My early fall copy of Vogue Knitting came in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Since we are in the throws of everything puppy, I didn't rush to it like I usually do. When I looked at the articles mentioned on the cover, nothing seemed to grab me and say, "HEY! Come see me right now!" Vogue Knitting always has something that grabs my interest even if it is just an advertisement with a fabulous knitted garment. I have found more beautiful "I must knit this" in the the ads of knitting magazines than I have found in the patterns. I did do a quick, "Cute Shoes!" as I looked at the cover then I moved to the never ending puppy training. A couple days later my sister Kathy called to asked if I had seen the new Vogue Knitting because there was a fabulous article on Maggie Jackson and MaggiKnits. I opened Vogue Knitting and there it was. The headline said it all. All of my Maggie memories came flooding back. Linda and I attended a Maggie Jackson class at Crafty Lady in Macomb before it became Crafty Lady Trio. We were both taken under the spell of everything Maggie. She is a force of nature. It was hypnotic listening to her speak in that beautiful voice sharing stories and techniques I will always remember. I learned some of the secrets of professional knitters for saving time while not sacrificing perfection. My class with Maggie Jackson is one of my "game changers" in knitting. I look at knitting in a different way because of my time with Maggie Jackson. Best tip ever: when you are picking up stitches like around a neck or button band, pick up the stitches so they look perfect. No holes, no scrunches. Then after you have your stitches picked up count to see how many you have. If you have too many on the next row decrease evenly across the row. If you have too few, increase evenly across the row, Just think! No ripping out and trying it again and again and again only to have a ugly hole. Masterful. I was also throughly impressed that Kaffe Fassett is one of her friends. But I bet Maggie was impressed that Linda Kaufman is one of my friends. Whether a sweater, shawl, skirt or cape, the Maggie look is immediately recognizable. Asymmetrical, Maggie tubes, holes, buttons and yummy yarn are all hall marks of MaggiKnits. Maggie was designing "edgy" before Stephen West had picked up two sticks and a string. Kathy bought 3 kits and got me thinking, don't I have a MaggiKnit kit somewhere? I looked in my tub marked Maggie Jackson and it wasn't there. I looked at every tub to see if I had a second Maggie Jackson tub, I didn't. Finally, I decided to look in the tub where I have kitted yarn with their pattern so I won't forget. There it was. The yarn was beautiful, the buttons were stunning but there was one problem. The pattern was for a pull over sweater and I don't wear pullover sweaters any more. There is just something about my stomach and rear that really don't look good stretching knitted garments. But I did love the yarn. Dark blue, turquoise, copper! In another pattern this would be a stunner. So I immediately wrote to Maggie with my dilemma asking for guidance. I got an answer right away. I picked some of the kits I loved on MaggiKnits and asked if these were possible. Unfortunately everything I was in love with was knit in tweed and my yarn is linen. So I pulled out my three Maggie Jackson books but didn't find anything that rung the bell. I really want this to be a piece which has all of the signature stitches of Maggie Jackson. It must be asymmetrical, it must have tubes, it must change colors in a dramatic Maggie fashion. Then I found it. This stunningly Maggie wrap. It has it all. As an added incentive, I will need to change up the color sequence because I don't have quite enough dark blue to do it in all one color. I GET TO PUT MY OWN UNIQUE TOUCH ON A MAGGIE JACKSON WRAP!!!!! Is that cool or what! This is my yarn and buttons. I think it will be spectacular. I can't wait to start. Let me tell you how this makes me feel. The only change I would make would be to leave out "you are close to finishing a knitting project." Since this is My Year Of Selfish Knitting, I don't have to finish a project to begin a new one. All I have to ask is, "does this bring me joy?" and if the answer is "no" it's on to the next one. I may be on to Maggie sooner rather than later. Hurray! This is the marvelous Miss Tess who is distracting me from knitting.
1 Comment
8/20/2017 01:16:38 pm
Why THANKUUUUU. I feel truly honored and humbled by your blog. Appreciate every word. Happy knitting!!! Even though you haven't enough of Royal Blue you could do a couple of squares in the Turquoise. It will still look great!!! Maggie Jackson
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jan parsonThis blog is dedicated to Mary Helen Growt my first knitting teacher and the woman who changed my life. The mission of Knitting: A Love Story is to preserve, share and promote the love of knitting. Archives
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