Ethical Elegance: Story of a Shawl

Rifton Often times, it’s the story that gets me. A story from my life, a story of how a garment came to be, a story of the materials.

Here’s the story of my new shawl.

It started in NYC in the halls of the VK Live market place.

No. It started with Ellen’s obsession.

Still further back. It started in Maine, in the cottage, with Amy Lou hooking away on her Wingfeathers, designed by Cal.

The pattern was on my mind. As soon as holiday knitting is finished, I promised myself.

And then I was in Jill Draper’s VK Live booth with Gale, and she picked up a skein of Rifton and said Wingfeathers. You might have felt the world shift a little then. I did. Kirsten felt the pull, and so did Jani, making hers in glorious Starcroft Fog.

We hooked long into the night, at every chance the next day. Hooked in the pop-up shop, and hooked while eating cheese. Hooked on the train, and then, as my semester started, I hooked every moment I didn’t have to work on class prep.

Every inch of Rifton that flowed through my hands delighted me. You can read the yarn’s story here. FOThat’s part of what makes this shawl special to me, knowing the care that went into making the yarn. And part of the shawl’s story is like many hand-crafted garments’ stories: making the same project with a group of folks you really, really like, knowing that the stitches were hooked with laughter and good conversation. And part of the shawl’s story is making a pattern from a designer who embodies ethical elegance and is immensely likable. And part of the shawl’s story is absent friends who’ve been hooking their own shawl in their own corners of the world.

And part of the shawl’s story is just starting to unfold! Oh, the stories it will tell years from now!

Tell me a story, willya? I’d love to hear about a hand crafted item of yours that is rich in story.

VK Live Recap

VK Live collage

Just after the Fiber College high started to wear off, Kirsten had a good idea: who wants to come to NYC for Vogue Knitting Live? I did, of course!

I took two classes: Scandinavian Colorwork with Mary Jane Mucklestone and Designing Knitted Tessellations with Franklin Habit.

The colorwork class was fun. I learned a new-to-me way of knitting garter stitch in the round, and Mary Jane is a dynamo, full of knowledge and humor. The tessellations class? Well, let’s just say that a number of postcards reflect my recently acquired interest in tessellations. Franklin made math fun. I took a class with him in 2012, and my feelings about his teaching remain the same.

The classes weren’t the only terrific parts of the weekend. There was glorious food, terrific company, and the pop-up shop of the year: I could practically smell the ocean with every skein of Starcroft yarn I held. The yarn is special in so many ways, not the least of which is that Jani’s smart, practical, funny spirit saturates it like the gorgeous colors she dyes.

When my Saturday class ended, Beverly and I hopped down to le pop-up, and what a treat to hang out, get advice on color from Mary Jane and Kirsten, and crochet surrounded by Gale’s photos which are, as always, amazing.

Want to see what I crocheted? I’ll post a new FO later this week!

Rhinebeck

After skipping the New York Sheep and Wool festival (aka Rhinebeck, as if you didn’t know) last year, I anticipated this year’s festival extra hard. I even finished a sweater, though it was too warm to wear it.

Not much shopping happened. I picked up a few botanic-dyed scarves from my favorite vendor, but I was otherwise quite restrained.

What did happen?

cute

Cooing over sheep

yarnfondling yarn

lunch
eating the traditional made-by-Neal lunch

parade
critter parades

And most important of all: visiting with chums. Be sure to check out Gale’s Rhinebeck post for the most delightful pictures of all!

I’m already dreaming of next year.

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