J & Dianne

My partner collects photos. He likes going through old photos in junk shops and buying whichever catches his eyes. He recently found these photos. In his own words:

There's something a bit sad and also a bit voyeuristic about this, but it spans maybe 20 years of this woman's life and a chunk of her daughter's. It's mostly sad because I found these photos scattered in amongst a couple of hundred more in a junk shop..

I am posting them here in roughly chronological order (as far as we can tell). The first woman is identified only as J. and the baby is identified as "Dianne" (also pictured as a young woman in the last photo).

Response

Many of you have left thoughtful replies to my review of Jane Brocket's knitting book. I have also received a few mails and tweets. Thank you all. Some of you wondered I made no mention of "Brocket-gate" - i.e. the mainstream media and blogosphere response to Ms Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity - and whether or not I was aware of it. Yes, I was aware of the response to The Gentle Art of Domesticity but I did not think this response particularly relevant to The Gentle Art of Knitting. I could write a long and boring paragraph about how I read books (I'm one of those girls who went to university and lost her intellectual innocence to literary theory) but suffice to say that I tend to focus on the book itself rather than any outrage surrounding its author.

And so I approached this new Jane Brocket book as I would any other knitting book: did I think it useful? did I find the patterns interesting? did it inspire me? did it teach me anything new? I hope I answered those questions in my review.

Some linkage: + Women of the Vortex. MARVELLOUS pictorial evidence of daring lady painters of a young 20th century. I find Vorticism endlessly exciting. I wish I could go to Tate Britain and shout about machines, speed and modernist epistemology. BLAST! + A Knitted Garden. This totally made my morning when I first saw it. + Modern day Hollywood has nothing on the stars of the Big Studios years. Clark Gable & the Scandal That Wasn't is an excellent read. + Speaking of entertaining reads, this review of "Rushed to The Altar" from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books had me howling with laughter. The review is definitely not for the faint-hearted and it is NSFW, but it is also hillarious. + It is a good thing I did not have my own webspace back in 1996, because I would definitely have set up an early prototype of My Daguerreotype Boyfriend. + Neil Patrick Harris' opening number at this year's Tony Awards = possibly the best 6 minutes of 2011 so far?

I have finished no less than three projects this week, so there will be plenty more knitting content over the next few days, but I'm also trying to work out a response to China Mieville's Embassytown which does not involve me muttering about Martian poetry. Cross your fingers hard.

The Not So Gentle Art of Reviewing

I was asked by a publishing company if I wanted to review a knitting book. My only problem was that the publishing company has a back catalogue of, well, novelty knitting books and so I was sent Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting when I showed a decided lack of interest in a Harry Hill knitting book. I think the Harry Hill book might have been better because the Brocket book confuses me. The Gentle Art of Knitting is pretty in a comfortable, yet aspiring way. The photography is lovely, the layout is stylish (but not dauntingly stylish) and the writing has a spring in its step. I was not surprised to find that Brocket is a blogger because her writing has a certain immediate, chatty style to it. I know I'm supposed to be charmed by her book and herself, but I have problems with the book.

I am well-educated middle-class woman who likes making things. I also like things with a story. And I appreciate aesthetically pleasing things. I am the target audience for this book but I feel condescended towards:  Reading The Gentle Art of Knitting I feel like I am not good enough because I have not chosen the right wine to go with my knitting (but Jane can help!); I am not good enough because I did not pick up 20 skeins of Cascade 220 on my last breezy weekend trip to New York (but Jane did!); And I am not fun and retro enough to have a knitted tea-cosy for my teapot (but Jane sure is!). There is a sense that my own life is slightly lacking but that Jane Brocket hovering behind me will gently correct all my tiny flaws.

I am not sure where this lingering sense of inferiority is coming from. Ms Brocket's designs are not exactly earth-shattering: a knitted apron, a bog-standard ripple crochet blanket, a chevron scarf.. There is exactly one pattern I like in this book - a pair of pillows - while the rest of the patterns feel nondescript. Designs do not need to be complicated, of course, but I somehow expected more from a book with such a heavy emphasis on aesthetics. I somehow expected a cohesive design strategy..

(There is even an strange bit devoted to "cult knitting patterns" which has her describing the Clapotis scarf and The February Lady Sweater. This section feels very odd, very tacked-on, and oddly dated.)

It is a UK book, yet most yarns used can only be bought in a handful of shops throughout the country. We are not even talking unicorn yarn here, just straightforward US workhorse yarns: Cascade 220 and Blue Sky Alpaca. If Jane Brocket wants to use yarns that is more exclusive than what you can find in your average UK yarn shop, why use quite plain US workhorse yarn? Why not track down The Natural Dye Studio? Fyberspates? The Knitting Goddess? If exclusivity is not her aim, why not promote UK companies? Rowan? Debbie Bliss? Sublime? Her readers will thank her for being able to buy the suggested yarns.

