Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007

a
By LesliePetrovski
t's hard to imagineanythingmore nerve-racking
than mamboing
i n a m i n i s k i rbt e f o r ea t e l e v i s i oanu d i e n c eo f m l l i o n s f. v e n m o r e
horrifying?
Not beingallowedto knit backsrage.
This was the situationin which PaulinaPorizkova
found hersef
earlierthis year,on the set of the hit realityseres DanclngWlththe
Sfars."Becausethey film all the time," she says. they drcnt want
me to knit backstage-itmightappearas if I werent intereslec.
Theywouldn'tallowme to knit!"
To add injuryto insult,the Czech-born
beautywaseliminateci :ne
(sne oic
philosophicaily
secondround.Thatshe viewsthe experience
learnto dance,shesays,and shegot in shape)speaksvo umesabcu:
Paulina,
whoat 42 has
addedthetitleof novelist
(thefictionalA ModelSummer
cameoutin April2007)to an
already
longlistof occupations,
including
supermodel,
rock-star
wife(she'smarried
to RicOcasek,
theformer
frontman
forTheCars),
mom,actress,
director,
children's
bookauthor,political
refugee
andpassionate
knitter.
Failure
juggernaut
asthefaceof thecosmetics
years.
for several
ThoughPaulina
leftschool
aftertheninthgrade,shewasconsic=-=:
by manyin theindustry
to be "thebrainymodel."
Shespeaks
four '-,
guages
and is a voracious
reader,
devouring
several
booksa week.S-* .
triedherhandat acting,landingmovierolesin Anna,HerAlibi(wit'
TomSelleck),
Thursday
andthe cultftlmArizonaDream(withJerry-:',',r
andJohnnyDepp).
Shewrote,directed
andstarred
in the2001filr
Roommates.
a picturethatwasneverdiskibuted.
Andwithmodel,:e- rnr'
Russell,
she'swrittena children's
book,Ihe Adventures
of Ralphie::
Roach(Doubleday),
illustrated
by Paulina's
stepson
AdamOtcasek.
Durng theyearswhenshewasseparated
fromherparents
by:-:
communist
Czechreg--:
grandmothe'
Paulina's
| |
o^--,,-^
f A^' ,
I-)ULOU)U t UY
' '-. al thetLr-ne
:- ---ancrng
\,ryith
--=S,ars,'they
,antr-ne
evenaftercompleting
u :,a,r,
of mittens
as a schoog i n S w e d e nB.o r e do n - : , , r r '
^^+^
^^
^-
^1..t+
^L^
.-
- -
k n i t t i nagg a i nt,u r n i n g
rn
qnma
moial
noodl;:
: rr
f i n i s h i nagn a c r y l iscc a on the setof HerAlib
doesn't sr:are her. reorets rl6.
In 1968,theyearof the
Soviet
invasion
of Czechosloparents
vakia,Paulina's
fled
thecounlryfor Sweden,
leaving
3-year-old
Paulina
in hergrand-
herto knitandcroche::
i n ad i d n 't a k et o i t i n: :
l^a^
\)t rg
-^t^^^+^a
ttrtgBdLUu
+L;^
Lt lt)
^g-u
_
*
hercat'sbed).Aftert-:
W C U i C ' ^ , 33 ' " ' V
^^r-nefc
JJ
^^^"{
^A^ +^^t.t^a ^ ---)uor r, )t rtr tduntuu d l_:. :
fora friend'sbaby.Fr-:'
tratedby herinability
::
mother's
care.It wouldtake
understand
the Englrsyears,
seven
a highlypublicized
tingterms,sheturne3:
hungerstrrkeby hermomanddad in frontof Sweden's
Czechembassy, needlepoint,
her craftof choiceuntilshe becamepregnanthersel;- ":
pregnant
a failedrescueattemptby Paulina's
motherandthe refusal
and was restricted
to threemonths'bed rest.Initially
thrilledby the :-:*"
of theSwedish
hockey
pectof languishing
teamto playCzechoslovakia
in Ihe 1972
in bed with her books,Paulinasoonlearnedthe: .'t
Olympics
beforetheCzechgovernment
allowed
Paulina
to emigrate.
medication
shewastakingrewedherup."l wasall hyper,"
she*,..
Moving
gawky
to Sweden
wasnota panacea
for the tall,
9-year-old. I hadto be lyingdownor sitting.
That's
whenlgot backintoknitti-;
Herfatherleftandherparents
divorced,
soto support
thefamily,
Paulina's
Shesecured
a Debbie
Blissbabybookand,usingtheglossary.
motherworkedall dayandattended
schoolai night,leaving
Paulina
to
translating
theinstructions
fora onesre
withbunnyears.lt tookhe-:
carefor herlittlebrother
andthe house.Missing
heradoredgrandmother monthto crackthepattern
andshebecame
wellacquainted
wiih-:
and unableto speakSwedish,
shewithdrew
intoa worldof booksand
bul in theendshehadknit,shesays,the"cutest
outfitever."(Tl-:, hungoutwiththeotheroutcasts
at herschool.
boththebunnyandkittyversions-was
so popular
amongheror: : :T
Therestof herstoryreadslikean archetypal
fairytale:Withcheekbonesyoucouldcutyarnon, Paulina
wasdiscovered
whena friend
armedwitha cheapcameratooka fewsnapshots
andsubmitted
them
to a modeling
agent.Beforesheknewit, the 15-year-old
wassitting
acrossfromJohnCasablancas,
founderof the Elitemodeling
agency,
whoofferedhera ticketto Paris.
friends
thaiit became
hersignature
babygift.)
