Knititude

He's the best!

When we designed a new office for my husband, we included a space for a stained glass window. It's an interior window, between the office proper and the stairwell. I have always loved stained glass, and designed and fabricated some windows myself, years ago.

When the husband and I started talking about themes, we agreed that we didn't want to do an ocean- or boat- or seashore- based design-- too many of those around already. Then HEcame up with the idea of creating a design based on one of my knitwear patterns! I wanted to end up with a window that would become an abstraction of the original, so I decided to use a detail of a stitch pattern or patterns, not a photo of an entire garment, as the basis for the design.

Above is the photo I brought to Andy at Glass Hut in Falmouth, MA, last spring. It's a detail of the back of the #30 Aran Wrap cardigan (top photo), published in Vogue Knitting Fall 2008. Over the next couple of weeks, Andy made a pattern for the window, and then we chose the glass, and then he started cutting and fitting and soldering, and finally...last week the finished window was installed.

Isn't it gorgeous? And isn't it nice that the husband wants this reminder of me and my work where he can see it from his desk??

 

 

Onda Scarf or Wrap

Pattern now available! Inspired by the gorgeous stitch pattern Norah Gaughan used in her Open Rib/Cable Pullover*, I decided to create a REVERSIBLE lace cable stitch pattern, something that could be used to fashion a scarf with no wrong side. After some trial and error, I came up with the Onda stitch pattern (Onda is Italian for wave).

You may be thinking that the work of designing was done at this point; after all, both the scarf and wrap are just X number of reps of the stitch pattern, right? No shaping, no seams, no edgings...well, the finished scarf and wrap may not have edgings, but that is only because I swatched several possibilities (Feather and Fan ruffles, ribbed ruffles, side and end ruffles) before deciding that in this case, simpler was better.

I also tried a number of yarns before deciding that the subtle variegations of Misti Alpaca Tonos Pima Silk were a perfect fit. Another plus was the cotton/silk fiber blend: my neck does not put up with even cashmere at close quarters for very long. However, when I decided to choose a different yarn for the wrap version, I went with Madelinetosh Tosh DK (superwash merino wool); the colors are stunning, and I figured that there would be less neck contact. Really, many many yarns would work for this project (you don't even need to use DK weight yarn!-- although I would swatch first with any yarn, just to have an idea of the size of the finished product), especially for those who tolerate animal fibers better than I do.

Either one of these projects is excellent TV or movie knitting (that is, it gets repetitive). So if you are looking for a challenging project that calls for lots of stitch markers, complicated shaping, wrong-side p3togs, short rows, or what have you, this ain't it. But if you are looking for a project which requires only intermittent close attention (the cable crosses can be a bit tricky), and yields a versatile, wearable, multi-season accessory, give Onda a try! Right now the wrap version is being test-knit, and I hope to have photos of the finished sample posted within a few weeks.

*Pattern first published in the Spring/Summer 2005 Vogue Knitting and now available online.

 

 

Field trip

Late last week, I took a break from writing up my Onda Scarf or Wrappattern (more on that in my next post) to chaperone a school field trip to a tide pool on Cape Cod Bay.  It was sunny and warm (almost 80!); my child took a misstep and landed on his rear in the (rather chilly) water, but even though he was wet from his chest down, he didn't complain of being cold.

Ho fatto una pausa da scrivere il mio modello "Onda Sciarpa o Scialle" per accompagnare una gita scolastica alla acqua di marea, sulla Baia di Cape Cod. C'era il sole e faceva caldo (quasi 27 gradi!); mio figlio ha fatto un passo falso e ha finito sul posteriore nell' acqua fresca, pero' nonostante che fosse bagnato dal petto giu, non aveva freddo.

The last time I rode on a school bus was YEARS ago! When did they add the "Body Fluid Cleanup Kit"?!

L'ultima volta che ho viaggiato sul pulmino della scuola era tanti anni fa! Quando hanno aggiunto "la tenuta per pulirsi i fluidi del corpo"?!