At the start of 2020, I set a hopeful goal of doing more test knitting and testing for designers with whose ideals and knitting pedagogy I align and aspire. Number one on that list was Jacqueline Cieslak, because she’s an activist and body positive. She is also a former academic who transitioned her critical, anthropological approach to her experience with fiber arts. I admire her labor and her contributions to our fiber community. When she put out the call for testers, I somehow snuck on to the list. I was so over the moon, mostly because it’s a very difficult task for me to activity go after things I want. It’s taken nearly 13 years of sobriety for me realize I deserve good things. I’ve always always been a person who has to work hard for what they want, but knitting is something that has big reward for small input.

At the very beginning of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Canadian knitwear designer, Joey of Winter’s Weather Knits, designed this stunning cowlkerchief. In her testing call, she described the design elements of this knit as purposefully executed to mimic the small, isolated boxes of aloneness so many of us found ourselves in. As the triangle widens and develops, the isolation boxes expand, allowing for more contact and room to share more experiences with our friends and loved ones in safe, distanced environments.