Remembering Pearl Chin

Pearl Chin, owner of the legendary New York City knitting store Knitty City, has died. She was 71 years old and had been battling lung cancer.

Knitty City was billed as a yarn studio when it opened in 2006, and it quickly became a community gathering place thanks to Chin’s welcoming spirit and willingness to listen to her customers and order the kinds of yarn they wanted to buy.

An obituary in the West Side Rag says the shop was a hub for making pussy hats after the 2016 election, and comments on the shop’s Facebook and Instagram pages note Chin’s kindness, openness and generosity as well as her support for independent designers, organization of a men’s knitting night and more to support the knitting community and the wider community.

Knitty City will be closed for a week in her honor.

I’ve never been to New York but I know that so many people found a fibery home at Knitty City thanks to Pearl’s presence, and I know she will be missed.

[Photo via Knitty City’s Instagram.]

It’s a common complaint among women and femme dressing folk that our clothes do not include enough (and enough useful) pockets. And even if your clothes do have good pockets, there’s always a chance that you’d rather have another pocket to put some essentials in rather than having to carry a whole bag.

But because we are knitters, we can take this problem into our own needles and knit ourselves some auxiliary pockets.

Beatrice Mase did just that, with a kind of fancy toolbelt pocket accessory that they call VELVET Pockets.

The stitch pattern has a plush, sort of velvet effect, thus the name, but it’s worked with regular fingering/sock weight yarn. (The sample uses wool, but you could experiment with other fibers, too.) It calls for 776 yards of 710 meters, which you might just have in your sock yarn stash.

The pattern includes several pockets of different sizes, with the main body of the pocket worked flat in one piece and the exterior pockets sewn on at the end. You also have the option of adding screw rivets and a coordinating clasp that make it look even more toolbelt chic.

The design is worked with a loop of knit fabric at the top so it can slide onto a belt. The pattern includes explanatory diagrams, photo and video tutorials and is adjustable to fit different sizes of belts.

It’s almost enough to make me want to start wearing belts again, even though I haven’t for years. Because who wouldn’t want a few extra little pockets to hold things when you don’t have enough to really justify carrying a bag around?

The pattern is available in English and French on Ravelry and you can also buy a kit complete with the yarn, rivets and clasp (the pattern is not included in the kit) direct on Etsy.

[Photo: Beatrice Mase]

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