Sol Inca: The Inspiration

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Jen

jenjoycedesign© Sol Inca (in the road)

Rosanna, our very own Camino Inca Princess, models “Sol Inca”.

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Jeff’s daughter Rosanna has been living in our Tiny House, five hundred feet away, weathering the pandemic up here in the woods. And all the while I’ve have been designing and knitting a pile of yokes and three sweaters, and I feel so lucky she is here to unveil Sol Inca with me!

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I placed a chair in the road mid-way between our (rebuilt) house and (tiny) house, in the place she and I meet for short chats every once in a while, to catch up on news and exchange some jars of good home-made things to eat.

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Do you see my sun motif around the yoke? The design is inspired by, and dedicated to, the living ancestors of the Inca, who live in the high mountain villages around Cusco, and tend their herds while spinning. Herding while spinning the very yarns to weave and knit into amazing intricate indigenous artful things ~~ it all seems to me a very ascetic and poetic culture.

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Sol Inca… the Inca Sun… the benevolent deity from the starry heaven who brought the Inca people their most prized furry treasures ~~ the llama, the alpaca, the vicuna, and later of course, the sheep ~~ and ever since, the herds and their people have lived in harmony together in the high plains of the Andes.

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These photos represent a connection to the Peruvian Highlands in two ways, woolly and human. The sweaters designed with Wool Of The Andes yarn which was grown in the Peruvian Highlands, and Rosanna herself spent a week trekking the Camino Inca trail to Machu Picchu with her dad Jeff and her brother just three years ago.

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Please see all posts Gifts From The Sun if you would like to see more of the inspiration behind the design. If you see all posts Peruvian , and scroll down quite a ways you’ll land back at Camino Inca posts, three years ago when Jeff trekked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu with Rosanna and her brother.

SOL INCA design came from a well spring of curiosity, where from I researched culture and made many relevant posts in series “Gifts From The Sun”.

Rosanna & Cesar

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Jen

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Rosanna and Cesar have come to visit! We gathered up all sorts of knitwear from the cedar chest, and went out into the darkening wintery woods, along the knitting trail. Rosanna is wearing the Calidez Vest I recently knit for her, while Cesar wears several of the Fishermens Neck Ganseys I just wrote a pattern for.

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Cesar and Rosanna layer in a couple of Calidez Cardigans …

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Cesar wears my own cardigan made of Studio Donegal’s Aran Tweed ~~ posted here ~~ Cesar commented how warm and nice the tweed wool felt against his bare skin, and I thought the look was charismatic and fabulously ethnic, especially drinking yerbe mate from a gourd & bombilla that my Argentine friend gave to me. I was so excited they wanted to do a photo shoot with my ensemble of recent designs, because they are both such naturals in front of a camera. It couldn’t have been a better day, clear and cool, and it was a great time had by all, including Emma…

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Come back again soon Rosanna and Cesar!

(( click the 1st photo to go to slide show ))

Rosanna

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Jen

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Rosanna visited this week. And it wasn’t until the last day of her visit, when the sun was beginning to set, that she and I got a brilliant idea to rummage through my knitting chest and toss together a quick photo shoot before she leaves tomorrow morning back home to Queretaro Mexico. So here she is, about the house, and outside in the woods, wearing Calidez with two Altitude Lace Cowls, and some Snowmelt Mitts & Tam.

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A Frolick On The Knitting Trail

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Jen

Ready , set ….

Hats on !

Before setting out into the woods on my Knitting Trail, Maya, Molly & Rosanna each chose hats out of my chest of knitted pattern prototypes, plus other bits, then we set out with Emma leading & me in the back with the camera, and no end to my demands while taking still another photo as we tried to cover trail, and so a twenty minute trail walk turned to fifty. But we really had a great time, and for me this was the absolute highlight of the whole holiday family get-together, though it lasted less than an hour. I couldn’t be happier with the many great shots (although fuzzy in low light of the forest) , best of the Bohemian Raven Goths! Thank you Rosanna, Molly, and Maya, for a wonderful impromptu knitwear photoshoot on the knitting trail!

Vineyard Rows Tam

Chalten Beret

Dicey Highland Hat

Michigan Winter

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Jen

The His & Hers Michigan Winter Pullovers are finished !

Interesting improvisations I’ve done, with ‘His’ v-neck. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to do it, never having done it before. But now I think it looks very unique ~ steeked on the body, then after shirt-yoke was finished up to the steek in front, I transfered the live stitches on to waste yarn while I continued the yoke across back to be grafted together. Finally I cut the steek, and then picked up the steek stitches , back edge, and live stitches all around for a K2/P2 rib.

‘Hers’ crew style neck was a cake walk ! I really love the tweedy look for these, sparkling with flecks of buff, browns, black, ivory, and occasional bright-colored Donegal nebs. I wonder do they do look a little long in the arms? Yeah, I guess, partly because they are sagging a bit off of the hangers (I know, not the ideal way to display a handknit garment such as these) however, I assure you these sweaters were custom measured, and I stayed true to the wearers’ measurements, but I believe I added an inch (or two) to the sleeves to ensure they weren’t too short, and the end result is, well, much longer sleeves. But we’ll see when they are slipped on Him & Her.

Here is the back !

Just look at that spectacular design of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s,

the seamless shirt-yoke . . .

A close-up detail of how the decreases go into the yoke. . .

Lastly, my mark, I like to sew on the label just above the rib, in the back . . .

Now these his & hers pullovers get shipped to Michigan, to keep warm two very dear young homesteaders in their first year of settling & farming, undoubtedly shivering in the soon-to-be snowy winter landscape.