La Bien Aimée is proud to introduce two new colors in our Myiazaki collection: Granmamere and Fujimoto! These colors are inspired by two intriguing characters from the film, Ponyo, on the Cliff by the Sea. A film made by Hayao Miyazaki.
A couple of weeks ago, these colors launched on our website, and in the newsletter that followed, Aimée talked a little about what inspired her to develop them:
"I created these two colors to represent the parents of Ponyo. It is said that they fall in love at first sight which I can relate to completely! When I met my husband in English class all those years ago living in Besançon, France, it was love at first sight for us too."
"Ponyo is a movie that was at the root of many memories when my son, Maximilien, was young. As a child, he was very much like the character, Sosuke. Adventurous, brave and very funny. We watched this movie everyday for nearly three years from when he was two to five years old. He would often say that he was Sosuke and his best friend at the time was Ponyo. Ponyo and Sosuke was the first color I created for my Miyazaki collection back in early 2020."
Shown here is Howl & Sophie (left) and Ponyo & Sosuke (right).
"I remember clearly when he realized that Granmamere was Ponyo’s mother, he said to me that I was very much like her… BIG, BEAUTIFUL and STRONG. Often people think that Fujimoto is the villain in the movie, but in reality he is just a protective father who loves his children in his own awkward, charming way."
"Last year while we were in second lockdown, we watched all the Miyazaki films again and I started to remember when these nuances of the movie started to make sense to my son as a child. I never got tired of watching movies with my kids over and over again because each time we’d talk about the movie, something new was understood. Their childhoods are intertwined with these films and fill me with endless inspiration for colors. What was even more beautiful to me was that as a teenager, I could still see in my son’s eyes how the film still filled him with joy."
Aimée designed Granmamere and Fujimoto as complementary colors of Ponyo & Sosuke, (my personal favorite colorway in the entire collection.) She didn’t want this fade to be completely seamless like some of our other fades. After all, Ponyo’s family isn’t seamless - it’s quirky, and a little messy, and real - and that’s exactly what makes it so precious. Instead, these colors bring out the best in each other, which is why we’re all so excited to see what fabulous fade patterns you all choose for the Ponyo family palette!
Andrea Mowry’s So Faded pullover would be the perfect canvas to paint these colors onto, and depending on how you customize the sleeve and body lengths, this pattern would only require 1-2 skeins of each of the three colors in Twist Nouveau.
Detail: Merino Singles in Fujimoto, Granmamere, and Ponyo & Sosuke
For those looking to put a spring in their step, Mara Catherine Bryner’s Rose City Rollers is a great free sock pattern that makes colorful and speckled yarns really pop! We are delighted to announce the release of Granmamere and Fujimoto in 50g skeins of Merino Super Sock, which you can now purchase here! These half-skeins are perfect for a pair of 2-color-fade socks. If you’d like to knit these, or any other pair of socks with all 3 colors, keep an eye out for our Merino Super Sock 20g skeins which will be coming very soon…