Today’s Retro Monday was inspired by having a good clean out of my stash.
I undertook what has become an annual sorting of the stash which even extended to my sewing goodies. I’m quite impressed that my collection of fabric is all washed and ironed and ready to go and every little spool and bobbin is tidily packed away.
As I was looking at my yarn stash, I realised that all of the yarn in my collection is quite lovely. I haven’t really had to settle for poor quality yarn or buying a colour I didn’t like because it was all that was available. I can pretty much buy any yarn I want to in any colour I fancy.
Compare this to the 1940s. In Australia, wartime rationing was not as severe as that in the UK. Rationing of clothing began on 15 June 1942, and this included handknitting wool. This reflected restricted imports as well as materials being diverted to the war effort.
Additionally, a lot of the workforce previously involved in fabric and garment manufacture had enlisted, so production and distribution were further limited. What was produced was directed firstly to meet the needs of defence – household consumption of clothing, yarn and cloth was necessarily reduced.
The pattern book below from The Australian Women’s Weekly is a pre-rationing publication. Although there is a nod towards the nation being at war with the serviceman in the photo, the model’s cardigan isn’t exactly a picture of wartime austerity.
Long sleeves, some ease, cables and a collar all use up more yarn per garment than a simpler item would.
Compared to the Sun-glo cardigan below, it’s looks almost extravagant.
The Sun-glo pattern book is a post-rationing edition. Short sleeves and the cropped length and negative ease all reflect reduced availability of yarn. The cover design “Americana” represents a fascination with all things American – an attitude which flourished as US servicemen began to take recreational leave in Australian harbour cities.
But the most interesting thing for me was this notice inside the front cover of the Sun-glo book.
It makes me really appreciate the abundance and variety of yarn that I can get any day of the week if I want to.
Even though I might be after cherry-red yarn and the precise shade of cherry-red I have in my head isn’t the same as the one on the shelf, I can rely on having several cherry-reds choose from.
I think we should be more appreciative of what is available to us as knitters today. I don’t mean we shouldn’t care if a retailer has poor quality or insufficient stock – it’s 2014. Our expectations as consumers – and retailers’ capacity to meet these expectations is very different to what it was in 1942.
Just don’t be the person in the yarn shop who throws a tantrum and abuses the staff because the navy merino on offer isn’t “navy enough” or because “the other shop always has Totem”.
Appreciate all the yarn you have access too. If the knitters of 1942 could create stylish, well made clothes with a limited range of fibres and colours, then there is nothing stopping us from doing the same.
(Please note that I do not own the copyright to any patterns featured in Retro Monday. Unfortunately this means I make or send out copies).
It’s interesting thinking about rationing in Australia – being in the UK, I’m used to hearing about that side of it, but not the Australian side. Did it affect the size of your patterns in Oz too? Because paper was also rationed, you can tell later wartime patterns here because they’re *tiny*!
I’m not sure about paper shortages in Australia. Australia didn’t really lack resources as much as availability of labour.
I wonder what people did when faced with tiny patterns – did everyone just know how to grade a pattern to their own measurements?
It’s the sheets of paper that were tiny, the paper was thin and the print very small to use the minimum paper. That said, most patterns I have from that era only have the one measurement, so I guess people knew how to grade up and down – or, if plus size, had to give in and accept the occasional frumpy ‘PATTERN IN A LARGER SIZE’.
I am larger size, but I resize my patterns. I want the pretty things!