Written especially for the www.skeinz.com Moody Hues Sockmatician Edition 4ply possum-blend yarn which was created in collaboration with the UK-based knitting designer and teacher Sockmatician (aka Nathan Taylor), in the Pride flag rainbow of colours plus two shades of neutral grey. More information about the Sockmatician Edition yarn story can be found here: www.sockmatician.com/index.php?page=ideasandideals.

You will need 3mm circular needles of 50-60cm length for this piece which is worked in-the-round in double-knitting. You will also need 4mm needles, either circular or straight does not matter. A sewing needle will also be needed. Some prior experience with double-knitting techniques is recommended. Sockmatician’s youtube channel has many helpful tutorials: www.youtube.com/sockmatician.

The cowl pictured is 36cm wide and 20cm tall (laid flat). To make you will need 1 ball of each grey, plus about 5-6g of each rainbow colour. Other patterns in this series are a scarf (in two lengths) and a hat (beanie style). If you choose to make all three U-KNIT-Y designs, you will only need to purchase one pack of 6 rainbow balls for the whole set (plus the required number of grey balls as specified).

Back-story and purpose:
This design concept came about following a “Dinner with Sockmatician” with students from Sockmatician’s double-knitting classes during his New Zealand tour in Sep 2018. During the chatter at the table, one person described to us a shocking incident of overt racism directed at her from within the fibre community. After a moment of horrified silence, and the hugs, tears and conversation that followed; I wanted to try and do something, however small, to begin to offset the hatefulness and ignorance that seems so prolific. Because we had just spent the weekend with Sockmatician in his knitting classes, and his presence and personality seemed to be the catalyst that allowed us all to start talking about these issues - and because he is a tireless advocate for a similar cause which is close to his own life and heart: LGBTQ communities and their rights and quality of life - I wanted to include a way to honour this as well, in the design. So, U-KNIT-Y was born. And finally to acknowledge Nathan’s own HIV diagnosis and to celebrate the success of his treatment, NZ $5 from every U-KNIT-Y pattern sold (direct through my ravelry store, loveknitting store, or etsy store) will be donated to charities which support people living with HIV in New Zealand.

Selected charities:
• Body Positive Inc - www.bodypositive.org.nz - specifically into “the nz wellness fund” which they manage
• NZ AIDS Foundation - www.nzaf.org.nz/participate/where-your-money-goes/

The meaning behind the design:
First of all, the heart shape which is common to all the squares is the same motif used by Sockmatician as a demonstration piece in his beginners’ double knitting classes. I have included this with his permission and blessing, for this pattern. The heart square has four colour variants. Dark grey = BIPOC community. Light grey = “white” community. Where the rainbow crosses the heart, this represents LGBTQ people, and the background represents allies. Where the rainbow passes through the background, this is where the LGBTQ community is supporting people who do not belong to it themselves but perhaps need allies in other areas. And every square has a heart, because we have more in common than separates us. You need a heart to live… and you need to give and receive love to live, too. The design is created in double-knitting to be reversible and because Sockmatician describes his mission as “changing the world, one double-knitter at a time”.

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