I just finished your book Sweater Quest. It was great fun to read and I wanted to relate the story of what happened when I met Alice Starmore in the flesh over 20 years ago. At the time she was touring the US promoting one of her books and giving lessons in Fair Isle Knitting. I was an inexperienced knitter who was just enthralled by Fair Isle sweaters. She asked each student to knit a mini sweater . Being a New Yorker I knit mine in blacks, greys and whites with pink accents. She was less than pleased with my choices and in front of the whole class said"we don't knit these sweaters in those colors" to which I replied you do if you live in NYC. However, she also did me a favor. She finally helped me to understand why when I was knitting in the round my garments always went off to a side. Apparently, I always knit my stitches through the back instead of through the front. I am a continental knitter and was taught by Eastern Europeans. I also have a question. Is Toronto still a place that a knitter would enjoy visiting? Thanks.
There are so many stories about Alice Starmore being crabby and kind, almost always within seconds of each other. People are hard to figure out, you know? And I'm a little surprised that, as a New Yorker, you didn't knit yours in black, grey, and whites with navy accents. Pink is a bold choice for NYC. :)
I love Toronto and its many yarn shops. If memory serves, a few in the book have closed, but others have taken their place so it all works out. Plus, Toronto has many other charms, like great restaurants.
Thanks for reading SQ! It was such a fun book to write that I'm happy to hear it was fun to read!
I just finished your book Sweater Quest. It was great fun to read and I wanted to relate the story of what happened when I met Alice Starmore in the flesh over 20 years ago. At the time she was touring the US promoting one of her books and giving lessons in Fair Isle Knitting. I was an inexperienced knitter who was just enthralled by Fair Isle sweaters. She asked each student to knit a mini sweater . Being a New Yorker I knit mine in blacks, greys and whites with pink accents. She was less than pleased with my choices and in front of the whole class said"we don't knit these sweaters in those colors" to which I replied you do if you live in NYC. However, she also did me a favor. She finally helped me to understand why when I was knitting in the round my garments always went off to a side. Apparently, I always knit my stitches through the back instead of through the front. I am a continental knitter and was taught by Eastern Europeans. I also have a question. Is Toronto still a place that a knitter would enjoy visiting? Thanks.
Posted by: Sydney Fox | September 26, 2019 at 11:37 AM
There are so many stories about Alice Starmore being crabby and kind, almost always within seconds of each other. People are hard to figure out, you know? And I'm a little surprised that, as a New Yorker, you didn't knit yours in black, grey, and whites with navy accents. Pink is a bold choice for NYC. :)
I love Toronto and its many yarn shops. If memory serves, a few in the book have closed, but others have taken their place so it all works out. Plus, Toronto has many other charms, like great restaurants.
Thanks for reading SQ! It was such a fun book to write that I'm happy to hear it was fun to read!
Posted by: Adrienne Martini | October 03, 2019 at 01:12 PM