Monday, April 20, 2009

Knitting retrospective: or knitting a Unicorn

Cluny on the rocks (front)

I seem to be going back in time, back to my knitting roots, having a retrospective regression of sorts. Or something. Once I returned from my travels, I unearthed all these old pictorial knits and photographed them hanging about the garden. Suddenly they looked fresh and new where previously I had kept them hidden as if ashamed of my youthful enthusiasm. 

These photos are of my Cluny sweater, a well-worn ode to the unicorn tapestries, which I wore on several trips to England. Once a lady tried to buy it off my back but I refused to part with it because 1) I was woefully underdressed beneath and 2) how could I price all those hours and hours of work? Anyways, it emerged from it's plastic bag last week like an old friend reminding me of who I was and where I'd been, just like good friends tend to do. Now I'm so glad I kept it. The silken unicorn, the little silk flowers on a field of Rowan wool…what was I, crazy??

Cluny on the Rocks (back)

Something's afoot, though. My current design, the Berber jacket, while isn't an arduous work of the heart like the piece above is nevertheless more about color and pattern than color and texture. It's enthralling for me to knit and is actually rekindling some of that youthful passion that powered through all these early sweaters.

The key thing about the Berber jacket is that it's so knittable (new word), will be sized for women of all shapes while flattering to all and is really about color and pattern. I'm loving it and thinking you might, too.