White Threads

I love maps

The other day I mentioned that the only other job I can imagine myself happily doing is cartography. You see, I love maps. I love looking at atlases.

When I first got a real job after uni, I worked for Readers Digest Australia in their books department as a book designer. The books we made were BIG books. With a whole team of people working on them, they would usually take at least a year to make.

Two of the books that I worked on were map books. If you’re in Australia, and are familiar with Readers Digest books, you may know of “Book of the Road” and “Australia’s Most Scenic Drives”. “Book of the Road” was a huge map book that had an very innovative layout meaning that the maps all flowed on, one from the other, without having to properly turn the page. Its very difficult to explain how it works, but it was quite incredible.

The maps were supplied to us by a mapping company. I made it my job to check the maps against one another. While the maps flowed continuously from left to right, they had the usual markers at the top and bottom, telling you which map it joined onto.

Now, as you can imagine with maps, the roads went off the top and bottom, continuing on the next map. There was a slight overlap at the top and bottom of each map, with the next map, so that you could more easily re-orient yourself, on arriving on the new page.

I found that sometimes a road would go off one map and come back on the next map at a different level of importance. ie on one map it was a minor road, and on the next map it suddenly changed to being a secondary road. There were towns that from map to map were different, with their relative sizes indicating different populations. Obviously, these were mistakes that needed to be fixed. So I made it my job to find them all. We then sent the discrepancies back to the mapping company so they could correct the mistakes. (I don’t think they counted on someone like me checking as thoroughly as I did!)

I also often had to smooth the text of the road names along the roads so that it fitted better with the curve of the road, and move town names around (still making sure they were suitably attached to their relevant location) so that they would fit better.

I gained a really good appreciation of how Australia fits together. I learned where all sorts of places were. I mentally noted funny place names. Did you know there is a small town just north of Sydney called “the letter A”? We’ve even been there!

I had so much fun – map books are great to work on. So if I ever had to retrain for a new career, I’d love to be a cartographer. But as I love what I do now so much, I can’t see that it will ever actually happen.

drawn thread and special memories

Today I had a lovely email conversation with one of my customers. She told me why she had decided to purchase two books: Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery and Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature.

I heard about you from a lady at my hairdressers. We have had the same appointment time for several months and chat while we have our hair done. We talk about our craft work and she mentioned that she does Hardanger – that is how she knew about you.

I told her about a friend of mine who does beautiful work and who had been wanting to do Mountmellick work, but was having trouble finding any books or teachers.

So, I Googled you and was delighted to find all the information on your site. As I was meeting my friend at our craft group that very afternoon, I printed off the information about your book and took it to her. Imagine my surprise in finding that she had borrowed a copy from the local Embroiderers’ Guild and was wondering how to purchase her own copy as she liked your book so very much.

Also, my curiosity led me to check out what ‘Merezhka’ was, and to my delight I found that it is drawn thread work. An elderly delightful Latvian friend, now deceased unfortunately, taught a small group of ladies this work and I really enjoyed it. Her work was exquisite.

Drawn thread work has a very special place in my heart as it brings back so many happy memories of my friend. So I’m looking forward to enhancing my skills and learning more.

I do apologise if I have rattled on, it seems amazing that this all started from a chance remark at the hairdressers.

Then later she told me more about the special lady who taught her drawn thread work.

My friend who taught me the drawn thread work, used to talk about the time when she was a displaced person in a POW camp in Europe after WW II, and how the ladies used to somehow obtain parachute silk from the guards and use this fabric to make underwear which they then embroidered and also did drawn thread work.

She showed us a chemise she still had all those years later and the work was exquisite – very minute stitches of course. She would use threads from other clothes or whatever she could find to do this and said that her embroidery helped her get through many dark moments.

A very special lady and even though she passed away several years ago – she was in her nineties – I still miss her. I can feel tears pricking my eyes as I type this, so it will be extra special for me to continue to build on what she had taught me.

Thank you J, for permission to share your story with the readers of my blog. It illustrates beautifully some of the ways that important embroidery is to many of us – a source of special memories and a help through difficult times.

Royal School of Needlework book of the month

I just found out that “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” has been named Book of the Month by the Royal School of Needlework’s shop! Yay!

