Coast Salish Colourwork Class

I took a class on Friday with Sylvia Olsen. This is what I said about her when Tena and I first saw her at Knit City in October 2012:

We also spent time talking to Sylvia Olsen a writer, storyteller and knitter of the Cowichan sweater, a style of knitting developed by the Coast Salish. Her book, Working with Wool, documents how Coast Salish knitters developed their style of knitting almost 100 years ago, a style that turned into a world famous sweater and industry that made and saved their lives.

I was so impressed with Sylvia's knowledge about the Coast Salish and the Cowichan style of knitting that when I saw a class would be taught by her in Mt. Vernon, Washington I knew I had to take it. To be clear it is a class about colourwork knitting, but the Coast Salish do not use floats in this enterprise, rather each stitch is locked in place so that the reverse side (wrong side) offers a similar image to the right side. You might be thinking, well how hard can this be to learn, do you really need a class? And the answer is YES, I did.

Although I have been doing colourwork the right way for a short time, I have developed a skill in doing it. Learning a new way to do this meant I had to let go of those previously learned techniques and in my case, let my intuition show me the way. And yes it did take me three hours to do it as well.

That's me just under the white outlet at the back and Sylvia is standing, with one of her designs closest to the camera. (Photo from the Wild Fiber Facebook page)

The best part of the class is the stories Sylvia could tell about how she as a non-First Nations person learned to knit this way, how she opened a store to sell Cowichan sweaters for the women who knit them and what this work of knitting meant to these women and their families. Hers is another story of how First Nations women adapted their weaving skills to incorporate wool and knitting from the Europeans and developed a new style. It is very much like the story out of Bolivia a few days ago. Traditional skills adapted for a new market.

Sylvia is soon planning a trip across Canada to teach this technique, one that now only a few people know, because like so many traditional skills from the past, it has been lost on the younger generations. She and her family are writing about these skills and developing training and kits to bring it into the 21st century. She also has a new book out Knitting Stories: Personal Essays and Seven Coast Salish-inspired Knitting Patterns. These new patterns use DK weight yarn instead of the chunky/bulky traditional yarn and allow for more refined designs. You can get more information about Sylvia Olsen and her books here. You will find she not only writes about knitting but also about First Nations, as well as books for teenagers.

I have to say the class was moving and well worth the trip out of the Lower Mainland. Oh, and what did we make? This ~~~

The finished toque done in Coast Salish - inspired colour work style

The inside, generally float free. I am still learning, the top is better as the skill improved

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

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