Truly Madly Deeply

Some downtime with my favourite film last night... I never tire of this film, it gets better every time I watch it!  Anthony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply with the brilliant Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman and Bill Nicholson definitely presses all the right buttons for me.

Shot in Highgate, London close to where I used to live,  the scenes in Waterlow Park bring back lovely memories of when son Felix was little and we fed the ducks there. But actually it could have been shot anywhere, it's got great music, comedy, pathos and even knitting!  Nina wears a beautiful 80s knit intarsia cardigan with a bi-coloured rib.  It looks familiar but I can't decide who designed it - Susan Duckworth, Carrie White, Sasha Kagan and Jamie & Jessie Seaton immediately spring to mind - Rowan magazine circa #8?  Can anyone help me out here?

Two coloured (or corrugated) ribbing was used a lot in the knit renaissance of the 80s and, of course, it's a standard technique in traditional fairisle knitting. A neat little technique to have in your portfolio, it can jazz up any plain sweater and looks fab on kid's knits. I'm all for recycling whenever I can and as the ribs are the first things to go on well-loved sweaters, especially on the sleeves, why not reknit them using a corrugated rib and give them a new lease of life?  Same goes for thrift shop finds.

In Sweet Shawlettes I've updated the technique for Bess, a ribbed collar inspired by the Tudor neck ruffs worn by Good Queen Bess. The corrugated rib will get you up to speed for future Fair Isle projects, whilst the simple frill can be used to add a touch of glamour to any scarf.  Stylish, cosy, and stows away neatly in your purse!

Here's the bare bones of how to:
Corrugated 2 x 2 rib
Multiple of 4 + 2
Choose two colours A and B
Row 1              *k2 in B, p2 in A, rep from * to last 2 sts, k2 in B
Row 2              *p2 in B, k2 in A, rep from * to last 2 sts, p2 in B
The only thing to bear in mind is not to strand the yarn too tightly on the back, so that the fabric retains its elasticity. To do this make sure you have your stitches evenly spaced on the needle and not bunched up when you knit, then you'll find it's minimal effort to get a perfect finish. 
Bess from Sweet Shawlettes
The blog tour got off to a cracking start yesterday with Wendy Knits.  I was amazed to see that there were nearly 300 comments on Wendy's blog yesterday and would like to thank everyone for participating and wish you all the best of luck in the draw. There'll be plenty of other chances to win a copy of the book, so I hope you'll all keep following the tour.

Tues 3 Jan  Wendy Knits  Wendy Johnson  
➤ Wed 4 Jan  Knitgrrl Shannon Okey
Thurs 5 Jan  Yarnagogo  Rachael Herron
Fri 6 Jan  The Knitter  Rosee Woodland
Sat 7 Jan  Rhythm of the Needles  Joanne Conklin
Sun 8 Jan  Knit Purl Gurl  Karrie Steinmetz
                 Mon 9 Jan   CraftSanity  Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
Tues 10 Jan  Planet Purl  Beth Moriarty
Wed 11 Jan  Sunset Cat  Stephannie Tallent
Thurs 12 Jan  A Really Good Yarn  Julie Schilthuis
Fri 13 Jan  knit 1 chicago  Lynn Coe
Sat 14 Jan  Go Knit In Your Hat  Carol Sulcoski
Sun 15 Jan  Redshirt Knitting  Erika Barcott
Mon 16 Jan   In The Loop  Cheryl & Ellen
Tues 17 Jan  WEBS  Kathy Elkins
Wed 18 Jan  Zeneedle  Margene Smith
Thurs 19 Jan   Knitspot  Anne Hanson
Fri 20 Jan   Urban Yarns  Alexa Ludeman
Sat 21 Jan  A Friend to knit with  Leslie Friend
Mon 23 Jan  Tentenknits  Margaux Hufnagel
Tues 24 Jan  Fancy Tiger Crafts  Amber Corcoran
Thurs 26 Jan  The Panopticon  Franklin Habit

Tbc  Chic Knits  Bonne Marie Burns

Comments

  1. I agree with you on the movie, I haven't watched it in quite some time, but made several friends who were so taken with "Ghost" sit down and watch it. We went through an entire box of tissues and they were converted.

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  2. LOVE the movie too! Quite an emotional experience. Haven't watched in a while, so missed the 80's knits. Will watch for the knits next time. Congrats on the new book - it looks fab.

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  3. Is the sweater you're wondering about the one at the 13 second point in the clip? If so, my first thought was Jamie and Jessie Seaton. My knitting books are in storage at the moment but once I get settled and have them with me I'll have to have another look. I thought of Carrie White as well and the article in the early Rowan Journals about her.

    I would love to make almost all the designs in their book and I wish that they were still designing. Such talents.

    I'll have to see that movie, too!

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  4. I must get out my DVD and watch this film again as I haven't in a couple of years. Juliet Stevenson is simply amazing in it, and I particularly love that in one scene the ghosts are watching "Brief Encounter."

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  5. I wonder where Carrie White is now. I loved the sweater she wore in the first Knitting Journal (the one that has your Sculptured Knits design) and always wondered if it was her design and where I could find a pattern.

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