"Tudor Roses"
The Tudor kings and queens had sumptuous clothing down to an art-gold embroidery,
padding, slits, velvet, silks, jewels, lace. They had it all--and they wore it
all at the same time. (They apparently did NOT have the fashion rule to look in
the mirror and take ONE ornament away to avoid overdressing. No indeed. Their
rule seemed to be to look in the mirror and make sure to add ONE MORE THING.
Was there any other time in history when costume was so frankly over-the-top?
I don't believe so.) Alice Starmore and her apprentice, daughter Jade, created
a number of sweater designs inspired by the Tudor royals. These are not
recreations of Tudor clothing. Instead, these are wearable art that give an
impression of richness. Of the designs, one of the most stunning is "Katherine
Howard" done by Jade Starmore. She is especially good at dramatic shaping in
knitwear--her trademark. The design is in "gold" and "silver" color wool that
looks like metallic embroidery couching over a carnelian colored ground. While
done in plain, matte wool colors, the impression of this sweater is of a richly
embroidered coat with a peplum.
The "Margaret Tudor" is interesting in that it features textured knitting
depicting thistles, with pewter buttons studding the cables to give the effect
of jewelry. Wearable, but dramatic. There is also a lot of colorwork done with
Starmore's unique way to blend many, many subtle shades of yarn that creates
a pearly effect. This is especially effective in the "Henry VIII" which uses
golds and browns on a blue ground. The blended shades look like gold embroidery.
Amazing.
The most interesting choice of design was the "Elizabeth I", which is NOT pounds
of textured yarns and buttons like a heavily-jeweled tunic, but instead, virginal
WHITE with a textured neck pattern taken from silk stockings. The shaping is that
of a stomacher (lower in front, slanting down over the tummy.) It is a testament
to the "Virgin Queen" image of Elizabeth while quoting amusingly from the famous
design of the silk stockings she made popular. Think Glynis Paltrow or Cate
Blanchett. If you have a pretty figure, this would look stunning.
"In the Hebrides"
The collection's strength is the diversity of the patterns within its
covers: there are Arans, ganseys, lace scarves and wraps, Fair Isle and intarsia
colorwork, rugged outdoor wear, and one very cute hat. Noteworthy designs include
the Rona and Roscalie cardigans (Roscalie comes in two different colorways, both
attractive), the Sheilavig vest, the Malin aran pullover, and, for kids,
the adorable Reef.
"Fishermens Sweaters"
The elegant styling and exquisite detail of traditional fisherman's knits are
brought to life in Alice Starmore's 20 original sweater designs for men, women,
and children.
"Aran Knitting"
Alice Starmore's definitive explanation of an Irish Aran sweater and its development
is surprising and fascinating. Arans are not ancient, and--contrary to popular legend-
they were not developed as fishermen's garments. Starmore offers fairly convincing
evidence that "true" Aran sweaters were adapted in this century from Scottish fishing
ganseys. They are unarguably warm, practical, and beautiful, and here they are
gorgeously photographed. Starmore, one of the knitting world's living treasures,
includes specific cable patterns, patterns for 14 garments (both Aran and Celtic-style),
and a clear, sensible guide to designing original Aran sweaters.
"Pacific Coast Highway"
Ms. Starmore, and her apprentice, daughter Jade, take colorways directly inspired by
landscape and natural items and then blend them into fairisle type colorwork sweaters
or textured Aran fisherman knitted pieces.
The Pacific Highway recalls the colors along California's glorious coastline and the
shapes and feel of the sea and shore. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I like the
Abalone for its uncanny impression of shimmering nacre (how DOES she do this in matte
wool?) and everything Jade designs (I love her shaping and bold colors.)
The only caveat about these books is that not only are they out of print and very rare,
but the yarns are often out of production. However, if you do find a copy, with the
help of color charts and some guessing about gauge of wools, you can often recreate
the model and make an heirloom garment to wear or give as a treasured gift.
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