Sweater stories, large and small.
Canada’s CBC radio featured an episode of the show “Definitely Not the Opera” all about sweaters. An hour and a half of wonderful radio about the significance of sweaters in the lives of various people around the world…. she interviews a Holocaust survivor whose sweater became a security blanket, she speaks to knitter making sweaters for penguins, and learns about the origins of the iconic Cowichan sweater. Bonus Canadiana points for a discussion about Roch Carrier’s famous children’s book, The Hockey Sweater and playing Stompin’ Tom’s song “The Hockey Sweater”. Listen to the show on the CBC radio page, or as a Podcast downloadable from iTunes.
Classic yet modern.
Once you’ve learned about the classic Cowichan sweaters, read this article about a small knitwear design company, West Saanich Woolworks, updating the Cowichan designs through fusing them with Fair Isle techniques. There’s some really lovely sweaters available for purchase – I can’t wait to see the pattern book that’s mentioned!
Cuddly, warm and GIANT!
Her blog has details on the project and a fun time-elapse video of the knitting process, and she’s made the pattern/tutorial available for sale on Ravelry.
An update on the Olympic yarnbomb I mentioned last week. Sadly, over the weekend, vandals attacked the installation. The good news is that work has already begun to repair it.
Love this: a university student in the UK has been awarded a bursary to teach primary school children about knitting.
A fun little video interview from the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day: a knitting teacher talks to the muggles about Irish knitting on local TV.
A favorite cause of mine: supporting organizations who take care of and rehome dogs and cats… Battersea Dogs and Cats Home has published a pattern for a comfort blanket you can knit for a dog living in a shelter. If you’re not in the UK, knit a blanket and donate it to a shelter near you.
Cool about the student winning the bursery – that is my old degree course
Nottingham Trent is the best knitwear course in the world really!
My inner geek loves that we call non-knitters “muggles.” Especially because, in the 1920s, the word was used to describe pot.
Hey Kate,
Did you notice that Ottawa yesterday recognised the Cowichan sweater as a first nation item of National Historic Significance?
great site.http://www.oiemail.org
Hi, I’ve been a lurker around your blog for a few months. I love this article and your entire site! Looking forward to reading more!