THE HENSLOW’S SPARROW PILLOW
My wife and the love of my life (handy how that worked out), Claire, recently published her first novel, At Last Count. It took her 15 years to write. As someone who took 15 years to knit his own project (check out The Knitting Pilgrim oy), I completely understand.
At Last Count features a birdwatcher who depends on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in her attempts to control the uncontrollable. This pillow is a rendering of an image of a Henslow’s Sparrow—a bird rarely seen on Amherst Island, Ontario, where most of the narrative takes place—and uses yarn from Topsy Farms, located on the West End or “Head” of the island. I love the natural, earthy tones the doubling of Topsy fingering weight yarns provides. In the book, the Henslow’s Sparrow is a symbol of hope, survival, and a better world to come. This one’s for Claire.
RAINBOW YARN BOMB
The Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts centre proudly hosted the yarn bomb during Pride Month of 2022. It offered a splash of colour to brighten the day of many a commuter on their way up Pottery Road hill. There are a great many other such Heritage sites around Toronto — say, that gives me an idea….




The Rainbow Yarn Bomb goes West. I’m happy to report that the tree sweater enjoyed temporary residence in Burlington in the Spring of 2021. Here’s to spreading a little bit of colour and joy in these troubled times.
The Yarn Bomb at its inaugural installation location — our front yard. It was designed to travel, but I’ve got to admit, it was hard to let it go. It was nice to see some serious Pride colour when we looked out our window, and we had fun watching people stop on their way by to take it in and maybe grab a selfie. Then again, I figure selfies are good, but selfish isn’t: time to share the love and let the rainbow roam.
Photo Credit: Georgia Kirkos
Many thanks to Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston of Fabric Arts Creative Textile Studios (FACTS) of Blyth, ON, for sewing the pulpit fall to a thick woolen backing thereby allowing it to “fall” properly from the pulpit.
RAINBOW WATCHCAPS
Here’s a way to wear your heart on your sleeve. Well, on your head, anyway. Craftivism is great because it works on so many levels; be creative, stylish, make a statement, and ally yourself with some rainbow warriors. Crafts for allies.
HURON COUNTY SAMPLER BLANKET
This Huron County Sampler Blanket is the result of a fun 3-hour workshop I led for the Fashion Arts Creative Textiles Studio (FACTS), in Blyth, ON. It was designed to tie into the Huron “Hygge.” Hygge is a Danish word (pronounced hue-gah or hoo-guh) that means coziness, contentment and well-being. This past winter, especially during COVID, Huron County encouraged everyone in the area to cozy up to the fire, get outside to enjoy the snow, or take part in winter activities – even if virtual. FACTS got on board by inviting me to share how to knit a simple blanket with Huron County-themed squares. I demonstrated how I designed the squares, and how participants could design their own squares, too. We went through techniques for knitting intarsia with multiple colours and talked about how to assemble the squares to make either a small lap or children’s blanket, or a larger bed blanket.
On the property of Morningside-High Park Presbyterian church is a big old tree, just over twelve feet around. Too big for my first tree sweater, so I thought I’d better knit another one. In May of 2021 we wrapped this monstrous maple to approving horn honks and shout-outs from passers-by.
The Yarn Bomb in Burlington, April 2021
On the left, The Travelling Community Support RainbowYarn Bomb takes a trip to the West End of Toronto. A little something to cheer up the February Blahs. And a big thank you to all those who donated to Rainbow Railroad to support the project.
PULPIT FALL
This is a pulpit fall, or banner, I designed and knit for my church, Morningside-High Park Presbyterian. It is my response to, and support for, the Presbyterian Church in Canada’s vote in the summer of 2019 to fully include LGTBQI clergy and community. God’s Love Includes Everyone.
CITYSCAPE AFGAN
Afghans are a great way to explore geometric patterns. This pattern, known as ‘Cityscape,’ is a variation of the old quilting design “Tumbling Blocks” retooled for knitting. I used his favourite greens and pinks, but any colours can be used. The hues are simply divided into groups of dark, medium, and light, and each group is used for one of the three faces of the blocks.
SYMMETRICATS PILLOW
I was approached by A Needle Pulling Thread to design a simple pillow with the colours of that month’s issue: green, pink, black and red. It appeared in the 2009 issue of the magazine.
