The losses just keep piling up this year, and it was announced that knitwear designer, teacher, yarn maker and proponent of going your own way with knitting, Annie Modesitt, died October 1.
She had been battling cancer for years, and she last posted on her blog late in August that she as undergoing a last-ditch chemotherapy treatment. Since that time she had entered hospice care.
Annie was a self-taught knitter who used what’s known as the combination style of knitting, which allowed her to knit very quickly and with even tension. She says in her book Confessions of a Knitting Heretic that her first project was a colorwork sweater from Vogue Knitting designed by Deborah Newton that involved 37 colors of yarn (despite the yarn store owner’s insistence that she start with something simpler). She finished it in less than a week.
Her mantra can be summed up by other words from that book: “If you are getting the fabric you want from your knitting, then you are knitting the Right Way for you!”
This is why she called herself a heretic, because at the time most teachers insisted on what’s known as the Western method of knitting and the word “wrong” was thrown around quite a bit. She felt the most important thing was to empower new knitters to find their own way of doing things and to understand how knitting works so that their interest could be ignited into a passion.
As a designer she gravitated to feminine, colorful and technical designs. She called on her millinery experience to knit amazing hats that might have been seen at a tea party at Downton Abbey.
She trusted knitters to use their intellect to be able to knit patterns, rather than suggesting that some patterns are better for beginners. (See that 37-color sweater for instance.)
She was the author of seven knitting books and contributed to many books and magazines through the years. Her flip books showing knitting techniques are delightful, and all her designs encourage knitters to try new things and be a little fearless.
She also launched ModeKnit Yarn, an independent yarn company producing vibrant colors that look great together.
She will be missed.
[Photo: ModeKnit Yarn staff selfie, via the ModeKnit Yarn website.]
i met her many years ago when our LYS had her teach a couple classes. i found her to be a delight and hilarious. she will be missed in the community of true knitters. she had a pov but it didnt interfere with her knitting.
My heart breaks hearing this. My schedule never allowed me to meet Annie or to participate in one of her classes. She will be missed. Condolences to her family.