Handmade Portraits: Biscuit Scout

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(Animation by Julia Pott; Music by Gerhard van der Merwe)

The Etsy video team has invited experimental and documentary filmmakers to contribute to our original video series, Handmade Portraits, Process and There’s No Place Like Here. Ashka Wierzycka is a South African producer and director based in New York City.

At the southernmost tip of Africa, where immense rogue waves crash on the jagged coast, Lynn Garret, a.k.a. Biscuit Scout, knits large decor pieces that seem like an extension of her rugged world, over-sized but also playful and a little eccentric. Lynn’s long had a passion for using knitting in an unexpected way — her first large project was a cover for her washing machine! But it is her huge knitted armchair slip covers, inspired by a pattern in Erika Knight‘s Simple Knitting With a Twist, that have won her acclaim in decor circles.

There is something magical about encountering a giant Aran chair sweater in real life. They feel like something Alice would encounter in Wonderland. Even more fantastical is the sheer amount of backbreaking work that goes into creating these woolly mammoths. Lynn knits everything by hand and has no assistants, so each piece is completely hand finished and takes over a week to complete. Just one cushion takes a day and night of knitting, and it’s hard not to marvel at how intricately these are constructed.

While it’s easy to romanticize Lynn’s decision to move to the country and pursue her passion for knitting, she also works extremely hard to sustain herself and her business. She knits every day and everywhere — her garden, her bed, by the fire with her cats — and every object she completes is another step in making life in the country possible.

Knitting Category | Decor on the Blog

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