Just Call Me Ruby

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Before Knitting there were Books!

A working visit to the British Library yesterday reminded me of a very strong, almost obsessive connection that I have always had with printed matter and particularly, books. I have always been completely obsessed with them. As a very small child, books were the centre of my universe. I have read voraciously all my life, and collected books with even more enthusiasm than knitting patterns or wool. But then of course, knitting patterns come in the form of booklets, pamphlets and full scale books and this two pronged obsession has, I have recently realised, produced my own ever growing archive about knitting, sewing, craft and yesteryear in general. I have hundreds of books and thousands of patterns and at some point I am going to need to make sense of it all, to start creating a proper archiving system - that's how big it is getting! However on this dark and dismal March morning, when Spring has declined to join us, I thought I would share some of the 'Collection' (sounds rather grand, but I guess that's what it is).

These first two books focus on craft in general in Elizabeth Craig's book and specifically on dressmaking in Home Dressmaking - interestingly, this book is devoted to hand sewing only - no sewing machines in sight!

Elizabeth Craig's book has some beautiful images of techniques, such as these elaborate drawings of working buttonholes, but I particularly like Home Dressmaking's section on 'New from Old' which explains how to fashion something new out of old clothes and gives a three page list of possibilities:

These next three books are from my Flora Klickmann titles. Flora was the Editor of 'The Girl's Own Paper' and 'Woman's Magazine'.

Another of my favourites is the John Paton Knitting and Crochet Book. This is the third edition with it sumptuous woodblock cover, which was printed in 1903.

It has a vast array of knitting recipes within its covers. This is the contents list for the Chapters within and is compiled by M Elliot Scrivenor who was the needlework correspondent to the 'Queen' newspaper and late manageress of the Technical Institute of Needlework, London.

This next image is a tiny sample of some of the woman's magazines and pamphlets I have, including Woman's Weeky, Woman's Own and the Lady.

This model crops up almost every week in Woman's Weekly and I would love to know who she was.

I now have a sub-collection of both Munrospun and Lux books.

I adore the Lux books and the idea that you got the books through purchasing packets of Lux washing powder. I can't imagine a major washing powder manufacturer going to such lengths these days.

This next book goes off on a slightly different tangent, but I love Mending and Repair books of all kinds. This one looks at all sorts of home repairs including

wallpapering the ceiling - the chap photographed here appears throughout the book - always with the same amount of solemnity as he shows here -

to how to press a suit. I love books that show domestic tasks beyond those we would probably think of as needing written instruction and that such care was taken with possessions.

On that subject, this is probably my favourite of the mending books that I have. The Art and Practice of Mending was a Pitman publication from 1933.

The front cover alone makes the book worth owning but the illustrations are absolutely beautiful.

Here is a selection of some of my Odhams books - I have many more!

and the Encyclopaedia of Knitting by none other than James Norbury also published by Odhams

This one is a US publication which is very similar to the Odhams books but is written by Alice Carroll who was the Consultant on the American Red Cross Knitting Manual. Her Complete Guide to Modern Knitting and Crochet was published in 1947.

The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Needlecraft is another Odhams publication - I have two versions of this book, one published in 1938 and the reprint from 1946.

The 1946 reprint has this marvellous plate added at the front of the book, marking its chronological identity perfectly, and with the caption:

'With the right tools, a little patience, and a good knowledge of the basic principles of needlecraft, dressmaking for yourself and the family will prove as easy as ABC, and you will be able to take pride in saying "I made it myself"." With the timing of this republication maybe it suggests that there were many women who had not had time to learn these skills during the war years and were in need of instruction.

No collection would be complete without Mary Thomas's books. I also have her Embroidery book.

A couple of contemporary books looking backwards are No Idle Hands which looks at the history of American knitting and also Knitting by the Fireside and on the Hillside which is not an easy book to get your hands on, which looks specifically at knitting on the Shetland Isles with an economic slant.

These three books are amongst my most treasured. The Encyclopedia of Needlework is quite an easy book to find, especially as several million copies of this title were printed worldwide but it has some stunning plates and intriguing stitches to try.

This tiny book though has some great gems in it

such as this pattern for Siberian Cuffs. This little treasure is from 1847 and as was usually the case at this time, has no illustrations.

The last of these three books and my absolute favourite is The Lady's Knitting Book from 1880. Again without illustrations, but I turn to this book again and again for inspiration.

I also love the fact that the book is signed and dated - January 30th 81 (I am assuming 1881 by the style of writing, ink used etc) and love the idea that this was probably a christmas present based on the date. And again a lot contained within - 216 receipts.

It is also interesting that during roughly the same period the 'patterns' are sometimes called recipes and then other times called receipts. So close in spelling, did one come from the other I wonder?

