Susan Crawford Vintage at KnitNation 2011, in photos.

We have all been really busy since coming back from Knit Nation last weekend. It has been a whirlwind, make no mistake, including manic sewing up and lots of work on the book. For that reason, I do apologise for the short delay in getting some pictures to you of the Susan Crawford Vintage stand.

So, with no further delay, here's a photostory of some of the things that happened at Knit Nation 2011.

On set-up day I got there a little bit before Susan, to set up her Susan Crawford Vintage Knitting stand, so made the most of my time and knitted like the wind in the quadrangle at Imperial College to finish the last piece of my Jan Sweater to wear on Sunday.

It was great to get lots of new garments from Susan's A Stitch in Time volume 2 out on display for the public to see. It took a whole day's worth of sewing up this lovely nile green Excelana fair isle cardigan, and it was worth every stitch, as it looked stunning on display with the other half of its twin-set.

The grey ribbed jumper with bobble detail was a real crowd-puller, with it's simple lines and easy wearability, as was the mustard coloured cardigan behind it. When  cover model, Theo wore the cardigan on Sunday she really turned heads. I'm only sorry that I didn't get a picture of her.

Julieta from Knitshop came along to help out on the Susan Crawford Vintage Knitting stand while Susan was teaching on Saturday. She modelled one of the new designs from A Stitch in Time 2 which is made from her own mercerised cotton.

Susan's was a gorgeous stand, with lots and lots of garments to look at and try on. As well as showcasing those from the new book, there were four from A Stitch in Time volume 1 and lots of beautiful accessories and garments from Vintage Gifts to Knit. The Perfect Christmas Jumper, which you can just see on the right had an amazing amount of interest for a humid July day!

Look! There was even a digital frame with lots and lots of beautiful shots of the knitwear from A Stitch in Time volume 2. It was a really great way to share a little of the work that has been going on behind the scenes with you all.

Of course, there was Excelana by the bagful. The Jan Sweater, seen here in powedered egg, the slip stitch jumper that can just be seen behind it, and the gorgeous fair isle accessories on the top of the cabinet showed a nice range of different ways to work with the wool. I think that ruby red was the runaway success of all the colours at knitnation. I wonder what you will all make with it?


All images copyright Ingrid Murnane

Susan Crawford Vintage at Knit Nation 2011

It is a busy week here at Arbour House, as we plan our stand, decide on our outfits and gather lots of books, patterns and yarn for this weekend's knitting event in London, Knit Nation.

Jumpers and Hats - see them in their entirety at Knit Nation!
Image copyright Ingrid Murnane

We have a stand this year in the marketplace, so do come over and visit us if you're attending. We shall have lots of goodies on display, with lovely vintage garments from A Stitch in Time volume 1. We shall also be taking lots of new garments and accessories, previously unseen which are from the forthcoming A Stitch in Time volume 2.

The marketplace is open on Friday evening for a class-attendee's preview from 5-7pm, then on Saturday from 10am-6pm, and Sunday from 10am-5pm. Our stand, Susan Crawford Vintage, will look somewhat like our Woolfest one below.

Woolfest 2011, image copyright, Susan Crawford

As you can see, as well as our books and Susan's patterns, we shall have lots of 4ply Excelana, which Susan has used for many of the patterns in A Stitch in Time volume two, including the two garments on the left of the picture above.

In exciting news, Susan thought it would be nice to offer a 10% discount on Excelana yarns to any pre-order customers of A Stitch in Time, Vintage Knitting Patterns, Vol2, who buy from her stand. To claim your discount please bring a print out of your order confirmation from the knitonthenet shop (only pre-orders directly made on the shop I’m afraid) and we will deduct 10% off any Excelana purchase.

Come and find out what this is at Knit Nation!

Image copyright Ingrid Murnane

We shall have a guide available for all of the garments that we have on show to work out how many balls of Excelana you'd need to knit them up in your size. Please do just ask, if you'd like to be ready for the book coming out, or would like to knit something in Excelana from Vintage Gifts to Knit or A Stitch in Time volume 1. We can work it out for you and advise which projects would be suitable.

We do hope to see you at Knit Nation. Do tell us in the comments if you're going to be going too.

Happy knitting

Ingrid x

A Little Finishing

We're all still working hard, here, on the final parts of A Stitch in Time volume 2. Today, Susan has been pattern grading, Gavin has been laying up some of the patterns on the computer, for printing and I have been sewing up and finishing some sample garments.

Here's a sneaky peek behind the scenes.

The set-up for seaming and finishing includes equipment for blocking and pressing, including a large blocking board. We have copious supplies of darning needles, pins, the right yarns for sewing the right garments, and of course, the making-up instructions. The guitar in the background is entirely optional, but I find that listening to some podcasts or a bit of Tim Minchin helps it along!

 Here's a garment, almost finished. I'm setting in one of the sleeves here.

 

This is a cardigan made from Excelana -the main colour is Nile Green. It has some fair isle along the top of the two fronts which made for a rather epic session of weaving in ends.

 A little further along in the process - the ends have been woven in, the shoulders and side seams sewn up, the sleeve seams sewn, and here again I'm setting in one of its sleeves.

I'd love to show you the finished items, but I'm afraid you'll need to wait just a little bit longer!

Happy knitting
Ingrid x

All images are copyright Ingrid Murnane