Knitting in the Details: Charming Designs to Knit and Embellish

237 Pages·2011·12.33 MB·English

by  Louisa Harding

CHARMING DESIGNS TO KNIT & EMBELLISH
Louisa Harding
Acknowledgments
‘To understand your parents’ love bear your own children’
This book is for my mother, Daphne, a constant source of strength, support, and
unconditional love.
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 the following people; my
wonderful knitters, Betty Rothwell, Betty Marsh, Daphne Harding, Mary Butler,
Mrs. Wilmot, Debbie Humphreys, and Jenny Carter.
I would like to thank the models, Joanna Stubbs, Aby Fox, and Sheri
Staplehurst, as well as Liz Rochford for being such a wonderfully creative
makeup and hair artist, and Guy Bishop, our photographer’s assistant.
Finally, thank you to Tricia Waddell and Rebecca Campbell and the fantastic
team of editors, book designers, and production people at Interweave for their
support, understanding, and encouragement.

Introduction
Embroidery
Amber
Erin
Opal
Ruby
Coral
Flora
Beading
Verity
Talullah
Constance
Clarissa
Prudence
Bettine
Added Elements
Matilda
Esme
Ella
Gracie
Tabitha
Amelia
In the Details
Poppy
Madeleine
Nina
Ivy
April
Marigold
Glossary of Terms and Techniques
Yarn Suppliers

Introduction
In my studio, I have an evergrowing collection of boxes, tins,
baskets, and jars that contain my many treasures. Instead of rubies and
diamonds, my riches include such things as an unruly tangle of ribbons
that grows like an overflowing porridge pot in a children’s fairy tale.
My desire to collect all things that sparkle or glisten is insatiable. I
love anything that looks as if it has a hidden story, such as a vintage
brooch at the thrift shop, a jar of old belt buckles in the dusty corner of
my local haberdashery shop, and my mother’s jewelry boxes filled
with broken trinkets. I am compelled to collect and surround myself
with these castoffs, waiting for a flash of inspiration to give these
once-loved items a continuing story.
Not all my treasures are found objects, however. Some are quite
new. During a trip to Paris a few years ago, I visited La Droguerie—a
store devoted to buttons, beads, ribbons, feathers, and all sorts of
enticing gems. I spent hours picking out velvet ribbon, a frenzy of
feathers, and beautifully handcrafted artisan buttons. This store fueled
my lust for embellishments with every one of the thousands of items
displayed with love in glass jars and on wooden reels. Haberdashery
shops are not always easy to find, hidden away like little gems, but
they are always staffed with wonderful people knowledgeable about
thousands of products.
This book, Knitting in the Details, is the beginning of the story I
want to tell about using beautiful embellishments for knitted projects.
Knitting is a wonderfully creative pursuit that is both meditative and
relaxing, and while there are many patterns and yarns for fantastic
projects, I believe that a bit of personal history or added creativity
enhances each piece. For me, embellishment is about adding buttons
from an old shirt to the edging of a scarf or the charms from a broken
bracelet to the flounce on a purse. It is about rediscovering techniques
that my grandmother’s generation used to add decoration to their work
—embroidery, beading, and appliqué—all skills that make a project
unique. In our world of availability and mass production, it is
comforting to revisit these techniques to make appealing projects.
There is a Chinese proverb that says “Patience and the mulberry leaf
make a silk purse.” Many of the knitted projects in this book are
simple and quick to knit. The love is in the embellishment—taking the
time to add a special detail, a finishing touch, a unique quality. This
love prolongs the story and the history of each piece to create
heirlooms of the future. I hope that the projects contained in these
pages will inspire you to add your personal history into your own
unique projects.
Embroidery
Embroidery is one of the most delightful methods of enhancing a
knitted project. Amber, a cloche-style hat, has just a small amount of
embroidery, whereas Opal, a striped purse, is heavily embellished
with a combination of stitches. Lazy daisy embroidery and French