Rita Merino and the upcoming festival.....and shawls again...

By Wednesday or so, I should have a cool photograph of Rita Merino -- our festival denizen whose garments now are accumulating quite nicely.  As some of you know, Rita is the kid sister of a Chicago chick named Polly Esther Cotton -- the lovechild of the Windy City Knitting Guild.   Before her very recent retirement, Polly Esther's skirts had reached 8 feet or so -- her sleeves were unbelievably decorated and heavy -- She therefore was replaced by a new kid, Maureen O'Wool, who I"ve not yet met.  BUT:  When I last talked with them, the Windy City people agreed that it would be very cool for Polly Esther to have a Detroit sibling.   So.  Today we put on her black body stocking.  She has a curly black wig (she's Asian, but with a perm).  I added a preposterous yellow crocheted flower to her hair.  She is wearing a sleeveless vest cardi that I made some time ago from some quite nice Paton's SWS (soy wool stripe), with tagua nut buttons.  We will put her on a low table so people can work all around her and start skirts from the bottom of the vest -- sleeves from the armholes, etc.  Ijust made an I-cord belt from one of L. Harding's metallic and wool ribbons and, of course, I added some truly gaudy rhinestone clasps to hold it together.  She also has a pair of handcrafted socks (made by my friend Elaine Clark -- not quite matched, which is also cool).  Rita will be stunning.  She will have a jar at her feet silently inviting people to contribute a buck or two to the First Step shelter for domestic and sexual violence.  But mostly she will permit people to meet other people and to remind themselves that, once upon a time, all clothing was made by hand.  All of it.  I will surround her with baskets of yarn and jars and jars of tools.

As to shawls:   OKAY YOU GUYS.  Register for Candace Eisner-Strick's utterly amazing Strick-ly Shawls course.  I do NOT know what is going on.  This is one of the most wondrous classes you could possibly take -- I surely loved it.  You start with a nine-stitch tab.  You can use any weight yarn, any pattern stitch.  You can add any kind of edging.  It fits over the shoulders.   I cannot believe that this course has only a handful of registrants.   UTTERLY amazing.

But watch out generally, folks.  Some of the classes are filling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    svb