Pattern Errata - 5664

Pattern 5664

Sleeve Shape Top

Correct until 35st remain

Then decrease on following * 9 rows                *OMIT alt

Elizabeth Forster, Freelance Designer - Wendy

I thought you would be interested to read the following article that recently appeared in Slipknot, the magazine of the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild.

Barbara Smith has a knitting blog (http://barbaraknitsagain.blogspot.co.uk/) and she can be contacted at barbaraknitsagain at gmail.com.

Elizabeth Forster, Designer

Do you ever wonder who designed the thousands of unattributed knitting and crochet patterns that have appeared in magazines and spinners’ leaflets over the years?  Some were the work of freelance designers, and one of these was Elizabeth Forster, a remarkable woman who was a successful designer for several decades until the 1980s, and used the proceeds to fund her travels abroad.

When Elizabeth Forster began to design professionally in 1947, she already had a long-term career with the BBC, but in 1956, in her late 40s, she resigned from the BBC and became a full-time freelance designer.  From then on, she spent 9 months of the year designing, and three months every winter travelling - she was a keen bird-watcher.
She almost always travelled independently and on her own, often to South America and Asia.  She especially loved the Himalayas and trekked to Everest Base Camp in her 70s.  Her travels in turn provided the source for many of her designs.  A speciality was colour knitting using motifs inspired by things she had seen - textiles, buildings and so on.  The jacket illustrated was designed following a trip to Guatemala;  the motif represents a resplendent quetzal.  The sweater was based on llamas, flowers and Indians seen in Peru.  She was designing patterns into the 1980s, and died in 1995 at the age of 87.

Despite having no training in art or design, she was evidently very successful.  Her work appeared in many magazines such as Woman’s Weekly, Woman, and Woman and Home, and she designed for Wendy (Carter & Parker Ltd.) and other spinners.  But as far as I know, only one published pattern names her as the designer – all the others appeared anonymously.

Much of the above information comes from a travel book that she wrote in 1976, The Wandering Tattler, in which she outlines her design career.  After reading that book, which shows the two Wendy patterns illustrated, I thought that it would be very difficult to identify more of her work.  Fortunately, I was wrong.  She left an extensive collection of correspondence, scrapbooks, typed pattern instructions and other papers, and a large number of sample garments.  The archive has been kept by her friends, to whom she left her house, and they are beginning the task of recording and cataloguing it.  I visited them recently and a brief skim through the papers gave some fascinating insights into the relationships between freelance designers, spinners, and magazines in the period when Elizabeth Forster was working.  There is much more to discover.  It is sad to think that the work of many other designers has been forgotten and may now be unidentifiable.

Barbara Smith

Thank you to Barbara for kindly letting us use the above.  It is lovely to hear the influences that Elizabeth Forster gained through her travel which led on to design and is very evident in these two images.  She lived the life most designers would love, inspiration through travel.

Looking at our archives pattern 1280 sold 3,750 copies between January 1973 - March 1974.  And pattern 1288 sold 4,250 between January 1973 and March 1977.

The sweater in 1288 would be fabulous knitted now, so it just goes to show good design influences us for a long time.

Summer Knits

Its holiday, summer BBQ and summer festivals time and above are perfect suggestions for that special knitted outfit in Wendy Supreme Cotton Chunky/DK and Sorrento DK.  Take your knitting outside and enjoy the good clear & sunny days - back inside when it rains - however none of these outfits will dampen your spirits!


Hope its a fabulous summer and enjoy your knitting.

Wendy Roam & Roam Fushion - NEW

New to Wendy is Roam & Roam Fusion - with sock knitting very much en vogue at the moment we are thrilled to introduce our own 4ply sock yarns. Roam offers five solid colours inspired by the old St Ives range, whilst Roam Fusion offers five bright and bold colour mixes. Our sock pattern has been produced to be a free giveaway with a purchase of the yarn. One ball will knit a pair of socks and the Roam and Roam Fusion colours complement each other perfectly so the knitter can create a truly unique pair of socks. Such a fantastically colourful yarn need not necessarily be used solely for knitting socks and we are sure many customers will be experimenting with it for other projects, as will the design team.

Wendy Celtic Chunky

New Wendy Celtic is a chunky, tweed effect yarn in a range of muted earthy tones which give it an real outdoor feel, one can’t help but imagine being clad in a Celtic garment wandering through the woods on an autumn day. Celtic, due to its look and range of earthy colours, is very much a unisex yarn and our design package features comfortable fashion garments that are light to wear but also lovely and warm. With the  choice of location for the photo shoot and some help from our feathered friends we have tried to give our new leaflets an interesting twist and we hope the images front and back will be well received.  This yarn has a lovely feel to it.

Wendy Thor Super Chunky

New to Wendy - Thor is a mega chunky yarn in an exciting range of blended colours. It is ideal for customers who favour a quick knitting project and most of our accessories can be made in an evening. Though the yarn is sumptuously bulky it is still light enough to create full garments. It is truly a delight to use (Dawn in our Marketing/Design team for one is hooked!)

As accessories form the majority of home knitting projects and Thor is set to be one of our more expensive yarns, we have included a good range of fashion and home accessories in our design package, all of which can be completed using a few balls. Not wanting to limit such a fantastic yarn to just the realms of accessories we have also created some full garments. We have endeavoured to bring a striking new look to our Thor leaflets, using a dynamic location and producing them with colour images both front and back.

Wendy Celebrations Book 351

There is still time to get knitting for this weekend's Celebrations.  Book 351 has ten super designs just perfect and we have so many wonderful DK yarns to choose from.  Merino, Mode, Supreme Cotton, Sorrento, Peter Pan and Sweet Heart and the new JUBILEE DK.

Design 2 is a perfect Tote bag and Design 4, a large cushion, would be a talking point placed in your garden this weekend.  So what are you waiting for?  

Happy Celebrations and happy knitting.