Blog Upgrade

Just a little note of warning in case everything on the blog goes rather strange for a few days. My blog is being updated and redesigned this week and its possible that things will look a bit untidy until the update is complete. Once the update is complete is should be much easier to find old posts, patterns, books etc.

for now

Ruby xx

The Jelly Tea Party

This lovely tea party was organised by the even lovelier Alabama Whirly and her gang of Outcasts. Lots of people came to partake of wine, tea, cakes and a little knitting. It was a glorious evening and everyone was in their summer frocks, sitting on deck chairs and relaxing.



The deckchairs before everyone arrived.



My little stand



the stand from another angle - here you can see the motoring hood with the simply perfect corsage worn as a brooch.



Here I am with Jen from The Knitter. Jen wore her long gloves especially for me! and was trying really hard to be well behaved and ladylike.



What the girls from the knitting mags really get up to on their nights off!



The adorable little bed jacket paired with the skating skirt.



The perfect combination



The gorgeous Skein Queen who brought the lovely yarn above and had a stand alongside mine.



There was lots of tea.



And lots of cake!



There was even a display all about the pleasures of tea drinking.

We all had a really lovely night thanks to all the Outcasts, who worked so hard to make sure the evening went so well and thank you everyone for coming along and joining in the fun.

for now
Ruby xxx

Vintage Gifts Part I

Its been a busy couple of weeks first coming up to the publication of Vintage Gifts to Knit and then in the week following. I felt it would be easiest to break it all up into separate blog posts although they all link together. So first of all, let me introduce you to all the projects in the book:



There are projects to knit for women, men, children and the home, for yourself or for gifts.
There are a wide range of sizes available with the women's garments ranging from 30-54 inch chest. I'll talk in a bit more detail about the different patterns, inspiration and construction over the next few weeks. You can also view more images from the book on my flickr page (not yet finished but expanding)

I am delighted with the book as I have said before, but particularly with how it has captured the essence of some of my biggest inspirations, Stitchcraft and Needlework Illustrated, which I will talk about more next week.

The book can be purchased in print form for £14 or as an e-book for £10 and each of the patterns can be purchased individually as a pdf download at £3 each. All the different formats can be purchased from the knitonthenet shop, here on the blog** or the downloadable formats can also be purchased through ravelry.

** I'm working hard on the just call me ruby website so that it will be easier to purchase directly from here but website design isn't exactly my speciality so it is taking a while!

I'm delighted that I can also offer a full wholesale package for the book and the patterns which you can find out more about either by contacting wholesale[at]arbourhousepublishing[dot]com or by emailing me directly on the usual email. Review copies are also available via Arbour House or me.

Finally, for this post, I am working with two or three yarn stores in the UK on events instore during the latter half of this year to promote the books and patterns. If you are interested in holding an event do get in touch on my email. On the new website there will also be an events page which will give details of whats happening.

Tomorrow's blog post will be all about last week's tea party and a 135 year old department store.

but for now
Ruby xx

Vintage Gifts to Knit is finally about to be published!

I can't believe we have finally got here, but on Wednesday of this week - that's the 9th of June, Vintage Gifts to Knit will be published. I am so excited yet incredibly tense. I have felt as though this day would never come and was terribly conscious as well of letting people down if we didn't get the job done. But we are nearly there now, just 24 hours to wait. I am travelling later tomorrow, or possibly Wednesday morning, down to Reading for the Summer Tea Party (see previous blog post) which will be an unofficial launch party for the book. If you are coming and you have pre ordered a copy of the book, you will be able to pick up your copy on the night. All other orders will be being despatched on Thursday. Everyone has been incredibly patient while waiting for me to get this book together and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. Thank you all so much.

I have to update the blog and the shop and ravelry etc properly at the end of the week but in the meantime here's a little sneak preview of some of the other designs in Vintage Gifts to Knit.



This stunning jacket is inspired by vintage bed jackets and can be worn in its traditional role or as a cardigan or 'day' jacket. It is knitted in Rowan pure wool 4 ply and is deceptively simply to knit, with only a 4 row lace pattern to follow. I love this one - It also has neat, little gathered sleeve heads and a fabulously draping hood , very Phantom of the Opera!



I've called this mens sock pattern 'Father's new socks' just because I think its the sort of present that my dad would really love to get. Unfortunately for him, these ones are for Gavin - seen here as 'foot model'. Knitted in Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper yarn using a really simple slip stitch to create the mock fair isle effect. I've gone for these muted autumnal colours but they would be really good in black and grey or navy and cream for office wear too.



