Thursday, January 22, 2009

Louisa Harding Grooves at The Grove






















I had the distinct pleasure of attending an evening with knit designer Louisa Harding at The Grove, in South Park. The Grove being one of my favorite places in the city. Love the concept and the site. The owners set out a generous feast and provided the shopping opportunity for both the books and yarns of LH.
Louisa started with her success story in the world of knit design in the UK. We Americans love a story with a happy ending, especially when delivered in the lyrical tongue of the British native.
A trunk show of her designs were modeled by the audience and passed around for the touchy-feelie portion of the lecture. Louisa shared her inspiration and journey with humor. When she broke to visit the loo, we lined up with our books clutched to our chests awaiting our chance to speak with our new best friend. What a delightful lady.
As you can see from the photos, she has an approachable and friendly demeanor. So I took advantage. I got permission to photocopy 25 copies of her patterns from her book to teach Intarsia to my KnitWits. She autographed my books (2 out of 3, in my excitement, I forgot to get the new one signed). Then she helped me figure out a pattern change to adapt one of her designs to fit me! I could not ask for a better venue to meet another Rock star of Knitting.
My non-knitter friend Christine came along for the show and we cancelled our dinner plans after enjoying the wine and appetizers included. I limited myself to 3 balls of exquisite yarn to use to embellish a LH cardigan I plan to knit for Moi! Now, I am off to join her fan club on Ravelry...

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