Earlier this fall, Cooperative Press released a new book – Hitch. It contains a number of patterns inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock, including a lace shawl designed by me.
As you know, I like to design shawls with themes to them. Fairy Tales and folklore are a wonderful source of inspiration, and one which I have used both for KAL patterns, and my new collection Fairy Tale Lace. Ancient Egyptian mythology inspired an entire book, and Norse mythology a number of other patterns. So looking into Alfred Hitchcock and his movies was a natural fit, but also a fun challenge.
Like most other people, I have watched a number of Hitchcock movies over the years. But when this call came out, I decided I should re-watch something with my designer hat on. After some deliberation, I settled on Spellbound – the 1945 movie about a mental institution, starring Ingrid Bergman. It’s a fun (or should I say creepy?) movie, and on top of that, there is the Swedish connection with Ingrid Bergman.
Ingrid Bergman plays Dr. Constance Pedersen who is a psychoanalyst at a mental institution in Vermont. The new director of the institution, Dr. Edwardes, seems rather charming at the beginning of the movie, but it turns out there are a number of disturbing inconsistencies in his persona. He has a strange phobia of parallel lines, and his handwriting does not match previous examples of his handwriting. Dr. Constance realizes the man is an impostor, but that he suffers from amnesia and does not know who he is. Dr. Edwardes confides in her that he has killed the real Dr. Edwardes and taken his place, but Dr. Constance believes that he is innocent and suffers from a guilt complex. In the end it turns out that the impostor and the real Dr. Edwardes had been on a ski trip together, and that the parallel lines symbolize the ski tracks. Dr. Edwardes had died there, during the trip. I don’t want to spoil the ending for those of you wishing to watch the movie, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
My shawl, the Constance Shawl, has snowflakes as the main motif because of the fateful skiing trip. There are parallel lines along the bottom border, and in the body of the shawl for the lines that frighten Dr. Edwardes. It’s knit in gray, in a shade reminiscent of black and white movies. And the red line comes from the fact that although Spellbound was filmed in black and white, there were one or two frames of bright red at the conclusion, when a gun is fired into the camera.
You can win a PDF copy of the book by leaving a comment here and/or on my Facebook page about what your favourite shape of shawl is and why. You can double your chances by leaving a comment in both places. The winner will be announced on Oct 17. Please make sure that you leave some way for me to get in touch with you if you win (email/ravelry ID).
This post is part of the Hitch Blog Tour. If you’d like to see what others have to say about the book, check out these other stops.
9/28/2013: Sunset Cat Designs
10/5/2013: Knitting Kninja
10/7/2013: Herrlichkeiten
10/8/2013: Knit and Travel
10/9/2013: Knit & Knag Designs
10/10/2013: Wooly Wonka Fibers
10/11/2013: Verdant Gryphon
10/15/2013: Impeccable Knits: Shifting Stitches
10/16/2013: Rewolluzza
10/21/2013: Knitwear Designs by Carolyn Noyes
10/22/2013: Peacefully Knitting
10/23/2013: Dark Matter Knits
10/24/2013: Turnknit: Dani Berg Designs
10/25/2013: SweetGeorgia Yarns
10/28/2013: doviejay knits
10/29/2013: Triona Designs
10/30/2013: Tactile Fiber Arts
11/4/2013: A Knitter’s Life
11/5/2013: Catchloops
11/6/2013: Yarn On The House
11/07/2013: Ramblings
11/12/2013: Hazel Knits
11/13/2013: Knitcircus
11/19/2013: indigodragonfly
11/9/2013: Fyberspates
11/25/2013: knittingkirigami
11/22013: A B-ewe-tiful Design
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