And finally for tonight, the much mentioned skating skirt. Designed initially for my good friend Alabama Whirly to knit during the Olympics, this turned into something far more than originally expected. Seen for the first time, being worn by Alabama at Unravel in Farnham, so many people asked about the pattern I realised it had to be included in the collection. It is knitted from the top down in the round in Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper yarn (yet again) and has 8 panels with shaping worked into each one creating this lovely drape, reminiscent of bias cut fabric. The rest of the photos for this one are fantastic, I can't wait for everyone to see them.

Its only at the end of this project, that I realise quite how much of myself I put into it. Its a very personal collection of designs that I absolutely love individually and collectively and all say something about the era they have been influenced by and the things that I love. I hope you all love it too.

Time to go to bed.

for now
Ruby xxx


Vintage Gifts to Knit is available to purchase from shop.knitonthenet.com for £14.00 plus £3 p&P worldwide.

Summer Evening Tea Party

Click on the image for a better view!

As you can see on the poster above, we are having a Tea Party at Jelly in Reading. It will take place from 5pm-9pm on Wednesday 9th June and will be the 'official' launch of Vintage Gifts to Knit. It should be a wonderful evening filled with cakes, tea, deck chairs and knitting. What could be better? Well actually, on top of all of that the event is Free! Skein Queen will also be there with her beautiful yarns and there will also be other hand crafted goodies to buy. I will be doing a little talk at around 7 pm and all the projects from Vintage Gifts to Knit will also be on display.

You can find out more information about the event by clicking on the poster and I do hope to see some of you there.

for now
Ruby xxx

Vintage Shetland

I recently returned to Shetland to visit the Shetland Museum Archive, where I am working on a very special project in collaboration with the Museum. The Museum houses an incredible collection of hand knitted garments, many from the 1920s-1940s. All of this knitwear has been made by people (usually women) living and working on the Islands.



The Shetland Museum

Much of this knitwear has been kept either by family or descendants of recipients and at some point the decision has been made to donate the garment to the Museum collection. As you can imagine many of the pieces have deteriorated considerably over time and as none of these pieces of knitting have written patterns the garment itself is the only record of the effort, the design, the history.

Only a small selection of the knitwear is on display at the Museum itself, the remainder is housed in an archive building elsewhere on the main island. This is where I spent several days examining, photographing, measuring and transcribing stitch by stitch a selection of these garments.

Here I am in the process of transcribing a jumper from the 1940s.





From this information I will choose about 18 to 20 of the garments which I will then write multi sized patterns for. The task of knitting the garments to match the originals as closely as possible will then begin. Once all this has been done and the patterns have been tested and checked and the stories behind the jumpers written and the photographs taken and the artwork, layout and printing done, Vintage Shetland will be published!

This is obviously a long project and the work has only just begun but I will be sharing progress as I proceed.

We managed to have a little time off while we were there and attended a 'Hamefaring' - My good friend Connie of Jamieson & Smith had married in New Zealand earlier this year and the hamefaring was held for those of us who couldn't make the trip. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the evening but I learnt both a waltz and a reel. The next morning Gavin and I went for a walk around the headland.

Here I am in my Beret for Country Walks from A Stitch in Time.



I have another trip this weekend, this time to Devon, and then I'll be back to prepare for the publication of Vintage Gifts to Knit - Yaaay!

for now
Ruby xxx

The winner of the guess who competition is

Sara. Can you email me Sara with your address so I can send you some treats.

Sorry for the brevity of this post. I will post again properly tomorrow.

for now
Ruby xxx

Who she was and a new design

Well, the time has come to reveal who my mystery visitor was. Was it Ysolda? No. Was it Lucy Neatby? Again, no. Was it even Kate Nash (who on Jools Holland last week had gone very retro)? Yet again, no. It was in fact, as several of you guessed, my lovely friend Woolly Wormhead. When Woolly came to visit at the end of March we thought it would be fun to do the full on retro glam treatment to see just how different she might look. I think she enjoyed the change for a short while but was keen to get back to being herself.

I shall pick at random from the names of people who identified Woolly as the mystery visitor and I shall send one person some 'woolly' goodies.

I have released a new design today, from the Vintage Gifts to Knit collection, called Town and City Tufted Cape.



It was photographed in Edinburgh when I went with Charlie to sort out her university lodgings. It is knitted in Biggan Design First Cross Merino 8 ply, which is a standard DK yarn, in a soft sage shade of green with a black edging. It has a very 1950s feel to the design, however the construction is more modern. Knitted from the neck down in three pieces using 5mm needles, the tufted pattern makes the increases for you rather than extra shaping having to be worked. Once the three pieces have been worked the edging is picked up across all three pieces together and worked in one piece. Because of the shape of the cape it is very accommodating to different sizes and although slightly shorter and more open on me than Charlie I could wear the same cape if I wanted to. The pattern explains how to make a longer length cape too if you prefer.



