A certain smile, a certain face....

Hi peeps,

I am back with a vengeance, having a day off work to do absolutely anything I want to do but time is of the essence as I have lots of knitting to do and lots of plans to bring you some lovely eye-catching knitwear in the months ahead.

Its mid-February so I must crack on, will soon be Spring!!

I must share with you the pictures taken from last weekend when my favourite special person and I celebrated our lucky for some, 13 years of marriage, time really does fly when you are having fun!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures - yours truly is wearing one of her favourite little sweaters.  Now this one was for sale for a while on Etsy but not anymore as I simply love pink so it just had to be mine.

The venue for afternoon tea is a place called Sketch, never really heard of it before but it is somewhere you simply have to try at least once in your lifetime.  We just love Afternoon Tea, don't you??

Enjoy!!

My chap

Beautiful ceiling design

Scrumptious selection of cake and sandwiches

Yours truly wearing a cute little tweed number

Space aged bathroom

Oh how i love bathroom designs

I thought i was in another world.....

These look like tombs....

Stairway to the Stars.....

Dreamy seating reminds me of trifle sponge

It was getting close to evening so most tables were emptied

Wacky art on the walls

The Truth about Vintage Knitting Patterns and Copyright

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Hello everyone,

Time for another blogpost, as I promised I would be blogging more often....

I became a member of the Knitting and Crochet Guild (KCG) since June last year and to be honest, apart from receiving their interesting and informative monthly newsletters and my membership card have not made proper use of my membership to actually feel part of this wonderful community.

For my £25 yearly membership I thought I should at least make good use of their huge library of vintage patterns – yippee, I was so excited and although I have amassed a huge collection of patterns myself, I thought it would be really great to have copies of patterns I don't have in my collection, thus avoiding having to purchase a copy from the various ebay and etsy sellers out there on the world-wide web, I really do hate buying copies but sometimes I see a copy of a pattern that I really want and I just have to buy it.  Any knitter with a passion for their handy artwork will agree and we have all bought copies at some time or other.

The Knitting and Crochet Guild are reputable so they would not breach copyright in providing me with copies from certain brands/names. Fair enough and to be frank and honest with you, it is the availability of copies of knitting patterns that is making it all so diluted and commercial and really does spoil the exclusivity for collectors, thus bringing down the value of original patterns. Why buy an original if you can get a copy at a fraction of the price?

I thought it would be good to share their response with my fellow knitters:- 

Patterns that are less than 70 years old are still in copyright.  KCG have permission from Coats and Thomas B Ramsden to copy their vintage leaflets which covers Patons, Scotch Wool shops, Copley, Coats, Bellmans, Wendy, Robin, Emu and Twilleys.  

Sirdar is a separate company still and Bestway are owned by IPC magazines. 

With regards to Bairnswear and Golden Eagle, they do not know who owns copyright so it would be difficult to get permission.  Does anyone out there know who owns copyright – seems a complete mystery….surely if no one claims copyright there can be no breach of copyright to sell or to photocopy them?

With respect to IPC magazines, they are not generous giving permission for copies to be available – so beware all you ebay and etsy sellers selling copies of Bestway and any other patterns, you are apparently breaching copyright if you are selling copies of patterns less than 70 years old.  Unless of course you have asked permission to do so and we all know the answer to that question don't we?  

KCG advised that anyone selling Bestway and Sirdar knitting pattern copies in particular, should not sell them unless they have the permission from IPC Media and Sirdar to sell them.

Well that certainly cleared up a bit of the myth, so basically 1930s patterns are already out of copyright.  1940-June 1944 patterns will be out of copyright by tomorrow, July 1^st and so on…

Happy Knitting one and all, I hope this information was useful!

Buttermilk and the Wood Violet

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Hip Hip Hooray I say, it is truly summertime at last and my Blog is active again.......my knitting focus is feminine knitwear for the lovely ladies who like a bit of femininity in their sweaters.

My latest creation is absolutely beautiful, even if I do say so myself.  It's the fabulous Wood Violet and this one is hot off the MM needles.  It's not going to appear on my etsy site just yet, as I will need to get a lovely petite model to wear it first so I can take some marvellous pictures.  It's lovely new owner could be you!

This style is most feminine and the vintage brooch just finishes off the neckline perfectly don't you think?  I will be selling this sweater with the brooch as they go so well together.

A beautiful brooch to compliment the elegant neckline, just the right size to keep focus on the main design of this charming sweater.

I knitted this sweater using some Patons Pure Wool 4ply, it is 100% wool so will keep it's shape when washed.

The back of the sweater looks just as nice as the front!  So pretty.

I used dark yellow vintage buttons which compliment the buttermilk colour in every way.  Remember ladies that each sweater is unique so I will pack a spare button and wool as well as washing instructions to the lucky purchaser.

What a swell profile, a sweater-girl's dream even in the modern world we live in......

For all your sweater girl needs, please visit my etsy site:www.etsy.com/shop/MicheleMarckKnitwear

Out with the old, in with the new

Michele Marck Knitwear is my new trading name, why you may ask?

Basically, all my knitwear designs are classic, timeless and bang up to date with what the modern man and woman would want to wear.

For the women, its feminine, durable, wearable and does not look out of date if worn in the office, at weekends, in every day life, for instance, you would not have to go to a Vintage Event to wear it so basically the word "Vintage" just had to disappear.

For the men, again its masculine and very wearable and many designer labels are selling items of the same designs based on traditional styles of the past, the difference being, most of it is highly overpriced and machine knitted as opposed to being hand knitted.

This year has been a very busy one for me as I changed jobs whilst still focusing on knitting and supplying the knitwear you all love, its been a tough and challenging one to say the least…..

