I think of myself as a strong woman. I grew into womanhood reading Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Erika Jong and many more. I love women who go where no woman has ever gone, who use our unique leadership style and break the glass ceiling. I've written before about my friend Toni (may she rest in peace) who was the strongest woman I have ever known. It seemed only right to celebrate strong women by knitting an object honoring one of our strongest women, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I found this pattern (probably on Pinterest) and immediately fell in love. It honors RBG and her famous Dissent Collar. To quote the pattern designer Carissa Browning, "This top-down cowl was inspired by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's famous (and infamous) collar, worn when she dissents from a decision by the Supreme Court." There are also Dissent Pins. Their blurb says "The standard Robe is made for a man because it has a place for a shirt to show and a tie, so Sandra Day O'Connor and I thought it would be appropriate if we include as part of our robe something typical of a woman." I love it. After I found the Dissent Cowl, I decided I not only needed to knit it, I needed to develop a class for Ann's By Design. I want our ABD knitters to celebrate strong women and honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I began searching the yarn at ABD for the perfect yarn. The pattern calls for DK and I really didn't see anything I thought was perfect, something that would adequately honor the Dissent Cowl and RBG. I did find Happy Feet Sock Yarn but it was way too light a fiber to knit to gage. I didn't want the Dissent Cowl to be a doll or pixie accessory, so I began to plot. Somewhere in a knitting class I learned how to combine light yarn to create heavier yarns. Finally, I found it. Two strands of sock yarn may knit to DK gage if you are lucky. I think I would call this a "Yarn Hack." I took my 2 strands of sock, combined it with Cascade 220 Superwash which is a lite worsted and set off to see if it would work. After experimenting with different needles, I GOT GAGE! That sounded a lot like YOU'VE GOT MAIL. What I did perfectly exemplifies "knabbling" which is my word for dabbling in knitting. But to move on to the actual product of my plotting and knabbling, TA-DA, here it is. Notice the top of this cowl. After that notice how perfect my double strand of Happy Feet works as a DK. Now watch this. The polka dotty top folds down inside to form a lining. Genius! You never see the wrong side of the kitting. I love that. When I wear this, I will think of all of the strong women I admire who led the way for me and hope I am in my own way doing it right.
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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
April 2021
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