Candy: Montanhac

Rosa Pomar is a little known Portuguese designer. Her most important work is not design, but the research of traditional Portuguese yarn handicrafts which are in the process of becoming extinct, with a focus on knitting. She has written a book about the Portuguese knitting traditions, Malhas Portuguesas: História e prática do tricot em Portugal. The book is, of course, written in Portuguese and not translated to another language. To make a living, she owns a shop, where she sells among many other things, her own yarn brand produced from the fleece of Portuguese sheep breeds using traditional techniques. In addition, she teaches fibre arts and her quilt designs are also pretty amazing. Funny enough, I first heard about them from an Argentinian quilt maker who lives in Buenos Aires. So it seems that even if Rosa is little known, her reputation has travelled far.

The pattern I chose for today's candy is Gorro Montanhac. This design is inspired by traditional handwoven blankets from Alentejo, the region south of the river Tagus in Portugal. Gorro simply means beanie in Portuguese, while Montanhac is the name given to the aforementioned blankets. A strange name indeed which is most definitely not Portuguese in origin.

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