The pattern covers sizes 30-52 inches and is available as a PDF download for £3.00 from here or from ravelry or comes as part of the Vintage Gifts to Knit book which is currently available to pre order from the knitonthenet shop for £14.00 with free packaging and postage or as an ebook for £10 from the shop or again from ravelry.



The gloves are from a vintage shop in Camden. I got them about four years ago and they are one of the best things I ever bought, I wear them so often and the little hat is from Hope House Costume Museum in Derbyshire, run by the wonderful Nottie and supported by her equally lovely friend Pat.

I do hope you like this simple little cape. I get so involved with each design that they become so important to me and the releasing of a design is quite a scary feeling as a result. Just like your children, you want everyone to like them!

Anyway, for now
Ruby xxx

Guess Who?

Whoops, did it again. Hit return from the title and it publishes the post! My apologies if you came to the blog to find an empty post.

With lots of secret knitting and lots of pattern checking on the go, I thought I would have a little competition. There will be a little knitting related prize to the first name out of the hat on Friday to have guessed the name of this 'mystery' knitting person.



Enter by leaving your guess in the comments please - and please sign in to blogger so I can send you an email back if you've won.

ETA. I think some clues may be needed:

This person is in disguise!
She is a fellow knitwear designer
And although this hair do is striking, its not the one she's known for!


Good luck

for now
Ruby xxx

Stitch in Time Vol 2 mini preview

As I mentioned in my last post, we held a little fashion show at the Make, Do and Knit event. The models all volunteered their time and did a wonderful job, getting changed in little more than a cupboard and doing it very quickly.

The first preview garment is this quite formal and very elegant jumper. The body sections are knitted in different directions in rib and then dramatic pleats are added at the wrist and around the neck creating almost victorian ruffles. This jumper is from the early 1930s and I have used Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper yarn for this one.



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography

The whole garment is very dramatic and severe but very flattering.

This next jumper is also predominantly knitted in a rib stitch - as so many were in the 1930s - but has a really interesting bobble stitch worked at the sides of the garment. The sleeves are ribbed and the neck is a boat or slash neck. Other than mastering the bobbles this is a very simple knit with very little shaping, relying on negative ease and the ribbing to create the fit. I have used a 4ply cashmere and merino mix for this one with a slight marl in the yarn to add textural interest.



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography

Moving forward, is this delightful little jumper from the 1940s. Incredibly easy to knit with decorative ruched stripes of 'ribbon' effect colours across the body. Little bows are added afterwards. There is an opening at the back neck with contrasting buttons. The pretty puffed sleeves are helped with small sleeve pads knitted and sewn in place. I have used a 4 ply merino yarn from Biggan Design for this one, which is due for release shortly I believe.



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography

I have used the yarn for this next one before. This is Posh Yarns, cashmere and silk mix which was used for the 1930s cami bockers in Volume 1 - there was still enough left to knit this absolute wisp of a jumper. I really wanted to try a jumper in a very fine weight yarn. The original pattern is actually for a one ply yarn and although this yarn is more of a 2 ply it is still the lightest, most delicate thing you have ever seen. It also knits up surprisingly quickly. It has dainty picot edges on the sleeves and neckband and a pretty bow knitted separately and then sewn in place. It also has a back neck opening. The little knot stitch worked on the main body and sleeves stops the knitting process being boring. I just love this one, I really do. The whole thing weighs practically nothing!



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography
Moving on to the 1950s, no collection from this period would be complete without a simple crew neck cardigan. This cardigan is knitted in Jamieson and Smith lace weight yarn and is the perfect spring cardigan. The front panels provide interest whilst knitting and is a very simple knit.



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography

Unfortunately, I've only really got this one photo of the cardi but hopefully you can see enough of it. Its one of those that you'll need in 6 different colours!

So finally, on to full on 1950s glamour. This top is knitted in Knitshop mulberry silk which is a thick 4 ply and the garment still came out tiny, really tiny. The waistband is knitted separately and sewn to the body and then a zip is sewn into the side where the waistband ties. If you knit this one, don't try and do it without the zip - you won't get into it! The flattering neckline compliments the wearer and the decorative cuff adds glamorous detail to the wrist. The black edging and bows are crocheted - the bows are sewn on at the end. The knitting is actually quite straight forward again but cleverly constructed to create that real 50s shape. Time to get out the waspie!



