Fun
Cecelia Explains It All for Us
Dear Kay,
In her virtual class last Friday, Cecelia Campochiaro introduced a chart she devised that showed every single row of a six-foot-long wrap pattern, a chart that looked like a combination of the Periodic Table and a cipher key from Bletchley Park. You could end World War II with this thing.
Kay, you said something like “Cecelia, when I first saw that chart I just folded it up and put it away.”
It was one of those moments that made me laugh, because the fact is, you and I are right there in these virtual classes that we run, every bit as new to much of what is being taught as everyone else.
“BUT,” you continued, “once I understood it, I realized it was pure genius.”
And once Cecelia blithely talked through her thinking about this chart, all of a sudden it made perfect sense.
She explained how such a chart came to be: from an impulse throughout her long career as an engineer to aim always for logic and clarity.
This class with Cecelia, Reversible Cables, ended up being a study of not only cables that look the same on both sides of a fabric but also an introduction to the larger idea of reversible knitting. Her new book, Reversible Knitting: a Handbook and Stitch Dictionary, is a beauty, her third volume of her ideas about knitting that will stand the test of time.
It also happens to be extremely beautiful knitting—subtle and sophisticated and eternally elegant. My Cecelia wraps are the ones I wear the most often.
If you missed Cecelia’s Reversible Cables class, we’re still offering the recorded class for another day or so, right here. It’s the sort of deep dive that will alter your thinking about knitting, while at the same time giving you a Wriley Wrap that you’ll truly treasure.
And, of course, while you’re making it, you can wave that chart around and astound your friends and family.
Love,
Ann
PS We’ve got copies in the MDK shop: Reversible Knitting.
PPS Ann and Kay have cooked up a Knit Stars class all about log cabin knitting, a way of knitting that can fill a lifetime of endless fun. Come see what the fuss is about!
Bravo to Cecelia! Her workshop made reversible knitting and cable work both approachable and sheer fun. The time went by in a flash and I have the fabulous video AND chart for reference as I knit my scarf. Thanks, Ann and Kay. You’ve done it again!
Can’t wait to watch this. I’ve loved the classes I’ve taken with her. I always learn something new.
It was such a great class! I do think a knitter could be happy for a lifetime exploring Cecilia’s reversible patterns. I’m itching to cast on my (hot pink) wrap but am trying to be disciplined to finish off another project before I begin. But the hot pink is staring at me on the table and I tell myself, well, maybe just the cast on and that beautiful wrapped edge. 🙂
I did miss the class, so glad to have access. When I am strong enough to look at that chart. I read a wonderful book, the Woman Who Smashed Codes, but skipped over all the charts showing what she did. All I needed to know was that she beat the Nazis.
A wonderful class and amazing combo of yarn Ito’s Kinu and Sensai. I have started knitting the scarf and can’t put it down. Thank you Cecelia, Ann & Kay for a most enjoyable class.
A wonderful class and amazing combo of yarn Ito’s Kinu and Sensai. I have started knitting the scarf and can’t put it down. Thank you Cecelia, Ann & Kay for a most enjoyable class.
My sentiments exactly! It’s very hard to put this project down even though several WIPs are whining at me!