Friday April 28th at 2pm comes a very special drop with some bonuses for our newsletter subscribers. I first met Bryan at the Arrowmont School of Craft residency in 2022 and immediately fell in love with his sweet and funny character and his gorgeous metal work. We kept playing with the idea of collaborating but finally it just came to me- I wanted to make precious metal stitch markers. We spend so much time with our knitting and the start of the round or beginning of your knitting session is an important thing to mark.
The first step of the collab was to choose some charms that resonated with both of us. We landed on cheese wedge, dice, dagger, hand, and beetle. The grouping was a great mix of symbols that felt good to both of us but also a great mix of shapes + sizes for maximum or minimum dangle. DEGEN translates to Dagger from german and I love the sad girl aesthetic. The image above is Bryan's sculpted wax sketches of the charms. These were then cast using a sand cast technique that Bryan uses in the rest of his work.
Bryan is also a master of interesting closures and hinges. This is one of the reasons I was really excited to work with him. I prefer stitch markers and progress keeps that can open and close. Creating a tiny tiny metal hinge was always part of the vision of the partnership. The image above is the first mock up of the cheese progress keeper in bronze. It is pretty close to the final but we made one major adjustment to all of the markers which was to ensure that the end that would be in change of poking through the knitting was pointy and tapered like a blunt needle to make it easy to push through the knitting without risk of snag.
Above is the final bronze dice charm. As you can see the hinged spindle has that perfect tapered stabby shape to get that charm into your knitting.
The storage of the keepers was another consideration. We wanted them to be able to function as true charms and dangle off of your necklaces or bracelets. Of course you can keep them in a sweet stitch marker acorn, but why not wear them around your neck for any rogue cast on. Honestly, I never know when I might get the urge to just cast something on. The above dagger in silver looks so great as a main pendant on a silver chain with its garnet cabochon but feel free to stack em up. I also love the idea of storing them on your scissors.
All stitch markers come in a beautiful debossed jewelry box with a yellow faux suede envelope inside.
We hope these stitch markers, charms, and progress keepers feel as special to you as they feel to us.
Symbolism of our charms:
Dice: luck, the immediacy of existence, and the volatility of life
Dagger: bravery and strength of spirit, to trust in your own intuition
Hand: generosity, hospitality and stability
Beetle: change, transformation, and evolution
Cheese: cheese in a dream symbolizes joy, but sometimes a cheese is just a cheese
