Horses

 

This is another sweater I've knit several times, with different color combinations. It's actually hard to find yarn in appropriate horse colors - maybe for me, as I know so little about horses. 
This is an smaller adaptation of a larger sweater knitted for a wonderful lady's daughter. This is such a simple pattern, with commonly repeating elements: there are the apple trees in different states of bloom; there are roses. A simple trim of golden horseshoes on blue circles the wrists and hem, above the roses trim. The neck, wrists, and hem trim is alternating red and variegated blue stripes.

 

Ice Skating

This was for the seasonal sweater book I was working on. Here children in different colors skate upon a meandering frozen river, past birch trees and snow on the banks. The sky behind the mountains blooms with the northern lights - okay, if I saw that, I'd stop skating and just watch with amazement. On the sleeves one child stands still on the ice. The shoulders and neck have white swirls on dark blue. The wrists and hem trim has white figure eights on shades of blue. There is also a variation on a rib pattern at the hem, in red.

 

The Magic Us

 

The inspiration for this sweater is the children's book The Magic Us, which has just been published by Alkion Press. This imaginative book was written by my husband Leif Garbisch, and was a story read many times while my children were young.

Long ago, there was a desert who lived alone in the middle of nowhere. One day, a spring of clean blue water bubbled to the surface of the desert. Together, Desert and Water became the first sisters of the world. Thus begins The Magic Us. Following these mythical beginnings, and after a series of metamorphoses, a new story emerges of Leda and Phoebe, along with their talking cat, Atta. Phoebe is 11 and Leda almost 7. They live in the country with their artist mother and inventor father. According to legend, these sisters and their cat are destined to save the world. To do so, they must journey deep into the Acrimonious Woods, through the territory of the Frustrations and the Mix Ups, into and out of many misadventures, all the way to the castle of evil Catherine, the forgotten sister of Atta. There, in the strange castle, if the adventurers can overcome their fears, they may discover the truth behind Catherine and be able to rescue the lost magic that was stolen from the world.
On the front of the sweater are the two cats, Atta and Catherine, reaching for the butterfly that appears and reappears in the story. Atta has the blue ring on her tail. This is a varied duplication of the cover by the illustrator Jirina Linnea. On the back are the two snakes, one poisonous and the other benign, entwined. The two sleeves have scenes from the book: Lester the stone with Catherine resting on his top, and Atta sitting on the ladder against the magical tree that leads to Magicus where Leda and Phoebe have their adventures.

For me, the book is about reincarnation, as the desert and water transform into snakes and into trees and into girls, and the two best friends/sisters are always together. But that’s just me.

The wrists and hem have three trim patterns: simple dark blue and variegated blue stripes, blue rings against a lighter blue background, and orange butterflies against a green background. The neck also has the dark blue and variegated blue stripes.

 

Mayday

Again, another sweater meant to celebrate the seasons. At our school, May Day is celebrated with a lovely maypole dance. Here it is, depicted in a much simpler form! Ribbons are sewn on after knitting: on the front they are still working their way around the maypole, and on the back the ribbons are fully entwined. The sleeves are very simple, with a single flowering tree and either a peeking sun or a cloud-obscured sun. The neck, wrists, and hem have a shepherd's-crook pattern in greens on red. The wrists and hem have a purple and green pattern, and the neck, wrists, and hem are finished with a picot trim in purple.

 

Mermaid

 

This was knitted before the traditional Mermaid Three Years sweater. The mermaid here follows the Waldorf idea of having no facial features, although for someone else that would be easy to add. On the front the mermaid shows off jewelry she found at the bottom of the sea, as she swims past corals and orange fish. On the back she swims to the surface, past more colorful fish and coral. The peplum shades from turquoise to green and ends with a picot trim. The neck and armhole openings carry on the blue from the sea and end in a turquoise picot trim. The jewelry is glass beads sewn on.

 

Mermaids

 


I was inspired to update the previous design by Ruby Bonano-Schwartz, who loves mermaids.
On the front is a blonde mermaid with a turquoise body sitting on grey rocks looking toward a white lighthouse. Coral colored clouds stream across the sky. White ripples scatter across the blue sea.
On the back a black haired mermaid, also with a turquoise body, is gazing at a stone castle with three turrets. There are similar clouds and similar sea.
One sleeve has another view of the lighthouse. The other sleeve has another view of the castle.
The bottom of the sweater is a gradated blue peplum with a picot hem. The sleeves and neck also have a picot hem. The sleeves end in a coral colored flower trim pattern.

