Pride

We all take pride in something, whether it is our work, our achievements, our family or all of these.  I think that I must be quite prideful right now – I have had a banner year!  I had better be careful, there is always balance and something will happen to even things out!  I don’t believe that pride is a bad thing.  Like everything else we practise we all need some sense of personal pride to balance our tendency to self-deprecate.  I believe that we need balance in everything.

Entrelac Band knit with Fleece Artist Wooley Silk

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was test-knitting for another designer.  The designer was Isabeau Knits, my daughter Beth.  There is nothing (in my opinion) quite as wonderful as sharing the love of something with your child.  Often as adults, we have little in common with our parents, other than a shared past.  This was the case with myself and my parents.

With my daughter things are different.  We share the love of knitting and designing our own knits.  This has kept us very connected through the years.  When Beth was a teenager I first knit for her and then, later, taught her to knit.  Beth wanted to knit scarves for her friends one year for Christmas.  I encouraged her to dive into my stash and learn about the yarns.  As she chose her yarns and then knit them she would learn about the yarns properties.  As Beth went from scarves, to hats, to mittens she learnt even more.  Now I seldom knit for her.  Beth is a starving student so I enable her knitting with the yarns that she has learned to love!  It is a very high-end fibre diet!

From the woven look of the hand-dyed yarn in the Entrelac band to the solid colour of the woven cables, this pattern has been very carefully thought out.

As I was test-knitting her Beret Marmie I was very impressed by the thought and care that went into this particular design – it was very well done.  The way that the cables flow from the entrelac band was very organic and the weave of the cables above the weave of the entrelac enhanced the whole!  I am very proud of Beth and all of her achievements, but this is special, because I can understand it, and appreciate the nuances of the thought process that went into it.  I do not always fully understand the nuances of Textile and Artifact Conservation for Museums!

Crisply woven cables entwine all over the crown of Marmie.

Beth is in her last year of a Graduate program at Kingston in Ontario.  When she is done Beth will be qualified to conserve museum quality artifacts.  This interest came from her love of knitting and the fibres that she has worked with for over ten years now.  I could not be prouder that this connection to her work started with our shared connection to fibre.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

PS.  The girl in the photographs is not my daughter.  Amanda is a friend who often models for me.

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