Leah Coccari-Swift, aka Ruby Submarine, is a Los Angeles designer, originally from Madison, Wisconsin. She learned to knit from her grandmother when she was four, and to purl from her mother a few years later. She started crocheting in college; a lady truck driver with gold rings and a Tweety Bird tattoo taught her in Wal-Mart with Red Heart yarn. Leah has always made up her own patterns, and began designing for other people about a year ago. She is drawn to unusual and interesting conversation pieces, primarily shawls, and focuses on translating natural shapes into knit and crochet structures.
Leah has a background in fine art, including painting and drawing. For her senior show in college, she wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Margo and the Monster. She hand bound it, and created an interactive installation that include crocheted versions of the afghan and monster from the book.
An octopus painting and an illustration from Margo and the Monster are shown above.
Leah’s most popular pattern, shown at left, is her Medusa Loop Scarf, a cleverly constructed scarf that can be worn several ways.
Leah’s most recent pattern, pictured at right, is her Realistic Squid, a crocheted squid companion to her Realistic Octopus, pictured on her head above (never trust a cephalopod).
We are thrilled to be debuting Leah’s next pattern, Kite Fish, knitted in Baah! La Jolla. Look for it in our booth at Vogue Knitting Live!
Wondering what this is all about? Check out our blog post about our booth at Vogue Knitting Live and the amazing designs we’ll be debuting at the show.
Tags: baah, la jolla, leah coccari-swift, ruby submarine, rubysubmarine, vkl, vogue knitting live, vogue knitting live los angeles
