Note: These photos are pre-blocking. See the Interweave photos to see how it looked when I was done.

This project has a special place in my heart for several reasons.

First, it’s the first pattern I’ve written. While I’ve made and knit from lots of charts, this was the first project that went through the full design process from proposal to publishing.

Second, Interweave gave me, a brand new designer, a chance and were wonderful to work with from start to finish. It’s really been an exciting opportunity, and I’ve learned a lot from the experience. I’m thrilled to see my work alongside the other beautiful knits selected for inclusion in this issue.

And third, of course, is because of which Interweave Knits I wound up in. Shakespearean knits? Someone must have been reading my diary when they came up with that one, because that’s a sandwich of two of my favorite things. I spent so much time reading as a child that I was regularly used as a prop for the droopy old rabbit ear antenna attached to our tv. I could be counted on to get so absorbed in a book I wouldn’t move for hours except to turn the pages, allowing my Dad and sister to see the Broncos lose with a nice clear picture.

And Shakespeare in particular has been a source of fascination for many years. Here’s a bit of what I wrote in my proposal to Interweave:

A good farce can make the audience laugh, but it takes a touch of greatness to captivate as well as amuse. Shakespeare in particular had a gift for showing us humanity’s most persistent bogeymen—loneliness, cruelty, deception, despair, etc.—and giving us permission to laugh right in their faces.

It’s a delicate balance for a writer to strike, but in Shakespeare’s hands it seems effortless. And that is why why we, so far removed in culture and time, can still enjoy these plays so much. Herringbone is a good visualization of that concept; all ups and downs and darks and lights working together in balance. Double-knitting is similar in that way, with a knit stitch to answer every purl, a dark stitch for every light.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy knitting this as much as I did. If you run into trouble, feel free to send me a message. As a brand new designer, it will take me a little time to get my sea legs as far as that side of Ravelry goes, but I’m happy to help in the meantime. :)