When I am lost, I come out here – to the base of Stanage Edge where the millstones lie. I eat breakfast and feel the gentle breath of a breeze. I can see for miles out towards Hope Valley, the stones are ancient – have been pushed and fallen, the rocks well climbed by amateurs and professionals alike and the paths well walked. I have so many creative ideas that they are bursting and I’ve stopped to a point of disconnection because I measure myself by reward – but this place, this earthly place brings me back to me, to a core that I hadforget. The stones make me care again, connect and contribute to my creative process. I cannot compete with the millions of knitting patterns pushed out into the world that are for sale, nor do I want to but I know that this Kaleidoscope pattern is a very good one.
When I meet the millstones and the old stone trough, I knit, I eat, drink tea and I am grateful for my thoughts. I have had 3 ideas to put togethere with my Tree and star new sleeve and you will have to wait until I have finally made my choice.
I am heading to an artist residency at the base of Mount Fuji for the whole of December and I am working on a piece called between Silk and Paper, drawing on the Japanese concepts of Ma and Mono No Aware – You can read about it here
I’ve been working on the materiality of the pieces
But for now, I am very much enjoying my new knitted jumper – you could too, use your stash, make it yours, go out into the countryside and knit
For the last couple of weeks, I have had some very hurtful, negative, comments about my latest knitting design, from women on social media and in groups – often with multiple exclamation marks about their oppinion about my Kaleidoscope pattern not being size inclusive.
My design was made for me, lovingly and creatively. It took 4 months to knit and design and write, alter, chart, photograph, teach the test knitter and promote the pattern. I put the pattern out honestly, with care and great attention to detail yet I have been constantly hammered about the pattern not being size inclusive because it’s one size up to 44 chest.
To make it every size in this pattern, would be a completely new pattern for each size and a test knit also. It is made up of 44 stitch repeat so to make it work, it would either go up or down in increments of 44 stitches which affects the alignment, where the V neck sits, the exgtra decreases on the armpits and shoulders and then the size of the sleeve would alter each time to fit. This is not just a quick adjustment, each size would be a completely new pattern and test knit. Size inclusive is not a law. It is a design choice if that cannot happen. It would take 18 months to write 4 patterns and do 4 test knits.
But my pattern is just one person’s creative vision – Mine. It is, however, inclusive for boys and my friend shows that in the photo taken this afternoon. It’s a beautiful knit and I’m stopped all the time when I wear it – A little like, ‘that’s a nice puppy’, kinda stopping to stroke and touch.
The negative comments and exclamation marks that I have received this past two weeks have not knocked my confidence in this piece but has made me want to stop sharing, stop teaching online colour work skills and stop designing – so, I put a notice to reflec this on a Stranded Knits facebook group and we broke facebook posts in 10 minutes with over 100 positive comments (just one little snidey comment)
The post that I put on the Facebook group this afternoon re balanced me. The women were supportive and really understood how social media forums are a space for anyone to say anything they like but would not say in a conversation face to face. They were all calm and helpful because I said that I would not answer any negative comments. It went wild. Over 60 positive comments and my responses in about 10 minutes until FB stopped after the 100th.
here are a few of the comments:-
1 Size inclusivity really matters. But as someone who advocates for consumer rights, I find it’s most productive to focus our advocacy on major brands and big-name designers. People may not understand that for indie designers, scaling up complex patterns like this is indeed similar to writing a new pattern in each size—meaning it’s just not feasible. I’m sorry that as an indie designer with just a couple jumper patterns available, you’ve been caught up in these dynamics—but I hope you also understand the advocates’ perspectives and feelings. It’s such a challenging systemic issue.
2 I find that designing sweaters and publishing good patterns is just not worth my time. The return (number of patterns sold) vs. the investment (knit first test, find and supervise test knitters, write pattern, revise pattern, photograph item) is just not workable. Socks are a better return for me as far as writing patterns. I knit sweaters for myself (size 3X) or my loved ones occasionally.