FOLK ART CRABS
I found these crab shells off the coast of a friend’s wonderful country home in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Idried out the shells, shellacked them, and painted them in traditional Nova Scotian folk art colours. Ishaped the legs with modeling wire and knitted over them.
BLUE DIAMOND ROSE
I designed this sweater for my eldest child, but they were a picky dresser at the time, and didn’t want to wear it until they had almost outgrown it… oh well!
NOT FOR DINNER
For this puffer fish, I used my grade school arts and crafts recall to papier maché a balloon for the body, and then knitted around the form. I used barbecue skewers for the puffer fish’s spikes, and plumber’s putty for the painted eyes.
North Pacific Gyre Jellyfish
While I tend to prefer organic materials, sometimes the thesis of a piece cuts against that grain. North Pacific Gyre Jellyfish focuses on the effect of photodegraded plastic particulates in oceanic ecosystems. Where organic debris will biodegrade, plastic merely disintegrates into ever-smaller pieces while remaining a toxin-containing polymer. These plastic pieces are eaten by jellyfish, which in turn are eaten by larger fish.
To reflect the growing presence of synthetic materials in the aquatic environment, I cut a plastic sheet into one long continuous strip, combined it with yarn, and used it to knit the body of the jellyfish. The tendrils are old ribbons, synthetic yarns, and discarded wires and metallic cables. The resulting Frankenstein sea creature is a hyperbolic look into the future of sea-life on this planet.
Painted Turtle, Extinct
I found the shell for this artwork in pieces at the bottom of the lake at my wife’s family’s cottage in Northern Ontario. I dried out the pieces, glued them together again, and then knitted the turtle body underneath it.
Escher's Salamander
I borrowed Escher’s salamander design, which uses shading techniques to make the salamander look as if it’s coming out of the page. Then I knit it three dimensionally to make it come out of the shadow box’s surface.
LIONFISH (INVASIVE SPECIES)
The venomous lionfish is an invasive species, so I thought it would be appropriate to design it overtaking the confines of the eight-inch shadowbox. As with the puffer fish piece, I applied papier maché over a form for the body, and then knitted around the body. I built the fin rays from coat hangers, and then knit something very much like a long-fingered glove with which to cover them.
Crazy commedia pillow
This simple geometric pattern started out as red and gold diamonds. But as the piece went on, changed the hues a bit… and then a lot. By the end of the swatch, the basic red and gold theme was long gone and the harlequin pattern often associated with Commedia Dell’ Arte had indeed gone crazy.
ONE THOUSAND CRANES
I designed this “One Thousand Cranes” sweater for my mother after she survived breast cancer. I was inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, the little girl who developed leukemia after the atomic bomb was dropped near her home in Hiroshima in August, 1945. After she was admitted to hospital, Sadako’s wish was to fold 1000 origami cranes so that, as the Japanese legend goes, she would be granted a wish. She died from her illness not long thereafter. This “One Thousand Cranes” sweater won a design award from Knitnet Magazine.
stars and bars
In keeping with the contra theme, Stars and Bars was presented to a good friend and very talented director and dramaturge in return for her outstanding work in bringing one of my plays for young audiences to the stage. I took inspiration from MC Escher's drawings of geometric tile patterns of Alhambra, in Granada, Spain.
FLEURS DE LIS
In May of 1998, I apprenticed at the Kaffe Fassett studio in London, England. During this time I was generously hosted by a good friend of the family who was an accomplished linguist and busy at the time picking up French as her fifth language. Fleurs de Lis was my way of saying thanks for the incredible hospitality I enjoyed chez John and Klari Dormandy.
COLOURFUL CROSSES
I designed this sweater for my father, Reverend Dr. Zander Dunn, a third-generation Presbyterian minister with a love of the colour orange.
Topsy Turvy Pillow
This pillow design was inspired by Topsy Farms, a wonderful yarn and lamb producer on Amherst Island. Made with their all-natural, 100% Canadian wool, milled at MacAusland’s Woolen Mills on Prince Edward Island, Topsy Farms owners Sally Bowen and Ian Murray have long supported my knitting work, and it gives me great pleasure to support theirs. This pillow kit will soon be available through Topsy Farm’s website here. To pre-order a kit, contact my studio or Sally.