| When The Dining Room at 209 Main opened
ten years ago, my friend, Rhoda went to my house and took my knitting and
hung it on the walls of the restaurant, as we had planned. We were
two textile graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison who wanted
to express our love of textiles. Rhoda is a spinner, dyer, weaver
and I am a knitter. Our mission for our displays was to present textiles
for the guests' enjoyment. So here we are ten years later, my knitting
is again being displayed, a list of the 30 displays from the past is on
the wall, and Rhoda and her husband, David, are still planning and executing
the displays.
Life evolves - and now I have a business,
Knitter's Treat, LLC, sponsoring knitting workshops by designers/teachers
from all over the world, and selling associated patterns, books, a bit
of yarn and Vivian Hoxbro kits. It has been great fun.
Ruth Knight Sybers On display: Tick-Tack Vest, knit from a kit by Vivian Hoxbro of Copenhagen, Denmark, who taught here a couple of years ago. It is an example of domino knitting and features Vivian's choice of striking colors. Black and white Norwegian-type pullover - knit by Ruth Sybers in the mid-1950's for her husband and later worn by her daughter, Jane, through her high school years. As usually happens the white has yellowed a bit, but the charcoal grey remains. Wool lasts for years if moths don't interfere. Zig-Zag vest - another kit from Vivian Hoxbro in bright orange dotted with 3 shades of green. All wool produced by Harrisville Designs. Another example of domino knitting.  The blue/black vest from the book "Sweaters From Camp", a compendium of patterns resulting from a competition of attendees at Meg Swansen's (daughter of Elizabeth Zimmermann and owner of Schoolhouse Press) knitting camps. This was designed by Janine Bajus and the idea for the ribbing at the bottom came from Kevin Ames while we were at camp in 2004.  The blue shawl is Beauty and the Bias by Two Old Bags, two designers (Ann Swanson and Katy Nagorny) from Rochester, Minnesota. Clarity and accuracy of their patterns result in their popularity. The yarn is the lace-weight Icelandic sold by Schoolhouse Press.  The suspender sweater, designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann, a wonder of mathematical design for which EZ was famous, knit in navy wool in a class taught by Carol Anderson (Cottage Creations) when she lived in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Various hats, scarves, throws are displayed. Fulling (felting) hats and purses is great fun as is knitting such exotic fibers such as Qivuit, gathered from the wild musk ox, primarily in Alaska. Wool is a favorite. After all we are in Wisconsin. Enjoy! |
