..... darn it......

10% off our next 2 workshops  /  earlybird tickets We've got the summertime blues as 2 or 3 participants have had to drop out of our upcoming workshops for various reasons.  But there are also greens, yellows and reds in abundance all around us!  Yes, the temperatures in south west France have moved up to the 30s most days now, the gardens are at their colourful peak and when we're not enjoying regular dips in the salt-water pools to cool off we're learning a little bit more about the arty craft of darning......   We all know how technological advances have engaged us in constant fast-forward motion making life overscheduled, stressed and hurtling towards the next task, whether at work or at home.  We mostly rush our food, our family time and even our recreation. If, like us, you can make space to sit in the shade for a few moments we'd like to pass on a little information about the slow art of hand-darning as a method of repair, embellishment, and a means of prolonging the life of a garment for economic or sentimental reasons.   Darning offers the stitcher an opportunity to slow down; the hand moving the needle into and then out of the fabric in a soothing, rhythmic pattern offering simultaneously a quiet time to unwind and a meditative recharging of the spirit whilst producing something useful yet beautiful.   Traditionally, darning is often employed where patching is impractical or would create discomfort for the wearer, such as on the heel of a sock, cardigan elbow or trouser knee.  It generally employs a simple running stitch "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, and then filling in the framework thus created, as if weaving and  But simple over-and-under weaving of threads can be replaced by various fancy weaves, such as twills, chevrons, etc., achieved by skipping threads in regular patterns. The length of the stitches are often varied to produce geometric designs.Though the skill and techniques of darning and pattern darning are essentially the same, the line between them holds significance in the intention of the maker. Is this pattern being used to repair and extend the life of the garment, emphasise its historical use or simply  to enhance and embellish the piece; possibly all three?     Since the original purpose was to reinforce weakened fabric or replace areas where the fabric had been ripped or disintegrated it was usual to match the repair threads as closely to the fabric as possible and if the fabric had a pattern, it was necessary to find suitable replacements for all the colours. Many sewing baskets contained scraps of fabric that could be unraveled and threads reused. The repair was worked from the topside where fabric remained, and rewoven where it was completely gone.   Our knowledge of pattern darning originates from textiles from Egypt dating to the 11th century.  Traditional embroidery using pattern darning is found in Africa, Japan, Northern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and Peru and designs for pattern darning seem to be carried forward from generation to generation.  Current darning methods are remarkably similar to the much older Egyptian designs. The skill is believed to have moved north along trade routes and is called skakkaglit in Iceland where it appears on altar cloths, bed linens and curtains. In this stitching, we start to see wool thread being used on linen and church inventories mention skakkaglit as an adornment.       Sashiko has been used in Japan for centuries for the continued reuse old clothing and is most famously visible on their Boro clothing (should you ever find yourself with some spare time in Tokyo, we highly recommend a visit to the Amuse Museum  where you will find an amazing private collection of Boro garments).  Starting with a couple of layers of old cloth, a new layer of fabric was added on top using tiny stitches. Sashiko means "little stabs" and resembles grains of rice. Traditionally the thread was white and the fabric indigo blue. Several styles of sashiko developed over time but the most basic pattern is called Moyozashi. This pattern is very geometric with straight or curved lines. The main difference with this type is that the lines do not cross. There should be a tiny bit of fabric showing between the stitches. If the geometric design does meet and cross, then the style is called Hitomezashi. The more colorful version is Nanbu. Kogin is also a derivative of Hiteomezashi but it follows the weave of the fabric and the stitch extends up to five threads in length with fabric threads showing between the stitches.   Our 5-Day workshop, KNITTING, DARNING & MENDING, this September, is to be led by Celia Pym,currently enjoying a UK Craft Residency at Cove Park, Scotland, who has travelled widely in Japan studying their darning, knitting and stitching techniques since completing her degree at Harvard University.   For many years Celia has been the enthusiastic, leading light in the art and craft of "Visible Mending", it's history and value in the household which combines the skill and philosophies of textile repair.  A small hole in a sweater might be darned with a matching yarn for practical purposes, but "Visible Mending" combines the utilitarian with the decorative by choosing contrasting colours and perhaps a different weight of yarn, maybe adding pattern and picture to the work. This visible mend brings frugality, design and frivolity into one place, literally stitching history into our daily lives as clothing and household linens sprout small testaments to a lineage of stitching as an essential skill in the human story. Several places have recently become available on both Celia Pym's Knitting, Darning and Mendingworkshop, 21st to 27th September - a hands-on adventure learning beautiful traditional methods to repair - as well as a couple at Claire Wellesley Smith's Weekend event from 7th to 10th October.  We'll be writing more about Claire's exquisite work and teaching methods in our next newsletter, but if you can step in and  book a place at either event before the middle of August, we can offer a 10% discount as late-comers.        And just a little reminder that we still have tickets for the incredible Gigspanner concert the weekend before Celia Pym's workshop, (www know this because Gigspanner have performed here twice before!).  So if the idea of some first class music, followed by a few days of quiet B&B accommodation in an amazing location, before moving into the world of stitches, we'd be happy to sort it out for you.  Bring your partner and we'll give you a special rate.

