About Judith McLeod-Odell

My grandmother taught me to knit during the war. The first thing I learnt was how to wind a skein of yarn. This we would do in the family's air raid shelter, while waiting for the sirens to give the all clear.

I learnt spool knitting to begin with and then because materials were almost non existent at the time, I learnt to knit with the use of Goose Quills and the occasional odd bicycle spoke filed down. Tension rules were ignored by my grandmother since knitting for her was based on instinct, a sort of 'see and feel' attitude taught to her by her Grandmother. These same attitudes passed down directly to me at such an early age imbued in me a confidence in knitting as an art form so that the manipulation of tension rules is now part and parcel of my knitting today.

By the time I was nine I had learnt to unravel wool and steam it straight to be re-used for darning socks, a job I hated. Darned socks were hard to wear so it wasn't long before I learnt to knit my own on four needles. Grandmother also gave me an inkling about 'loft'* This was crudely translated by her into (for example) the putting together of yarns of 1ply x4 rather than using 4ply x 1.

Later my mother taught me about pressing techniques as well as the art of embellishment, usually embroidery. I also learnt a lot from her about textiles.

Later I used to augment my nurse's pay by knitting for the Italian immigrants and their children. As a result I discovered how even the humble school cardigan had an important part to play where fashion and design were concerned.

Today, there is not a great deal of interest in the social and economic changes that have occurred within the knitting industry, even though this art form has been running either parallel or in and out of women's fashion and interior design for decades. Sadly the importance of knitting as a craft seems to have diminished as time has passed. As a result, in my book 'Heirloom Knits' (released in February 2007) I have tried to introduce 20 projects each representing a decade of social change. This has included the style of knitting as well as a few techniques unearthed from our past that may be of historical interest, for not only did the importation of cotton during the colonial days of Queen Victoria's reign influence our way of life, but two world wars most certainly altered our attitudes and expectations. Time and the pace of living have also changed the way we think, (after all knitting was once a mandatory part of the school curriculum). As knitting gained more status, practical items gave way to more decorative and fashionable knitting ideas which also changed the way we thought about home décor. A lot of influence was by way of Paris through the great fashion houses and America as well as Hollywood gave us an insight into the glam side of fashion knitting including interior design.

As to the actual knitting, the projects in the book have been embellished just as in the past with borders and edgings etc. with several alternative ideas to be found in the Gallery at the end of the book. Included also is one knitting project based on netting from the Bosphorus which was noted for it's fine ornamentation of raised flowers, netted into the work. And one project illustrating candlewicking and lace.

Knitting has made a comeback recently including post war recycling which has now become fashionable again because of today's lifestyles. Attention then has not only been given to the modern aspects of knitting but to the different patterns and styles of the past, balancing these as I have with the vintage techniques and the yarn equivalency of that particular time In the end my idea for the book was to bring not only a historical reflection to these projects but the feeling of passion begun so long ago about the art of knitting and needle art. I hope too that knitters all over world might have some fun with being able to 'mix and match' some of these ideas to obtain their very own personal and unique knitting project.

There'll be more about 'Heirloom Knits' when it hits the bookshelves in March 2007.

*Loft is a term applied to an assemblage of fibres to denote a relatively high degree of openness and resilience, or a large volume for a given mass.