May's Artist Knits!

Thanks to Amy over at 4Real, we're going to do our May picture study on Mary Cassat. I've loved Mary Cassat's work since I first saw her 20 years ago at a show at the Natl Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Here's one that is perfect for this blog: The Young Bride, 1875. And Cassat must have been a knitter -- or at least really watched them -- because this woman is ACTUALLY knitting the sock correctly!

What Would You Do?

So, if you were moving to another country and could only bring the bare necessities, which three or four knitting books would you bring?

This is the situation I'm in: My family and I are moving to Austria for at least three years. My husband will be obtaining a doctorate, so this is not a paid corporate or military move. We have to pay to ship stuff ourselves. I homeschool four of my five children and MUST bring books for them to use. Also, my dear husband needs to bring some books for his research.

Bottom-line -- I can't bring everything. Some books and yarn will be put in storage. So here's my short list of what I'll bring:

The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. This book has lots of the math done for me so I can add the lacy stitches or colorwork necessary to create unique designs!The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. Like the original Handy Book, this one has done the math for all the sizes -- from toddler to BIG adult. I can use the book for the math and add color, stitch patterns, or other embellishments to create my own works of art!




Elizabeth's three best books for fun reading and educated knitting. I've been reading and using these books since I first started teaching myself to knit when I was 8 years old -- just a few (almost four) decades back! If you're interested in branching out or trying new things, Elizabeth is the doyenne of ingenuity and creativity in knitting.

I'll also bring Alice Starmore's Charts for Colored Knitting -- a cherished book that is a short-course on Fair Isle knitting with lots of personal details from the queen of British Isles knitting! Too bad this one is out of print -- it's a gem if you can find it!


And, of course, these three books from Lisl Fanderl: Although written in German, the stitch patterns are all graphically presented so theirs no reason not to be able to follow the patterns. Lisl Fanderl (Austria's answer to Barbara Walker!) went through ethnography museums throughout the regions of Austria to find and record the Austrian knitting patterns. In these three books you have lace stitches, twisted-knit stitch patterns and ideas to keep even my knitting needles busy for at least three years.

So these should hold me for a few years. What would you bring?

You CAN Knit Just About Anything!

Thanks to Dawn over at 4Real, this might win the unique award. A knitted digestive tract! The link will take you to the picture of exactly what has been knitted -- dh recognized it without seeing what the title. Don't you think he really needs one?

Knitted Last Supper

Check out this link to an article about a very crative knitter from Devon, UK who has knit the Last Supper and looks to be done just in time for Holy Thursday!

Here's the article.

Meaning Behind my Logo

So, I bet you've been wondering about my logo. I'm sure you can tell that this is the Blessed Virgin Mary, knitting with Jesus on her knee. Isn't it cool? With a name like "Mary", how could I have any other patroness than the Blessed Mother herself?

Here's the story behind it all. This is the original clip-art I found when browsing the web. It's from a block print that was housed in the Tate (but has since been sold). This block print was done by artist Eric Gill (1882-1940) , a British printmaker. The Latin around the outside , roughly translates to: All Praise the God Who Creates.

Once I saw it, I knew it would make a great logo with some tweaking. So I got my brother, who is an awesome "freelance illustrator" named Paul Nowak, to create a logo based on this print.

I like Paul's version as the Blessed Mother has almost a 1920s look to her. I love the idea that Mary is knitting with Jesus on her knee, holding him while knitting his seamless garment which would show up again during His Passion and Death.

The name of my knitting work, "By Hand, With Heart ... hand-knit designs", comes from the idea that everything I create -- whether for personal use or commercial use -- is always created from my heart. I love yarns and knitting and seeing the creation that God has given me the talent to make. All of my work is done by hand and I am the only knitter. I've always got something on the needles -- sometimes more than one project at a time.

I hope you enjoy perusing my knitting musings as well as pictures of some of my favorite projects and links to my favorite resources.

HAPPY KNITTIN' and DESIGNIN'