theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I am a huge, long-time fan of Alice Starmore — probably more like a groupie — and have made several of her sweaters.  She represents the pinnacle of design.  Her patterns are unusually detailed and typically flawless.  Embarking on one of her fair isles is a long journey for me, and a labor of love.  With every stitch, you marvel at the use of color: both in every strand of yarn and the way the colors come together to create the final tableau.  I have had the yarn for this project aging like a fine wine for a few years now.  I am ready for the quest to begin.

I have a particular affinity for this design.  Years ago, I signed up for a two-day workshop on “color” and knitting ganseys.  The yarn shop owner told me I just had to take this class, “The teacher is great,” she said, and I signed up even though I had never heard of Alice at that point.  AS was travelling around the country with her yarn and patterns in tow, teaching workshops to the uninitiated.  The first day, she was wearing the Oregon Cardigan in the original (spring) colorway.  As I sat listening in rapt attention to her every word, I stared at that sweater.  I thought it was incredible and wondered where on earth she got it.  A crazy realization slowly crept over me (like I said, I was truly uninitiated!) — she had knitted it herself.  Not only that, but designed it as well.  I had never seen anything like it and could not imagine knitting anything of that complexity.  Fair isle knitting, with its colorwork and steeks, became the grail.

A few years later, Sally and I went on the knitting tour I mentioned in an earlier post.  AS was one of the instructors.  She taught a half day session on fair isle knitting.  Other than Sally and me, no one in the class had heard of her, like me years before.  To show us how to cut steeks, she cut the sweater shown above — that exact sweater.  So, it became a personal goal for me to knit Oregon.  I love both colorways, but the Autumn really spoke to me.  We also dined with AS the evening before the class.  WOW!  That remains my best knitting moment of all time.

So, I have started Oregon.  I will post a picture soon.  It is a slow go for me and will progress at glacial speed.  This will be my my fourth fair isle.  Once hooked, it is hard to resist the siren call!