An impromptu knit-in happened this morning at the Artisan Market adjacent to our Farmers Market. The fluffy burgundy shawl around the expressive green crouching dog sculpture really adds something 'je ne sais quoi'. As I expected Don Kennel, the artist, was delighted to hear of these interactions from the public with his newest art installation Shelter With Sky. My favorite green sculpture because it is so expressive and deeply felt, I learned was modeled after Don's very own dog.
Until this morning I had never heard of a knit in, but it reminded me of wearing my own hand crafted bright orange/red cap to and from work (never during work) in my late teens. I was an apprentice in a law firm in Zurich, Switzerland. My boss heard that I no longer lived with my parents (new secretary snitched on me as she must have overheard my phone conversations.) I was called in to the old, conservative man's office and I was grilled. 19 years old, I had been running the office for a while on my own until a new secretary was hired from a what she must have thought more prestigious school. I had been typing long letters by dictaphone, taking stenographic notes and doing a rather good job I thought while my co-worker was on leave of absence. The office was hard at work at a proposal of a major change on a federal level that would eventually effect every Swiss citizen. But in the old man's office this lawyer, Dr. Matti, had the nerve to suggest that my wearing a colorful red cap may be a sign I might be spying for the Russians! It was the early seventies, I was a hippie chick, not a spy for god-dess sake. My not living with my parents at the age of 19 must have really unnerved this old fashioned, high powered Swiss lawyer. I lost that job. Not a minor cause of my leaving Switzerland and eventually immigrating to the United States, for better or worse!
