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The World of Illusion Knitting

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PICKING UP THREADS

This was written in
2007
so is now very dated

I don’t remember when I arrived at the knitting path. I don’t remember being taught to knit. I’m sure I must have been taught by my grandmother but I have no recollection of it. I do remember the pile of  Woman’s Weekly magazines she had. These had insipid looking covers in pale pink and pale blue, both verging on grey. The pages looked old and faded even when they were brand new. They may have looked uninspiring but they contained treasures. There were recipes, stories, problem page, fashion advice and lots and lots of patterns. In hindsight, it seems that every issue had at least one pattern for a toy or doll’s clothes.

I loved those patterns. I wanted them – and I was allowed to have them. It wasn’t the rabbit or doll’s dress or coat that I wanted. I only wanted the patterns. They were in black and white and the photos were blurred but I cherished them. Grandad gave me a little blue book, which was probably one of those items from the scrap yard that would ‘come in useful’. It had a stiff cardboard cover and thick rough pages but I kept it for many, many years. I would go through the magazines and cut out the patterns but only after asking Gran if she had finished reading the story on the back. I suspect she bought the magazines as much for the romances as for the knitting. I always took great care to look at the bottom of the pattern page to find the bit where it said “Continued on page …”. It was infuriating that there was always a little bit on a page at the back – and that situation hasn’t  improved much in the intervening years. It was also a bit irritating that the size of my little book was not really compatible with the size of the patterns. They were always too long for the book and I folded the bottoms meticulously.

The magazine publishers needed to maintain their audience so you never got the complete outfit at one go. You had to go back for subsequent editions to make sure dolly was properly dressed. (Dolly, the doll, that is, as Gran was always known as Dolly, having been christened Doris.) The publishers used the same tactics with adult garments. A twin-set, for instance, would have the jumper one week and the cardigan the next.

My favourite doll’s outfit was spread over four issues. I can see those pictures now. The doll was standing very squarely on dumpy little legs. I don’t know what make of doll she was but she wasn’t tall and elegant with long plaits like my favourite doll. I didn’t have a doll that these clothes would fit but that didn’t matter at all. She was wearing a dress with puffed sleeves, a flounced hem, and a ribbon at the waist. This was the pattern for the first week. She also had a romantic hooded cape, which came in Week Two. Weeks Three and Four were the less highly publicised items – a vest (A vest under such an outfit - it seems highly unlikely now, but this was the age when a child would not be allowed out without a vest and, preferably, a liberty bodice too), pants, petticoat, shoes and socks.

The first item I actually recall knitting was for a doll. I can’t believe that it was the first thing I knitted but it was certainly at a tender age, and it was with Gran’s help. I’m sure she started it but I have no idea whether that was with the intention of me continuing it or whether she had been meaning to do it herself. It wasn’t the ideal project for a child. Perhaps it was merely a ploy to keep me still. I have never been able to sit and do nothing. I can sit for ever but have to have something in my hands. I was the same then – more of Dad’s genes?

Are you wondering what this thing could have been? It was a skirt. Not just a skirt. That would have been relatively easy. This was a pleated skirt! This was still in the mid-fifties when most of the yarns were still wool and still very fine, by today’s standards. I have no objection to wool but the colours left something to be desired. Sometimes we refer to them as ‘soft’ or ‘subtle’ and those muted colours can produce wonderful effects. This was just a vast expanse of dull lime green, if that isn’t a contradiction in terms. The wool was 3 ply, the needles were probably size 12 or 13 and the skirt had what seemed like hundreds of stitches.  It was finished eventually. It was part of an outfit but the details of the other parts of the outfit are lost in the mists of time. They didn’t have the same impact.

Is this when I ‘arrived in knitting’?

The knitting of the skirt happened at my grandparents’ house. Even though it seemed to take an eternity it must have been during a week or so one summer holiday.

3a. PRE-KNITTING ACTIVITIES continued