Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Knit Your Own Autumn

Why not? There are instructions for knitting your own dog, your own cat, barnyard critters, even knitting the sky.


This came about because I asked my friend--we'll call her Chavvy (NB:  not her real name)--what color she'd like me to knit her a scarf/shawl/birthday present. The response was NO...she had too much of that stuff. (Nothing like blunt honesty, d'acc?) Could I please just knit her a flower, preferably one she could pin onto her clothing?

Hmmmmmmmmm. I checked out patterns and somehow these absolutely didn't ring my chimes. The designs I encountered seemed so, um, tea-potty. So I decided to knit her a pair of mitts and pin a seasonal something onto them. This is the result.

Go on Ravelry and search for "leaves," "acorns," and the like. You will be amazed.

I think I'm celebrating Autumn because my summer was such a drag. I had an unpleasant visit to LA (adult son acting out, grrrrrr), I've been dealing with ongoing hand problems (see last post), and in late August I broke my left foot while standing on a perfectly flat surface, an asphalt driveway, and simply being the klutz that I am.

The good news is that my hand problem has recently diminished, thanks to some awesome medical treatments, and my foot healed fast. And now it is AUTUMN! This is the most beautiful season of all in New England. No wonder I'm knitting oak leaves and acorns. (I may also have a squirrel ancestor.) Note to self: knit an autumnal corsage for thine own adornment.

Gentle knitters, I highly recommend my latest article, in the most recent issue of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts. It's an inspirational profile of an up-and-coming New England designer, Bronwyn Heffernan (aka Casapinka), whose patterns provide mood-elevating knitting and wearing, and who herself is a paragon exemplar of survival and reinvention. The piece is called "Rescue by Design," and you'll find it on pages 56-58.