I agree. The wool for me and the test knitter was £200 to cover everything that’s without all the hundreds and hundreds of hours
3 It gets a bit exhausting when the dreamer gets questioned on why wasn’t it the dream for everyone?
I get for plain patterns why some get ouchy that it’s not in many sizes, but for cable work, stranded work: it’s a lot of math and a lot of testing and even then is NOT a guarantee that your construction “works” on a body, even if it matches the inches. Hang and drape and look are very subjective. And then you, the designer, is who gets yelled at because they did make it in size 84” and they spent “a lot of time and a lot of money on this amount of yarn” and then the sleeve didn’t set right “on them”.
People as a whole: if ANY knit pattern doesn’t suit YOU, just edit it. Tinker with it. Frog it and start again. And by the time you’ve redone your sweater five times to make it work “for you” realize the designer would’ve had to do “that” a million fold, if they wanted to make the pattern include every conceivable body. You’re basically expecting a masterclass in custom knitting fitting, for an $8 pattern.
In all, there were too many comments and we were not allowed to add any more – they were automatically turned off.
Here is a beautiful Shetland comment from a lady who also designs –
Your hard work. Your pattern. Your design publication. Your artist license Folk can choose tae enjoy, support & purchase…or scroll on. Dinna pay da moaners (trolls) ony heed & dinna respond tae dem. I received a message fae some een telling me I didna hay tae write in Shetland dialect – as du can see, I stopped, joost fir dem…nah
Dinna stop being YOU Tracey Doxey and keep lovin’ whit you create
I felt stronger after the supportive comments and I will not stop being me but this post, I think, is about the hurt that women cause women on social media when they do not have an informed opinion – it is a dig.
here is the pattern. and yes, the additional sleeve is an extra pattern because it is a design in itself – and here also is the test knit image with the Tree and Star Sleeves.
Above is an image of the alternate sleeve to the one that is included in the Kaleidoscope Jumper pattern. It is a Bolt on pattern called – Tree and Star Sleeve. Below are reasons why I published the pattern with Tree sleeves charts only and why I am producing a 2nd bolt on sleeve pattern.
Why is the Kaleidoscope Jumper pattern one size only?
It iis one size because the motifs of 44 stitches, dictate wherre the pattern lies – to increase the size, I would have to add one more motif, change where the neck lies in the pattern and calculate additional decreases at the shoulders and it would go on and on. I t would take e 6 months to make different sizes. I am just one person without tech support. It is actually easy to increase the size by knitting the jumper in UK 3:5mm needles rather than UK 3mm
Why did I knit the sleeve in the round from cuff up then graft it into the armpit? Here’s the reason that I did the sleeves this way. Initially, I picked up the stitches around the arm hole to knit the sleeve in the round from the shoulder down to the cuff but I realised that if I knitted the tree motif, from the trunk first, as usual, the trees would be upside down, ending with the tree top at the cuff. So, I turned the motif around and swatched the tree from its top down the trunk base so that I could knit the Tree only sleeve from the armhole. But, knitting this way resulted in the stitches of the tree motif being visibly upside down starting from the shoulder, and I didn’t like that either. You can see the swatch on the right and how the stitches are visibly the wrong way. It is possible to do it this way but it will always look somehow upside down. But, if you want, you can knit the Tree sleeves from the armpit down to the cuff, with upside down motif stitches, it is your choice.
note upside down stitches
So, I knitted the sleeve in the round from the cuff up then joined it at the arm hole by grafting it expertly into the armpit hole. I needed to explain why I knitted the sleeve this way as it might seem a little weird but the result is perfect trees knitted from the cuff up and all the stitches are perfectly the right way. I thought that doing the sleeve this way is worth this extra consideration in the name of neatness and accuracy
Why does this jumper pattern only have Tree sleeve charts?
