Mary Jane Mucklestone!

Posted on | January 26, 2010 | 7 Comments

I’ve been wanting to meet Mary Jane for a while now. I came close in June when my sister-in-law came to the US to visit us. We managed to get up to Maine, but an hour long stop in Freeport turned into 6 hours and we didn’t have enough time to make it up to MJ’s neck of the (Maine) woods.

Yesterday, Mary Jane was in NYC unexpectedly and luckily for me, I was free to meet her. We decided to meet at School Products. I haven’t been there in a while, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get anything. My stash is embarrassing as it is and I’m busy enough with design projects that I was fairly certain I could resist the siren call of new yarn. But this came home with me:

I hadn’t factored in the enabling influence the presence of another knitwear designer would have. We both left with some cashmere. Me with a tweedy yellow laceweight cashmere that I’m hoping will work for the Geodesic Cardigan, my newest Knitscene design; and Mary Jane with some deliciously cheery and soft fingering weight cashmere that she was already winding into balls on the subway:

By the time we made our way to McNally-Jackson in SOHO for some caffeine fortification, she had already cast on for a pair of mitts.

I’m afraid I gushed on a little too much about MJ’s work. I hope I didn’t come across too fan-girlish – even though I’m a total fan! I’ve long been an admirer of her fearless and fun sense of color. And I’ve been in love with her Super Soul Cardigan since I saw it in Veronik Avery’s inaugural issue of St Denis magazine. I’m hoping to be able to tackle it someday. I’m a timid color knitter and my fair isle tends to be too tight.

Mary Jane is as vivacious and friendly in real life as she is in her blog and work. Her passion for knitting, design, and style is plainly evident. Not content to rest on her already remarkable design achievements, she constantly pushes herself to learn new techniques and skills. I was so happy to have finally met her and hope to see her again soon!

Comments

7 Responses to “Mary Jane Mucklestone!”

  1. Ellen
    January 26th, 2010 @ 10:02 am

    Mary Jane is the greatest! She has taught at my shop and everyone is always captivated by her energy, humor, and talent.
    Ahh, School Products. In my NYC days, I would escape there at lunchtime and buy cones of their merino/cashmere. Dangerous!
    Congrats on Geodesic! It’s a beautiful design!

  2. kat
    January 26th, 2010 @ 11:30 am

    FUN! I wish I could have been there too!

  3. Gudrun
    January 26th, 2010 @ 11:57 am

    I love Mary Jane! You should get up to see her in Maine sometime too…she has the most adorable house!

  4. melissa
    January 26th, 2010 @ 12:34 pm

    Sounds like fun! Glad the rain didn’t spoil your day :)

  5. mary jane
    February 1st, 2010 @ 7:56 pm

    It was so nice, thanks for braving the weather and meeting me on the spur of the moment. See you soon!

  6. Jean
    February 2nd, 2010 @ 1:46 am

    How fun! I saw your profile and fun designs in Knitscene — how cool!

  7. Kathleen
    April 9th, 2010 @ 11:07 am

    Ooh, fun! I just found your blog via Ellen (Purl Diva – my summertime LYS where I hope to finally meet Mary Jane IRL this summer). I’m in NYC the rest of the year and finally made it to School Products a couple of months ago. The laceweight camel yarn I bought is sitting on my desk – I think I’ve almost figured out what to knit with it. That cashmere looks yummy.

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