Knitting
Do you see what I see?
This is the original Geneva counterpane from Stories In Stitches™ 1, where you can read the story of how this lovely antique came to me.
I’d like to show you something today that I didn’t write about in Stories In Stitches, and that I didn’t notice until after I had owned the counterpane for over a year. Can you spot what I’m talking about in this close up?
If you haven’t noticed, I’ll give you a clue: The knitter ran out of yarn while working the border.
Don’t see it yet? Start at the right of the image and move your eyes across to the left. Right in the middle of that photo, the border changes. The cable motif is discontinued and, if you count the stitches, you’ll see that the entire border is knit with fewer stitches. The new yarn is substantially thicker than the original.
What I find wonderful here is that the knitter was able to make something that is not at all noticeable. As I said, I owned this piece for over a year before I noticed this little glitch. But I’m glad I did notice it, because it’s part of the story. We are all human. We all make mistakes. But that doesn’t have to ruin life, or even a knitting project.
That’s what Stories In Stitches is all about: the humanity beneath the surface of knitting. The stories are worthwhile even if you don’t intend to ever make one project from the patterns. I like to think of Stories In Stitches as being a new kind of knitting book — the kind that can bring knitting into the mainstream. Although the projects aren’t trendy or even necessarily fashionable and in some cases they’re not even items most knitters would want to make, the stories bring it all home. I want knitting books to be as popular as cooking and food books and TV shows. Just think of Julia Child’s and Rick Bayliss’s cookbooks or Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and even shows like Cupcake Wars. We are drawn in by the stories and the personalities, even if we will never eat or cook the foods being featured.
So that’s my goal. Will you join me in exploring the humanity — the stories — behind the stitches?
Experience level – advanced beginner
After I finished my Arctic Lace Knitting Book, I finally allowed myself to explore the world of lace knitting and discovered that is is much more varied and elaborate than I could have imagined. Around the world and over time, knitters in different countries and regions have developed unique styles of lace knitting that range from easy-intermediate (like the knitting of the Oomingmak knitters) to advanced-insanely- difficult (like some of the Victorian patterns designed by English knitters). Other lace styles are used in Estonia, Russia, South America, Lithuania, Germany and Austria, and New Zealand. I’m sure there are even more, but these are the styles I’ve explored so far. – Donna Druchunas –
Experience: All skill levels, basic knitting skills required.
Have you ever wondered why some people can read charts easily and others find them incomprehensible? The truth is, charts are written in a code that can be deciphered by knitters who learn the symbols on the page and in their knitting. Charts do not use arbitrary symbols, but each symbol includes the instructions on how to make the indicated stitch! In this class, you will learn the secrets of interpreting chart symbols for texture and cable stitches.
