Hey there, friends,

I’m taking a little break from my series of posts revisiting the knitting of Spycraft to talk about a few things more in the here and now. 

The Here and Now

First and foremost, I was deeply saddened and appalled by the recent shooting at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville. There is no place in this world for the kind of hate that leads to such a horrific event. I spent 15 years knitting Stitched Glass, a fibre art project looking at the relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And through that experience I learned that at the centre of all three faiths is a shared commitment to peace, love, care for the stranger, and the protection of the vulnerable. 

There is also a common acknowledgement that the world is broken. In Judaism, there is the tradition of Tikkun Olam, or “repair the world.” A quick look around will tell you that it won’t be an easy fix and will likely be an unending process. But rather than those truths being reasons to give up, they are reasons to lean in. Tikkun Olam. And it’s not just up to Judaism. It’s up to us all.  Every act of kindness helps.

Get out there and be kind.

And now, to a couple of lighter matters of the present.

I am happy to report that the Magpie Pillow is now finished. This piece was inspired by my wonderful wife Claire Dunn’s new novel, Lost in France.  In the book, a magpie makes an appearance – a symbol that there is a world of possibility and opportunity out there for the book’s heroine, Marlow.  As Claire is my heroine, I thought this pillow would be a fitting remembrance of the great, escapist tale that she had knitted together with words. If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, I urge you to do so. The feedback to the book has been fantastic.

A bit about the pillow: when we went on a research trip for Claire to the Grand Est of France, we saw many of these birds. They are big and smart—which makes sense, because they’re part of the crow family. But they aren’t one uniform colour like their cousin crows: they are iridescent blues and blacks. Just gorgeous.

The pillow was made yarn from two of my favourite Canadian yarn suppliers:  I used various dye lots of Goldenrod and Marigold from Cabin Boy Knits for the background, and Sport weight yarn from Briggs & Little for the magpie itself.

And kudos to Mary Coopland for sewing up the knitting, fabric, and zipper I handed her, completely at a loss about how to take care of the finishing myself. Both a knitter and sewer, Mary was a key participant in The Patchwork Pride Project, too. Thanks Mary. I owe you one. Again.

What Has Been on my Needles vs what is Now on my Needles

In looking back through my archives, I was surprised to find this swatch I knit somewhere between 25 and 30 years ago. It was done in cotton yarns, and apparently I was looking for the brightest colours possible.

The Maple Leaf motif has made a reappearance in my consciousness recently, what with all the funny business originating from the administration to our South. Here’s what’s on my needles now – a test swatch for a vest going by the working title of “Tell Me You’re Canadian Without Telling Me You’re Canadian.”

The full piece is on the left, with detail shots of the bottom and top moving toward the right. You can see the progression of my original colour studies of Fair Isle Maple leaves in squares starting at the bottom, moving through as many colour combinations as I could think of, and then beginning an experiment with leaves in diamonds at the top.  Not sure which I’ll go with. Diamonds tend to be more interesting than squares, (witness the very funny Shreddies ‘diamonds’ media campaign of years ago), so I’m leaning in that direction. On the other hand, I could design and knit a project with each.  More to come.

The Knitting Pilgrim (and The Knitting Pilgrim Talks)

The Knitting Pilgrim pilgrimage continues this month of October 2026 with a show at 7:00 PM on Friday Oct 16th at St. George’s Anglican Church in Goderich, ON.  If you’re in the neighbourhood (or if you’re up for a road trip—the drive will be lovely – all those fall colours), please stop by and take in the show.  We’d love to see you! Tickets are available at the door, or by calling 519-524-2274.

And, if you’re interested in hearing more about how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all covering the same common ground, please feel free to check out the podcast Claire and I co-created, The Knitting Pilgrim Talks.  With the help of an Ontario Arts Council Grant, we produced the podcast during COVID when we couldn’t tour the show. There, you will find 19 conversations of me chatting with rabbis, ministers, imams, and scholars about the three faiths and how, despite their differences, they are indeed very similar.

That’s it for now.  Thanks for reading friends, and we’ll pick up on the deep dive into the knitted props of Spycraft in the next edition.

Take care of one another.

Kirk