Lets_Knit_Issue_143_April_2019e

you hand paint alternate leaves with

jacquard dyes.”

“You. Hand. Paint. Alternate.

Leaves. With. Jacquard. Dyes.”

“It gives a beautiful efect,” I

say stoutly.

Oh, who did I think I was kidding?

There was no way that I could

hand-paint alternate leaves of this

beautiful, draped shawl without it

looking like the spiderweb fabric

had been set upon by a vehemently

artistic orangutan armed with

Crayola. Of course the efect is

beautiful when it’s done by someone

with a surgeon’s sure delicacy of

touch, but in my hands it was never

going to end well. This, then, is

Pinterest; a wellspring of inspiration,

a birthplace of ideas that, all too

easily, never get of the ground.

I shut the laptop immediately. This

will not be me. One of my favourite

things about knitting is that it’s about

transforming ideas into reality; it’s

that beautiful, life-airming bridge

between dreaming something up

and making it in real life, with my

own hands. It’s absolutely the

opposite of Pinterest – or at least,

dead set on sunshine yellow and

French grey. It’s just all so

beautiful, that’s the trouble.

That’s how you get sucked in.

And of course, I’d been on

there a matter of minutes

before I found my way into

knitting, by way of an image

of a very beautiful purple

scarf with blackberries

scattered over it,

presumably to point out the colour,

though it was a risk I wouldn’t take

myself. Before I knew it, I’d spent an

hour browsing patterns, sighing at

the beauty, pinning every knitted

item I could ind with reckless

busyness, as though I was actually

doing something productive. And

at that point my husband looked

over my shoulder.

“Do you reckon you’ll actually knit

any of those then, or are you just

going to pretend you will?” he

inquired pleasantly.

“Of course I will,” I retorted.

“And what’s that you’re looking at?”

“That,” I said, “is a very beautiful

lace shawl in a leaf pattern. You knit

the delicate, complex lace, then

Oh dear, I’ve found Pinterest. I

knew it was going to happen one

day. I resisted as long as I could,

but there was no way I could

keep my distance forever. It

happened unexpectedly, the way

these things do. Lately, we’ve

been thinking about redecorating,

and a friend mentioned that she

had found some good ideas for

her sitting room on Pinterest, and

why didn’t I sign up.

Just like that, I’d lost three

hours, poking around on storage

ideas, pinning deathlessly

expensive sideboards and starting

to seriously consider teal and hot

pink as a possible colour scheme,

when the previous night I’d been

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how I would use Pinterest.

Inspired, I seize the socks that

I’ve been avoiding turning the heel

on, and knit like one possessed

(think Linda Blair in the Exorcist,

but cleaner). We are not messing

about now! You see before you a

woman of resolve! A very little

while later, I inish grafting the toe

of the second sock, fold them into

a pair together, and lay them,

lustrous blue-green, on the warm

wood of the cofee table,

savouring their beauty and the

feeling of a inished project. What

to knit next, I wonder? I’m out of

ideas. I bet Pinterest isn’t though...

Claire Thomas is a freelance

journalist and founder of Stitch

‘n’ Bitch group, Knit Pickers

1. tension square, 2. pattern book, VANISHING VOWELS: 1. USA, 2. an MBE, 3. Sue Stratford, 4. Sasha Kagan, 5. stranded colourwork QUICK QUIZ:

Coco Chanel: WHO SAID THAT? Stylecraft Jeanie, Patons Fab!, Sirdar No. 1 MIX & MATCH:3. yarn stash

50

Break

TEA

By Claire

Thomas

DON’T PIN^

ME DOWN

Test your knowledge on

famous knitting designers

1

Kaffe Fassett was born in

which country?

2

Debbie Bliss received what

royal honour in 2015?

3

Which designer used to run

yarn store, The Knitting Hut?

4

Who had a solo exhibition at

the V&A in 2000?

5

Arne & Carlos are best

known for using which type

of colourwork technique?

QUICK QUIZ

Purls of

Wisdom

WIN!

PRINTED

PHOTOS WIN

A PRIZE

“Thought I’d share my latest project HOTN.

A gift for my friend’s first grandchild.

Certainly needed that cuppa!”

Jan Willetts

WHICH LEGENDARY FASHION

DESIGNER SAID...?

“The best colour in the whole world is

the one that looks good on you.”

ANSWERS:

MIX & MATCH

Match the yarn

to the brand.

Which yarns

match which

brand?

1. Jeanie


2. Fab!


3. No. 1
   A. Sirdar
   B. Patons
   VANISHING C. Stylecraft

VOWELS

We’ve removed the vowels from three knitting phrases.

Can you work out what they are?

CLUE: the spacing could be wrong!

tns nsqr

1 2 3

ptt rnbk yrns tsh