Retrospectively REWRITTEN DUE TO TECHNICAL Difficulties in 2026...
Some projects arrive like a quiet signal, a colour, a material, a piece of art that nudges something in you. Opulent Opalescence began with his glass work: those luminous layers, the sense of depth, the way light seems to move inside the piece rather than across it. The aim of the game was to connect my work with his, entangle our creative expression, whilst making a bespoke, individualised gift of purpose.
Mohair felt like the place to begin. It’s a natural fibre with that rare combination of being feather‑light and unexpectedly warm, almost like it generates its own atmosphere. I imagined him travelling with it, folding it into a bag, wrapping it around his shoulders, soft enough to carry, strong enough to hold its shape, and luminous enough to echo the glass.
The pattern itself arrived by chance, found on RAVELRY during a late‑night wandering. It used a construction method I hadn’t tried before: small squares worked separately, then joined in a way that created tentacle‑like extensions at each corner. It felt playful, architectural, and slightly otherworldly, a structure that invited both movement AND symmetry.
The method alone shifted something in my practice:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/3-pronged-square-and-ripple-blanket
The yarn carried its own story. Much of the mohair came from wool my mum had saved, yarn that once lived as jumpers for my sister and me. A little pink, a bright yellow, and other reclaimed strands that held the memory of being worn, washed, and loved. Repurposing them connected my past to my present, my craft to his glass, my history to a gift shaped for someone else.
Looking back, this blanket marks a turning point. Not a dramatic one, a gentle widening. Choosing mohair and discovering its favourable qualities led me toward wearables. The tentacled construction drew me directly toward the rainbow blankets that followed, more explicitly inspired by and reflecting his glasswork. Maybe the fact that I called the construction parts tentacles, just maybe that had led me, alongside other little nudges, to make octopi for children. We will never know, and that’s OKAY. One thing we do know:
Mohair Majesty had since become a regular recurring refuge.
Maybe that’s the part I hadn’t fully articulated until now: this blanket wasn’t only a gift. It was a moment where my craft, my taste, my history, and my relationships aligned into something quietly luminous. A small opalescence of my own.