I did a poll on Instagram and my website to ask what people which sleeve they would like for the jumper pattern. Hundreds of people answered. The options were: – 1: – just Tree sleeves or 2: – just Tree and Star sleeves which are the same as the body, or 3: – Both sleeve charts. Most people said that they would knit 1: – Tree sleeves only, but some wanted both charts, just in case. When asked if those people would consider paying more for the option of both sleeves to be included in the one pattern, even though there was more work charting a 2nd sleeve, knitting it, and writing a full pattern, they mostly said no. So, I have happily knitted Tree sleeves in my Kaleidoscope jumper because most people requested this and the Trees look a wonderful companion pattern and compliment the body.
What about the Tree and Star sleeve? Where can I get it?
My test knitter has knitted the Tree and Star sleeves, which are the same motif as the body. The Tree and Star sleeve chart pattern along with the Sanquhar alphabet pattern to enable you to add your initials and year of knitting to personalise your work, will be released separately to the jumper pattern, as an add-on so that the knitter can make their own choice of sleeve. The name of the bolt-on pattern will be, Tree and Star Sleeve Pattern. The reason that this is a separate bolt-on pattern, is because of the extra work to design, create and knit it as well as write the intricate charts and pattern notes. Plus it gives the knitter the choice to just pay for the original pattern or pay extra if they want and extra design.
So, if you would like to buy the Kaleidoscope pattern, it is here
I am also knitting a swatch of how to add your initials and the year when the jumper was made, into the sleeve, just above the cuff, in the Bolt on Tree and Star Sleeve pattern that will be out this week.
Thank you to everyone who has bought the Kaleidoscope Jumper Pattern it is here, if you want to go check it out.
Let me know what you think about the options for a 2nd sleeve pattern.
If you buy my kaleidoscope pattern when I release it this weekend, please do not forward or share it with your friends or family or knitting group.
This pattern has taken 4 months of my life. I started at the beginning of May and have spent between 4-6 hours every day, either charting, designing, knitting, promoting, writing blogs, sorting yarn for test knitter, liaising a lot with test knitter, rewriting, printing, reading the pattern, updating charts,altering pattern and constant knitting and figuring out ways round things. When the pattern is released, ravelry charge about 10% and then PayPal always take 10% from the payment. So, my life has been poured into this pattern.
It and I have a value. PLEASE do not share patterns. Everyone is happy to buy lots and lots of wool, so please think of the actual design. End of Frank and honest discussion. Let me know what you think in the comments
I am releasing the pattern at the weekend, however, there may be a soft release earlier and I think if you are signed up to my Ravelry, as a ‘friend’ then you hear the moment the pattern comes out.
I would love to hear your comments, and follow me on instagram for lots of regular updates
After the release of the kaleidoscop jumper pattern, there will be the release of an add-on alternative sleeve pattern for the jumper. I am excited about that. Here is ravelry
here is information on why there will be an add-on pattern
Why does the Kaleidoscope jumper pattern only have Tree sleeve charts? I did a poll on Instagram and my website to ask what people which sleeve they would like for the jumper pattern. Hundreds of people answered. The options were: – 1: – just Tree sleeves or 2: – just Tree and Star sleeves which are the same as the body, or 3: – Both sleeve charts.
Most people said that they would knit 1: – Tree sleeves only, but some wanted both charts, just in case. When asked if those people would consider paying more for the option of both sleeves to be included in the one pattern, even though there was more work charting a 2nd sleeve, knitting it, and writing a full pattern, they mostly said no. So, I have happily knitted Tree sleeves in my Kaleidoscope jumperbecause most people requested this and the Trees look a wonderful companion pattern and compliment the body.
What about the Tree and Star sleeve? Where can I get it? My test knitter has knitted the Tree and Star sleeves, which are the same motif as the body. The Tree and Star sleeve chart pattern along with the Sanquhar alphabet pattern to enable you to add your initials and year of knitting to personalise your work, will be released separately to the jumper pattern, as an add-on so that the knitter can make their own choice of sleeve. The name of the bolt-on pattern will be, Tree and Star Sleeve Pattern. The reason that this is a separate bolt-on pattern, is because of the extra work to design, create and knit it as well as write the intricate charts and pattern notes. Plus it gives the knitter the choice to just pay for the original pattern or pay extra if they want and extra design. I have also test knitted the Tree and Star sleeve with my initials and the date above the cuff, as a swatch. But, for now, I am most pleased to present you with, by popular demand, my Kaleidoscope jumper pattern which has only a Trees sleeve pattern and instructions.
