Unparallel'd

Now boast thee, death,

in thy possession lies a lass unparallel'd*

Defarge Does Shakespeare with hooks.  Once in a while.  Sometimes. 

Today I'm featuring another crochet design from Defarge Does Shakespeare. 

Inspired by one of my very favorite plays, Antony and Cleopatra. 

Unparallel'd, a crocheted and beaded necklace. 

Classy.  Simple.  Elegant. Love the photo. Love the snake, too.

Unparallel'd designed by Beverly Army Williams

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*Fun Trivia Question:  What actress used these lines as an epitaph?

Titus Who? Act Three

 Misery may love company, but so does oddballery, so I was thrilled to find out I wasn't the only Titus Andronicus nerd amongst the Defarge designers.

There are two of us fascinated by body parts, madness, and mayhem. While I took it all rather literally, Mari Chiba took a more soulful tack and designed Lavinia's Gloves inspired by Titus's daughter, who gets her hands chopped off.

Beautiful cable details on the cuff and along the fingers.

Mari also designed a seductive sweater, Lady M.

Lovely neckline and the lace continues on the upper back.

Which just goes to tell you that great tragedy and great beauty can co-exist.

See all the patterns in Defarge Does Shakespeare.

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If you are on ravelry please go favorite this design or any of the other Defarge Does Shakespeare patterns that catch your eye.

Titus Who? Act Two.

Tamara: Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment, / I will encounter with Andronicus, / And say I am Revenge, sent from below / To join with him and right his heinous wrongs (Titus Andronicus, Act V, Scene ii).


Enough with the dismemberment previously discussed.

My second design for Defarge Does Shakespeare was inspired by Tamora, Queen of the Goths.  Yes, she's murderous, vengeful, and monstrous, but a girl has to look good, too.  Pity her a bit. Titus chopped up her sons and baked them in a pie.  Then he invited her to dinner.  Oh, sorry, the dismemberment theme again. Alas, it's rather unavoidable when discussing Titus Andronicus, forming, as it does, a large part of the image structure of the play.

The piece is knit with two strands of stainless steel-wool yarn which creates a malleable, shape-shifting fabric, with a few beads for a bit of sparkle and shine.

Tamara's Torc of Vengeance

And, if you are like me, and sometimes have such a bad hair day that you need a disguise, then the Tamora Torc of Vengeance is just the ticket.

See all the patterns in Defarge Does Shakespeare.

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Titus Who?

Sorry, not Titus Welliver, star of Bosch, but Titus Andronicus, eponymous hero (tragic division) of one of Shakespeare's least produced plays.

TITUS: Hark, villains! I will grind your bones to dust, … and make two past(r)ies of your shameful heads (Titus Andronicus, Act V, Scene iv).

I've always liked an underdog, so for my first pattern for Defarge Does Shakespeare I  took this world-class gorefest as my inspiration for Titus A's Awful Nice Pie, a crocheted coaster set, with the pasty-shaped container doubling as a wine coaster.

You can, of course, work up the coasters your team colors as a nice little hostess gift, or crochet the covered box to hold trinkets.

Crochet it with a thicker yarn and a larger hook and it becomes a nice felted bowl.

Yarn:  Noro Kureyon

But you may know someone who adores Halloween and prefers "awful" to "nice" any day.  The version embellished with body parts is just the thing.

Include a surprise inside:  internal organ wine charms.

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Defarge Does Shakespeare

Yes, she really does.

Shakespeare's birthday is fast approaching and so is the release date of Volume 3 in the What Would Madame Defarge Knit series:  Defarge Does Shakespeare.

The book is not only for crafters.  While it includes knitting and crochet patterns, it also features personal essays on Shakespeare's plays and poetry written by the designers.  There are black and white illustrations as well as full-color photos of all the projects.

See all the patterns in Defarge Does Shakespeare.

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I have two patterns in the book, one comic and one glamorous, because none of us is all just one thing, not even Tamora, Queen of the Goths.  Although those who know me would definitely peg me as more silly than slinky, I do enjoy a little bling now and again.  I'll be posting about both patterns, as well as some other highlights in the book, later this week.

Tiled

 

 Pima County Courthouse. Tucson, AZ. 1928.
 

FO At Last

It may not be as old as the "oldest original permanent floating crap game in New York," but this sweater has been on and off the needles for over two years.  I love the yarn, love the color, love the pattern, so why the delay?

Caissa by Anne Hanson of knitspot

Why, distractibility, of course. Falling for the lure of the quick, the small, the new.

This, of course, is the downside of the internet:  access to a steady stream of new patterns, new designers, new yarns.  Novelty has snatched the time that in the olden days of a few years ago I spent leafing through magazines, thinking, planning, going to the yarn store, paging through books of patterns, choosing, sitting with one, maybe two, projects, and finishing them.

Now I feel like Gargantua, stuffed to the gills with yarn, patterns, tools, books, and finished projects that, unlike this sweater, are sometimes just not all that satisfying.  Time for a reboot.  Or a yard sale.

As for distractibility, I am afraid that after completing the seaming of the sweater I noticed that I had sewn the sleeve to the armhole inside out and had to  pull out the seams on the sleeve, part of the body, and the entire armhole and resew.