Inspiration

I often find myself leafing through Solveig Hisdal's book "Poetry in Stitches" where she writes about the inspiration she finds for her designs.  The newest Alpaca cardigan has a shell pattern which reminds me of the lotus pattern on the waist band on design 155.  The lotus pattern was inspired by Solveig's visit to China some years ago.  The shell pattern is often used in crocheted designs and has proven to be a difficult design for Oleana's knitting machines to produce!!

I have another book that I often look at -- actually a magazine called Traditional Knits.  It is one of those magazines that always seems to have hidden surprises that I have not seen before.  Today it was these knitted mittens that remind me of  Oleana's design 411 in the colours and a little in the pattern.

The mittens are designed by Robin Hansen, and are inspired by the children's story "Safe Return” written by Catherine Dexter.  The mittens have a wave pattern that reflects the Baltic Sea that surrounds the island of Gotland on the west coast of Sweden (where there are many sheep), which is the setting for the story.  Although inspired by mittens knitted in the early 1800 by Ursula, heroine of "Safe Return".  The waves pattern is based on one often seen in Middle Eastern knitting.  Pattern indeed knows no borders!