Thank you to everyone who commented on my Instagram post on July 30th when I asked what sleeve you would most like me to finish my jumper in, as I had already knitted the 1st one in Trees only, not tree and star, like the body.
There were many comments to say what sleeves you’d like to see as the second one, on my latest Kaleidoscope, jumper design. To be precise, I had 166 comments and 544 likes on that post. I also added a poll on my Instagram stories to ask the same question, and below are the results for that.
So, for the first time, I actually did a real research survey to find out what you wanted. The results were really interesting.
The overall winning suggestion was that most of you just wanted Tree sleeves only in the pattern, just as I had already knitted with the first one, but a lot of you thought that I should add the alternative ‘Tree and Star sleeve chart’, to give the knitter options but some of you said that you wouldn’t pay extra for an additional sleeve pattern design even if it took me days to chart , test knit, write the pattern and instructions. This I found quite disheartening as the Kaleidoscope pattern is my most adventurous and my most perfect and I wanted to release it with 2 sleeve options but if people don’t want to recognise the work in that extra design, I have made a compromise.
I will release the Kaleidoscope jumper pattern within 2 weeks week AND I will follow up with a ‘Bolt-on’ pattern which is a chart of the alternative ‘Tree and Star sleeve, plus a Sanquhar alphabet chart for you to be able to personalise your knit with your initials and date above your cuff. This way, I will produce a beautiful pattern with the sleeves requested by the majority in my surveys. And, I will have an additional bolt on pattern with the 2nd sleeve. The bolt on pattern has more work than a hat pattern and deserves to be recognised as a design in itself.
It’s 3 months since I started the project on 10th May. Not bad for a fast slow knit.
Please comment on what colours you’d like to see this jumper knitted on I’m excited to bring this pattern out.
Below are a few comments from Instagram. You can follow me here on instagram for more updates and lots of photos
But, I think that the best way to find out about the pattern release, is to become a ‘friend’ of mine on ravelry, then I think you get an update when the pattern is published
Oh, I knitted the second sleeve in Trees only, and I am almost ready to graft the 2nd sleeve into place, here is a video of the graft after I took the risk of grafting the sleeve into the armpit with double yarn for strength. I am most happy. The jumper has grafted shoulders, the sleeves expertly grafted into the armpit, a mitred V neck and the option of 2 different sleeve patterns plus a Sanquhar alphabet to knit your initials and the year into the design. I hope that you will knit it and make it personal to you.
My test knitter is knitting Tree and Star sleeves to match the body AND, I will also knit a Tree and Star sleeve with my initials and the year knitted into the work too. My test knit will be yellows and greens.
Let me know what you think in comments. Join me on Instagram to get more frequent updates and join as a friend in Ravelry to hear when the pattern comes out first.
Also, if you do want to, there is still the Tree and Star hat pattern to knit before the jumper, to get used to the motif, or after, to have as a twin set. I can’t wait to wear mine.
Just a few comments from my Instagram post asking which sleeve you would like to finish the design.
First of all: what a fantastic pattern! I love it! 😍😍😍 For me, I’d choose option 1, trees only. But I think I’d include both options in the pattern ❤️
Hi Tracey, I would probably knit the trees/stars option but would like to have the tree option open until I get to the sleeves in my project. And I would pay the double if that idea what it takes.
When will the jumper pattern be available? I will be in Shetland on 11-18 Aug and would love to know the amount of yarn and color codes to be able to buy yarn with me home to Denmark.
Hi Tracey! It’s a beautiful design 💙 I’m not in the position to be taking on a large project at the moment, but I’d choose Option 1. I do love symmetry. I’m not sure how many would be open to paying more for a potential 2nd sleeve option. But, if you design another sweater in the future in the same gauge, perhaps with a round/crew neck, or a cardigan
Choices! I’d probably like both sleeve designs because I’d be tempted to do one sleeve of each pattern 🧐 I like the deliberate similar but not matching!