Image courtesy Sam Sloan Photography

I hope you have enjoyed this little taster of what is to come. I love every single one of them, and have been delighted how amazingly well they suit and flatter everyone who tries them on. But for now, back to the knitting.

Ruby xxx

Just a quickie to say Hello!

It has been a chaotic few weeks leading up to and then running the Make, Do and Knit event in Liverpool. Despite a few secret, last minute hiccups the event itself went extremely smoothly and everyone seemed to have a great time. Since then, catching up has been SO time consuming. There are so many things you don't realise you are leaving till 'later' when you have something of this scale to organise. And then when its all over they all come back to haunt you!

I will have photos of the event to post and most importantly some of the first designs to go public from A Stitch in Time, Volume II. Vintage Gifts to Knit is almost ready for despatch too, so things are beginning to happen. The images and patterns from the booklet will be ready for a reveal shortly too.

I am off to Edinburgh tomorrow with my daughter. She has been accepted by Edinburgh College of Art to study a BA in Film, so we are off to look at accommodation. She (and I) are so excited. Edinburgh is the college she has been hoping for and its fabulous it has come to be. Look out for lots of photoshoots suddenly coming from Scotland as I follow my model and muse across the border!

In the meantime I will leave you with a little tease from one of the garments from A Stitch in Time, Vol II!

for now
Ruby xxx

Twisted Woolly Toppers (by Woolly Wormhead) Blog tour

I am thrilled to have been asked by the lovely Woolly Wormhead to be the first port of call in the blog tour to launch her new book “Twisted Woolly Toppers”. I got to know Woolly initially online, like so many of us, and we found ourselves sharing and discussing the many issues and complexities that arise for a self employed designer. We also found that we had much in common. Both of us former art and textiles teachers and independent authors, we had both had very mixed experiences of the formal teaching system in the UK, particularly as it is applied to the teaching of art and crafts. I couldn’t begin to calculate how many conversations have been exchanged between us and how many problems discussed and resolved through the power of the web!

One of these discussions in fact, is what established our working relationship. For those of you who don’t know, I am, well my business is, in a non-traditional way, Woolly’s publisher.


When Woolly self published Going Straight, her first book, it was printed by Lulu, a large online publishing/print company. As a customer ordered a book, a single book was printed out and despatched. Lulu’s costs were becoming more and more prohibitive, leaving Woolly as the designer and author, with very little return for all the effort and expense which goes into the publication of a book. The Lulu system also prevented her from being able to offer her print book for sale via retailers or at shows.

Self publishing has historically received negative press - the suggestion being that the author couldn’t attract a publisher. More and more designers, artists and illustrators, including Woolly, are making the decision themselves not to look for a traditional publisher but to find a business model which ensures they retain control of their product and receive a viable return on their time and effort. There are unfortunately, marketing issues that stem from this decision to go it alone so to combat these traditional barriers Gavin (my husband) and I had created a new business model for ourselves to publish and sell my book, A Stitch in Time. We set up Arbour House Publishing as our own publishing house, enabling us to also tap into the traditional distribution networks in the publishing world and to help other authors in a similar position to ourselves.

To resolve Woolly’s problem, we became her print publisher. Our relationship works very differently to that of a regular publisher and author. Woolly has complete control of her product, providing us with the finished artwork and selling the digital version of the books herself through her website. Arbour House prints and publishes short runs of Woolly’s books enabling us to offer them both to retail and wholesale customers. We primarily sell Woolly’s books through our own online shop and ship them all over the world. What is great for the customer is that they deal either with Woolly or with ourselves so they are never more than an email away from the source of the product they want to purchase!

This model works well for all concerned, but particularly because we believe in what each other is trying to do. When Woolly asked me to kick off the blog tour she asked me two really BIG questions:

Why I am happy to endorse and publish her books/designs?
and
What do I like about her work, from the perspective as a co-designer and as her publisher?

After considerable thought, I realised that the answers to these two questions are the same:

Woolly, is one of the most sophisticated and talented designers I can think of, with a completely instinctive and unstoppable need to design and create. Her enthusiasm and intelligence is inspiring to be around and shines through in her work. Every time I knit a Hat Woolly has designed I learn something new, but without having to struggle as the patterns are so well written, the photography is beautiful, the presentation of the pattern is exceptionally well considered and as a result I admire her work immensely.

Freccia from Twisted Woolly Toppers

This is why I am more than happy to endorse and publish her books and also why I love her work from every perspective!

