Knitting Journal - 2019
In 2019, I decided to explore texture & colour with my knitting, recording this through a journal and being inspired by my home in the English countryside or the places I visited over that year.
January 2019
My project is inspired by Oxford. I was born in Oxford and although I live only 20 minutes away, have lived here all my life. I popped into the bookshop with my children one day and as I came out, I quickly took a photograph of the ‘Sheldonian Theatre’.
I made the photos into a kaleidoscope image and decided to use the colours camel, brown, blue and grey in my sampler.
I used ‘Basket Ribbed Stitch’ to make the square, which uses Knit, Purl & Slip Stitches.
As I enjoyed the colours so much, I wanted to design a tea cosy. I chose camel, brown and blue and knitted in ‘Texture Tweed Stitch’.
February 2019
My project is based around a holiday taken in August 2018. My family visited 'The Jane Austen Museum' and 'Chawton House', in Chawton, Alton, Hampshire, England. Whilst I visited the museum and house, my husband went for a walk with our little dog through Chawton woods.
Whilst in the house, which was owned by Edward Austen, we were told that it is thought Jane Austen sat by the window in my photo and wrote her novels there. With this in mind, I decided to make this view into a sampler.
The colours I used in my sampler were: Black, Forest Green, Sea Green and Tortilla Brown
I wanted the black colour to represent the window panes, green for the lawn and trees, brown for 'Chawton Church' & the stone driveway.
March 2019
My project is based around a day visit in May 2018 to 'Hughenden Manor', Buckinghamshire, England. My family and I explored the gardens, the house and sat for a while looking over the valley, with the church in clear sight.
Hughenden Manor, is owned by The National Trust. It is described as a red brick Victorian mansion, which was owned in the 1800's by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield.
The colours I used in my sampler were: Green, Pink, Yellow and Coral
I wanted to depict not just the red brick of the mansion and church, but also incorporate the flowers seen in the walled garden and over the valley.
April 2019
My project is based around a day visit in April 2019, on Easter Sunday to Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England. It was a very hot day, so my family and I walked around the gardens and through the forest walks with our little dog. It was a beautiful bright day, with a clear blue sky and a perfect ice cream day.
Waddesdon Manor was owned by the Rothschild family until it was bequeathed in 1957 to The National Trust.
I wanted to incorporate the three dominant colours of blue, grey & green from the photo, so decided on the ‘Garter Drop Stitch’, as the garter stitch represented the green shrubbery, the dropped stitches were knitted in blue and grey.
The colours I used in the sampler were: Sage, Green, Cloud Grey and Cerulean Blue
My project is based around a weeks visit in May 2019, to the Sandringham Country Park, Norfolk, England. My husband and I, plus our little dog, stayed on the country park with our caravan. Bella, our dog just loves walking around the country park, trying to find rabbits and squirrels. The leaves on the trees and the fern were only just starting to grow, but it is still a lovely place to relax and unwind during May.
Sandringham, is owned by HRH Queen Elizabeth II and has been in the family since 1862. The family traditionally spend Christmas at Sandringham.
In this piece of knitting, I wanted to incorporate the three dominant colours of the trees and fern, brown, green & orange.
I decided on the 'Speckled Rib Stitch'. I think the combination of long stitches and bobble stitches, give the impression of the trees & the country park floor.
The colours I used in my sampler were: Brown, Green and Orange
My project is based around a day trip to Coughton Court, Alcester, Warwickshire, England. Inside the house, there were some beautiful stained glass windows, the colours are very vibrant, so I decided this will be my inspiration for my project this month.
I used the basket of fruit and leaves from the stained glass to make a kaleidoscope pattern, to depict the main colours needed for the project. I was delighted with the finished photo, very detailed and really brings life to something historic.
In this piece of knitting, I wanted to incorporate the three dominant colours of the kaleidoscope photograph. The colours I used in this sampler were: Brown, Yellow and White.
I decided to use the 'Stocking Stitch Triangle Stitch'. I think the combination of garter stitch & stocking stitch give texture for fruit & leaves in the bowl.
July 2019My project is based on the fields of wheat, in a village my family has lived for centuries. The parish registers started in 1538, my ancestors are on the very first page. This beautiful village is called Deddington, in Oxfordshire, England. It is where I have run my ballet school for the last 21 years. My family still live there.
I made a kaleidoscope pattern of the wheat & a beautiful detailed pattern emerged. I was able to identify the colours needed to make my square. The colours I used in this sampler were: Brown, Light Brown, Cream and Green.
In this piece of knitting, I wanted a plain piece of stocking stitch, but with a few flecks of of colours to reflect the wheat, so I used 'Dot Stitch' to do this.
August 2019My project is based around a day trip to the Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire, England. The Canal Museum is situated on The Grand Union Canal.
I love traditional canal folk art, so wanted to use this as my inspiration. I am always inspired by the bright colours used & the brush strokes of the patterns.
In this piece of knitting, I wanted round textures in the knitted square to represent flowers, so I decided to knit in moss stitch.
The colours I used in this sampler were: Red, Green, Yellow and Pink
September 2019My project is based on photographs taken in my back garden in September. All of a sudden lots of butterflies arrived on a large shrub with gorgeous purple flowers. There were so many butterflies, that my daughter and I got lots of lovely close-up photographs. The butterflies visited us for about a week and were mostly Tortoise Shell butterflies.
From one of the photographs, I made a kaleidoscope of colours & based my colours on the finished image.
In this piece of knitting, I wanted to show the spots of colour from the butterfly wings & the purple from the flower.
The colours I used in the sampler were: Purple, Orange, Brown and White
October 2019My project is based on a day trip to the open air Avoncroft Museum of Buildings, Worcestershire, England.
What a wonderful day we had, with our little dog & a picnic. The buildings are all original, rescued & re-built in the museum grounds.
I was really taken with the chimneys. The brick work around the chimney was really unusual, so I wanted to create a piece of knitting with this in mind.
I wanted to show the diagonal texture & pattern of the chimney.
The colours I used in this sampler were: Candy Red and Grey
November 2019My project is based on a day trip in August to Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire, England. My daughter & I had a wonderful morning, looking around the gardens. So many beautiful colours, but a very very warm day.
I sat under the arch for quite a while to keep cool, as it was so warm that morning.
I put together a collage of the main colours that I wanted to use, I then made a kaleidoscope of this collageto use as a base for my design.
The colours I used in my sampler were: Blue, Green, Pink and Lilac
December 2019My project is based on a day trip to Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is a great place to have long walks, or in the summer to have a picnic.
I took photos during the Autumn, in 2017. I made a kaleidoscope pattern from the main photo, and based my colours around this image.
The colours I used in this sampler were: Blue, Light Blue Orange and Camel
I used Moss Stitch, using alternate colours for each row.
This concludes my Knitting Journal - 2019
Jo x
Joanna Marshall - 2023
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