I’m also after a copy of Mary Hickmott’s New Stitches magazine which apparently has reviewed the book in the latest issue. I emailed New Stitches, and they’re very kindly sending me a copy. What lovely people!

I managed to get “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” off to the printer yesterday. It will probably be back here in 2 1/2 to 3 months time. So the August release is looking good. Of course, if I have it early, it will go out early too!

Now I can breathe for a day or two, then get onto fixing or burying my desktop computer.

why backing up your computer is important!

I don’t know why this happens, but nearly every time I need to send a book off to the printers, my computer stuffs up somehow. (Surprisingly, and happily, I had no problems when doing “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”.)

The night before last I had just finished backing up my new right-handed book, “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” to my external hard drive. I was then readying part of the file to make it into a PDF, ready to take to my local printshop to get printouts to send to the printer…

And something happened. I have no idea what. My very old desktop computer just hung and stopped doing anything. I rebooted and found that the computer now had an error that the usual checks and fixes couldn’t fix. Something called an “invalid sibling link”, whatever that is! (As far as I know, my relationships with my siblings are just fine…) I tried using the disk first aid things that come with the computer, but it said that it couldn’t fix it either, and that I should back up the computer now.

So began the process of backing up the whole computer, something I had not done for many years. I regularly back up the important things I am working on, but not the whole computer – mostly because it takes SO long! There was a huge proportion that copied ok, but some files just refused to copy. Oh well.

Googling the error on my laptop, it seems that its really quite serious. Oh dear.

So once the back-up was done, I have ignored the problem, and just continued preparing the files for print. It seems to be going ok. So as long as all continues in the same vein, I’ll get the book off to the printer, and then sort out the computer.

I have been thinking for some time that I need to retire my poor old computer, and move fully to my laptop, but that involves quite a bit of expense in upgrading computer programs. I’ve therefore been putting it off. Maybe this is just the kick in the pants I need to actually bite the bullet and do it.

But the moral of the story is: make sure you back up your computer regularly!

designing embroidery

One of the online forums that I participate in was recently discussing whether people design their own embroidery or use other people’s designs. Many people were saying that they like to design their own – including me.

Then, one member posted that she did not have a creative bone in her body and she was grateful that designers produce designs (especially kitted ones) as it means that she is able to do embroidery.

I responded:

Clapping and cheering! We love people like you, [person’s name] and are glad that you are part of the stitching community too! 🙂

Two people then responded that they had never though of it like that. Well, actually, neither had I!

But it is true that having other people who enjoy stitching my designs is lovely. I am pleased that I can create designs for people to use, who wouldn’t otherwise feel that they could do any embroidery at all.

Sometimes, I feel that I have rather an esoteric and unimportant career – writing embroidery books and teaching people how to do embroidery. I mean, in the scheme of things, it seems rather superfluous, when compared to teachers, nurses, garbage collectors etc.

But then people remind me how much joy embroidery brings to their lives, and that without people to teach embroidery, it is a skill that would eventually die out. This warms my heart, and makes me feel that what I do isn’t a silly waste of time, compared to so called “important” jobs.

And as it happens, I love what I do. 🙂 I can’t think of anything else that I would rather be doing, apart perhaps from cartography, but that is a topic for another day…!

another left-handed embroidery book review

I found yet another review the other day, for my book The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion. JennyFlowerBlue is another right-handed embroiderer who wishes she was left-handed!

I wish I was left-handed, no really I do. This book; ‘The left handed embroiderer’s companion’ by Yvette Stanton is a BRILLIANT stitch dictionary. The illustrations are crystal clear and interspersed with peeks of contemporary embroidery illustrating the stitches… more

I’ll just point out that soon right-handers won’t have to wish that at all, as they’ll have their very own embroidery stitch dictionary: “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”.

But in the mean time, you can visit JennyFlowerBlue’s blog for the full review.

Anzac Day

Today is Anzac Day here in Australia, where we remember those who fought and died in wars to help protect our freedom and liberty. “Anzac” stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Each 25th March, on Anzac Day, there is a dawn service at the Cenotaph in the city, and then a march with the old diggers and younger men and women wearing their medals proudly, as they remember their mates, many of whom aren’t with them anymore, through war, old age, or lives destroyed by war.

