the story of the o w l sweater
July 8, 2012
read the post and
send debanhams an email
i think hand knitting should count for something.
help kate show them it does.
Back in November 2008 I was swatching with some nice grey Rowan yarn. I thought at first that it wanted to become bobbles – I had an idea that I would make a sweater inspired by the texture of the arses of some wonderful rhinos I had recently encountered (no joke – see this post). But I also had another thought – to make a sweater featuring the owl cable – a stitch pattern that has been around since (at least) the 1940s, featuring mostly on children’s garments. As soon as I swatched up my first owl, I knew that I was not going to make a rhino-arse sweater, I was going to make an o w l sweater.
When I posted pictures of my finished sweater on my blog – making full acknowledgment of all the other owl-related designs that I had seen which had inspired me –…
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Bitches Get Stitches 
July 8, 2012 at 9:03 am
Thank you for reblogging this – I have a bit of a girl-crush on Kate, and I think this story needs to be broadcast far and wide!
July 8, 2012 at 10:09 pm
OH my Bob! She is my hero!
July 8, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Thanks for the alert! I’m sure glad I’m on your integrity team. Now I have to buy it since I’d downloaded it for free. Keep ’em honest!
July 9, 2012 at 10:18 pm
Maybe she can get the British media interested in the story. Especially as her sweater looks so much better than the Debenham’s version. Theirs looks like it was pieced together out of yarns that really aren’t that appealing for apparel — more like something I’d expect to be used for a bathroom rug.
I’m definitely going to keep an eye on her blog for either a.) a garment or accessory styled for men or b.) an afghan or throw that lends itself to machine-washable yarns. (Yes, I know natural wool can make a beautiful throw. However, I don’t have the desire to hand-wash one nor the room to block one!)
July 12, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Hi, I’ve read your blog for quite a while now, and wanted to tell you that Debenhams has agreed to give L5000 to the charity of Kate’s pick, due in large part to several hundred complaints lodged by us outraged knitters. I’d read her blog, and upon reading your repost of her post, I decided to email those boogers, too. I love how sassy us knitters have been lately, what with the Olympics, the knitter at Wimbledon, and our collective b*tch slapping of a thieving retailer. Go us!