One of my favorite things about knitting is the portability of the craft. All you really need is a couple of sticks and some string; and if you want to use a specific pattern, it probably isn't more than two or three pages long. I prefer to work with a photocopy of the pattern anyway because I tend to write all over them to remember row/pattern counts, which means that I am not dragging an entire book or magazine around. When I knew that I would be sitting around as an extra on a television set a few years ago for an extended period of time, my first thought was, what knitting project shall I take with me? Because I have my priorities straight!
Now, I knew that I would probably be distracted and have to stop and start frequently. That excluded anything that was super complicated, so I am not entirely sure why I chose this particular sweater. But once I got the columns of cables set up, the stitch pattern was pretty easy to remember.
So my pink cabled sweater came along with me to Mare Island, and I caused a bit of a stir around the extra's tent. My fellow jurors on 13 Reasons Why came to be very familiar with this project and would ask about it if the needles were not in my hand while we were sitting around. But there were a lot of other unfamiliar people that would come and go.
If you have ever knit in public, you are probably aware of the variety of reactions you get from strangers; most of the time people just stare. There is also a fair amount of curiosity, and once someone breaks the ice and asks a question or two, the floodgates open. In this case, I had a very positive response. I think I may have even inspired one or two people to bring along their own knitting projects throughout the filming as more people started showing up with their own knitting bags.
The result of this is that I have a souvenir from my time on set. It was absolutely fabulous to have something to keep me occupied for the many hours of sitting around that inevitably happens, and I will always remember my time with the production when I see this sweater. Best of all, I will be reminded of the men and women who I most likely would never have met if we had not come together for the brief adventure that was being an extra for Netflix.
I managed to get some photos of the finished sweater last December, and it has taken this long to get through them. It was around this time that my camera started failing, so the images are pretty fuzzy, but it gives a fair idea of how the project turned out.
I love the color of the yarn, I love the cabled pattern, and I love the entire sweater! I made a cardigan version of this design many years ago and it turned out fairly oversized. After having made this version which has had a whole lot of play time this year, I am temped to make myself another. I am fairly certain that I have more of the KnitPicks Stroll yarn in my sewing room . . . I should probably see if I can find it easily, because I may have found my next knitting project . . . the question is, shall I made the crew neck or the cardigan?
A sweater with a show-biz providence.
ReplyDeleteA skirt which belies its origin (it could have been in a Barney's window).
Then there's those legs [audible exhale]. Nature gave you too much.