I’d really like to go to the dawn service one year, and have been thinking about doing so for some years now. As our girls are now getting older, I hope that we will be able to next year (though Anzac Day apparently falls on Good Friday next year, which could make things a little unusual). I would have liked to have gone today, but we arranged some weeks back to go to some friends’ for dinner last night. A late night and a pre-dawn morning would be too much for two young girls, I think, and too much for their parents also!

I have always found it amazing that neither of my grandfathers went to war. My paternal grandfather was a technological college teacher, and my maternal grandfather worked in a factory where they made bullets (or so I believe), so both were needed here at home. Most of my school friends would have had some relative who went to war, so I always felt it was unusual that I didn’t. Perhaps this is why we never went to one of the Anzac Day marches in the city, when I was little.

I don’t like to glorify war at all. War is hell, and I say that with only the merest understanding of how absolutely hellish it must be. I have the utmost admiration for the men and women who served in the armed forces. I hope never to be able to identify with those who stayed at home, wishing and praying that their loved ones would return as soon as possible.

Lest we forget.

Introducing: The Natty Knitters of Griffith!

Here it is – more information about the intriguing Natty Knitters of Griffith! My interest came from hearing a news report on national radio about a group in Griffith, NSW which had received a government grant to create a full-size knitted garden. It seemed incredible, and I wanted to know more! By some sleuthing I managed to get in contact with Liz Brooks who is the organiser of the Natty Knitters. Here’s what she had to tell me about the whole knitted garden project.

Tell us about how “the Natty Knitters of Griffith” came to be.
We came together as a group last June 20 when I approached library staff and asked if they would host ‘World Wide Knit in Public Day’. They were delighted, as they felt it would be a good lead in to the ABC Radio Knit-In for ‘Wrap With Love’ blankets in July, which they’ve been hosting each year for a few years. We had over 40 people attend WWKIPD, and have continued to meet every Saturday 10-4.

How did the idea for the knitted garden come about?
After we’d made nearly 30 blankets, I told the group I had an idea… To my surprise and complete delight, they wanted to run with The Knitted Garden.

We entered a vase of knitted daffodils/narcissi, into ‘Flower Power’ last October. ‘Flower Power’ is a relatively new annual exhibition held in Griffith City art gallery to coincide with the Garden Festival and Orange Sculptures in October each year. Staff were amazed at the enthusiastic response they received from local artists and crafters across all media, with many entries – all on the theme of flowers/gardens, of course. We had such an amazing response to the vase; from that things have continued to grow. The vase of flowers is now on permanent display in the library [where we meet], creating even more interest.

I’d had the idea [for the garden] as soon as the first ‘Flower Power’ occurred, and it took me a couple of years to get my head around it, although I mentioned it to gallery staff straight away, and they were immediately encouraging. However, it took a lot of thought and planning. I also collected many patterns and much information.

After The Natty Knitters were formed and agreed to help, I came up with a reasonable plan that everyone thought would work and drew it to scale to fit the smaller room of the Art Gallery. This scale drawing became vital for working out quantities of yarn. We began to knit/crochet straight away, as I thought it important that we have test pieces to help with statistics. It was a jolly good job we did, as I believe this all helped enormously with the grant submission. We could show how well-planned and organised we were as a group and could quantify what we needed the money for.

How have the Natty Knitters grown?
We now have over 50 people knitting/crocheting, with a hard core of repeat workers. In total, including the knitters, there are almost 100 people who have supported us in some way already, whether it be donations of yarn/patterns/needles, help from council employees, suppliers of food & beverages, family support/encouragement etc.

We also have the support of the most powerful group in Australia – two local branches of the Country Womens Association! I was invited to give a talk to the local women’s Probus group, amongst whom were members of both CWA groups. Some of their members, well into their 80’s and 90’s, are enthusiastically knitting. The project seems to have re-invigorated many.

Why did you apply for the government grant?
I realised we would need more funds than just our own stash/pockets could supply, although we’ve also received massive amounts of yarn donations, but we needed money for things like support structures to be built. So, I wrote the submission for a Regional Arts NSW Country Arts Support Programme (CASP) Grant, which you now know we were successful in receiving.