Tickets for Concert only

... feeling like February......

February has arrived and for most of us it has brought with it wet weather, grey skies and a bracing wind after what had been a mild warm winter so far.

On the positive side, the time indoors will be spent productively dealing with those overdue sewing tasks, whilst making an early start on the spring cleaning chores before our workshop season arrives with Åsa Tricosa's Weekend Knitting Masterclass at the end of April. Something really exciting to look forward to (Åsa's workshop, not the chores, that is).....

 

Asa Södeman is never one to sit back on her laurels; she's off to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March where you will find her hosting a couple of three-hour demonstrations:  one on Collars and Cuffs, and the other on the Marlisle technique, a new system of creating decorative texture and colour shifts in handknitted fabric with a particular focus on seamless knitting in the round.  Her workshop here will concentrate on tailoring beautifully crafted, top-down garments, with special attention to all those details that make for an expertly finished, knitted garment.  As a moderately competent knitter myself, I'm looking forward to learning those professional touches Åsa is celebrated for, as well as assimilating some of her wonderful Scandinavian colour sense. 

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Edinburgh seems to be the place to be at the moment for anyone into textiles, yarns, and all things  in-between. Fiona Rutherford, who will be leading her first workshop, Tapestry Weaving, with us in September this year, is starting her year with an exhibition of new tapestries at CONVERGE 2016 Visual Arts Scotland, 29th January - 20th February,  "I'm delighted that my triptych, "Familiar Rhythms", has been selected for this exciting mix of fine and applied art and design showing at the RSA galleries". She'll also be showing a selection of her tapestries under the theme "Fragments" at the Knitting & Stitching Show, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, from 28th April to 1st May, when she herself will be available to talk to.  Well worth a visit!

During Fiona's workshop here, participants will be using lightwieght wood frame looms and a vibrant range of her personal Swedish cotton and linen yarns to weave colour and shape. Whether you are new to tapestry weaving or you want to take time to expand your ideas and weaving technique further in a creative environment, Fiona will guide you through the steps of how to create a small tapestry mounted and ready for you to take home.

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If, however, your neck of the woods happens to be Stateside, and Vermont at that, you might like to take the opportunity to view the work of innovative and talented "stitch artist", Emily Barletta whose work will be on view at the exhibition, Intimacy and Materiality,at the Helen Day Arts Centre in Stowe.  

We still have a few places remaining on Julie Arkell's Workshop here: Birds on a Table at the beginning of June. Julie's events here are always a joy, and participants this year will be encouraged to bring nature books they love, a favourite shell, dried flowers or any other nature find, all of which will be used to populate their unique nature table.  As usual, our regular workshop leader and firm favourite,Julie, will be sharing some her celebrated paper maché, knitting, stitching and collating techniques.

