tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post1234193411590246494..comments2024-03-27T08:38:55.922+00:00Comments on Knitting Now and Then: James Norbury in Woman's OwnBarbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481362252017232022noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-67547240620793111222020-10-25T01:47:30.042+00:002020-10-25T01:47:30.042+00:00one was corsetted in a boned corset even when i wa...one was corsetted in a boned corset even when i was at school.<br />as soon as shape changed the corset appeared along with the first bra. the bra reaching down to the waist for many.<br />i am only 67.<br />but worked in the rag trade. never delling such things. not supposed to know about them but we knew without ever mentioning such unmentionables.<br />girls knickers were made of the stuff we now use for sweat shirts. and changed once a week only. how delightful?<br /><br />the knitting patterns were for the lower middle class who had the time to knit such things.<br />i learnt to knit on double knit thinner than worsted or aran.<br />but my grandmother used 4 ply as standard.<br />the more one could put on a garment the better rather like doing an exam all the time.<br />it wasnt just a garment it wasshowing ones skill.<br />more is more.<br />but each thing knitted would last for years.<br />many did not have one on and one in the wash.that was still the dream in the 1980s for a lot of us.<br />then the world turned and everything changed.<br /><br />children would wear school clothes for a term before they were drycleaned.<br />shirts only a week at a time. we must have smelt delightful.<br />one only had a bath once a week too.<br />it was harmful to have a bath during a girls period or wash her hair.<br />if could have been the middle ages with knights and castles.<br />thesizes were small as most were down right hungry.<br />edward a knitter since late 1950s.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08807479064594831919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-1821682363119969232018-08-23T09:49:06.911+01:002018-08-23T09:49:06.911+01:00Thanks very much for that insight. If you read an...Thanks very much for that insight. If you read any of James Norbury's books, it's clear that he thought there was a right way to do everything, i.e. his way - he is very dogmatic. Some of it reads oddly now, e.g. his explanation of why knitting bottom up is right and top down is wrong, when now we know that either works. That fits with your mother's experience, too - if you think you are at the pinnacle of a knitting hierarchy, then obviously factory workers are a long long way below you. Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481362252017232022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-37762478981516941712018-08-22T20:49:21.615+01:002018-08-22T20:49:21.615+01:00My mother worked at Patons & Baldwins Brentfor...My mother worked at Patons & Baldwins Brentford factory in the late 1940s-early 1950s, during the time when James Norbury was the company's chief designer. His manner was, apparently, decidedly grand and he treated the factory workers with total disdain whenever he had to actually walk through the factory or - heaven forfend - have any direct contact with them! I remember his TV series well - because as soon as James N appeared, my mother would, without fail, raise her eyebrows and utter the words, 'Oh not that awful man again.' On principle, she chose never to knit anything that he had designed!writing, not drowninghttp://www.60goingon16.typepad.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-34050772867901530492018-08-21T09:33:34.429+01:002018-08-21T09:33:34.429+01:00I was a child in the 1950s too, but I didn't ...I was a child in the 1950s too, but I didn't see Woman or Woman's Own then - my grandma read Woman's Weekly, which was aimed (as now) at older women, and wasn't in colour. These are much more fashion-conscious and glamourous.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481362252017232022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-90925916508568178342018-08-21T09:29:23.726+01:002018-08-21T09:29:23.726+01:00I'm pleased you enjoyed it.I'm pleased you enjoyed it.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481362252017232022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-24960549516526164082018-08-21T00:49:05.399+01:002018-08-21T00:49:05.399+01:00I was born in 1949 and I remember magazines like t...I was born in 1949 and I remember magazines like this from my Mom. Very interesting and fun read on the past. Thank you.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986585934418635018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2805580631057957340.post-14459665691852642562018-08-21T00:39:02.084+01:002018-08-21T00:39:02.084+01:00Fascinating glimpse into the past world of knittin...Fascinating glimpse into the past world of knitting -- thanks!Dragonquillcahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08570703922492149586noreply@blogger.com