Kolam Sweater
There is a saying in Tamil: the one who solves the sikku (loops) in a kolam can solve any sikku (hardship) in their life. The process of creating my Kolam Sweater involved a lot of patience, learning, and problem-solving as I worked through the various stages of designing this piece.
Both my grandmothers have been drawing kolangal, the central motif of this sweater, for most of their lives. As a child, I would watch each of them set out in the early hours of the morning to draw a kolam, traditionally made with rice flour, at the entryway of their small home. My grandmothes taught me both patience and how to draw kolams from small pattern books made of newspaper. Many of my visits back home these days involve us silently sitting on the floor, copying them into a sketchbook in front of the box set.
In the process of researching the history and techniques behind cable knitting, I found a video interview with a knitter of Irish cable sweaters. The knitter talks about the sweaters she made for her children and grandchildren as part of a larger tradition of passing sweaters and knitting knowledge through the family. My sweater is a manifestation of what has been passed down to me from my grandmothers, and honors the strength of intergenerational knowledge..