I love the tree sleeve! As much as I’d enjoy the options I know in my heart I would still pick two tree sleeves. I’d also pay more to have the options. Could you release a second sleeve option as an add on pattern later to cover your work?
Could you sell a tree sleeve version and a tree and star only version as separate patterns, or charge a bit extra for a sleeve add-on? A tree only (including body) pattern would be great too
Trees for me as first choice ❤️❤️❤️
Trees on the second sleeve as well !
Both please Tracey
Trees only add a lovely interest.
I would love your new pattern to offer both options. Personally I think i would like the combo best but it’s a rare treat to have a choice. Keep up the good work my flower!
winner chosen. I hope that you’re all up for buying this exciting pattern
Hi! Such a gorgeous jumper! I probably would go for trees on both sleeves. The colours are amazing!! 😍😍😍
About 4 months ago, I put a call out for anyone who has knitted my Sea Urchin hat pattern or my Tree and stars hat pattern and would like to do a test knit of my latest design, then, to get in touch. A lot of people got in touch but had not knitted any of my patterns, so didn’t know my style of writing, or when they found out the project was a jumper, they pulled out.
my trusty Test knitter, Mary stepped in and I sent her a box of yarn.
test knit yarn box.
It’s costly to test knit and the yarn that I sent Mary to use or choose, would have cost me over £100. I have supported Mary with alignment and will help with the mitred V neck and graftin the sleeve into the arm hole.
So, she learns too.
I put a poll out for which sleeve should I finish my jumper with? Normally, I would do 2 different sleeves to both test knit and because I like to design that way but the overall winner for the choice of my 2nd sleeve by over 100 comments was for me to knit a 2nd sleeve in the trees design. So, Mary, will knit the test knit in tree and stars ( I think I will do a 3rd sleeve in completely different colours to test it also)
The thing that came out of the polls were that some people wanted just trees but said that I should add both charts for both sleeves and that set me to thinking about all the extra time taken to chart, swatch, test, hand knit, alter a 2nd sleeve just to give an option in a pattern. I don’t think that pattern buyers think about the time taken to write a full pattern and to add extras is doing it for love.
My pattern will have 2 different charted sleeves. It will take longer and more work. But I hope that you will all find that it is worth it Because I am absolutely loving this jumper as it grows.
Over the weekend, I added a 10% discount offer on the Tree and Star hat, if anyone wanted to Get Ahead with learning how to knit the Kaleidoscope Jumper. I forgot to add the offer to my website followers so I have just extended the offer until midnight tomorrow night.
the pattern is in the link above and there’s no discount code, the discount is taken in your basket.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on which sleeve you will be knitting, but, until then, here’s the armhole, waiting for my 2nd sleeve and here is the matching hat. I can’t wait to wear them as a twin set when I hope to visit Japan in December.
I am almost finished knitting my new design. It has a lot of gorgeous features. – Grafted shoulders, a beautiful mitred V neck band and I have just grafted the first sleeve into the body of the armhole.
I normally knit my sleeves by picking up stitches around the arm hole then knitting down to the cuff, but the reason that I grafted the tree knitted sleeve into the arm hole, is because I knitted it in the round from the cuff up and then worked the finished sleeve into the armpit. The reason for this is because I did a swatch of the tree motifs and to get them standing the right way, (trunk at the cuff end of the knit) if I was knitting armpit down to cuff, I had to start knitting the tree from its top. This is quite an easy thing to do. But, I realised from the swatch that if I knitted the trees from the top to the trunk, starting at the arm hole down, the stitches would be upside down and that really annoyed me. Here is a swatch of what the stitches would look like if I had knitted them from the armpit. Can you see that the stitches are sitting upside down in the tree motif? And to the eye, it would look a mistake when the whole sleeve was knitted and it would really annoy me.
So, I have knitted the sleeve, in the round from the cuff up to the top and it was an absolute pleasure. Detailed images will be in the pattern of the joining seam and how it looked when finished and I will release videos on how I grafted the sleeve into the arm pit.
