Letters
Groundhog Day with Kiki Mariko
Dear Kay,
One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day, in which a churlish TV weatherman wakes up and discovers it is February 2. Again. Every morning, he wakes up to February 2. Every day, he has a chance to give the day another try.
That’s sort of where I am with Kiki Mariko. It’s the stranded colorwork pattern that keeps happening to me, again and again.
Groundhog Day No. 1
I’ve been fascinated by the stranded colorwork pattern that we first saw, back in 2006, when we were on a book tour in Portland, Oregon.
Mariko Fujinaka took us all over the place, gave us sugar cookies, led us to that giant fabric store. And that sweater! It was a zingy festive wow. She’d used the zigzaggy colorwork pattern created by another genius knitter, Kiki Hall.
It bored itself into my imagination.
I played around with the scale and colors of the pattern, landing on the idea of a rug. I tried felting it. Here’s the original, rumply first draft of a Kiki Mariko rug. This stalwart piece of experimentation has been keeping the basement floor warm for 15 years now, sturdy and dense.
After fooling around with the idea, the pattern appeared in our second book.
Groundhog Day No. 2
I kept thinking about those zigzags, so a few years later, I embarked on a sweater using the pattern at a small scale.
My next Kiki Mariko project was a pullover. I used the pattern for a traditional steeked pullover, from Alice Starmore. (Which one, I can’t recall!)
I worked the body from bottom up, with a steek for the neckline and armholes. Cut the armhole steek, picked up stitches, then knitted to the cuff. Cut the neckhole steek, added the ribbed edging. Done!
I have a respectable stash of fingering weight Shetland wool, so it was good fun to choose colors as I went.
I started at the hem and knitted upward, getting less and less vibrant as I went. The zigs and zags behave differently depending on how often you swap out the colors.
My takeaway from this was that wild contrasts are great. More is more.
I like the subtle zigzags but I love the bright ones.
Groundhog Day No. 3
Sometimes a gift of yarn can be wildly sentimental. I was in London with my lad David a few years ago, and we spent a memorable, amazing evening with Belinda Boaden, the designer who was such a beloved friend. She gave me a batch of fingering weight Shetland, knowing that I had mad love for the stuff. By the time I got home, I knew I was going to use it for a Kiki Mariko cowl.
A riot of colors, knitted in the round, as much fun as you can have knitting.
A provisional cast on meant that the final result is a seamless tube of zigzags. That red line in the middle is the kitchener row.
I love it. We lost Belinda a few months after I finished this cowl, so it is loaded with memories of that amazing friend.
Groundhog Day No. 4
I’ve got more Kiki Mariko energy left, now that we’re Banging Out a Kiki Mariko this month. Who knows where I’ll end up next?
It has been fun to see so many Kiki Mariko Rugs appear, and it’s even more fun to have everybody making Kiki Marikos now. Fair warning: you may think you’re knitting a Kiki Mariko rug, but please know that you may wake up tomorrow and find yourself knitting a Kiki Mariko sweater, too.
Love,
Ann
PS We are cleaned out of Kiki Mariko Rug kits at the moment, wow. More are on the way—please watch for news of a restock. The pattern is available for download if you want to get started playing around.
I was thrilled to join the Zoom call yesterday and see so many people that are working on the Kiki Mariko. I’m still waiting for my yarn to arrive, but I can’t wait to cast on! This is my first colourwork & steek project so I’m excited to learn. Thanks for sharing your many versions of Kiki Mariko, Ann.
Oh, good luck, Lisa! It’s going to be fun to see how it goes for you!
Maybe this Groundhog Day Kiki Mariko will become the backside of one of your Kaffe Fassett pillows.
Oooh, now there’s an idea. I think that could be really something. I wonder if i could superscale it up and work it in intarsia. Thanks!
Do you have a pattern for the Kiki Mariko cowl? Or, kit?
Yes. A kit with Jill Draper yarns might be interesting.
