The exhibition showcases a range of resources within a small selection of themes, to illustrate the potential connections between knitted object, ephemera, printed sources and recent publications.
Resources have been selected from the Knitting Collections held by the University’s Library. They are divided between the Knitting Reference Library at Winchester School of Art and the Montse Stanley Collection held by the Special Collections at the Hartley Library.
The Knitting Reference Library comprises the printed collections of Richard Rutt, Montse Stanley, and Jane Waller. It brings together books, exhibition catalogues, knitting patterns and booklets, journals and magazines. New material has been added since the Knitting Reference Library was first established. It is a reflection of the notable knitting revival which has generated an increase in publications since 2000. The Knitting Pattern Collection is estimated to hold over 12,000 individual patterns dating from the early twentieth century. Many donations of knitting patterns from members of the public have been received which has both enriched and extended the collection.
The Montse Stanley Collection is made up of an estimated 1000 knitted objects, as well as albums of photographs and postcards, her working papers, also slides and sheet music. The collection reveals her wide-ranging interests in many aspects of knitting, from the technical to the aesthetic, the practical to the decorative and the historical to the popular.
The coming together of resources around the single theme of knitting has enabled the development of an extensive profile for the collections. They have been used for the purposes of education, learning and research by staff and students. In addition a wide range of external visitors have accessed the collection both materially and virtually.
The first international, inter-disciplinary knitting conference entitled In the loop: knitting past, present and future was held at Winchester School of Art in 2008. Since that time a series of events and conferences has been established, the most recent being In the loop 3.5: making connections, held at Mareel, Shetland in 2013 and co-organised with Shetland Arts.