The Gawthorpe Collection

I am really late in letting you all know about this, but one of the most exciting things I did last year was take an inspirational visit to Gawthorpe Hall's amazing textiles collection. I was asked to contribute a pattern to the collection as part of the "Miss Rachel's Crafthouse Patterns" brand, which would become part of the permanent collection and help to raise money through pattern sales for the collection's upkeep - how exciting can you get? Well, it gets better, as I was in illustrious company, the other designers were Debbie Bliss, Kate Davies, Jane Ellison and Emma Varnam and I got to spend a day in their company looking at the most beautiful old textiles. 

I cannot emphasise enough how inspirational a trip to this collection is, if you get the chance, grab it - the house is wonderful, the collection extensive and interesting and the story behind the collector, Rachel Kay Shuttleworth, is both inspiring and fascinating.

My pattern was a capelet inspired by some crochet fragments labelled as ‘poor designs’, by Shuttleworth which reinforced my attractive for them further, especially as they are really very intricate compared to many modern designs. These scraps were from scrapbooks used instead of pattern ‘recipe’ books by whole villages. I liked the idea that I would be using one of the first crochet stitch compilation books to create my design! I could easily have chosen any one of many fragments as a starting point (and will no doubt use some others in future designs) but I settled on a stitch with very noticeable and striking ribs and geometric lace using what looked like a crocheted ‘X’ stitch, which seemed to suggest a shape and structure from their strong lines.

Taking this as a starting point, I thought that the ribs would lend themselves perfectly to a cape or shawl worked in short rows from side to side, rather than working the piece bottom to top, to utilise the structure of the stitch.

I wanted to crochet with a very special yarn with a luxury feel and beautiful drape and handle, as a capelet speaks to me of special occasion-wear. The vintage feel to the garment also seemed relevant to the time in which the original, inspirational fragment was made. I finished off the sample with some lace ribbon from my own collection of vintage haberdashery and textiles, which I felt finished the whole circle of the Gawthorpe experience extremely neatly.

All the other patterns are so amazing, I still cannot believe that mine is amongst them, go take a look at the others - I must make Kate Davies stunning beret, I love her post about it here.

Debbie Bliss The Knitter's Year

Debbie Bliss has always been an inspiration to me as a designer, she is a lovely woman and is very driven and hardworking. When I saw the title of her new book, The Knitter's Year, I thought it was such a fabulous idea and was so annoyed that I didn't think of it first!

The book is divided into four sections, one for each season, and there are 52 patterns - one for every week of the year. I am obviously a little bit sad, as I get so excited just thinking about how perfect this layout and concept is for a craft book. However, I must say, Debbie must have nearly killed herself by working on a knitting book with 52 patterns. My latest has around 30 and I almost had a breakdown writing it!

Like the Erika Knight book I talked about yesterday, the styling of the book is just as fabulous as the concept. The country cottage style setting, whitewashed wood and washed out colours are so pretty and of course make a good setting for every season and weather.

The projects are simple enough to actually able to give knitting a project a week for year a stab (maybe one year I will try it...!) but look interesting enough to keep you knitting. Another thing I like about the book are the practicality of its size and paper stock, it feels substantial yet ultimately usable.

The projects are, on the whole, relevant to the season they are in, which is great. I am partial to the plant pot covers in spring, the peg bag in summer, the pin cushion in autumn and the hottie in winter. I also love the opener pages, with their silhouetted illustrations of leaves and flowers in pretty colours.

My only niggle is that there are far too many decorations in winter. The chapters, or seasons, contain thirteen patterns each, and you would think that these would be split quite evenly between the three months they encompass. However, winter has dedicated nearly half of its patterns to Christmassy themed items, or colours that scream holidays. I would rather have more of the hotties and woolly warmers than Christmas nik-naks, even though I love this time of year. Aside from this and the flags, which seem a bit strange and out of context to me, the patterns are very in keeping with Debbie's great taste and style and are all simple yet beautiful classic pieces.

Autumn/Winter new collection

I cannot believe that I have actually started publishing the patterns for my Autumn/Winter collection while it is still mid-winter (and boy, it really is winter this year). I am finally getting on top of the pattern writing and am aiming to get most of the collection up in the next few weeks, which is great. The first two patterns up are a beautifully warm 'snood' type affair, reminiscent of the 80s fashion accessory and of the cowls seen everywhere on the A/W 09/10 catwalks.
Cables and subtle stripes add texture and interest and the Rowan Cocoon yarn is really cosy and great to work with.

The Chunky ribbed hat was bourne out of the freezing weather and the emergency of needing a final, very quick to make Christmas present! This is also a great pattern for those of you who want to try working in the round. The Debbie Bliss Como yarn, with its touch of cashmere, is very soft and warm and with the stylish, retro shape, the original proved a huge hit with the recipient.

You can buy both these patterns singly on Ravelry now, and the ebook will be up shortly, with more patterns to be added including a simple yet beautful scarf pattern with at least three different variations, some elegant wrist warmers, a crocheted cape and a couple of suprises.