So these are just a tiny part of my collection. The magazines and single patterns are too numerous to photograph individually but I'll try and share a few more at a later date.

for now
Ruby xx

All images copyright Susan Crawford © 2012 and must not be used with express permission being granted by the copyright holder.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Frances

This is Frances. I designed this beautiful cardigan during one of the busiest times of my life getting A Stitch in Time Vol 2 ready for publication. Yet instead of being a burden it was a wonderfully, liberating adventure. After being immersed in vintage patterns almost constantly it was such a release to be able to start with the proverbial blank canvas and create an original design. Frances was originally designed for The Knitter magazine but she's now returned to me and is available as a PDF download for £4.00 either from the knitonthenet shop or from ravelry.

Base on the classic 1950s hip length, figure hugging sihouette, I named the cardigan after Frances Stevens in To Catch a Thief played by Grace Kelly. Frances is so effortlessly sophisticated and elegant throughout the film - just like her namesake cardigan.

All Grace lacked in these shots is a cardigan over her shoulders!

The Lattice Stitch pattern used is worked using negative ease so that the wearer stretches the garment to fit and shows off the beauty of the stitch. I've become more and more fascinated with negative ease and I feel that this design really shows how it can make a stitch come to life. It also gives structure and shape to the wearer, a bit like support garments of old but without the feeling of restriction!

I used Excelana 4ply in Nile Green with the facings and hems in French Rose for contrast. Excelana has such amazing stretch and recovery as I've said before, which makes it perfect for this type of design that really needs these qualities from the yarn. The facings and hems are knitted as part of the main body of the garment so other than the neckband there's no picking up stitches.

You can see a little peek of the contrast hem on the cuff in this photo.

The pattern comes in a range of sizes from 28 inches (71cm) to 50 inches (127 cm) and uses between 7 and 14 balls of Excelana in the main shade, and 1 ball of the contrast colour. The hems are knitted using 2.75mm needles and the main body is knitted using 3.75mm needles.

You also require 8 buttons.

These particular buttons are not vintage but have a vintage feel to them. I realise 8 matching vintage buttons can be hard to get hold of so I think a compromise is just fine.

And finally, there is a code included with the pattern that offers a discount on Excelana.

FRANCES PDF PATTERN

AVAILABLE NOW

PRICE £4.00

(with both written and charted instructions)

I really love this pattern and I hope you do too.

for now
Ruby xx

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Coronation Knits

I am so excited to be able to announce the publication of this collection of designs inspired by and celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 60 years ago.

This small collection will feature designs for women, men and children and will be available an e-book but not in print.

I will announce price, number of patterns, and how to order etc very, very soon.

for now
Ruby xxx

Monday, January 30, 2012

Vintage Valentine Workshop

On Sunday 5th February I will be hosting a Vintage Valentine's workshop at Waterstones in Lancaster. The workshop runs from 11am until approximately 3.30-4pm. We will be making vintage inspired knitted love tokens. The workshop only costs £8 including all materials and project information sheets AND lunch. What better way to spend a Sunday? You can see full details on the poster below.

Bookings should be made directly with Waterstones Lancaster by calling them on 0843 290 8435

A final treat for the day will be a little pop-up Excelana shop within Waterstones with 10% discount on all yarn sales for workshop attendees. Please note that as the pop-up shop is run by myself I can only take cash on the day.

for now
Ruby xx

Sunday, January 29, 2012

WOW

Its a couple of weeks now since I set up my installation at the Rheged Gallery in Penrith, Cumbria but its taken me until now to feel confident enough to blog about the whole experience. I enjoyed the process enormously but at the same time was completely over-awed by the people I was sharing the gallery with and also terribly worried that my work wasn't very good. In fact, far more worried than I've been about anything in my career. I guess if this blog shows anything its that I'm not afraid to be open about myself and my work but this installation basically lays my working practices and therefore myself, completely open.

It was however a great way to achieve closure on a project that had totally taken over my life and from which, I've found it quite hard to move on. Taking the working papers, swatches, notes, unresolved garments etc and altering their purpose has created a distance for me that hopefully means I can tidy up my mind as well as my desk. The stacks of papers have been carefully arranged to reveal little tit bits from the process, notes in different hand writing, sketches, scribbles and above all, numbers. The title of the piece, 3000 hours, was, as I've previously mentioned, the approximate time I spent on the 'mathematical' part of the project. Its an enormous amount of time and I felt it was important to try and express that time spent in a physical form. Scarily the finished installation does not include all the papers. It would have become quite overwhelming and unstable if it had!

I took a lot of photographs of the piece as it built up none of which really do the piece justice but they do help to show some of the detail. This first batch of photos are from my studio as I first starting trying to piece it all together. As the piles were created they were then glued together into a whole:

The very first pieces being laid out.

