Mossy Cottage Knits

Freddie Robbins

Things are very quiet around here as TMK and I get our creaking, old-fart bodies back into shape. Plus, I’m in mourning for the fact that, in remarkable whiplash-causing, bungee-cord-rebound fashion, Janine is winging herself right back to Berkeley after surgery on her ankle. I know, I know; it’s the right thing for her, but do I have to be adult about it? In fact, I feel very much like pulling an Edith Ann right now.

So, since I’m in a Mood and have bupkus to write about, this is the perfect opportunity to trot out my latest Kooky Krafts find, Freddie Robbins (female, by the way, says, pointedly, a Sympathetic Someone Who Has Dealt With Having a Man’s Name All Her Life).

Freddie…well, let’s just say that it’s a good thing she decided to use her powers for good because she’s a twisted, creative and funny knitting perv. I first stumbled across her work when I was looking for glove patterns and found this, her "severed thumb" pattern. Intrigued by the introductory paragraph which said, “Freddie Robbins's subversive knitting includes a series of gloves where pairs join, single gloves have ten fingers or each finger sprouts a new glove,” I surfed until I found this.

Then I found her “Road Rage” gloves, one of which says “Faster, faster” and the other “Kill, kill.” (You’ll need to scroll down to see the picture.)

Now, this page I love because it forced me smack into a state of major consciousness-raising. These are sweaters Freddie custom-knit for disabled people, one set a sweater and and a pair of four-fingered gloves for a man who has short arms and unusual hands due to a birth defect, the other a sweater and single glove for a woman who has only one arm. Be sure to read the “Artist’s Statement” and the “Description” for more information.

And I know knitters everywhere will fall in love with these and these.

Some more gloves (and you weavers might want to take a peek at the beautiful piece by Sarah Taylor just below Freddie’s).

On this page is information about a display in which Freddie knit cute and cuddly tea cozies that are, in fact, replicas of the homes of female murderers or the places where they committed their crimes. On this page, if you click on the thumbnail you can see a bigger picture of the display.

Freddie Robbins, a knitter to be admired.

(Note to Janine: Okay, okay, I'll put on my big-girl underpants just long enough to wish you a million, trillion tons of good luck with your surgery and the move back to Berkeley. Let us know how everything goes!

And, for the folks who wanted to know what yarn I was using for the Saffron Socks, it's Wool Pak 14-ply but I'm afraid I can't tell you the name or the code number for the colorway because the skeins didn't have labels. Update: I can't find the colorway online either. It's almost as if that unique color was custom-spun for my LYS.)

Posted by Ryan at August 12, 2005 11:37 AM