Tuesday, July 22, 2008

RIPENINGS UNFOLD

The Ripenings Shrug with Pin...

A tropical storm blusters in from the south, all drenching rain and sodden grass with heavy-headed blossoms bowing low to the ground. Driven from my summer office back up to my inside nest, it's been two days of designing, knitting  and writing for me. I haven't been outside the house for days, not even to exercise,  a physical inertia totally at odds with the creative maelstrom within. So swirling with ideas am I that I rise at 5:30 so I can resume whatever it was I left the night before: knitting, sketching, plotting and planning designs with names like the 'Smoke & Mirrors Kimono', 'The Ripenings Shrug' and the next evocative knitting workshop based on autumn woods (I've been knitting tree trunks!).

Somewhere in the midst of this creative stew I've come to the conclusion that knitting is best served with passion. I'm not referring here to romantic tyrsts (though if you have them, good for you) but more the fever for life that reveals itself in your knitting like a whoop of joy. How can such energy be expressed if you're marching lock-step down row after row following knit code? I just can't bear those kinds of patterns any more. Knitting doesn't communicate to me in 'k2to, p5, k6, sl, ssk'. For me, it comes straight from the spirit vividly alive and a little wild around the edges. Knitting is creative energy unlocked from the imagination compeling me to write the kind of non-pattern that encourages exploration. If you're one of the cadre of knitters out there who are drawn to my designs, I suspect you, too, are seeking more from knitting than just making something to wear. 

Ripenings neckline

The Ripenings Wrapped Shrug glimpsed in these photos is born from my love of feather n fan stitch and color. Color! This color fusion is a melt of juicy, over-ripened colors of grape, claret, fermented strawberry and marmalade all blending and swirling in a symphony to the ripenings of late summer/early fall. The shrug itself is my new most-favorite design, bumping the Feather n Fan Organic wrap from it's long-held spot. I love this design because it, too, displays the glories of the F&F stitch yet has real sleeves and hugs the body while still sporting an element of a true wrap. I'm a tease, I know. The thing is this pattern will accompany a new F&F cardi  along with the Feather n Fan Organic Wrap packaged together along with a section on the stitch itself and color blending using specific kinds of yarn. Three patterns plus a color workshop called 'The Feather and Fan Club' coming in August and it's all about knitting with passion.