WWW: Poetry, Master’s Program in Knitwear Design, #sockjournal

Our Spring & Summer issue launched just yesterday, and knitter Vicki Downing-Withers was so moved by the Regnerate Shawl design, and the story the designer tells, that she wrote a poem about it.

Oh swoon did my heart

that beats so fast

when my eyes gazed

upon your edges of thistle

dripping with meaning

sorrow and delight

maroon-purple mixed with

emotions that mere words

can not express

My knitting needles fainted

when first they did see

the loveliness in the pattern

oh yes, it is of weeds

To my stash I went with haste

only to find worsted not lace

My knitting needles began to mock

imagine for them it must have been a shock

for when I opened up another cabinet door

a ball of lace fell upon the floor

It was of eight hundred yards

not the nine eighty-four required

but then I thought perhaps

I’d knit as far as I could

and if at journeys end a lapse

of inches were to be found

I’d match it with another

close and yet not the same

but just as lovely with a different name.

Unbelievable.

Knitter Denise Salway, famous for her knitted replica of all the characters in the movie The Hobbit, has unveiled her next Tolkien-inspired project: the Hobbit coat. Her work is fantastic, and her Flickr stream is definitely worth a visit, whether you’re a fan of Middle Earth or not.

Although not the main thrust of the article, I’m excited about the news that Kingston University in London, UK, is launching a master’s degree program in Knitwear Design.

Live in the Pacific Northwest? Attending Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle? Amy’s got some space left in a couple of her classes this coming weekend…

Lucretia Green, as she approaches her 100th birthday, credits her longevity to good food, music and knitting.

Last Sunday’s Socks: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Bee Stripe.

I’ve been having fun on Twitter of late, with my #sockjournal. Pretty much every day, I tweet a picture of the socks I’m wearing, marked with the hashtag #sockjournal. Join in!

Perhaps a crazy idea, but if there really are 15,000 penguin sweaters going unused, perhaps we should channel our energy to knit penguin toys to wear the sweaters, and get these nattily-dressed little creatures donated to children in need?