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We know that Julie would just love the fabrics of Kekfesto Cotton, a small UK importing company run by the aficionado, Gilly Thomson, which sells dozens of Hungarian, indigo printed, patterned fabrics. Reminiscent of Dutch Delft, but also remarkably similar to traditional hand-printed textiles of Japan, these textiles originally came from India, delivered as presents to the French court in the C17th and immediately became fashionable among ladies and nobles .  By the turn of the C18th more than a hundred workshops were operating in Hungary with printing technology and patterns that were top secret within each particular guild.  Today only eight workshops remain, and whilst still producing  the traditional patterns they also experiment with modern ones.  Luckily for us, Gilly stocks most of them.   

   

Enjoy a fabric-full February!

Katie

.... knitting our socks off.......

Makes a nice change to have some quiet time down here in South West France.  I recently finished knitting a wrap in cashmere and am now busily completing another one using up some old cotton tweed I had.  With the end in sight, I have suddenly been inspired to knit socks and/or slippers with other remnant yarns.  I taught myself to knit simple socks a few years ago and feel it's time to try something a little more complicated as they don't take very long to make and are incredibly satisfying. Here are five patterns that you might find inspiring - some more difficult than others and most free to download (though you may need to register on-site).

We still have a couple of places left on both Patricia Roberts knitting workshop in May, and Marion Foale's in October if you'd like to learn a few techniques and design tricks by the experts.

vogue knitting

knitty

ravelry

garnstudio

cocoknits

And on a different subject you might be interested in something a tad more upmarket, but you never know, coming up in April :

LONDON ANTIQUES FAIR

SPRING: 23 - 28 April 2013

http://www.decorativefair.com

a conversation with Patricia Roberts.........

I first met Patricia Roberts in person a couple of years ago, when I approached her about the possibility of her leading a knitting workshop for Les Soeurs Anglaises, but I have been visiting her wonderful shop in Kinnerton Street, London for many years and known her by reputation for far, far longer.  In fact, I can honestly say that Patricia and her designs were responsible for my taking up needles to attempt something a little more serious and fashionable than the ubiquitous stripy scarves I had been making for long-suffering relatives for years.  Complicated some of of her designs may be, but worth the effort, always.

So I thought it about time to find out a little more about her personal stitching history, and I'm sure you will find it as intriguing as I did.

What is your first memory of knitting?  Do you remember the first item you knitted and do you still have it?

My very first memory of knitting was from when I was about 5 years old and my mother knitted me a red scarf to prove to my father that she could knit. I had to wear it to school and I was so embarrassed, because of all the dropped stitches.

My mother disliked anything homemade, because  as a girl she had always had home made clothes and longed for shop bought ones. I don’t think my mother ever knitted again after the red scarf, and my father’s teasing.  So it was my grandmother, who was a good craftswoman, who taught me to knit, when I was six.  Most of my friends had small rosebud dolls, which their mothers had knitted clothes for from “Women’s Weekly” patterns. My mother bought me the doll, but as I didn’t have the patterns, I made up my own, the first item being a fully fashioned (I was obsessed with increasing and decreasing) little dress in fine yellow wool with blue spots on it.  I don’t know what happened to it, but I was very proud of it at the time. I have continued to be obsessed with shape in conjunction  with stitch craft.

From where do you get your inspiration?

Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything and often an amalgam of different inspirations uniting to become something, which has very little relationship with the original. For instance one of my designs was an amalgam of  Fuzzypeg’s  coat from the “Little Grey Rabbit” books combined with a quilted cup and saucer. 

 

                                          Fuzzypeg's coat           A Patricia Roberts' pullover

How long is the process from first idea to finished item?

