Book Board Chat

The Latest Knitting News From France

By Emmanuelle Michel

From Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Nicolas Sarkozy and more, a French blogger has become an Internet hit by poking fun at the rich and powerful with knitted dolls and her reactions to the news. Inspired by the sex scandal around former IMF director Strauss-Kahn, this knitting fan launched her blog in Lille last May. She has since had more than 120,000 visitors to her site. Every week she posts knitted scenes from the news on the blog, called "Delit Maille" (Knitted in the Act).

"It's a way to make fun of something without being too cruel. Wool is soft, nice. You can say anything you want and it's okay as long as it's wrapped up in wool," said blogger Anna, a speech therapist in her 40s who preferred not to have her last name published. Saying she did it "just for a laugh", Anna posted her first knitted scene shortly after Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York after a hotel maid accused him of attempted rape. She said she was inspired by a book , Knit Your Own Royal Wedding, that was released to coincide with the wedding of Britain's Prince William to Kate Middleton.

Her post featured photographs of knitted dolls of Strauss-Kahn and the chambermaid, Nafissatou Diallo, in a variety of poses. In one, the Strauss-Kahn doll is shown wrapped only in a bath towel while the maid recoils in horror. The Strauss-Kahn doll also features a removable suit. "This allows you to play out the different scenarios and to set the protagonists in a scene, to check your theories in a live simulation," was a comment under the photographs.

Her blog was an immediate hit after the Strauss-Kahn pictures were posted. Inspired by this success, Anna began knitting and posting pictures of other news scenes and the blog took off. Anna has made more than 60 dolls and posted dozens of new scenes. Another favourite with readers was former Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi shown being warmly welcomed in France by Sarkozy during a 2007 visit. The Kadhafi doll -- featuring a tangle of black hair and pencil moustache -- is shown with Sarkozy posing in front of the Eiffel Tower, enjoying a picnic and frolicking in a field.

Sarkozy was featured again in a post earlier this month after he was on French television with US President Barack Obama during a summit in Cannes. Waving a small US flag, the French president is shown standing barely half the height of Obama and with his feet dangling above the ground from a chair during the interview. Not every scene is political. Anna has also taken aim at popular culture: In October, a scene with the character Don Draper from the television series Mad Men and he is shown posing in a knitted suit, leaning back with a knitted cigarette and kissing a variety of knitted women. Another post recreates US pop star Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" music video, complete with knitted versions of the singer's raunchy leather outfit and silver-tipped boots.

Anna said the blog is taking up more and more of her time, especially as French political news heats up ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next year. "It takes at least six hours to make a doll, and then I set the scene. It's a real job!" she said. But despite numerous requests and to the disappointment of fans, the dolls, are not for sale.

[But ... I sense a series of collectible dolls in Anna’s future]

Anna's blog:
http://delitmail.blogspot.com