And also why I couldn’t wait to see Twisted Woolly Toppers. I have seen Woolly evolve over the last couple of years into a more and more accomplished designer and this development is what can be observed in Twisted Woolly Toppers. Each of the 10 Hats in the book can be knitted in several sizes often fitting from toddlers right through to men. Each design uses twists, cables and bias techniques to echo the beautiful architecture Woolly observes around her in Italy.



Tinker from Twisted Woolly Toppers

I particularly love the sketchbook photos of the area included in the book which really help you understand the ideas behind these Hats. The patterns are clearly written with both written and charted options to follow for each design, with different shapes and styles to choose from. For existing fans of Woolly Wormhead this book offers you something new and for those of you who haven’t tried one of her patterns this is a great place to start! The book can be bought either as a PDF direct from the Woolly Wormhead website or the print copies are available from knitonthenet along with her two other books Going Straight and Wee Woolly Toppers.

Woolly will be continuing her blog tour next week at www.babylonglegs.blogspot.com followed by the dates listed below. In addition to this she will also be travelling over from Italy next week to launch her book in person at www.makedoandknit.com and then spending a bit of time with yours truly!

Blog Tour Calendar

http://www.babylonglegs.blogspot.com 25th March
http://bingeknitter.blogspot.com 1st April
http://www.stolenstitches.com 8th April
http://knitwithkt.blogspot.com 15th April
Faina Goberstein http://fainasknittingmode.blogspot.com 22nd April
http://www.tottoppers.com 29th April
http://independentstitch.typepad.com 6th May
Janel Laidman http://beebonnet.typepad.com 13th May
Jaala; Spiro http://knitcircus.typepad.com 20th May

All images courtesy of Woolly Wormhead

Make, Do and Knit, knitting and making fair

Here in the north west of England, we struggle to find any knitting and crafting events to go to, so a few months ago, my good friend Helen and I, decided to put on a little event of our own, called Make, Do and Knit. Its taking place at the Bluecoat School in Wavertree, Liverpool, which is a grade II listed building. I will be there signing books and also coordinating the fashion shows which along with garments from A Stitch in Time and Vintage Gifts to Knit will be the first glimpse of some of the garments from A Stitch in Time II. This is really exciting for me as I haven't had the chance as yet to see these garments styled or 'alive'.

There are lots of other exciting things happening, including my lovely friend Woolly Wormhead travelling over from Italy for the launch of her new book Twisted Woolly Toppers and also, and most importantly, lovely things to buy from some of my favourite vendors. There's a full list of stalls and further information on the Make, Do and Knit website. We've also got a twitter account @makedoandknit if you want to be kept informed with goings on.

I hope to see some of you there. Do come and say hello won't you?

for now
Ruby xxx

Some Designing and looking forward ... for a change!

Before I begin this post properly I just need to thank everyone once again for their words of support. You have no idea how much they have helped me keep going - even today when we're still waiting for our money and a nasty man knocked on the door demanding it!

We have just returned from a lovely weekend at the Unravel event in Farnham, Surrey where I gave a talk about "Fashion in the Ration" on each of the two days and in return had a little stand selling our wares. It was lovely to see old and new friends and to discuss some plans for the future - the gossip from the show for my next post!

A pattern that is available right now is one I was working on several months ago for The Knitter.
Its a very funny experience finishing a design and then sending it off in the post, and then months later its suddenly out there without your involvement.

So let me introduce "Mitford".



I had been reading about the Mitford Sisters when I was last submitting designs to The Knitter and my head was buzzing with the thought of those glamorous, hedonistic days of the early thirties, with willowy, long limbed, bobbed haired 'gells' charging round the countryside to one party after another in the latest motor car. I had seen examples of these marvellous, voluminous sleeves on many garments of the period and wanted to interpret them into a hand knitted design. The design of the sleeves proved quite a challenge but after a number of attempts I finally got the look I was after.



The volume is created by working increases very rapidly over only a limited number of rows and predominantly at the 'front' of the sleeve so the outside part - away from the body - is the fullest.
It then decreases more slowly from one textured section to the next until down to the normal required sleeve width.



The body length is short and to be worn to the waist. I have worked the body in one piece to the underarm - not common practice in 1930s written patterns, but makes much more sense here with the main body pattern twisting around the torso. The body is divided at the underarm and then raglan and yoke shaping worked back and forth on the two body pieces. Once that is completed the sleeves are worked. The slightly unusual construction continues with the raglans of the sleeve and body being sewn together at this point and then stitches picked up round the curved neckline and the textured yoke is then worked.



