Chagall's Windows: A Knitting Pattern Inspired by Marc Chagall's America Windows at the Art Institute of Chicago

Chagall's Windows

By Heatherly Walker

Materials

FlockSock (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon; 400yds per skein) 1 skein each in MC- Muse and CC-Badger Black (1/2 Skeins used for size 8) 1 set US #2 / 2.75mm double pointed needles, or size needed to obtain gauge Yarnneedle 32 sts and 35 rounds = 4" / 10 cm in stockinette COLORWORK Measurements Circumference 8.5 ( 9.5)"

Required Skills

Knitting in the round Increases/decreases Slipped Stitches Cabling (2colours) Long Tail Cast On Stranded colorwork techniques Knowledge of basic sock construction Kitchener stitch (grafting) "Marc Chagall (French; b. Byelorussia, present-day Belarus, 1887-1985) first conceived of the idea for the America Windows in 1974 when he visited Chicago. Chagall announced that the theme for the windows would be the American Bicentennial, and, when he learned of Mayor Richard J. Daley's death in 1976, he decided that the windows would also serve as a memorial to thelate mayor. Chagall designed the America Windows expressly for the Art Institute and created them in collaboration with the French stained-glass artist Charles Marq. Marq fabricated 36 colored glass panels to Chagal's specifications, and Chagall himself painted his design onto the glass using metallic oxide paints that were permanently fused to the glass through a subsequent heating process. The windows, each made up of three parts, each with 12 separate sections. Chagall infused his landscape of familiar American icons, references to Chicago, and symbols of the fine arts with an ethereality that suggests the creative expansiveness made possible by American freedom and liberty."- Chagall's America Windows AIC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcBmxJfbngA the story http://youtu.be/Bz2mioCp-M0 This August, I brought my eldest daughter to Chicago, to move into her college dorm. We finished all the business stuff and set out to enjoy some of the sites. We were able to spend an afternoon at the Art Institute, and I saw her face light up in each room as a new Master's work was revealed, one by one. Names that she new on paper, became objects in front of her own eyes. The weight of their glory filling her, she suddenly was no longer a small child looking at pretty pictures, but a woman staring at infinite treasure on canvas. We were blessed to be able to bask in the blue light cast from Chagall's America windows, the blue that IS in its essence, Chagall.

Clue 2

Chagal's America Windows are created in a completely unique fashion. Instead of just cutting and piecing like mosaic tiles, paints and washes of solvents are added to the glass, creating new places to block light or allow it to flow through. Slipped stitches add texture and pull the other stitches around them. Keep your tension a bit loose as you work the charts. The double yarn overs will be slipped up the sock and cabled, so you do not want these done tightly. Wrap the yarn around the body of the needle rather than just the tapered tip. Rounds 2 & 10 are worked only in CC, 3-6 & 11-14 are worked only in MC. Work chart rounds 1-17 for appropriate size a total of 2 times, then 1-9 once. (Unblocked 1 repeat is about 2inches long.) Carry yarn not in use up the rounds as you go.

Medium

Large