Design Preview #7 - Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Well, we are about a week away from Christmas and at the penultimate design in the previews from the Leather, Lace, Grit & Grace collection. 

No design collection honoring the early females of flight could omit a trip to France to honor the woman who received licence #36 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale  (F.A.I.) - the first woman to be issued a pilot's license - Elise DeRoche. The first 35 licenses went to the male heavy hitters of early aviation (including one issued to each of the Wright Brothers). 

DeRoche would later become known as the Baroness Raymonde de la Roche (the baroness title bestowed upon her by the Russian Czar after watching her fly), and she openly encouraged use of the title. She was - by accounts of the time - beautiful, smart and gifted in the cockpit. Trained as an artist and sculptor, DeRoche had ambitions to be an actress but turned her back on all of it once she was bitten by the flight bug. 

Just look at all that great Starry sparkle.

So in honor of this groundbreaking female, I present the Cracked Glass Cowl. Worked up in Dream in Color Starry in the cocoa kiss colorway, you can see how the textured play of lace just sparkles. The body of this slightly asymmetrically shaped cowl is actually worked flat, top-down through the bottom edging; then, after blocking, the front lace inset is worked and acts as the cowl's closure. Buttons at the side of the neck allow for ease over the head.

It comes in two sizes, so it should fit over the shoulders of most women, but the bottom photo also shows it bunched around the shoulders for a relaxed look.

I absolutely love how this design turned out, and the wonderfully tonal, sparkly Dream in Color yarn adds so much depth and personality. I think the Baroness would have quite liked this cowl.

Until next time ...