The question is now that I am undecided whether to do a 2nd tree sleeve, which would look harmonious and cute, or shall I knit a sleeve with the tree and star motifs from the body? Or would you prefer both options in the knitting pattern so that you can choose to knit either one design or both?
So, I am having a little ‘win the pattern post on Istagram’ Anyone who comments on my post which one they prefer will get a chance of winning the pattern when it is released.
My instagram is @traceydoxey and you can let me know your preference on the post for a chance to win.
If you would like to knit this pattern but feel a little daunted, you can start very simply with the Tree and Star hat pattern which is in the link here
I am really excited about this pattern, so much care and attention has gone into it. There will be pages of charts to help you get your motifs, V neck and armpit decreases in the right places and options – for you to choose yourself to make the design more your own.
Let me know your thoughts on the pattern and if you are hoping to knit it. here is the instagram page to join in giving your idea of what the 2nd sleeve will be
Last week, I painted the walls in my sitting room. It has been difficult to get the exact right colour because of the light in the room – Finally, I landed on a Little Greene paint by the name of Bassoon. It is perfect, deep in tone but light in colour – it’s the colour of wet sand – good wet sand.
The colour has completely elevated the room and opened my eyes in a different way as well as bringing joy to the space that I haven’t felt in a long time (if ever)
Tiggy watched over my labour and didn’t budge an inch – he hasn’t faired well in this heat, so I have been a little worried about him
This morning, I am not in work until after lunch time, so I have taken time to spend with my new design, updating the pattern, rewriting the sleeve and staring at my beautiful yellow wall. I am really enjoying my new design. It will have at least 8 pages of charts to help you as an aid with decreases and shaping. There will also be 2 alternative sleeves so that you can personalise it in some way to suit your own tastes. So, on my workdesk at home this morning, are swatches of sleeves and how they will knit up and fit in, updates in my design book and I have started planning a meet up saturday morning here in my ground floor flat in Sheffield for knitters to come together, talk, learn, share and I will also be on hand to offer advice, share patterns and yarn. If that is something that you are interested in – then get in touch via the contact page.
here’s the latest pages in my design / swatch book
It would be lovely to do this full time – so if you would like to support me, please buy my patterns here, join me in my online workshops or you can buy me a kofi in this link 🙂 and I will name you when I buy the drink
Big love from Tracey – constantly learning, constantly knitting, constantly trying to make exciting work. If you enjoy my work, give me a comment 🙂
I’ve made something completely different to what I normally knit and instead of it taking 3 months or more to make, it took me 3 days. It is a very easy, quick knit vest. There is a lot of pleasure in such a fast growing knit and I have made a pattern so that you can also knit it. The pattern uses your stash yarn.
If you want to look quickly Here is the link to the pattern, and for the first 24 hours of sales, I will donate £1 per sale of each pattern to the RSPCA in Sheffield – because that is where Alfie cat, was rescued and they are a wonderful animal rescue centre.
alfie
The pattern for the Chunky Yarn Vest is made by using stash yarn. I made mine by using some that I have had for 10 years or more. Anyone with a stash of yarn can make this vest. It is a very sustainable project – using what yarn you already have but if you would like to make it but don’t have a stash, then I have listed some of the yarns that can be used and given examples in the pattern.
But, I thought it would be good to use what we have already. You have bought your stash because you have loved it at one time or another. If you collect yarn, now is the time to have a go and use some of it to make something that you’ll love wearing. This is the perfect project to use lots of bits up. Any amount of bits of chunky or plied wool will work. For my yarns, I tended to go soft and fluffy
The vest is made by using one chunky yarn or by plying 3 – 5 yarns together to make a chunky yarn. Please be aware that what you make with your plied yarn, may be thicker or thinner than what I plied, which makes precise pattern writing for everyone impossible, so, I have written this pattern for the exact stitches and size used to create the two vests that I have made.
