Article published Thursday, March 17, 2005 Knit or crochet your own Martha poncho FROM BLADE STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Coming soon to a knitting klatsch near you: a pattern for Martha Stewart's infamous prison-break poncho.
Lion Brand Yarn is introducing a free "Welcome Home" poncho pattern, satisfying crocheters and knitters who took one look at the domestic diva's garment and were hooked.
"There's so much demand for that pattern," said Debbie Stoller, author of a popular knitting handbook. "Everyone wants to make it."
Soon after Stewart boarded a plane to New York wearing the handmade garment, Lion Brand fielded hundreds of e-mails and calls - the most requests it has ever gotten for a pattern.
"People are saying, 'You read our minds,' " said Alana Rabinowitz, director of consumer marketing for Lion Brand.
Free patterns of the knitted and crocheted versions of the poncho are available on the yarn company's Web site, www.lionbrand.com.
"There's been so much buzz," said Barbara Hillery, founder of the New York City crochet guild. "Everyone is wondering how to make it."
On March 4, do-it-yourselfers across the country logged onto Internet message boards and began pondering the poncho's design. Chatter over the pattern landed crochet near the top of the Yahoo! Buzz Index last week, with searches on the topic jumping 8 percent the day after Stewart shared the poncho's origins at her New York offices.
It was a going-away present, she told her staff, from a fellow inmate who crochets 12 hours a day with yarn from the prison commissary.
Stewart recalled, "The night before I left, she handed it to me and said, 'Wear it in good health.' "
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Sophie's Sister, 133 North Michigan St., an upscale downtown clothing store, will present Prom Day at 10 a.m. Saturday in the store. Students from area schools will model the season's prom and after-prom fashions. The event is open to the public. Permanent Link
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