It was quite a complicated design to produce but I think would make a very interesting knit. At some point I would really like to knit one of these for myself! The sample garment was knitted in Sublime Extra fine merino 4 ply which was a perfect yarn for this design with a clear, neat, defined stitch detail which showed particularly well on the stocking stitch panels of the body. The pattern is exclusive to The Knitter for six months.

I do hope you like her.

for now a positive
Ruby xxx

I want to tell you a story

I have always felt that my blog is incomplete. That because I avoid talking about much of the disagreeable, non-knitting related things that have happened over the last couple of years the full story hasn’t been told. And after previous discussions with readers of this blog and my own growing feeling that this blog should reflect my life as a designer and a person, I have come to the conclusion that without the ‘back’ story sometimes things, make little sense. I also think its relevant to other people who may be thinking or being pushed along the perilous road of self employment and using their craft to support them financially. So enough of the justifications, let me begin...

When I met my husband to be, he was a partner in a family print firm with his parents and brother. His role was Graphic Artist. To supplement my art teaching and design income I began to work part time in the office. Just over two years ago a decision was taken for his mum and dad to retire and his brother decided to leave the business. If the business was to continue, my husband would have to buy his brother out. At that time we were in the planning stages of publishing A Stitch in Time and as we planned to move into publishing with this book we felt we needed to keep the business going. In addition to this there were other related business matters arising from the state of the business, outstanding debts, equipment leases - all sorts of exciting things. If we had shut down the business at that point, by the time debts had been cleared there would have been nothing left, and for a business that had been in existence for 30 years, it didn’t seem the way to go. So my husband and I took the risk of taking over the business. The business was valued and primarily due to the value of the property in which the business was based, we had to take out a substantial mortgage on this building to pay my husband’s brother his share. My husband’s parents kindly agreed to wait for their share.

Things since then did not go according to plan. The recession hit and hit badly. Our town had too many printers and as a small firm, we were unable to compete with the larger firms and the print business began to loose money rapidly. I guess here is where we should have shut down, gone bust. But my husband and his parents had worked with the firms we owed money to for 30 years and too many businesses had gone bust on us and we know what it feels like to be on the wrong side of that equation, so we didn’t. We pumped every penny we had personally or could borrow into the business to pay bills and wages but it didn’t make any difference. So we stopped printing last July and had to release the staff, which was a very difficult time. The wonderful UK bank also decided to stick in a knife and demanded repayment of our overdraft. Cash flow basically stopped whilst £10,000 was taken from us. The Bank was inflexible and at no time in the last two years has it done anything to help. Nothing.

Then on August 5th, as many of you know, my mum suffered a massive stroke, and for a time life stood still.

However, there were still complex issues to sort out with the old business, the premises, the debts and at the same time, try and move forward. Still produce knitonthenet, A Stitch in Time, other designs. Earn a living. I haven’t actually been paid since December 2008. Nearly every penny we earn goes to pay off the debts of the business. Very likely we have done the wrong thing, but morally we feel we did it right. Unfortunately, we have debtors who haven’t behaved in the same way and in addition to dealing constantly with our debt situation, I have to fit in chasing our debts.

Before christmas we decided to try and raise some capital selling some of the old equipment from the print firm. It is a very bad market out there as many printers have gone bust, banks won’t lend money to them to buy equipment etc., so trying to sell equipment into that market is not very easy. We therefore turned to a trusted company, who we had bought equipment from in the past. They took several pieces of our equipment to demonstrate to potential customers and managed to sell a couple of them. The agreement was that they had borrowed the equipment to demonstrate and we would be paid straight away on sale. In December they sold a piece of equipment for us and our share was £2500 which would have helped the situation enormously. We are still waiting. Despite ringing them almost daily, we have received bouncing cheques, false promises, changing stories and very little of the money. They have been paid for the equipment. We have not.

And this is the situation we find ourselves in yet again. So you can imagine, none of this goes hand in hand with being creative, looking forward, being able to invest in your future. It all drags you down, pulls you back, eats up every minute of your time and makes me sick. I can no longer bring myself to trust people. And that saddens me so much.

The only thing we have left from the business is the building which costs us a lot of money just to keep every month. We bought at the peak of the housing market in the UK and practically since the day we bought it, prices have dropped. We knew we couldn’t sell as we would still owe money to the bank for the mortgage at the end of it. The market has stabilised slightly since the new year and the property has been valued at just slightly less than when we bought it, so we are going to take a chance and put it on the market this coming week and see if we can manage to sell it. We unfortunately won’t get anything out of the sale but if we can clear the mortgage its one more debt out of the way.

