Laura Ricketts Designs

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands..."

Laura Ricketts Designs is a personal and business website for Laura Ricketts, hand-knitwear designer, author, teacher, crafter, mother and wife.

Filtering by Tag: What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?

And Now For Something a Bit Defarge-ish

Here, at last, is my sneak peek of the What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit? book.  Madame Defarge is a character in Charles Dickens' book Tale of Two Cities who sits beneath the guillotine in France, knitting, knitting, knitting the names of those whom the guillotine killed. Is she a type of the Fates, playing with, and then cutting the yarn of life? Perhaps.  For me, she is an great example of using the art of knitting to tell another tale.​

The Madame Defarge book series, published by Cooperative Press, is a collection of knitting designs inspired by classical literature (beginning with this book).  I have three designs in the book to be released April 2013. More information about the book can be found here. ​Two are similar and are inspired by a certain author who lived in Concord, Massachusetts.  Here are a couple of inspiring shots.  How about this:

​A snippet of a picture from my first design inWhat (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​A snippet of a picture from my first design in

What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​And this?

​close-up of first design in What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​close-up of first design in 

What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​And, just a little bit of this...?

​close-up of first design in What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​close-up of first design in 

What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

Since they're related, I will conclude with a few pictures of the second design in the book.  Namely, this:​

​close-up of second design in What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​close-up of second design in 

What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​And, last but not least, this!

​close-up of second design in What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

​close-up of second design in 

What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit?​

Isn't it pretty, even in super close-up form?  I can say of this, that they are serviceable , warm, and, in garter stitch, pretty easy.  ​

Can't wait until I can post a picture of the entire project! If you sign up on the email list, you will receive yet another pattern by me in the pre-release emails.​