The first pile

The first stacks of glued sections

Detail as it starts to come together

a completed pile

the layout starts to come together

Once the layout was worked out and glueing was completed the installation had to be dis-assembled and packed up to take to the gallery. I then had to begin again arranging the work according to my plan.

Here I am working my best Ena Sharples look - pin curls at the ready

Not quite sure what I'm doing here. I appear to be listening for the sea in my cup

The installation starts to come together

Final adjustments

A section of the final piece

Charlie relaxing before the launch listening to Knitsonik's amazing recordings

the only not completely dreadful photo of me at the launch, wearing the Helen Shrug

There is some amazing work on display at the exhibition including other specially commissioned work from the likes of Knitsonik and Rachael Matthews, and a chance to see the thought provoking work of Freddie Robins and the unbelievable knitted BMW engine by Amy Twigger Holroyd and that's just to name just a few!

WOW is showing daily until 15th April of this year (opening times are 10.30am-4.30pm). Its most definitely worth a visit.

for now
Ruby xx

Monday, January 09, 2012

Christmas Knitting and New Year Happenings

I do hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that 2012 is a happy, contented, successful and creative year for us all.

I managed to contract an ear infection over the holidays which slowed me down somewhat however I did manage to finish off a few garments from volume 2 of A Stitch in Time to wear over the festive period. I cleverly failed to get any pictures of me wearing the garments so for now I'll have to share them with you photographed on their own.

The first garment is Warm Jacket with a Bobble Stitch Yoke.


Copyright Susan Crawford 2011

This is one of my absolute favourites from the book because of its sheer wearability. The version in the book is knitted using Jamieson's Spindrift. Mine is knitted in Excelana in Saharan Sand. It comes out slightly 'plumper' and is even warmer than Shetland wool which is what I wanted.

It is a fairly simple knit, worked in separate pieces using a 1x1 rib with short rows worked on the upper front and back bodices. The raglan seams are then sewn together and the yoke is picked up and worked in one piece around the cardigan. What is particularly special about this version of this pattern is that mum knitted this for me as far as the short rows. Knitting is hard work for her since the stroke but she hates to be without it so we find patterns or parts of patterns that she can do, enlarge and simplify the written instruction so that she can follow it properly and then she's away. At this point the pattern needs to remain the same over a piece of knitting but she is now incorporating sleeve increases and side shaping. She can't as yet tackle buttonholes so my mother in law Dorothy knitted the right front. I finished the jacket off with only one small change, which was to fold under the cuffs to the wrong side and slip stitch loosely in place. I have stupidly short arms and had forgotten to adjust the sleeve pattern before I gave it to mum. However I really like the folded cuff as it looks smart and is very hard wearing.

My favourite thing about the cardigan though is the yoke which is simplicity itself but looks so effective.


Copyright Susan Crawford 2012

So to sum up:

Project

Warm Jacket with a Bubble Stitch Yoke (pg 223 A Stitch in Time volume 2)

Yarn: Excelana 4ply Luxury Wool in Saharan Sand

No of balls:12

Needles Used: 2.75mm and 3mm

Notions: 12 Buttons

Knitted to pattern for size 42-44 inch bust

The next completed garment is Charming Neckline.

The sample garment is knitted in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 ply which is a silk and wool mix giving the garment a beautifully soft drape and handle. I had in my stash some Drops Alpaca Silk in a dull pink along with a single ball in a pale grey. This garment was to form part of my Christmas Day outfit along with some fabulous wide leg palazzo pants in dull pink, grey and deep red. (I will get some photos of this all together I promise!)

This time I remembered to shorten the arms so that the cuffs sit just nicely on my wrist bones.

I also knew from prior experience that the Drops Alpaca Silk does indeed 'drop' quite a lot so I made the 38-40 chest size instead of 42-44. However as I had lots of yarn I added an inch in length to the lower body to give me more expansion room. Because of the nature of the yarn, the back neck is proving a little sloppy so I'm going to add a row of Double Crochet (US - Single Crochet) around the side and back neck edges to stop it losing its shape.

I bought a fabulous hair clip from Accessorise when I was in Edinburgh to wear with the outfit which you can see in some of the photos. The colours matched perfectly.

I felt great in this jumper, glamorous and yet relaxed, which is a great feeling, and I could cook and eat without feeling uncomfortable. What more could a girl want on Christmas Day?

Project

Charming Neckline (pg 31 A Stitch in Time volume 2)

Yarn: Drops Alpaca Silk in dull pink (shade 1306) and soft mink (1760)

No of balls:12 + 1

Needles Used: 2.75mm and 3.25mm

Knitted size 38-40 inch bust with 1 inch added to lower body length

The next garment was actually sewn up on Boxing Day, ready to wear for another family gathering the next day. This is Summery - and a New Pattern.


