In the era of social distancing, many folks are taking up new hobbies, or refreshing their skills at old tricks. Bread baking, sewing facemasks, and knitting seem to be popular among my friends, if Instagram is any indication. For those picking up their knitting needles, we recently unearthed a pattern for a cowl that takes its inspiration from the homes on Elfreth’s Alley. The designer of the cowl, Craig Rosenfeld (founder of the excellent Philly fabric arts store, Loop) offers this description of the pattern:
This cowl was inspired by Elfreth’s Alley… Its alternating panels of garter stitch and basketweave echo the cobblestone and slate street and the brick sidewalk that have been walked since the 1700s.
It’s easy to see how Rosenfeld was inspired by the surface of our Alley, which currently looks like this:
If we turn back the clock beyond the resurfacing of the Alley circa 1975, the texture and color of Rosenfeld’s cowl might even be more accurate. Here’s a bit of the street around 1930:
Photo from the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin; via the Temple University Special Collections Research Center Digital Collections
The folks over at Loop have written up a nice post about the cowl and the yarn they used to make it. Check it out! And if you buy some Loop yarn and try out the Elfreth’s Alley cowl, let us know on social media!
-TM