not a minute too soon

Yesterday was the best day ever!

Jane Waller and Susan Crawford visted the shop for the London launch of the republication of A Stitch in time. Susan and Jane are two of my favourite people and we were so glad to host them at the shop talking about the book.

They brought with them all of the garments from the book and my expectations, while very high, were thoroughly exceeded!

They are gorgeous.

Jane started proceedings by talking about the genesis of the book and her inspirations, motivations and desires. Jane Waller is a very engaging speaker whose enthusiasm is clear and seemingly boundless.

Susan continued, talking about why she wanted to republish the book and followed by taking us all through the garments in the book. They really are amazing.

This swimsuit was one of the most popular as you can see from our gorgeous model.

We had lots of gorgeous models.

We sold most of the books but we have some left but I don't imagine we'll have for long, It's a truly inspirational book.

The presentation went on for ages as the interest in the garments was huge and Susan has a way of talking to people that encourages us to understand that these garments are not only relevant, they are stunning, flattering and very achievable, all it takes is casting on. Most of the garments are made in 4ply, and although some of them have intricate designs the majority of them are simple, easy to pick stitch patterns with the most beatiful finishing touches, as Susan and Jane said, sometimes there is no reason for the fancy finishing other than it's just gorgeous!

I can't wait for volume 2!

Gxx

Postcards (and patterns) from the past...

Another turn up from the charity shop trip last week (apart fom Dame Edna records) was a couple of extra books for the shop's knitting library. It's fair enough to say that much of the stuff in our out-of-print book collection is out-of-print for a reason, including this latest gem from a book called First Knits. Michelin springs to mind, or maybe, as he grows up it just expands - defo value for money. What's interesting about these 'old' patterns is that most of the stuff form the 50s and 60s is so wearable that you can't help but think "will this ever come back?"


A friend we first met in our knitting group sent us a brilliant set of patterns that she found in flea market in New York, the highlights of which are a great mittens/glove booklet, totally usable now, about 50 years later, plus this incredible 'Pineapple' booklet. With Gerard's new-found lace compulsion I expect we'll have a few of these adorning our table-tops very soon. And if you ever needed proof of just how life-affirming a bit of crochet can be...check these two out. They're loving it! (Thanks Hailey for the package, a great surprise!)


If this isn't retro enough for you...go back a bit further. Well known for my geekiness (and proud of it I say!) I've been collecting postcards too...and starting a nice little collection of sheep and knitting. If you've been in the shop you might have seen

some of them around the walls...this one's a Manx woman and her cat, with a sock on the go, from 1924. So if you see any knitty, woolly cards do send 'em in! I'm hoping to eventually add them to our Flickr collections at some point. I've also discovered the brilliant Postcrossing site for those who want to be a bit random...

We're having a bit of a retro couple of weeks actually, with, right now as I type, The Talented Mr Ripley on for our new Friday night film night, and next week it's Far From Heaven, which, if I remember correctly, has some quite nice knitwear in it! I think I'm going to enjoy our Fridays from now on...

Craig
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