Jenny Kee’s Knits From Nature is a book so good, so chock full of classic eighties jumper designs I gladly paid a dollar for it at an op shop.
I’ve had it for my own amusement for a while, but I thought you’d enjoy a peak at:
a) the most mental jumper designers ever
b) some kangaroos
Before Romance Was Born, Cassette Playa, Andrea Crews and even Ralph Lauren gave us far out knits, Kee was all over it. A dyed-in-the-wool* Australian fashion legend, her fabrics were in Karl Lagerfeld’s first Chanel prêt collection, and her patterns kept nanas knitting for months, to fill grandkids demands.
Knitting hurts my shoulder, but if it didn’t, I’d knit Ariel Amazing the Koompartoo yin and yang peace sign jumper. She’d platz. She platzed just looking at the picture.
Kee’s designs are not just inspired by the environment, they draw on our Australian “national identity”. Maybe that’s why they’re so convoluted. One pattern has fish, the ol' yin and yang, fish, birds zigzgs, arrows, zome latin and my Mum's name.
More gold form my archives soon. I’m off to ride my wallaby to get a fair trade café latte and some scones made by Sudanese refugees.
* yes, I did.
