Shoulders

Growing up at a summer camp it seems I spent each summer striving to be like a counselor; the one who best embodied what I thought I wanted to be at that point in time. In the early 90s, following the lead of my counselor Seri, I spent a lot of time trying to look like I just didn’t care. Seri would bring Ove, the counselor who could easily carry a kayak on each shoulder, into our cabin each night to serenade us with Tom Petty songs in his thick Swedish accent while playing guitar. Seri’s grunge look seemed just the thing to woo strapping Swedish men and so I begged my mom for some combat boots, for the permission to get half of my head shaved and for multiple piercings. I eventually talked her into allowing a second hole in my left ear and that’s as far as my body modification ever made it.

A bit less impressionable in the mid 90s I set my sights on dreaming some day I would be half as cool as counselor Kate. She wasn’t wooing foreign men. She was just cool. She drove a brown 80’s Volvo station wagon, which somehow remains on my list of dream cars still today. She was always happy. She was a constant crafter. Once she knit a pair of sleeves and I spent the rest of the summer dreaming that I too would learn to knit so I could make something just as novel to wear with a tank top on a chilly summer evening while singing campfire songs.

Becoming someone else never happened for me though. I didn’t even learn to knit that summer. But flash forward about 10 years from that summer and I finally learned to knit. Now it’s 15 years later and, while I don’t have a pair of sleeves, I do have a set of… shoulders?


This pattern is based on Stephanie Japel’s pattern, One Skein Wonder. The gauge is reworked for thicker yarn and the collar reflects an idea I had that didn’t quite pan out, but it kind of works? Yes? No? Here is where I need your input. The border is all knit in seed stitch instead of only seed stitch on the sleeves simply because I’m a fan and wanted more of that stitch.

This project came about because I am currently obsessed with yellow in all its many shades. I had just one ball of this to use and thought this project might be a good solution. I’m a big fan of small bursts of color and this set of shoulders might be just the thing. It’s almost as practical as a set of sleeves.

Thanks to Regan for the photo!


Posted

in

by

Comments

2 responses to “Shoulders”

  1. maryannk Avatar
    maryannk

    I’m personally a fan of the shoulders, probably even more than the sleeves you spoke of! The yellow is a lovely contrast to the black as well, really nice and chic looking, and of course suits you perfectly with your short, dark hair! I approve. 🙂

    1. Claire Avatar
      Claire

      Thanks for the approval. I’ve still yet to wear them out of the house. Waiting for a day when my back is super cold!

Leave a Reply to maryannkCancel reply