At my men’s knitting group on Sunday at the Knitting Nest, we had a surprise (and delightful) visitor. I just have to share.
We had noticed some people sitting and talking at the big table, and thought it looked awfully like an interview. Afterwards, one of the group, came by to ask us what we were all knitting. The topic of stranded knitting came up, and she pulled out The Sweater.
The maker of this fine garment was Adrienne Martini, author of Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, which outlines her crusade to complete an Alice Starmore fair isle sweater in a year. The pattern she chose was Mary Tudor. It’s gorgeous – all the more amazing to realize it was her first big stranded knitting project. Talk about go big or go home!
I’d first heard about this book and this project when Adrienne was interviewed on Brenda Dayne’s Cast On Podcast (Episode 77). And there it was in front of us – we got to put our grubby paws all over it. So amazing to see an actual artifact that’s been documented so fully. Kind of like all the sock samples I saw from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks at the sock summit a few years back.
It was great meeting Adrienne. She had been in Houston giving a talk, and decided to come by Austin to see old friends and grab a bite at Threadgills. She was witty, knowledgeable, and friendly – like most excellent knitters. Now I really need to read her book .
Oh, and last night, when we were deciding where to go for dinner with Jeff’s parents, the first thing I thought was, “Threadgills.” It was de-lish.
How FUN! That book has been on my to-read list for a while, too. Thanks for the reminder that I need to read it! Maybe I should add a knitting tag to my goodreads shelf, eh?
ReplyDeleteI am such a sucker for structure-bound projects like that one. I've been toying with the idea of not buying yarn for a year (except for Sock Summit, of course) just to see where it leads me.