It's Lovely To Meet You.
My name is Jenny, and after twenty years of enjoying the colourful and creative world of the fibre and textile arts, it is now my joy to write and share it with you, too.
My love affair with textiles started when I was very small; memories of cross stitching into wide holed linens with darning needles, my first sewing machine to make clothes for my teddies, and a very ‘lacey’ scarf that I knitted for my dad in purple acrylic, are just three of the vivid memories I have before the age of ten.
During my teenage years I took great delight in putting my outfits together and exploring the world of natural fibers, as even at the age of fourteen I argued that polyester made my skin crawl. My wardrobe was a way of expressing how I felt, and I played with different aesthetics depending on my mood. Linens and cottons become my favourite fabrics to sew with, and have remained so.
By the age of twenty I was making most of my clothes, and started to discover the world of embroidery with weekend visits to The Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court. This involved regular visits to my (sadly now closed) local fabric store where they sold a rich choice of silk embroidery floss. The back of the shop was a treasure trove of yarn, but as I gave up my knitting adventures back in the purple haze of scarf creation aged eight, I didn’t go to look at the wools much. But it was there that I was invited to the knitting group and they said I could bring my embroidery along. Within six weeks I was casting on my first project with Rowan wool and a lot of nervous fumbling.
That was over twenty years ago now, and since then, I have created a wardrobe which is 90% crafted out of my living room.
I think about textiles and design every day. I knit, sew, sketch, embroider, and look at how fabric works to both flatter and protect our bodies, and I cannot get enough of it. I have been known to run after a woman down The Strand in London to compliment her rain coat, and I have asked a man in a subway train in New York where he brought his shirts. I have stopped a Mum in a Florentine bookshops to inquire which family member knitted their kids sweaters, and witnessed the proud smile when she said it was made by their Grand-Father. We clothe our amazing bodies each and every day, and I think our daily choices should be seen and celebrated.
The Knitted Wardrobe started as a space for me to talk about this passion. Although knitting is the core of what I write about, I also blog about my sewing adventures, book reviews and my general thoughts on life.
The Monday morning podcasts on Instagram started growing my small channel, and my website Journal Subscribers started to grow each week, and suddenly I was publishing my own knitting patterns.
For twenty-five years I helped people through physical rehabilitation therapy after trauma, and after a few twists and turns on life’s ever colourful path, I decided to move myself and my cat Finchley, to Falmouth in Cornwall. It was the perfect time to start my new career in content writing and management for the textile and fibre world. It is now an utter delight to be helping designers, yarn producers, knitting shops and fabric lovers to share their stories to their followers and reach new heights with their businesses.
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I look forward to getting to know you more, and to see the creations you knit and sew, as you find your expression in your wardrobe as well.
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May your needles bring you joy, and your frogging be rare.
Jenny x