However, I recently enlisted the help of my dear aunt who is a very keen and experienced knitter and she has been knitting the pieces of some of the knitwear whilst I focus on the sewing up and trimmings for each item of knitwear.  Together we work brilliantly and without her help I would not have been able to have produced many sweaters this year…….so a big big THANK YOU to my Aunt Val who lives in Derbyshire.

Here is a picture gallery of some of the sweaters we have created this year, with many more to come in 2014.

My Etsy shop is open for business…..click here to see more

All for the love of Claridges

Hi everyone, its been a while (almost a year) since I last updated my blog page so now it's time to let you know what's been happening in 2013.

Back in March I treated my husband, Stephen to afternoon tea at Claridges.  This was our third visit and every time we have spent our afternoon at this magnificent hotel in London we are never disappointed.  On this occasion it was his birthday so Claridges seemed quite fitting for the occasion.

My cheesy photo holding the Vintage Life magazine is a sample of what you can expect to see me reading when I find a few minutes here and there away from the knitting needles.  I love a good read and I must admit this is a very handy size to carry around with you.  This edition featured those lovely ladies in "Call the Midwife".

My favourite character is Trixie for her love of sweaters, she is truly the sweater girl on the series and looks fab in every creation.

At Claridges, having spent a couple of hours eating dinky sized sandwiches and eating lovely handmade scones with their superb clotted cream and marco polo jelly we decided to have a wander around the Ground Floor, near reception as you can see the wonderful entrance in the photo above.

Getting back to the character named "Trixie" from "Call the Midwife" I will feature my favourite sweater in the next blog entry.

Until next time…..

M

Michele Marck Knitwear - News for 2014

Hi Folks

I trust you have all had a relaxing and enjoyable Holiday and look ahead to 2014 with renewed vigour and energy.

As you can imagine I have been very busy working on my Etsy Site throughout 2013 and can now re-share with you the details of how to stay connected.

You can access the site here:- 
www.etsy.com/shop/VintageMichele

From time to time I will be sharing items that are posted on the site so you can see what's new, what's hot off the knitting needles and more.......

I don't know about you but I absolutely love Bloglovin so I am adding my blog, in the hope that I gain a bit more of a following that I have done in the past but that's mainly because I was working on other things and my knitting just took a back seat, as well as the blog. Admittedly I have not had the time to keep blogging this year due to changing jobs and struggling to find the time to update you all, apologies for that…my 2014 resolution will be to get back to blogging….

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You will find these pictured sweaters currently for sale on my site. 
A big thank you to Christie and Alex who were the perfect models as they both compliment my sweaters, I hope you all agree!

Most importantly I will be featuring promotional offers to my mailing list customers from time to time so please remember to join my mailing list if you love my work and would love to be wearing one of my creations.

You can join my mailing list here:-
Michele's Marck Knitwear Mailing List

Lastly I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year and I look forward to blogging again soon......


Bye for now

M

Life begins after Vintage Vogue

As I sit at the computer this morning, I am quietly looking forward to saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013.

Saying goodbye to Vintage Vogue was never going to be easy for me but as the influx of vintage events increased in 2012 and the word "vintage" became an over-used word in the English vocabulary, naturally our event was no longer unique as it once was, except for our Tea Room of course with our uniquely dressed Nippys and entertainment.  Sadly our attendance numbers dwindled in the second part of 2012, along with some other popular London Vintage Fairs that we know, all who appear to be struggling due to the same reasons. It could be the Olympic affect or the tough economic climate and strain we are all under that caused it but we think it was also due to the influx of "free entry" Vintage fairs popping up in cheaper rate venues such as little village halls, pubs etc.   We always said we would call it a day when that happened as the time and effort was no longer worthwhile. Maybe I was just looking for excuses as the longing for free time for me had certainly outweighed the importance of running just another Vintage Fair?

Having first hand experience as an events organiser for 5 years has made me appreciate all the hard work that goes into making an event successful, its not just the day but the months leading up to it that are most important of all.  The advertising and social media being two most important factors, when that no longer works then something must be wrong.

Having built up and trying to maintain a huge database of emails and 3600+ facebook friends, it was really hard work keeping it all going, especially as I was working full time and knitting my sweaters, it felt like I trying to keep three jobs going and I was juggling the knitting with the Fair in my spare time - it was no fun at all!

Stephen is a full-time student of the Arts also, so naturally with all the studying he had to do, he could no longer put in the valuable time for V V either.

My message to all those Vintage Fair organisers for 2013 is good luck and remember these important key things about being successful:-

* Bring some originality and make it a quality Event to make people want to visit otherwise it will become just another "run of the mill" vintage fair.

* Vet your traders' merchandise carefully as there are a lot of people who think they can palm off modern merchandise as "vintage".  If you allow too many of these traders into your event it will spoil your reputation and your event will be more like a jumble sale or boot fair.

* Do it your way, not how others tell you to run it!

* What ever you do, try working with other vintage event organisers in your area or where your traders trade so your events don't clash on the same day.

DONTS:

* Upset traders and the public they will bad mouth you to other traders and some of them will believe what they are told.

* Organise too many vintage events in too many locations and people will start to pick and choose which one they attend so their attendance will not always be guaranteed at each event.

* Trade on the doorstep of other Events Organisers - very disrespectful and unprofessional behaviour - nobody wins in this situation.

Well that's all folks from V V HQ.  Personally it's been a large learning curve and I have taken away some very valuable lessons as well as meeting some lovely folk in the process.

I wish all the friends and people I have met in 2012 a fabulous 2013, may the sun shine on all of you in more ways than one.  I also wish you good health, wealth and happiness!