Feral Knitter

Coast Salish Knitting

The party on Sunday was a lot of fun! Many people took up the magic ball challenge and found that it was harder than they expected to choose colors without picking and choosing—Therese met the challenge by being blindfolded! I can't wait to see how their projects turn out!

[What is a magic ball? A magic ball is made by knotting together various lengths of different yarns to make a continuous thread. I heard about this technique through something by Kaffe Fassett, although I could not tell you where I found the idea in his multitudinous writings. The trick to making truly random colors work in this technique (or any, for that matter) is to control for value.]

During the party on Sunday I found myself talking a LOT about this wonderful new book: Working with Wool: A Coast Salish Legacy and the Cowichan Sweater by Sylvia Olsen. (I found my copy at Schoolhouse Press--hardback, 328 pages, $38.95) In fact, I seem to have forced everyone there to take a look at it. It struck me that I should share it with you, too.

In the background is a real Cowichan sweater from the 1970s (we think—the book includes a photo of a sweater quite a bit like this one). 

Working with Wool is an examination of the Cowichan sweater traditions of the Coast Salish (British Columbia and northwestern Washington state), from their start as an extension of the blanket weaving that was central to their economy and society through the role knitting plays in modern life. Cowichan sweaters, distinctive in their motifs, construction, and yarn, became an important part of the Coast Salish economy for decades.

Olsen has had a long personal and professional connection to the Cowichan knitting tradition, and she tells the personal stories of a number of elderly knitters to illustrate the different ways knitting fit into their lives (I always prefer personal stories to general histories, so this suits me quite well!). This iconic design tradition has influenced many modern designers, and Olsen covers Starsky & Hutch, The Big Lewboswki, and other adaptations and discusses the effect mass market sweaters had on the handknitters. I love the many photographs and the historical, sociological, and economic depth Olsen provides. And I love her chapter entitled "We Sure Love Our Sweaters," about the emotional connections people make with their sweaters. As someone who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I had the added joy of learning more about the place I call home. 

Wholeheartedly recommended!

Here's the central motif on my Cowichan sweater.

 

Close-up of the lovely handspun yarn! 

Emerging from the Gray

Oh, I have enjoyed my hiatus from colorwork! I wasn't expecting to, actually, and it had me a little worried. It wasn't on purpose: I had finished my current stranded project, but I couldn't launch into a new design while the holidays claimed the space in our house. Plus, I had a list of gift knitting to finish up:

• The darling fingerless mitts out of deep olive/gray alpaca for Gingko.
• The long long long scarf in two shades of gray Ultra Alpaca (I followed this pattern but used all the yarn for the scarf, no hat)--also for Gingko.
• The deep luscious green socks for John out of a Sanguine Gryphon wool-cashmere-nylon yarn.
• And finally the Brownstone Sweater by Jared Flood in lovely soft Soot Shelter for John. 

It was a vacation, I tell you. Simple knitting, wonderful yarns, following a pattern. I wasn't sure I wanted the vacation to end, to be honest. I started working through my basket of UFOs: baby sweater, washcloths..... I was pretty happy and amazingly productive.

Until I looked out the living room window last week.

They've been being remodelling the library across the street for months now. Things were looking a bit bleak. And then my eye was caught by the ORANGE! Don't see it? How about now?

Orange, of course, is everywhere this year. Orange is the new acid green--the color you said you'd never ever wear and then two years later discovered that half the items in your closet were that same green. Well, say hello orange!

I plunged right into my collection of yarns and produced this swatch:

Color love has bit me again! I might take little vacations now and then, but color is home.

************************************************************

Speaking of home, don't forget the open house knitting party next Sunday (details in the last post).

And if you want to play with color, check out the Color in Fair Isle workshop in Arkansas in April. The deadline for registration is the end of the month.

Welcome 2012 with Color!

An open-house knitting gathering at my home in Berkeley! It's been way too long since I've had a party here for my knitting friends (and that means you).

I will be setting out my pounds and pounds of Shetland jumperweight odds and ends—create a magic ball or two so you can make something lovely and surprising! It's a win-win: I get to divest myself of these too-valuable-to-toss tiny balls of yarn while you get to learn how to make odd-ball knitting look good. Plus, free! (The photo at the top of the page is my What's Leftover Cowl; the pattern is Celery Stalk's Inspira Cowl, found on Ravelry. The cowl is made with the magic balls pictured below.)

Date: Sunday, January 22nd

Time: Noon til 4:00. Come for the entire period or just drop by for 15 minutes.

Place: My home in north Berkeley, California. 

What Can I Bring?: Anything edible with the naked hand (or perhaps with a fork) or drinkable would be lovely.

RSVP: Email me at feralknitter AT feralknitter DOT com; I'll send you the address then.

Can I purchase yarn and/or books while I'm there? Certainly! Save yourself the cost of shipping.