His knitting pattern collection is especially strong on menswear from the 1920s through to the 1980s including many gems of popular culture. A reference to the Beatles is made by Patons in a dark and moody image of a look-alike Beatle wearing an edge to edge cardigan under the title The Liverpool Look. An unknown classic may be the book entitled The manly art of knitting by Dave Fougner, published in 1972 by Schribner which includes knitting patterns for dog and horse blankets, a hammock and cap. He also collected books on knitting from other countries including Korea and Scandinavia.
Montse Stanley: tradition and renewal an expert of construction and technique
Montse Stanley (1942-1999) was born in Barcelona and established her collection as the Knitting Reference Library in her Cambridge home before its acquisition by the University in 1999. Her collecting started in rather an unexpected way with photographs and postcards on the theme of knitting. They were acquired when attending postcard fairs with her husband Thomas Stanley who possessed one of the largest postcard businesses in the UK.
Montse Stanley is well known amongst the knitting community for her charisma, enthusiasm and knowledge which is clear from her many publications and the inherent legacy of her collection. The indispensable The handknitter’s handbook: a comprehensive guide to the principles and techniques of hand knitting first published in 1986 by David and Charles has been reprinted and translated many times.
It is apparent that she worked closely with the collection of knitted objects which richly illustrate her approach to construction, design and technique especially in the third revised edition dated 1993. I detect that she considered knitting traditional yet inventive, aesthetically beautiful and utilitarian, every day and kitsch, fashionable also comforting, even humorous. This is seen in her copy of Wild knitting published in 1979 by Mitchell and Beazley with many surprising projects for unusual items such as an armadillo cape, unusual dresses and a selection of punk ties.
Her collection of knitted objects numbers about 1000 items. It comprises clothing, bags and purses, accessories, domestic items and novelties. The bags and purses date from the late 18th century through to the mid 20th century and are complimented by books detailing the techniques not only in Victorian publications but also in secondary sources for example, Classic beaded purse patterns by E. de Jong-Kramer, Lacis 1996.
Her library includes a run of the Girls Own Annual dating from 1881 to 1923. In some copies there are small markers with pencil notes in her hand writing all denoting references to knitting. She also collected fiction, again noting in pencil on the title pages of Agatha Christie murder mysteries all references to knitting.
She reveals particular interest in her cultural background with books and knitting patterns books from France, Italy and Spain. They include some interesting works such as Spanish costume of Extremadura by Ruth Matilda Anderson published by the Hispanic Society of America in 1951 with many reference to knitting. There is also a copy of Andean folk knitting: traditions and techniques from Peru and Bolivia by Cynthia Gravelle LeCount, published by Dos Tejedoras in 1990 richly illustrated as yet to be superseded.
Her own expertise as related to the construction of garments and objects is clear in further published work Knitting your own designs for a perfect fit, published by David and Charles in 1982 as it notably includes some of her own designs. The emphasis on construction was intended to encourage knitters to develop their own patterns by learning the appropriate skills and techniques through a European approach as illustrated in Continental knitting by Esther Bondesen published by Maurice Friedberg in 1948. This is the practice in Shetland and many other textile cultures where knitting is embedded in a way of life and construction is part of learning.
Jane Waller a vintage original
Jane Waller’s first book on knitwear entitled A stitch in time: knitting and crochet patterns of the 1920s, 1930s & 1940s published by Duckworth in 1972 remains a classic of an earlier vintage knitwear revival. I remember visiting Jane to view the knitting patterns at her home in London. Whilst feeling quite excited about acquiring such an unusual collection I was also thinking rather nervously about the practical issues of sorting, cataloguing and storage.
Waller started her collection through a chance house clearance when she found and rescued a large number of knitting patterns and women’s magazines. This was the start of her longer term project to recognise their relevance and special value to knitters. Waller also published a compilation of vintage patterns for menswear The man’s knitting book: classic patterns from the ‘20s to the ‘50s published by Thames & Hudson in 1984, she describes the cardigan as “sensible and functional not fashionable.” It is interesting that fashion designers have rehabilitated the cardigan for men as an alternative piece of clothing now seen as signifying urbanity and understated subversity.
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On the right: Further examples of publications within the collection.
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