But then again it's a book for knitters that do not knit. It is lifestyle porn in the same way as Nigella's cooking shows, Kirstie Allsopp's TV crafting and the Sunday newspaper colour supplements are inviting you to buy into a lifestyle. As a knitter who does like to knit, I am not sure what to do with this book.

I have tried hard to think of The Gentle Art of Knitting's unique selling proposition but I cannot really find one. At the end of the day it is an aspirational lifestyle blog locked into a book. There are many knitting and lifestyle blogs out there - many of which are far better than this book - and I can read them for free. I can also buy far better pattern books at a fraction of the price.

I'm sure I wouldn't have spent nearly 700 words on the Harry Hill knitting book. I'm also sure I wouldn't have felt so disheartened either.

Pattern: Kaldred

Here is a quick and easy pattern for Kaldred, a crocheted bracelet/bangle.

As the UK & US have different crochet terminology, I have included both. For the Danes among you, Kaldred also comes in Danish.

Tip: try embellishing Kaldred with beads, buttons, sequins or ribbons.

Materials: + Crochet hook size 4mm (US size 6 or G if you cannot find a 6) + Approx 20 yards of Double-knitting or light worsted yarn. I used Rowan Denim. + Knitter's needle for weaving in ends.

UK terminology: Row 1: Ch 8, sl st to form circle. Ch 2, turn. Row 2: 5 tr into circle, ch 4, 1 dc into circle, ch 2, turn. Row 3: 5tr into the circle you formed in previous row, ch 4, 1 dc in circle, ch 2, turn.

Repeat Row 3 until one repeat short of desired length.

Then ch 5 tr into the circle you formed in previous row. Make sure that this row “leans” the opposite way of your starting point so that when you hold the end and the beginning together they form a continuous circle. Join the two ends together by slip stitching along the side of the chained circle.

Weave in ends.

US terminology: Row 1: Ch 8, slip stitch to form circle, ch 2, turn. Row 2: 5 dc into circle, ch 4, 1 sc into circle, ch 2, turn. Row 3: 5 dc into the circle you formed in previous row, ch 4, 1 sc into circle, ch 2, turn.

Repeat Row 3 until one repeat short of desired length.

Then ch 5 dc into the circle you formed in previous row. Make sure that this row “leans” the opposite way of your starting point so that when you hold the end and the beginning together they form a continuous circle. Join the two ends together by slip stitching along the side of the chained circle.

Weave in ends.

Dansk opskrift: 1. omg: Hækl 8 lm, saml dem til en ring m 1 km i første lm. 2 lm, vend. 2. omg.: 5 stm i ringen, 4 lm, 1 fm i ringen, 2 lm, vend. 3. omg.: 5 stm i ringen du dannede i forg. omg., 4 lm, 1 fm i ringen, 2 lm, vend.

Gentag 3. omg. indtil ønskede længde.

Dernæst hækl 5 stm i ringen du dannede i forg. omg. Sørg for, at denne gentagelse af viften hælder den anden vej end den allerførste vifte. Hækl de to ender sammen med km langs den første luftmaskering.

Hæft ender.

Enjoy! God fornøjelse!

Making Things

Crochet. I have been absolutely obsessed by crochet lately. Today I made this little bracelet out of scrap Rowan Denim. Pattern tomorrow. If you're a beginner crocheter, you will love how simple it is. Two things:

1) I love crocheting with cotton. In fact, I know nothing better than crocheting with a tightly-twisted mercerised cotton. Knitting with cotton tends to ruin my hands but crocheting is a different story all together.

2) I am an awfully tight crocheter. I have to go up at least one hook size (if not two) because my crocheting is uncomfortably tight and dense. In fact, you could probably use my crocheted fabric to cut bread unless I change hook size.

My very first garment ever was a self-designed crochet jumper made from my Mum's cotton scraps. It was yellow, orange, pink, lime green, and red. I made five granny squares and crocheted them together to form a strip right across my generous bust. (Hey, I was seventeen!) Then I crocheted stripes alongside the bottom edge making up the pattern as I went along. And a matching stripy square for the back. And another two stripy squares for the two sleeves. I whip-stitched everything together, of course, and wore the wonky cropped granny-squares-across-bust stripy jumper with pride.

Funnily enough the jumper got "lost" in the laundry one day.  Thanks Mum.

She never did manage to lose the trousers I made from my late uncle's kitchen curtain. These trousers would be have been on-trend this season had I not wore them until they fell apart (the fabric with its fish motifs might also have pegged me as being slightly weird). I am a bit tempted to sew a pair of wide-legged trousers, but I'll definitely give the crocheted granny-square/stripy jumper a miss.

Quoted For Truth

"The idea is to say that curvy is not a problem it's very sexy. I think, when I see women like Nigella with shoulders, boobs and hips, they are beautiful. Stunning. They are sexy. To put that on the runway is very healthy.

This is our moment, it means we have to push people to understand that a body with shape is better than tiny, skinny girls. Who dreams of being like a teenager? The model is not the only prototype for women. To have freedom to be as you are, to use your body as it is, it's very positive." - Franca Sozzani, editor of Italian Vogue.

My emphasis.