Antimacassar

Last night my friend Shana taught me the word antimacassar. Her best fave sitting room chair had finally given up the ghost after months of spewing forth yellow foam and upholstery tacks whenever anyone sat on it or even gave it a stern look. The new chair is a fancy beige number inherited from Grandma Dora, and comes complete with armrest covers and an antimacassar. Antimacassar is the fancy word for the piece of cloth that goes over the top of an upholstered chair. Like this:

Netted Antimacassar from KnitHeaven.com

Or more recently, like this:

thanks, wikipedia!

Wikipedia tells me that Antimacassars were common in the Victorian period, and were commonly handmade, tatted, crocheted, knitted or netted of white cotton. Google a little harder and you'll find antimacassar patterns in all four crafts in Beeton's Book of Needlework, which is cram-packed with all kinds of old-timey goodness. I'm a total sucker for this stuff - like this knitted rosette pattern:I will hypnotize you.

So: what is this macassar that antimacassars are anti? Victorian hair goop!

Rowland's Macassar Oil

A Big Hat Book and an Australian Pole Cosy

Autogyro from Knitty (by me)

Hey - re-posting a couple calls for entries here for anyone who's interested.

The brilliant and talented Annie Modesitt is putting together a picture-book of 1000 knitted hats. All knitted hats are welcome, and there are prizes for original designs. Get the skinny here.

Photos by Jake Dobkin in Gothamist

And if the 9th Street Fence outside ps122 or the yarnbombed parking meters of Montague Street in Brooklyn got you all excited, grrl+dog is organizing a massive stitch-up of the columns outside the National Gallery of Australia. Complimentary hand-made bling for all who participate. Find out how to play along here.

Knit the Golden Spiral at PS122 - Stitch 'n Bitch to follow

Want your own spiral to love?

As part of the Yarn Theory exhibit at the PS122 Gallery, I'm hosting a free workshop on knitting the golden spiral. It's the same form used in the piece I made for the show and (if you've been tuned in to my work for a while) the top half of the "Seuss-y" Christmas Tree.

Knit the Golden Spiral with Daniel Yuhas
Saturday, May 9
Noon to 2 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come learn to knit a three dimensional Golden Spiral. Spirals like these occur all over the place in nature, from the nerves in our eyes to the shape of our galaxy, not to mention seashells. There's all kinds of math going on here - the golden section and Fibonacci numbers and the greek letter phi, but in practice it's a simple, intuitive, and meditative pattern to follow.

Students should have some experience knitting in the round.

Bring your favorite yarn and a set of double-pointed or circular knitting needles a few sizes smaller than the yarn package recommends.

... immediately followed by:

Yarn Theory Stitch 'n Bitch
Saturday, May 9
2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come check out the show, and meet your fiber-y friends or make new connections. Come as you are, and bring whatever you’re working on to show and tell. Everybody’s also welcome to contribute to the ongoing yarn-bombing of the Ninth Street fence that’s taking place as part of the show. Snacks and coffee graciously provided by PS122.

Picture from an Exhibition

The Yarn Theory opening last weekend was wonderful. Thanks again to all who came out!