In an uncertain world, where the aim is to take better care of the planet and where resources are getting both more expensive and scarcer, perhaps we should learn from the generations before us? My mother is a jack of all trades. She is the one who taught me to sew and to knit. And she is the one who taught me that everything can come in useful. When I was little she always had yarn and fabric scraps I was allowed to use, and that may well be where everything I do now started.
Of the old school
My mother is of the old school. She keeps everything. Before a garment is thrown away, she cuts out the buttons and the zip and whatever can be saved. It is put neatly aside and waits for the next garment.
She alters, fixes and mends. What breaks gets repaired. What doesn't fit any more gets altered.
The sweater that becomes a new sweater
My mother also unravels old sweaters. The yarn becomes new balls, and then she knits something new from it. Other times she keeps the sweater and changes it a little, so it fits better with the fashion or with her.
A sweater isn't finished because it has gone out of fashion. The yarn is just as good. Some designs can even get better by being changed ever so slightly, which is good for your wallet, and not least for the environment. It is also a good way to keep old treasures that can easily be lost in a clear-out because they don't fit the fashion of the day.
What I took with me
That thought lies beneath much of what I make. Many of my garments are knitted in leftover yarn, and in surplus yarn from the fashion industry. The yarn has value, even when it has been something else before. I also try to design garments that feel both modern and classic in expression, so they become part of the wardrobe you want to wear year after year.
If you want to try it yourself, I write more about it in Stripes from leftover yarn and Yarn from the fashion industry.
The socks
In the photo my mother is sitting on the sofa knitting socks for Marie Olsson Nylander. It was while Dad was ill, six months before he died <3
The socks are white with a brown pattern, knitted on double-pointed needles. One is finished and lies beside her. Marie is the one I designed the Always Lovable bags with. If you feel like knitting the socks, you will find the knitting pattern for them here: Cabin at Midnight – SkiStar – The Socks, and if you have a child you want to teach to knit, you will also find my free knitting course here
Thank you, my lovely mother, for everything you have taught me.
Did you know …
During the Second World War, coupons limited how much clothing and fabric people could buy. The advice given under the slogan “Make do and mend” included unravelling old knitted sweaters and using the yarn again. Hand knitting was encouraged right up to 1952, for as long as rationing lasted.
Sources: Victoria and Albert Museum: Jumper (1942).
Anne-Turid <3