Knit Your Own Bat Mitzvah

Perhaps it's just coincidence that I began work on Zoe's Bat Mitzvah prayer shawl (tallit) around the time I bought the book Knit your own Royal Wedding; but, I think not.  I still have not yet knit my own Wills and Kate, because shortly after I purchased the book, it dawned on me, I should knit up my daughter's own Event first. Priorities, priorites: even knitters have project priorities.  Can you believe?  (Truthfully, I really wanted to knit a 'Harry' and several of the Queen's corgies -- but they will have to wait).


I finished the tallit in November 2011 (see links below for finished views)


http://knittishisms.blogspot.com/2011/11/zoes-tallit.html
http://knittishisms.blogspot.com/2011/11/tallit-almost-done.html


I then had a brief heart and sock knitting break before during and after my Australian trip (see December 2011's blog entries for explanation of what the *%&# I'm talking about).

But about 2 1/2 weeks ago I suddenly woke up to the fact that I should make Zoe a matching kippah from the left over yarn.  Then the little brother saunters up to me: "Can I have one too, mummy?"  Of course, my baby!  "Me too!" says the hubby.  expletive expletive. Next thing I know, I'm in overdrive-kippah-knitting mode. Just finished #15 last night. Because, once you start, you think to yourself 'oh, I should probabaly knit one for each member of the family, and the family includes friends and family ie: everyone who is getting up, reading from the Torah, participating in the ceremony, etc.'  I've sort of lost count of how many I need to do, so I figure if I just keep knitting right up to the night before the ceremony, I should be alright.  If not, no worries.  I've ordered and received the shipment of several dozen deep purple personalized 'Bat Mitzvah of...' yarmulkes from 'Mazel Skull Cap of Brooklyn, New York.'   Baruch Ha'Shem!

As many who have read "Knittishisms", I created the 'Righteous Lid pattern' as Bukharan-style, in part as a means of staying on my toddler's head. Although each one is completely different from the next, here are a few examples:

But the first kippah I ever knit happened about 6 months earlier when Ev was still a baby. And here it is:

It started off as a pattern I pulled off the internet, which I quickly started changing (because that's me, the rebel knitter) and it ended up being something completely different from the initial pattern.  I used the most wonderful yarn (Lorna's Lace) and it is lovingly referred to as the mexican kippah in our house.  This original 'oopsy' Ashkenazi-style kippah recently became the prototype for the Bat Mitzvah Kippot that I am still knitting up. 

Each one is different from the next.  The inspiration for the yarns used in these Bat Mitzvah Yarmies is Zoe's Torah and Haftarah portions. Parashat Terumah contains the instructions of how to build the tabernacle, the temple etc.  It's an amazing read, because, lo and behold, it is not just an archetectonic instruction manual.  Terumah is a full-blown interior design narrative worthy of a feature in Architectural Digest.  The specified colours and materials are all lovingly descriptive; and all very precise.  The colours used in the tallit & these kippot are, in part, the colours mentionned in Parashat Terumah.

With the Bat Mitzvah a mere one week away, I'm still in knit, knit, knit, crochet, crochet, crochet, knit, knit, crochet, knit, knit, knit mode (that's knitting binary code for the kippah pattern I created)...

That's what happens when you decide to knit your own Bat Mitzvah!

The corgies will just have to wait.