cover the cable. The result is a warm, inviting glow and appealing soft lamp, that is not at risk of catching on fire thanks to the low temperature of the CFLs.

The cover comes in different sizes and patterns to accommodate many types of CFL bulbs."

Designer: Lise Lefebvre
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands


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About Design Showcase 2009: This summer we're celebrating the best in design for the home. We're taking submissions from independent and student designers from around the world and letting our readers vote on who they think has the best design. There's also a panel of august judges. Two winners will win $20,000 in targeted advertising placements on our sites to help launch their career. All info is here.

Tags

Design Showcase 2009, GREEN IDEAS, lighting, handmade, knitting, CFL

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Comments (26)

I'd like to give it three stars, but the buttons arent' working...
This is GREAT! I want one for myself! My apartment has no overhead hardwire fixtures so I have been stuck buying the cords and bulbs from Ikea and hooking them to the ceiling. Something like this would have been perfect!

posted by Highlander on August 12th 2009 at 3:50pm
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Oooh, these are beautiful! I love them.

posted by Sophia Papaya on August 12th 2009 at 4:14pm
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This is just too cute!

posted by Petra- Designfragment on August 12th 2009 at 4:27pm
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They are so beautiful! They'd make the cutest reading lights in the bedroom, or maybe three of them hanging over a desk at different heights, or in a reading nook... brilliant :)
http://www.notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

posted by Harpa on August 12th 2009 at 4:50pm
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these look great, But i've tried touching a CFL when lit and even if they're lower heat than regular bulbs, it was still pretty hot.

posted by chusmabilly on August 12th 2009 at 5:08pm
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Are they meant to be disposed of once the bulb burns out? Or can you put in a new bulb? It looks kind of like a one time use, but maybe I'm not seeing something. Love the red one. Great light.

posted by King of Arcadia on August 12th 2009 at 5:10pm
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They are a cute idea - but I too would be worried about causing a fire.

Can't the just develop some kind of coating that they put on the glass of CFLs to improve the tone of the light?

posted by Mary B C on August 12th 2009 at 5:15pm
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they just keep saying "uncircumcised" to me (not that I have an issue with that, just that's not what I want my lamps to say to me)

posted by d4kk1tt3n on August 12th 2009 at 5:41pm
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I want these. Several of them.

posted by chottomotto on August 12th 2009 at 6:58pm
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Bahaha @ d4kk1tt3n

But yeah, these things are amazing. Great idea!

posted by Shannon Ashley on August 12th 2009 at 10:32pm
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Haha d4kk1tt3n, you ruined it for me. I thought they were cute until... Yeah, I don't really want anyone/thing saying "uncircumcised" to me. : P Hilarious.

posted by -haley- on August 12th 2009 at 11:50pm
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Brilliant, daily I am amazed at the creativity that I find here at Apartment Therapy.

posted by shandell's on August 13th 2009 at 7:52am
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beautiful! they have a nice ambience about them

posted by minxinblack on August 13th 2009 at 9:24am
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Um, not so much, cute yes, but I am not sold on lights covered in this fashion.

Don't know about the European legislation but I did read up the one here about incandscents and that is, higher wattage incadescent bulbs will be phased out here in the US but lower wattage bulbs up to 60W will have to be more energy efficient and all decorative bulbs, which usually aren't more than 60W anyway are exempt for a lot of fixtures are best with flame tipped bulbs and the like.

Not all CFL's give off a bad color when lit, it is best to find out which ones do and which ones don't and go with the ones that more closely mimic the old incadescents.

One of the problems that I see is that not all lighting technologies work in all situations. CFL's even those that can dim don't dim like an incadescent will often times as once you hit a threshold, it simply shuts off while an incadescent can be dimmed way down, so much so as to mimic the light output of a candle, given that the dimmer is decent enough to allow this and many lamps can't fit a 3 way CFL version without the bulb sticking out of the top and changing the shade for a larger one may cause the lamp to be out of proportion so that's why I think the US is not phasing out ALL incadensents for that reason and it's simply not practical to do so anyway. I refuse to buy LED's until they quit looking cold and bluish and can output like a CFL or an incadenscent can in the same sized area.

But I do use CFL's whenever I can at home however.

posted by ciddyguy on August 13th 2009 at 1:12pm
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i love these. very sweet.

posted by doubledutch on August 13th 2009 at 4:09pm
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Is it just me, or would this be considered a fire hazard? Light bulbs get pretty hot......Doesn't seem practical or safe.

posted by amiebarber8 on August 13th 2009 at 6:53pm
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These are just so pretty and well made. I do have some reservations about any potential fire hazards, but really love the aesthetic of the design.

posted by alsoiloveyou on August 14th 2009 at 1:57pm
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I was wondering where my missing socks were...

posted by stevewier on August 14th 2009 at 2:59pm
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Gorgeous!
smart idea, very well executed. I'm familiar with industrial knitting too, and i can say this has been designed very smartly with great attention to detail, and should be quite efficient to produce on a knitting machine. So kuddos for this great design, I hope she takes it all the way from this prototype to product for sale. I gave it three stars, good luck in the contest.

posted by softbearskinrug on August 15th 2009 at 5:11am
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Very nice! I could see this being sold directly by Ikea actually... as in you would by the bulb, the socket and the knitted cover and assemble it yourself...
I love that the cable is also covered in knitting. Looks ver beautiful as a bunch of 3 of 4, hanging from the ceiling.
nicely done!

posted by embroiderymaster on August 15th 2009 at 8:18am
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Very cute. Great product idea, with a nice sustainable feel behind it.

posted by thistimereally on August 15th 2009 at 8:45am
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Loving those. I would definitely buy!

posted by thehuubshow on August 15th 2009 at 9:12am
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These Sweater lamps are nice and this is unbelievable. Smart idea and very well executed. These lights are energy saving light bulbs.

posted by darcylars on August 25th 2009 at 2:24am
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let's get crafty!

posted by designer21 on August 26th 2009 at 5:11pm
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I'm sad this has been bumped out of the top 6. =( It was sort of unfortunate to be one of the first designs posted.

posted by alsoiloveyou on August 31st 2009 at 10:33am
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Lefevre is signing a double rip-off with one project !
What a performance !

concept rip-off :
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/6169/ingo-maurer-euro-condom.html

object rip-off :
http://www.llotllov.de/product/matt.htm

posted by abcd on September 8th 2009 at 9:11am
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