Sunday, November 14, 2010

Knitting the Union Jack

Whenever I travel, I like to bring something home with that nation's national flag on it. I guess I have this thing for flags. To wit: my writer friend Alison can attest to my excitement finding a roadside stand in southern India covered in hundreds of cheerful red communist flags.  That said, I'm not one of those yee-haw Americans who goes around waving the red, white, and blue every chance I get, although I do think the American flag is a thing of beauty and the national flag I find most aesthetically pleasing. (Ok, so I'm biased. Throw tomatoes.)

The Union Jack is my second favorite flag, naturally, and I get excited whenever I see it on a pillow, poster, bunting, or dress. Unfortunately, these pieces are usually fairly expensive -- some of the Union Jack pillows I've seen are close to $500! -- so I've been thinking about making one myself, and indeed, just found a pattern for a Cath Kidston-like one in last month's issue of the British craft mag, Sew Hip. (Photos of completed project TK.)

But what I'd really love to make is this sweater-dress from British yarn company, Rowan. They've done theirs in gray, but I'd go all-out crazy-Anglophile on this and knit it in dark blue. (Right now, they've only got the pattern for the scarf, which is probably more within my skill level, but whatever.) They've also had a pattern up for a knitted Union Jack pillow. The key is to keep checking back every couple days because they switch things around.

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