You will need to swatch to get a gauge similar to or the same as the one I made up. My test knitters managed to make the same gauge for their knits and No two vests will ever be the same.
The knitting pattern works best with extra chunky yarn or for you to play around and ply 3 or 4 strands of thick yarn together or one extra chunky yarn with a strand of mohair or 2 strands of Aran yarn together or 2 double knitting yarn with 3 strands of mohair, or by mixing yarns together to give a marl look.
What I was aiming for was a variety of beautiful colours to use up my stash and to have fun whilst making something to wear that I love.
The end result is VERY FORGIVING and it stretches width ways.
The pattern gives you information on brands of yarn that I used from my stash and photographs of the yarns and how I mixed them. But really, this stash buster project is for you to use your yarns, which will be different to mine and it is a very personal project – you can see that by looking at the test knit image of her vest made by Annie against my striped chunky knits.
Annie’s test knitthe two vests I knitted
The pattern also has photo examples of how to knit the neck area, easy to follow written instructions of how to decrease the stitches around the neck as well as measurement and stitch conversion table giving you exactly how many stitches I used to make this vest.
There is another thing that I think will unexpectedly happen – which is that you will feel it is cathartic to use up yarn that you have had for years, so that it is not wasted. In this case, the project will cost you nothing now – just what you have put away for some time.
I knitted my 2nd vest after my cat, Alfie died. I found it very calming and relaxing to make it, when I was feeling very sad. I bought the yarn for this vest so that I could knit it for a 2nd time alongside my test knitters. I loved the outcome. I made it a little hand sewn label for the back.
I will be selling my 2nd knitted vest, which you can see in the photos above. It fits a 36 – 42 chest easily. When flat the front measures 20 inches but stretches to 22 inches. It has my little ‘Doxey’ hand sewn label in the back and it is really comfy and warm. If you would like to buy it, please get in touch for a price – traceydoxey@hotmail.com
‘We live in Time’, is my knitted textile piece incorporating a hand- knitted vest and two photographs of sisters from 1970 (my sister and me)
The work is partly about the gaps in the relationship between me and my sister and me not being able to reach her which also takes into consideration the Japanese concept of Ma, the spaces in between (間 ) the silences, the unspoken, past and present. It is also about knitted garments for siblings over time.
I was born on 26/06/1963, my sister 11 months later on 27/05/1964. Our mother dressed us identically for about 12 years until we tried to impress our own tastes upon the clothes we wore. My Grandad enjoyed the latest photographic technology available to a working-class man. He took many photographs, particularly in 1970 when I was seven and my sister, six years old. He loved his polaroid camera -these photos, though, were taken by a small new instamatic. In all of the photographs that I still have, my sister and I stand beside each other but rarely touch – there is an unspoken physical and emotional space between us. All of the images were ‘set up’ in a way for my mother to show that her daughters were ‘well turned out’.
There are hand written words over one of the photographs – ‘What about our Julie?’, which is what I always asked if I was ever given anything and she was not – this was, of course, very rare.
There is a poignancy from our childhood to now, where there is still a wide physical and emotional gap between us.
As a representation of personal choice, I have knitted a vest in nine dark colours which were chosen by my sister as an expression of her preferred colours now. When I asked her what her favourite colours are – she said, black, navy, dark red and mustard –but, I had to knit with some contrast so added pale grey, pale yellow and pale orange. We were cut from the same cloth but with totally different personalities. I knitted the same article for myself but it has sleeves and 100 colours.
We Live in Time, is part of a larger piece called, ‘I cannot reach you’ where both pieces will be exhibited beside each other, not touching, and my jumper will be reaching. Four photographs of us in 1970 will accompany the textile piece – showing how we always looked – for years.
I cannot reach you – the same but different.
‘We live in Time,’ questions the discouraged individuality growing up in a working class home in the 60’s / 70’s – and the ever growing space between sisters.
If you are in Sheffield on Saturday, 15th Feb, you are invited to the private view, because it isn’t private and it’d be lovely to meet you from 4-6pm. Come and look at some textiles. Address in invite above.
tracey doxey 
