The Wild Unbounded Self

My fantasy self is a process knitter. In reality, I am so doggedly product oriented that most of my projects are just a little too small because I’m desperate to get them off my needles. Sleeve island can be a kind of itchy torture where I’m stuck counting my stitches, counting my rows and somehow thinking that every 10 stitches on my double pointed needles is a row and deserves a break and a distraction. 

This week, on my needles is the Into the Wild sweater by Tania Barley. It features a colourwork yolk with images of fox faces peaking out between trees in a forest. The foxes are wonderfully recognizable. The construction is uncomplicated top down in the round with twisted rib stitch at neck and cuffs and hem. 

Tania Barley has by far outshone other designers for me this year. I have made several of her designs and I can see myself wearing almost everything she creates. Her mixture of whimsy with tradition is beguiling and just feels like me. 

Tania is @woolbarrow on Instagram. I recommend her page because she lives in Ireland and has two gorgeous dogs and her photos are beautiful. 

One final reason I chose to make this sweater is because when my older son Jade was four, he loved foxes. He identified with their sleek prowling wildness. How is it that animals can be simultaneously so beautiful and so dangerous? That unbounded wild four year old self is why I made this sweater.