Oh you guys! I don’t have a pattern or kit, but the cowl looks like a cast on of 108ish stitches on a size 3 16″ circ. Use a crochet provisional cast on. Get a bunch of fingering weight wool (a dozen colors in my version). Join to knit in the round. Follow the Kiki Mariko chart and freestyle color combos as you go. Superfun! You could use a sport weight yarn and cast on maybe 60 or 70 stitches. It would be a thick cowl, because you’re knitting in the round and creating a double-thickness stranded knitting tube. Fingering weight gives a less thick result.
That sweater! Aaagh so great!
Love it all.
I am waiting for my circular to come in the mail, however I have a boatload of 25 gm balls of Jamison and Smith 2 ply jumper weight..perhaps a cardigan?
Cardigan YES! Go for it! Highly recommended!
Must. Knit. Kiki. Sweater.
Me, too! Ann, you are an Inspiration!
Found my copy of Early Era MDK book with the Kiki Mariko pattern on the same shelf as my copy of Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting. I’ve done armhole steeks but the idea of a neck steek is blowing my mind. Alice is a woman of few words, but it appears that there are more detailed discussions of neck steeks online. Let the search for Shetland wool commence in the yarn stash! I think Pandemic Sweater #9 (or is it #10?) is being born…..
Elizabeth Zimmerman shows how to steek a neck: she calls it the Kangaroo pouch neck! It’s in one of her books, knitting around. That makes a square neck,but it seems like you could make it work for a round one. I’m sure I did in the past!
The neck steek is just so weird–you can’t believe it works, and then it does! The efficiency of knitting stranded in the round with these steeks is just so stinkin’ clever. Hats off to whoever figured that out, back in the day.
PLEASE do a Pandemic Sweater #9 with this idea. I’d love to see it!
Belinda! I used to so enjoy reading what she had to say in the comments section! I am glad that you made that cowl with all of its happy memories.
That sweater is too die for. Will have to research the pattern. MLK creates the most amazing and supportive community. Hazzar to all.
I miss her all the time! She was such a joy–acerbic, no-BS, smart as a whip, knew how to do everything.
The Zoom call was so fun! The conversation and questions made me feel more relaxed about taking on this project. My yarn arrives today and the sense of trepidation is gone – adventure full speed ahead. Also enjoyed reading this letter to hear about the birth and development of Kiki Mariko. :<)
So glad to hear it, Mary Ann! If you have time, not sure if you’ve found the MDK Lounge, our online forum. Lots of Kiki Mariko conversation already under way over there. https://forums.moderndailyknitting.com/t/bang-out-a-kiki-mariko/5872
What was the best part of the Zoom call yesterday….was it seeing you both in person, or seeing all the other Kiki Mariko aficionados on the screen, or seeing all of the fun we will have, or seeing your wild sweater and hearing all the people who might make Kiki placemats, or knowing I am not alone on the KM journey! Or maybe it was just getting caught up in the fun and realizing I need to cake up that yarn today! I am on it! But really – mostly – I am grateful for the community that MDK fosters and the good vibes it inspires. Thank you!
I love the giddy feeling of starting a new project in my favorite colors! It is already so much fun! I have calculated that if I do two color bands per day, I will finish by Feb 28! We’ll see what happens, but it’s good to have a goal.
Thanks for the Zoom call – great idea! The time flew by!
Love this goal setting, Katherine. Knitting shows us so well how a little bit of something adds up like crazy.
I started my rug yesterday in the heather colorway and am already hooked. Kitting today since it’s a snow day and watching Groundhogs Day while I knit. AMC is having a Groundhogs Day marathon
Could you use fingering weight/sock yarn, I seem to have a lot of that right now. Steeks might be a little more tricky(superwash wool), but all those leftover skeins, and one of a kind skeins might be an alternative. Yes?
Ooh, I love the jumper <3
Wow! I love it all. Wish I could join in right now.
I love the cowl- it’s beautiful!