Today it's my pleasure to share some images from a Villawool Hand Knits booklet from the mid-60s (don't you love the "knitted" Villawool logo?). There are some pleasingly odd pictures and delectable vintage woollens herein, but what initially struck me was the face of the model on the cover, who appears to be stealthily tip-toeing out of a waiting room, clutching a purloined magazine. Does she remind you of anyone?
Seems that her accomplice is left pondering how to slink past the receptionist without attracting attention to the massive modern painting she's lifted from the wall. Don't worry honey, just a little more swagger and the hypnotically swaying red fringe of your stunning jumper will be all she notices. Why not take the cherub wall plaque while you're at it?
Having a decoy dressed nearly identically is always useful when it comes time for the police identity line-up.
"The woman I saw stealing the book was a blonde in a sweater. Yes, I'm certain of it. But... just a moment... she could have been a red-head... or was it a cardigan she was wearing? I'm sure it was some sort of Aran style knit. Yes, no, I'm almost certain of that. Officer, I can't think... could I have a glass of water?"
It's Nerida's first day on decoy duty and after forty minutes of attracting every eye to the very window she was doing her best to shield, she wonders whether she should have asked the girls what "unobtrusive" actually meant....
We find Jocelyn standing guard at the back door, wrapped in an oversized orange marle sweater with dauntingly massive pom-pom trimmed collar, and impenetrable dreams of revenge.
Meanwhile, Delores
having finished the last few rows of her suit has used her crochet hook
to pick the lock of the liquor cabinet. No icon of sobriety came up
with those daringly chic half-concealed buttons.
Back at headquarters, religious door-knockers
are easily deterred if you greet them clutching a mock-up coven
manual and invite them in for tea and sacrificial goats.
Australia in the 1960s was a lovely place, so very far from the rest of the world that a major pattern company could describe a suit as "Chanel Style" without fear of litigation. Looking at these trompe l'
Okay, any takers on a look-alike for Suspect Number One?
I thought she could easily masquerade as The Thunderbirds' Lady Penelope. Perhaps it's not the facial resemblance so much as her disquieting air of being not - absolutely - human.
(Note: if any of these designs totally grab you, drop me a line and I'll be
glad to email you a scan of the pattern. Have your llama wool ready!)