So there you go. This all takes constant time, energy and money. And this alone, without obviously, mum. could take up every moment of your life. But we have refused to give up and have continued to create and have managed to get Arbour House functioning as a separate entity and I’m very proud of what we have somehow managed to achieve despite everything colluding to stop us. We have an incredibly strong relationship and pull together at all times. Without this we could not have got through. And we have somehow managed to exist on thin air. With us being in this together, we have no supporting income. If we don’t create and don’t put our product out there, we don’t eat. Its as simple as that. And of course, for a great deal of the time there has only been the two of us, doing everything. The magazine, the designing, the books, the administration, the invoicing, despatch, everything.

Despite this being a long post this is still a greatly condensed and simplified version of the complexities of the business wind down - I wouldn’t want to bore you with all of that and I don’t want you to think that this is looking for sympathy. But when I look back on this blog it doesn’t always make sense. This post ties up all the loose ends and hopefully helps you understand why sometimes posts are erratic even when I say I’m going to post the next day. When you spend half the day on the phone to the bank, debtors, creditors etc., you become too tired to talk to be honest. And things don’t often get done on time, because of all these other issues that we have to deal with. Like now, we have to arrange to go and see our solicitor about the equipment issue. We have to tidy up the property so we can sell it. There is just so little time.

I feel positive about the future though. Creativity is flowing. I have commissions and I have plans, books in development, wonderful collaborations with amazing people and fantastic books being published by us, by some of the most talented people I have ever met. Life is turning a corner and I refuse to be dragged back down. My song is Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” and in Frank’s immortal words:

Each time I find myself flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race.
That’s Life!

Ruby xxx

On the radio!

A little while ago I took part in a local radio programme, teaching a local DJ to knit. I have expected the DJ, a former stand up comedian, to maybe not be completely positive about knitting, but in actual fact he was extremely enthusiastic and picked it up really quickly and didn't seem to think I was a mad woman, which is always reassuring. You can hear the broadcast (and the scouse accents!)by clicking the play button Sean Styles Radio Merseyside

Hope you enjoy it!

for now
Ruby xxx

Time for Tea?

May I first apologise. It is obviously not the day after my last post, although I fully intended it to be. This week has passed in a trail of tax returns, admin and COLDS I'm afraid but also making plans which is a good thing obviously.

At the end of last week I published the latest pattern in the Vintage Gifts to Knit collection which is my lovely retro teapot cosy called Flower-ty Pot.



The cosy is knitted in Jamieson & Smith 2 ply jumper yarn and when experimenting I found that after 45 minutes the tea in the pot was still steaming hot, which has to say something about the insulating qualities of wool. The colours I chose for the flower-ty petals are the accent colours in my slowly proceeding kitchen. I have quite a few pieces of pink glass and green china so hope to pick them out as the kitchen progresses. In the foreground you can see a little embroidered tray doilly that I picked up for 50p at a local jumble sale.



Here's the pot from the other end! Whilst working on the pattern for the cosy I was reminded of George Orwell's famous essay on tea making. Even within my own family there is often heated debates about the right way to make tea. Below is an extract from Orwell's essay, agree or disagree?

A Nice Cup of Tea by George Orwell

Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard 
as golden:



First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has 
virtues which are not to be despised nowadays--it is economical, and one 
can drink it without milk--but there is not much stimulation in it. One 
does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone 
who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means 
Indian tea.

Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities--that is, 
in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made 
in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of 
china or earthenware. Silver or Britannia ware teapots produce inferior tea 
and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a 
rarity nowadays) is not so bad.

Thirdly, the pot should be warmed 
beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the 
usual method of swilling it out with hot water.

Fourthly, the tea should 
be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly 
to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of 
rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized on every day of the 
week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak 
ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a 
little stronger with each year that passes--a fact which is recognized in 
the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.

Fifthly, the tea should be 
put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to 
imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little 
dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are 
supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in 
considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose 
in the pot it never infuses properly.

Sixthly, one should take the teapot 
to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually 
boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on 
the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water 
that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that 
it makes any difference.

Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir 
it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves 
to settle.

Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup--that 
is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The 
breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one's tea is always half 
cold--before one has well started on it.

Ninthly, one should pour the 
cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always 
gives tea a sickly taste.

Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. 
This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family 
in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The 
milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I 
maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting 
the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the 
amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does 
it the other way round. 



Lastly, tea--unless one is drinking it in the Russian style--should be 
drunk WITHOUT SUGAR. I know very well that I am in a minority here. 
But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover if you destroy 
the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally 
reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, 
just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer 
tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very 
similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water. 

