Back in January, we told you about the amazing figures created by a fan in the UK – incredibly detailed characters from The Hobbit movies, all made by knitting! (Check them out in our article, here.) Now Denise Salway, known as ‘The Knitting Witch’, has created another amazing piece – a jacket, telling the tale of The Hobbit in details all over this fabulous item of clothing. Denise says:
“The Jacket was a continuance of the theme to the Dwarves etc. Some followers wondered if I could do something a bit bigger, but I don’t think they thought it would be an item of clothing this time! I wanted to include the land, which is a good back drop. It took a lot of time and thought, with some changes in making. I included sequins, crystals and some New Zealand jade, as New Zealand is fabulous with its stars, glaciers and snow, and its waves in the land, plus the people are so lovely! And as the fabulous Peter Jackson films [are shot] there, it seemed a good challenge to try. [The jacket] was designed this time [to fit] me, but it does fit quite a few as the beauty of wool is that it gives!
I got the wool first, with the crystals, sequins and the New Zealand jade; the buttons I bought last. I started work at the beginning of January 2014 and finished the start of March, knitting a good few hours each day. I drew my design first on A4 and used a paper pattern as a rough guide for shape and counting the switches I needed. I changed ideas as I went if I didn’t it think it was working or I got a better idea and style which I thought looked nice. I did sew some pieces together to make a good fit and shape.
It seemed the perfect thing to do after creating and designing all the dwarves, Smaug, etc – to do the ‘Knitted Dust Jacket’ to cover The Hobbit book (as the paper cover to any book is called a dust cover). So a play on words – dust jacket covering JRR Tolkien’s book The Hobbit became a jacket!
I will wear it, but would love a star of the films to have a photo in it first – a real dream! I’d loved the V&A [Victoria and Albert Museum, London] to display it if they even thought it was good enough; one of my favourite Museums. Other than that, all who visit me see it on display at home and love it!
I’m not a business – just a 51 year old full time carer to my severely disabled son. At a late age I discovered people think I can design and knit something that makes people happy. That is priceless to me – [I find] happiness by sharing my work!”
You can find Denise on Twitter and flickr – both of which can be found by visiting theknittingwitch.com. Denise says she loves to chat with fellow fans and fellow artisans!
