MONMOUTH CAP IS BACK!

Fluellen, Henry V, Act IV, scene 7 reads...

"Your magesty says very true: if your majestie is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which, your majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable badge of service; and I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Davey's day."

Stephen doesn't have a leek in his Monmouth cap because he is not Welsh, but Louise is Welsh, and she has just made a pattern for one in PYF Black Welsh Mountain DK.  

The Welsh town of Monmouth lies on the River Wye, not far from Archenfield, a region noted for it's Ryeland sheep. Ryeland produces wool which is great for felting.  Being near the river for easy distribution, and near the sheep for wool, Monmouth was perfectly situated to become a centre of a knitting industry. 

The industry produced several kinds of knitted goods, but became best known for it's caps, which they couldn't stop making and exported across England and Wales and the continent. The Monmouth Cap was at it's trendiest in 15th and 16th centuries, when we simply adored them. In 1488, Henry VII made the Cappers Act, which imposed a fine for the wearing of foreign- made caps. Why should we wear other caps, when we were so proud of our Monmouth knitters.

 Elizabeth I, in 1571, still loved the caps and made a statue "An Act for the Continuance of the Making of Caps," list 15 crafts related to their production, and it required that "...all males above the age of six, except some of certain state and condition, shall wear upon the Sabbath and Holydays, one cap of wool knit, thicked and dressed in England, upon the forefeiture of 3s 4d...." Wives "were constrained to wear white caps of woolen yarn, unless their husbands were of good value in the Queen's book or could prove themselves gentlemen by descent..."

the Monmouth cap was nearly always brown, with a button on top and a tag to hang it up, but there are some records of them being red.  Ryeland fleeces became much sort after and caps started to be made from other sheep breeds.  They became so fashionable that people started making them everywhere and the term 'Monmouth' refered only to the style, and not to the place of origin. This cap was made at Prick Your Finger in London, and the rest of the information on this fascinating subject, including the Monmouth caps sailing to the new World, can be found in the essay "A Short History of the Monmouth Cap" by Jennifer L.Carlson,  www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/jennifer/Monmouth.htm from where this whole post was lifted.

PYF ON THE HIT PARADE!

We were delighted to discover this lovely new song "Cryptorchild" by Maralyn Manson, that seems to be about us!

Prick Your Finger, it is done, 

The Moon has now eclipsed the sun,

The angel has spread it's wings,

The time has come for bitter things.....

Except I think he meant to say 'better' things!  Oh well, anyway, thank you Maralyn, we do appreciate it!

PSYCHOSTITCHGEOGRAPHY 2.

This weeks Psychostitchgeography, shows Louise's calculations for the knitted beards and moustaches, from ZZ Top to Freddie Mercury, and adaptable for The Rubbishmen and other bearded people. 

Coming soon in Amelia's Magazine - a brilliant publication which can be found at www.ameliasmagazine.com   

Issue 9 ready for pre -order!

SHEEP OF THE WEEK!

While Louise rounded up Wiltshire Horn sheep  in Wales last weekend, she took these pictures for us! Louise's brother Oliver keeps these rare breed sheep, mostly to feed his family, but also for the wool. Louise's task was to move the sheep from the top field, where they had been enjoying the long grass, down to the salt marsh, where they are encouraged to eat seaweed, to improve their flavor before slaughter. 

Like all Bo Peeps, Louise had to find the sheep first, so she followed the clues of poo on the path and fleece on the fence. There was a lot of fleece on the fences because Wiltshire Horns, shed their wool once a year, which means Oliver doesn't have to shear them and Louise and the blackbirds can collect it. For the rest of the morning, Louise ran backwards and forwards watching little tails run away from her until they arrived at the salt marsh. 

The sheep really liked their new pasture, as you can see from this video... 

GILL BOWER'S BITS AND PIECES.

Thank you to Gill Bower of Ambleside, Cumbria who sent us, this rather lovely Licorice All Sorts packet with little bits of dark red wool in it. 

She must have been making a rug, because all the pieces are cut to the same size. 

Gill also sent us lots of other yarn which we used in the crochet coral reef,  but we especially like this packet, which is on display out front, and has been much admired.

CUSTOMER OF THE MONTH MAY 2008!

Congratulations to Abhayasuri, for knitting her way into the Customer of the Month May 2008 position before the month is even over. 

Abhayasuri is un- stoppable. In less than a week, she finished a big orange roving blanket for a baby, and has started a white and blue blanket for the cot. 

This masterpiece however, also knitted this month, in re-cycled sari yarn,  is the back ground for a Stupa.

A Stupa is a mound like structure containing Buddhist relics - typically the remains of the Buddha or a saint. When the Buddha died, he left behind, earth, water, fire, air, and space, as seen in the diagram opposite. Abhayasuri, wants to hang her Stupa on the wall, and she is now working out ways to make shapes to represent the elements. 

Good luck Abhayasuri, we can't wait to see what you do next!

BOO HOO THE MOON BEARS!

Moon bears need YOU! Well I'm not exactly sure how true that is, because we don't know how many knitters they have already but it's a great story.

Jill Robinson, an American, is rescuing bears from Hong Kong, who sadly, are farmed for bile for use in medicine. The bears lead a sad life with tubes and pumps stuck in their bellies. 

Rescued Moon Bears need you to knit! They can't go straight from cages to sanctuary, because they need operations to remove the pumps first. The bears need to be totally anaesthetized for this care and their paws get cold, so they need you to knit these enormous mittens, 7" wide, with a 12" foot and 6"cuff. You need to post them to Oakland Zoo, Oregon, USA and all the information you need  is at  www.kqed.org/quest/blog/tag/moon-bear/