The length of time depends on how complicated the design is. For instance if a design has a particularly large complicated chart, the chart alone will take ages to complete and developing the stitches can be a slow process.

How do you arrive at the final design of an item?

The designs evolve as I work on them, particularly the stitches. I do a sketch of the shape of the garment and a rough idea of the stitches, then work on a stitch block, working the stitches out on graph paper and at the same time knitting, unraveling and reknitting until it is correct. The shape of the garment is particularly important and I work out the best use of the stitches within its dimensions.

Patricia Roberts' designs

Which fashion designers were you most influenced by when you first started?

A french designer called Lil, whose designs “Lil pour l’Autre”   machine knits were so cleverly shaped.  In the late 60’s and early 70’s they also had their own brand of luxury hand knitting yarns.

 

Lil pour l'Autre designs circa 1970

At what stage did you consider yourself a “professional knitwear designer”?

When I first saw one of my designs in a magazine. It was a yellow cabled sweater in “Honey” magazine.

Which current designer’s work are you most excited by?

I have the greatest regard for John Galliano’s work. It is often so cleverly executed. It is such a pity about his drunken comments.

John Galliano for Vogue

In which direction do you see hand-knitting going?

Currently the style is leaning towards the retro, always good for hand knits.

Original 1950 and 1960 knitting patterns

What one item/piece of equipment/skill (other than needles and yarn)  do you think is essential for the successful knitter?

A tape measure.

What is it you enjoy about teaching knitting?

Last year we had such an enthusiastic group of participants. Each had brought along a garment that they had knitted previously, which made a good talking point. Everyone was set the same brief and it was interesting to see how they all came up with something different.

Patricia's Knitting Workshop, Les Soeurs Anglaises, 2011

What are you looking forward to during your visit to Les Soeurs Anglaises?

Beautiful surroundings, the food, the visit to the secret brocante, the musical evening; it was all such fun.

A bowl of pasta on the last evening

Thank you Patricia and we look forward to seeing you at the end of May.

Creative Workshop Stimuli

One of the really great things about running creative workshops at our house here in France is that you get to meet incredibly creative people! And I'm not just talking about the workshop leaders, although that goes without saying. Some participants arrive already creatively charged, ready to take on a new challenge or improve an existing one, like Rebecka Ryberg Skott, whose extraordinary photographs never cease to amaze (and entertain) me;

and Jone Hallmark, whose creativity never ceases.

Others present themselves on arrival as inexperienced or dabblers in the arts and crafts, but quickly discover through the workshop leaders' encouragement and teaching, the artist within, and head home with unique and beautiful items that bring back to life their neglected or forgotten creative inner child.

This is also very much the case with the Argentine Tango workshop led by London's top teachers, Bianca and Sasha of Rojo y Negro.

Cries of "Oh, I can't dance", or "I have two left feet" can be heard in the nervous mutterings of participants new to this amazing dance (mostly from the men it has to be said), but within a couple of hours, Bianca has demonstrated the basics and the fun of learning something completely new has become both stimulating, gratifying and totally rivetting. Of course, after only one workshop you can't expect to be able to dance the Argentine Tango as well as, say Geraldine Rojas, but does it really matter? The enjoyment you get from simply being able to hold your own on the dance floor, in time with the music, is pretty hard to beat. And learning the moves amongst an enthusiastic group of like minded people is the nearest you're going to get to the insouciant pleasure of our childhoods.

Returning to inspirational arts and crafts, take a look at Cathy Cullis' work. I recently discovered her beautiful and unusual stitch work and photographs and am now an avid follower of her inspirational blog. This one reminded me of Claire Montgomerie's colours whose workshop kicks off our 2010 season in May.

And if you're into second hand clothes take a gander at Prance and Swagger, where you can see, and buy online, some pretty fabulous fifties frocks (one or two perfect for the Argentine Tango) amongst lots of other vintage goodies - especially interesting for those of you living in the States as the postage charges will obviously be much lower.