smocks galore!

So, here is my surprise — the Warriston pattern is now published, and when you buy it you will also receive a copy of a new digital magazine, produced and edited by me.

Since 2007, Textisle is the name I’d been using for a large academic project. It is too good a name to go to waste, and Textisles pretty much perfectly describes the content of this new venture – in which, in the context of my new designs, I explore textiles and their history around Britain. I’ve produced it pretty much in the same way that I do my features for Rowan or The Knitter – here you will find ‘scholarly’ or ‘educational’ material, written to appeal to a general audience. The content of Textisles is designed to be read on a computer screen or ipad, but the Warriston pattern is formatted at a higher resolution for printing purposes.

In the first issue you can read ‘Smocks are from Mars’ (in which I look at the gender identities of ‘smocks’ and ‘frocks’) and ‘Cover Up’ (in which I explore the the history of the iconic English ‘smock-frock’). There is also an interview with lovely Claire Smith (who was inspired to experiment with historic embroidery techniques after working with 19th century smocks at the Museum of English Rural Life) as well as a resources page (in which you can find out where to go and see 19th century smocks, or find out more about them). Of course, you don’t have to read any of this if you aren’t interested – if so, just skip straight on to the Warriston pattern and get knitting!

Anyway, I am hoping that knitters will enjoy the content as well as the Warriston pattern in the first issue of TextIsles. It has been produced in the context of the employment issues I described in my last post, and putting it together has really rather cheered me up.

You can now find Warriston, together with issue 1 of Textisles here or here!