 

Northern Lights

 

This is a version of Levin's Northern Lights sweater, with different colors.
On the front are two polar bears under the red and turquoise northern lights. On the back are two penguins on ice under the Aurora Australis in shades of turquoise.  The sleeves have the lights in reds and turquoises. The wrists and hem trim is white stars on shades of blue. The neck and wrists trim is rainbow rows. The hem trim is alternating ribbing stripes of variegated blue and black.

 

O Canada

 

I first made this sweater for Amaran.
This was inspired by Ted Harrison's beautiful book O Canada. He painted scenes for each province. It is such a treasure!
On the front is the scene for Quebec, with old houses and a peachy swirly sky. The back is the scene for the Northwest Territories, with an elk and a wolf in a bare landscape of amazing colors. The left sleeve is British Columbia, with an Orca swimming in a deep blue sea, and the right sleeve is Newfoundland and Labrador, with a blue whale and more swirling colorful skies. Maple leaves in red on white are at the wrists and hems.   The neck trim spells O Canada on the front and has little red crosses on the back. I am not Canadian, but my family loves their anthem and Ted Harrison's transcendent book.

 

Saint Martin

Saint Martin is another festival celebrated at our school by the first, second, and third graders. One amazingly pleasant aspect of all of our children going to the same school was that we had certain milestones to look forward to. Once Jirina and Amaran went through the Saint Martin festivals, we knew what Levin could expect. It was probably richest for him, to see what happened with the girls and then years later have his own experiences. The songs and community experience remain a fond memory for me.
So here on the front is Saint Martin on his horse in the snow. On the back he is handing half of his cloak to the beggar. On the sleeves angels stand with glowing candles. Throughout all of the scenes are mountains and stars. On the wrists and hem is a trim pattern of gold crosses on a blue background. The neck, wrists, and hem trim is yellow to red  and dark blue alternating stripes.

 

Tin Tin

 

My son Levin loved reading the Tin Tin books at a younger age. Aren't they well known to young boys? This is a slightly changed version of his Tin Tin sweater.

The front, back, and sleeves are scenes from different covers. On the front Tin Tin and Snowy stand before an erupting volcano. On the back Tin Tin and Snowy are speeding in a boat toward a castle island. On one sleeve Tin Tin and Snowy stand under the night sky by a domed tower. On the other sleeve Tin Tin and Snowy are on the Moon. 
This is a very colorful sweater, with three different trim patterns. One is rainbow jig jags; one is red and white rockets against blue skies, and one is alternating reds and black stripes. The neck also has the reds and black stripe trim.

 

Tractor

 

This sweater was knit for a lovely lady who had twin boys. One sweater was knit with the orange tractor and truck and the other was knit with green. The cows also reversed their colors: one picture is the opposite cow from the green tractor sweater. I was sent a notice from John Deere that I was not allowed to have green tractors in my sweater, as they own the green tractor trademark. So I can't show you that version!
On the front a tractor is lifting a hay bale. On the back the square hay bales are loaded onto a truck. On the mirrored sleeves a cow stands under an apple tree. How many times do I put these apple trees in sweaters! You'd think I eat apples constantly. The trim pattern is various farm tools against a blue background. The neck, wrists, and hem trim is variegated blue and red stripes or variegated red and blue stripes.

 

Totoros

Totoros again!

 

Totoros II

 

This is my second Totoro inspired sweater. We just saw My Neighbor Totoro in the theatre with two of our granddaughters and I loved it more this time! On the front the three Totoros are sitting on a tree branch over a pond, with greenery and sky and clouds behind them. On the back the Totoros are stretching to make the seeds grow into trees, under a moonlit sky. The mirrored sleeves show the blue and white Totoros gathering acorns into a bag and gathering blueberries from a bush. The wrists and hem have trim patterns of acorns on a blue background and red mushrooms against a lighter blue sky. The neck trim is dark blue and variegated blue stripes. 

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