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.
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.