What have been some of the highlights so far?
I’m humbled but entirely delighted by something else that is happening, almost but not wholly unintended, certainly not on my part. We all know and read more and more about the therapeutic benefits of knitting/crochet/handcrafts to those who have to overcome obstacles of any kind. I’ve collected several articles along these lines (I take items of interest along to the library each week, to stop the women from going mad!) and there are ever-increasing authorities that want to quantify what we crafters have always known. Grrr, why don’t they more often ask women what they know?

We are overcoming social isolation amongst many of these women, for whatever their personal reason. We are also crossing cultural boundaries and language barriers. We emphasised all this heavily in our grant submission. As a group, we are non-threatening, have no formal structure or rules, ask only what people feel they can do, refuse nothing, and are always pleased with everything we receive. We will use it all! More importantly, we have a good laugh! We also get free tea/coffee each Saturday, I bring the biscuits!

Even more fabulous is the fact that we’ve so far taught dozens of people to knit or crochet, another of my intentions. We’ve taught boys as well as girls. One of our most prolific knitters is a wonderful young/older Italian gentleman, who has knitted all the grass we needed for this first phase of The Garden. He and his wife come along together. When he’s not knitting, he’s also making jewellery, in his retirement.

We hope that the Men’s Shed will become involved too, helping with the support structures we need. I’d already enlisted their help making me a huge pair of extreme knitting needles for WWKIPD, which were a great hit. We made a floor rug for the kid’s corner in the library on the day, by passing the knitting around everyone.

Our local newspaper, The Area News, has been a great help with publicity in the early days last year. The council also have a leaflet they put out, called CreArtivity, which featured great articles a couple of times.

Where are you getting your patterns from, for all the garden elements?
We are very proud of the fact that we are having to design and write the patterns ourselves for all the Australian flora. There are plenty of patterns of Australian fauna, but we have been totally unable to find any flora. We are blessed with several members who can look at photos and then design, knit, then write out the patterns for Australian flora. We have a book publisher interested in our own designed patterns! So far we’ve managed waratah, bottlebrush, the kangaroo paw and several outback wildflowers.

Can we get involved?
We have some family in England knitting for The Garden, some people in Victoria and Tasmania and someone in New Zealand. So I’m delighted if anyone else wants to contribute; they will need to ask what we still need. A member of Natty Knitters received a flower pattern book from her daughter in the USA last week!

If you’d like to get in contact with Liz, let me know, and I will pass on your enquiry to her.

Sneak preview: right-handed stitch dictionary cover

Today I have a sneak preview of the likely new cover of “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”. It is designed to complement the cover of The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion.
I had so much fun doing the embroidery for this cover. You can see that I have used the Colourstreams hand-dyed felt (in “Monet” colour) that arrived in the mail last week. I also used DMC color variations floss, plain floss, perle coton in various sizes, Rajmahal art silks and some old Gumnuts yarn wool that I had.

At this stage, it looks like “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” should be ready for an August release. Once its off to the printers, I’ll put it on the Vetty Creations website for pre-publication orders.

difficult and unusual stitches class

Following on from yesterday, I have been thinking about the stitches that I might teach in the difficult and unusual stitches class that I am planning for Beating Around the Bush 2012. This is the sort of class that really gets me excited, as I love sharing stitches with others, especially ones they’ve never seen before, and ones that they have seen and drooled over, but thought were way out of their reach.

So here’s the beginnings of my list – stitches that I am highly likely to put in the class (though no guarantees…!):

Plaited braid stitch is a stitch of Elizabethan embroidery origin, that is seen as being very difficult. So we’ll attack that one!
Cable plait stitch which looks difficult, but can be quite readily mastered.
Spiral trellis stitch (another Elizabethan stitch) is one that many find intriguing as they haven’t seen it before. As its quite an unusual stitch, I’d likely include it too.

And once again, I look to you, my wonderful readers to suggest other stitches that you would like to see covered in a class like this. I will be limiting it to only surface stitches, so there’s no need to suggest counted thread or needlepoint stitches.

I look forward to your suggestions!