Patsy Dufresne, of Damariscotta, sits in her living room wearing one of her “traveling sweaters” with another in-progress sweater in her lap. Dufresne estimated that she has made 160 sweaters in the last 10 years, giving most away to friends and family. (Molly Rains photo)
Through her vibrant, hand-knit sweaters, Patsy Dufresne has seen the products of her creativity travel far and wide on the shoulders of those she loves most.
Dufresne has hand-knit more than 160 vibrant striped sweaters, which recipients affectionately call “Patsy’s Traveling Sweaters,” since starting the project in 2014. The wearers, most of whom are Dufresne’s friends and family, proudly wear and photograph the garments on their travels, sharing the colorful joy of Dufresne’s creations around the world.
Born and raised in Damariscotta, Dufresne is a self-taught fiber artist who began knitting in the 1970s when she was pregnant with her first child. She was ambitious from the start: Instead of starting with a scarf or hat, Dufresne chose instead to plunge into the craft by making a baby sweater, booties, and matching cap. Then, she was hooked.
Two years later, while accompanying her then-husband to his Coast Guard post at Cuckolds Light on the Cuckolds Islets, Dufresne began knitting adult-sized sweaters to help fill her days.
She was kept busy also by caring for her daughter Yvette, who was now a toddler. The young family remained at the lighthouse for nine months, leaving via peapod boat for only three days each month to attend appointments and load up on groceries, Dufresne said.
“It was amazing,” she said. “We had one storm where the waves splashed up against the second story and spray was coming up over the roof. It was pretty unique.”
Living in a lighthouse is just one of the many diverse experiences that have shaped Dufresne. After attending Damariscotta’s former Castner School and Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, Dufresne held a variety of jobs, ranging from one summer as a stern person on a Bremen lobster boat to driving a school bus and working at a machine shop.
Most recently, until her retirement, Dufresne she cleaned houses “for great people who were wonderful to me and helped me to get through life,” she said.
Now nine years retired, she spends a significant amount of time knitting – “at least six hours every day,” she said.
Working in her Damariscotta living room, Dufresne typically has two projects going at once: one of her recognizable sweaters and another kind of knitwear, to keep things interesting.
“I sometimes make other sweaters in between the traveling sweaters, and I’ve made socks … I’ve probably made 120 pair that I’ve given to all my friends,” Dufresne said.
Dufresne’s love of color is evident in the jovial hues and patterns that feature in many of the hundreds of knit projects she has completed.
“I can only work on something for so long if it’s a solid color,” she said.
This eye for vibrancy is exemplified in Dufresne’s traveling sweaters. With each featuring a rainbow of stripes, no two sweaters are exactly alike.
Though the sweaters are prismatic, however, they are far from chaotic.
“I don’t like mismatch,” Dufresne said.
Rather, she puts careful consideration into each sweater’s color composition, choosing skeins and aligning colors in such a way that her sweaters’ vibrant stripes ultimately create a kind of kaleidoscopic harmony.
Patsy Dufresne, of Damariscotta, holds the multicolored skeins of yarn that she uses to make her “traveling sweaters” that impress fiber-art enthusiasts in the area and around the world. (Molly Rains photo)
These dynamic colors keep Dufresne engaged over the approximately two weeks that it takes her to make each garment.
“I would really whip them out because I wanted to see what they looked like,” Dufresne said.
Dufresne’s sweaters have earned her dedicated fans near and far.
“Everybody just absolutely loves them,” she said. Sweater recipients return from their travels reporting compliments they received on their journeys, Dufresne said.
“My cousin said, ‘Oh, you’re famous in pubs in Ireland, because everyone wanted to know about the sweaters,’” she said, laughing.
Closer to home, too, Dufresne and other members of the “traveling sweater club” often draw attention when they wear their sweaters in public. Once, Dufresne recounted, she quite literally sold a sweater off her back to a curious artist who fell in love with the garment while waiting in line behind Dufresne at the post office.
Though Dufresne does sell sweaters on occasion, she has given away the vast majority of what she has made.
“It makes me feel good, because the finished product is going to somebody I love, and they’re going to love it,” she said. “It warms my heart to give someone a sweater. It means a lot to them … it is really touching.”
A recent outing of six sweater-wearers at Reunion Station in Damariscotta was the largest convening of traveling sweaters that Dufresne knows of to date, she said, but plans are in the works for a larger “festival” gathering of sweaters soon.
However, a few years ago, it seemed that the future of the traveling sweaters was in jeopardy when Plymouth Yarn Co.’s Gina, Dufresne’s beloved yarn that she needs to produce her signature sweaters, was discontinued.
“I was heartbroken when I found out,” Dufresne recounted. But, not easily deterred, she drove to local yarn shops and bought out their remaining selections of the yarn, building up a stockpile that should last for many more sweaters.
At least until Dufresne’s supply of yarn is exhausted, the traveling sweater club continues to grow both locally and farther afield, one sweater at a time wrapping Dufresne’s community of friends and family in the vibrant colors of her wearable art.
Dufresne’s work is highlighted on the sweater club’s Facebook Page, “Patsy’s Traveling Sweaters,” where sweater-wearers also post photos of their travels near and far.
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