Some people would answer that they don't like tea in itself, that they 
only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar 
to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try 
drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely 
that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again. 

These are not the only controversial points to arise in connexion with 
tea drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilized the whole 
business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette 
surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your 
saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary 
uses of tea leaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of 
visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping the carpet. It is 
worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water 
that is really boiling, so as to make quite sure of wringing out of one's 
ration the twenty good, strong cups of that two ounces, properly handled, 
ought to represent.


www.george-orwell.org

All of the works and pictures on george-orwell.org are considered to be in the public domain (copyright protection has expired) and, as such, you may freely use the text of the works in any way you see fit.

I have to agree with George completely on no sugar and my Ruby nan always insisted that you could tell how well bred someone was by whether milk went in before or after the tea!

The Flower-ty pot pattern can be bought via ravelry for £2.50 or via the blog links and until the end of the month I am donating 50% of the sale price to MSF Help for Haiti.

Knitting

This might seem an unimaginative post title on a blog mainly about knitting, but there is a reason for this. Back in September I was asked if one of the jumpers from A Stitch in Time could be featured in, you've guessed it, Knitting magazine. I duly sent the jumper off for photography and then out of the blue a friend told me she had seen my jumper on the cover of a magazine. I had no idea it was to be the cover but I am stupidly excited by this. When you entrust your designs to a third party to present them on your behalf, it is very scary. Its like letting your child take the bus by themselves for the first time. Will it be ok? Will they look after it? My biggest concern is always how a design is photographed. With photography and styling being my secondary obsessions this is a stress I bring on myself. But there was no need to worry. The cover image and the images inside the magazine are delightful. Here's a little peek.



Here it is on the cover(twice) of the February issue.



And here is the beautiful shot from inside the magazine. The jumper is called Frilly Sleeves and is made using Knitshop Mulberry Silk which is a fabulous yarn. I useda colour called khaki gold which has got a wonderful faded quality about it.

In addition to the featured pattern I have also written a little article to accompany it called why we love vintage, which begins on page 46.

I'll be back tomorrow!

p.s. The jumper is now safely back at home and packed away.

for now
Ruby xxx

Help for Haiti

Like everyone I have been moved by the distressing images on our TV sets cataloging the disaster in Haiti. Reading postings in the Designers forum on Ravelry about how easy it is to pledge a percentage of your sales income to a nominated charity I will be donating 50% of all my single pattern sales, from today until 31st January (2010) to help with the awful disaster in Haiti. By following the Help for Haiti search button on the Ravelry pattern page you can see all the patterns now being sold with a percentage of the sale being donated to charity.

You can see my individual patterns on ravelry here or you can purchase by following the links on the blog - which are currently not there! I will add them in the morning! (Any additional patterns that I add during the period will also be included.)

I've chosen to donate the 50% of pattern sales to MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres.

for now
Ruby xx

What every girl needs is ... a Motoring Hood!

This cute yet stylish pixie hood with attached scarf is the latest pattern that I've just released as part of the Vintage Christmas Knits (soon to be Vintage Gifts to Knit) collection. Its knitted in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine which I've never used before. It was a very nice yarn to knit with. None of the splitting that often comes with alpaca yarns and a certain smoothness on the needle which made it very quick to knit. It also doesn't have as many loose fibres as on a pure alpaca yarn. The whole hood is worked in a basic K1, P1 rib. There is a small amount of shaping at the back of the neck of the pixie hood to ensure a comfortable and snug fit and of course you can make the scarf part as long as you like. With the scarf being attached to the hood it is incredibly warm and so snug. Perfect for keeping out cold, driving winds.



These hood and scarf ensembles were also known as Pixie Hoods, obviously due to the point at the back of the hood where the seams meet. However, a sophisticated girl would also wear a Motoring Hood when out driving in the open top at the weekend. Just like I do all the time!



The individual pattern is available as a PDF download either by following the link here or in the right hand column of the blog or it can be purchased directly through ravelry. The individual patterns from the collection each cost £3.00

Vintage Christmas Knits can now be pre-ordered via the knitonthenet shop or ravelry (ebook only on ravelry). The printed booklet costs £14 (+ shipping) and the e-book version £10.

PLEASE NOTE PURCHASERS OF THE PRINTED OR E-BOOK VERSIONS OF THE BOOKLET WILL RECEIVE PDF PATTERNS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE!

All pre-orders of the print version will receive a signed copy.

Writing this post has made me realise that I haven't added two of the four patterns available to the blog, so I shall be back later to put that right.

for now
Ruby xx