Neverone to shy awayfrom a challenge,
Paulinachosea lace:e:,
blanketfor her nextprojectand was happilystitchingawaywhens-*
intolabor-permanentlyconsigning
thecoverlet
to the UFOprle
. ' I ur
whatI gotout of that projectwas,yes,I can reada pattern.Anc "n
beenknittinseversince."
SoonPaulina's
facewaseverywhere.
Bythe mid-'80s
shewasa
TheEuropean-born
Paulina
knitsContinental
styleandisamaz::lr
fixturein U.S.magazines,
gracingthe coversof Cosmopolitan,
Glamour, lackof efficiency
English-style
knitters
contendwith."l lookat ii ar:
Vogue
and two much-coveted
Sporfslllustrated
swimsuitissues.In the
think,Howcanyouknitlikethat?Tomakeeverystitch,youhave::
(a $6 milliondeal),reigning youryarnaround?
1980s,shelandedthe Est6eLaudercontract
yarnshopin Man::--r
lt takesforever!"
Herfavorite
THEDISARMINGLY
VEST
CHARMING
of
saucysubversion
Suitup in Teriokhin's
Yarn's
men'swear,stitchedin Plymouth
V neckline
A plunging
"RoyalCashmere."
andribbedbordersrevealin no uncenain
wealingthe pants
termsthata woman's
tie.
the attached
here-not to mention
PaulinalovesIhat she can createstylishgarSre
mentsthat actuallyfit her modelproportions.
was clearlydelightedthat insteadof asking i-erur
modela seriesof cabledsweaters,as originaL
planned,lhe VogueKnittingleam paired her wrfit
VladimirTeriorrrn.
her favoriteknitweardesigner,
to compilea mini collectionof sweatersshe
reallywantedto make.
"EventhoughI wasa model,mostclothes
I'mtootallfor mosta=
fit methatwellbecause
terns,"shesays."l seethesegreatlittlecroc
jacketsthatareso cute,butthey=
and knitted
justtooshortfor me.That'sthe kindof knitt-6
liketo do for mvself,to knitthe stuffthat I wc-lc
or it
liketo wear,butit'seithertooexpensive
n't fit me right"That'swhythis particularVog-e
t'emr
is so exciting,because
Knittingassignment
for."
I'vebeenlooking
the patterns
areexactly
r
benefits
to the moremystical
Subscribing
played
ar
has
saysknitting
thecraft,Paulina
dreamof becorrng
rolein herlifelong
important
of
a writer."l'm knittingmorenowbecause
shesays."WhenI sitand knit,tr
mywriting,"
whenl'm livingthroughtheworldl'm writing
Avenue,
butshealsoshopsonline.
on Madison
theYarnConnection
"l
Admittedly,
sheis a fibersnob. cannotknitwithacrylic-itsetsmyteeth
fibers.I lovewool,cotton,silk,alpaca."
on edge.I haveto knitwithnatural
to familyand
with
constant
references
is
spiced
Herconversation
over
spilling
household
thePorizkova/Ocasek
frlends,
andoneimagines
theirskill
Though
opinions.
relatives,
children
andpassionate
withvisiting
and
mother,
first
cousin
family-her
levelsvary,thewomenin Paulina's
side-loveto knit."lt'sa greatthingto do in the
aunton hermother's
andgoskitchen
on a winterday,"shesays."Weallsitaroundandgossip
about.lt freesup the rightsideof my brain
pletely
lt doesit *
so I canjustgo intofantasy.
else."
muchbetterthananything
that her rare"ed
Savvyenoughto understand
setaboL:
Paulina
lifeexperience
couldbe minedforgreatmaterial,
grammar
and
sperl
English
rules
of
thetaskof learning
thetwisted
4
yearslaboring
andrewriting
in a writinggroup,workshopping
model'sfirst
Summer,her looseromand clef aboula 1S-year-old
f
explosive
summerin the Cityof Lights.[Seepage30 for our reviev,
the
the book.lWhenit cametimeto shopit around,sheselected
oneagentwhopickedaparthersamplechapterandsaid,"Paulina
you'vegot moreworkto do
withthe
rewrote
the novelfourtimes,forearmed
Paulina
herto critics.lquilt."
not
endear
would
baby
thathersupermodel
background
forsomebody's
squares
sipandknitandknit,usually
to knit(Continentalend her hardworkpaidoff. VoguecalledA ModelSummer"a
step-granddaughter
Sheplansto teachher9-year-old
quiltfor 14onlyan insidercour:
said,"withdetails
a
knitted
read,"whileKirkusReviews
working
on
andsheis currently
style,
of course),
provide...I,4
tae
coming-of-age
the
year-old
ModelSummerisa/vivid,cautionary
thathe'llrelinquish
having
extracted
a promise
sonJonathan,
stages
of writinghersecond
Today,
Paulina
is in the beginning
original
oncethe newoneis completed.
tattered
awayon that
family"-andis knitting
herto spoolout
book "abouta screwed-up
hasallowed
In addition
to thefactihatknitting
willtakeyears.
family,
afghanfor herson.Both,sheanticipates,
for herkidsandextended
hats,scarves
andsweaters
countless