Copyright Susan Crawford 2011

A strange choice for winter? Well mum and dad's house is very warm so this seemed the perfect choice. Knitted in Baby Rooster as in the pattern as it was just the right weight for the garment and for the occasion. This one was knitted in black and I called in the services of super knitter, Dorothy to get it knitted in time. I know most knitters really don't like knitting in black and this certainly wasn't a knit in the cinema type of project but the pattern is extremely three dimensional and clear which makes life much easier.

The jabot is knitted but not yet sewn on due to lack of time. I was also keen to see how the jumper worked without it and I personally think it works really well. Possibly on a larger chested person such as myself, the lack of a further layer is probably beneficial. I wore it with the glass brooch shown on the photos and a thirties-esque bias cut skirt.

With having very narrow shoulders compared to my bust size I played with the sizing a little on this one. Knitted in the second size for 38-42 inch bust but then extra decreases worked at the underarm taking the shoulders down to the first size stitch count. This reduced the shoulder to shoulder measurement from 16.5 inches to 15. The design has a very slightly dropped shoulder line to give the sleeves their hang but I wanted to be sure that it was only slight, which it was and worked perfectly. All other details were exactly as to the pattern.

Project

Summery - and a New Pattern (pg 53 A Stitch in Time volume 2)

Yarn: Baby Rooster in 410 (liquorice)

No of balls: 12

Needles Used: 2.25mm and 3.75mm

Knitted size 38-42 inch bust with adjustments to shoulder width

And the final finished garment is the Fair Isle Cardigan. Knitted in Excelana 4 ply luxury wool as in the book but in a very different colour way.

My colour choice focused on the closeness of French Rose, Ruby Red and Persian Grey in tone with a dash of Powdered Egg, Alabaster and Nile Green thrown in for good measure.

I love how this works as a combination and have been wearing the cardigan with a dress from Cath Kidston of exactly the same red.


Copyright Susan Crawford 2012

Again I stayed close to the pattern except for working extra decreases at the armholes again to reduce the shoulder width. On this occasion I knitted the 40-42 inch bust but reduced the shoulder width right down to that of the 32-34 inch bust as the sleeve caps need to sit high on top of the ball of the shoulder so I needed a very narrow shoulder width. Other that this change the garment was knitted exactly to pattern. I had some beautiful 1930s buttons that worked really well with the cardigan, picking out the Persian Grey in the fair isle design and was fortunate enough to have just the right number to complete the cardigan.


Copyright Susan Crawford 2012

They are quite a thick button, almost looking like liquorice. What I love about this cardigan most of all though is that it shows how wonderfully well Excelana knits up for colour work. The stitches stick together and the colours meld into one another beautifully and yet retain definition. I love it soooooo much!

Project

Fair Isle Cardigan (pg 206 A Stitch in Time volume 2)

Yarn: Excelana 4 ply Luxury wool, main shade French Rose, plus Persian Grey, Ruby Red, Powdered Egg, Alabaster and Nile Green

No of balls: 9 + 1 ball or oddments of each of the supplementary colours

Needles Used: 2.75mm and 3.25mm

Notions: 7 buttons

Knitted size 40-42 inch bust with adjustments to shoulder width

Since completing all this knitting I've been working on a very exciting project which launches on Saturday 14th January at the Rheged Centre in Penrith. I'm thrilled to have been asked to create a piece of work for the WOW exhibition, which "will unveil an ambitious new exhibition that shows how knitting and stitch are used as a medium for contemporary art and design. The exhibition will feature of work by 20 internationally renowned British contemporary artists and designers who have been inspirational in their creative uses of wool."

My piece, which is an installation, is entitled 3000 hours and looks at the numeracy and labour behind hand knitting design. I can't quite believe I've been included in this list of amazing people:

Featured artists include: Max Alexander, Susan Crawford, Stewart Easton, Felicity Ford, Fay Godwin, Kate Jenkins, Rachael Matthews, Steve Messam, Deirdre Nelson, Kate Pemberton, Trevor Pitt, Celia Pym, Joss Wrigg, Freddie Robins, Annie Shaw, Amy Twigger-Holdroyd, Hazel White, Rich White, Donna Wilson, Fine Cell Work, Carréducker and Wool Clip.

There is also a resource area which will have information about the artist's influences, their work and knitting will be going on throughout.

The Rheged Centre is an amazing place on the outskirts of Penrith in Cumbria and is Europe's largest grass covered building, yet disappears into the Cumbrian landscape. The gallery space opened early last year.

The exhibition runs for three months until Sunday 15th April and you can find out more about it at the Rheged Centre website. Do go along if you get the chance. We have the set up and then the Private View this Friday for which I'm frantically trying to knit up my own version of the Swagger Coat. However I'm not sure if I'll get there... but we shall see.

So for now,

Ruby xx

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