Louisa Harding - Knitting Little Luxuries

LOUISA HARDING

Photography, Stephen Jessup

Cover and interior design, Karla Baker

Technical editor, Karen Frisa

2007 Louisa Harding

Photography Stephen Jessup

Illustrations Interweave Press LLC

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harding, Louisa.

Knitting little luxuries : beautiful accessories to knit / Louisa Harding.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59668-054-8 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-59668-841-4 (PDF)

ISBN 978-1-62033-220-7 (ePub)

1. Knitting. 2. Knitting--Patterns. I. Title.

TT820.H266 2007

746.432041--dc22

2007018444

This book is dedicated to three very important women in my life: my grandmother Dorothy, who taught me to knit and whose button box I still use; my mother, Daphne, from whom I inherited my love of all things girly; and my stepmother, Dianne, who encouraged my love of fabric and sewing. The combined influence and never ending support from these three wonderful women has defined the woman and designer I am. Thank you.

As always, I thank Stephen Jessup for wonderful photographs and for being my rock, and our children, Belle and Oscar. Thankfully, children change everything.

This book would not be possible without the help of my wonderful knitters Betty Rothwell, Mrs. Marsh, Daphne Harding, Mary Butler, Mrs. Wilmot, and Janet Mann. I would like to thank the models, Cecily Alder and Alicia Pollett, as well as Michael Richmond for being such a wonderfully creative makeup and hair artist, and Andy Richards, our photographers assistant.

Thank you to Marilyn Phillips at the Battery. The look of this book was greatly enhanced by the wonderful location at which we took the photographs. Marilyn is an inspiration to creative women everywhere. Thank you also to Deb Price (debpricejewellery.co.uk) for the jewelry pieces commissioned to enhance and reflect the knitted pieces.

Finally, thank you to Anne Merrow, my wonderful editor, who thankfully turns my written waffle into readable coherent text, and Tricia Waddell and the fantastic team of women at Interweave Press for their support, understanding, and encouragement, which enabled this exciting book to happen.

Knitting Little Luxuries is a book of simple, beautiful, and quick-to-knit projects that are perfect to make as gifts for friends or to indulge yourself. The projects are un-ashamedly feminine and have been designed to unleash creative talents and excite an appreciation of wonderful yarns as well as the craft of knitting.

Women who knit have a kinship with fellow knitters, getting together at each others houses or the local yarn store to be enveloped by yarn, needles, notions, and patterns, immersing themselves in color and texture. In these surroundings, supported and nurtured by like-minded women, knitters are able to unleash a creativity that is not always obvious in ordinary daily life, sharing knowledge and practical skills as well as an appreciation of fiber and yarn. In this shared creative pursuit women find a sisterhood, a common thread, a support that goes far beyond the knitting, quite often knitting themselves into each others lives. This book is dedicated to and inspired by women, especially my grandmother Dorothy Louisa, after whom I was named and from whom I learned to knit.

When my grandmother died I inherited her sewing basket and button tin. Opening her sewing basket was like opening a treasure chest, not just of sewing and knitting notions but also of childhood memories of sitting at her knee watching her sew or knit and listening to stories of her life. I remember many happy hours sorting all these buttons by colors, sizes, and shapes. My own children now do the same, threading buttons onto strings and making bracelets and necklaces. I take great pleasure in the fact that even today my children enjoy the simple delight offered by my grandmothers button box on a rainy afternoon.

My grandmother grew up in very different times, born in 1911 as the second child in a family of seven. For her, making things for the home and to wear was a matter of necessity. Women of my grandmothers generation inherited their craft skills from sitting with their grandmothers, mothers, and aunts as they passed on skills that have not changed in centuries. Through this book I have the privilege of sharing the knowledge passed down to me with others.

Because making things was a necessity for my grandmothers generation, they had to be very inventive. As materials were scarce, they were the originators of recycling. Dorothy would reuse old fabrics, unravel old sweaters, and take buttons from worn-out clothes, then turn them into something new and unique.

The idea of uniqueness was my initial inspiration for the projects in this book. I wanted to design pieces that were very easy and simple to knit, which could be made unique by the addition of found objects, buttons, flowers, ribbons, and embellishment with embroidery, making every piece as individual as the women knitting them. The buttons and ribbons that I used as embellishment came from Dorothys sewing basket and button tin.

Using the women in my life as inspiration, I wanted the chapters in this book to reflect the different sides of women. There are many variations within female tastewe may not all like girly pink, but we can appreciate that a friend or relative may love it. With this in mind, the chapters and projects in this book have been designed to appeal to our different personalities.

I know that Dorothy would be amazed at the sumptuous fibers and the wide range of yarns available today. She would be astonished by the spectrum of colors and textures and the wide variety of patterns. My sincerest hope is that through my books I am able to pass on the handicraft knowledge I learned from her to my daughter, my nieces, and friends. My hope is that through knitting, sharing, and giving the projects in this book, you too will pass on your wisdom and keep the appreciation of these craft skills alive for generations of women in the future.