knitting – Stitch Revival Studio

Beloved knitted bonnet

The Beloved knitted bonnet is done and is on its way to Maple and Moose for pick up.

Knit with worsted weight 100% wool from Revolution Wool Company and featuring the ‘Beloved’ design by Tin Can Knits, this commission was a lovely project and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

The pattern construction is fun and intriguing, starting with casting on for an icord tie, increasing up one side of the bonnet and then decreasing down the other side to end in the other icord tie. Just a beautiful design to work up.

I hope the new owner will be comfortable and cozy. The wool ‘Harvest’ yarn is soft and warm to the touch and care will be easy considering wool’s many wonderful, natural properties.

Thanks to the customer for ordering such a fun piece to create!

Have a great day and happy stitching to everyone!

Sharlene

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Find my handknits at Maple and Moose

A note from Stitch Revival Studio

Hey, there folks!

You can find my natural fibre handknits at Maple and Moose gift store in Blyth, Ontario. I am working on the online ordering portion of my website and will let you know when things are ready over on the Shop page.

Maple and Moose is a unique shopping experience, featuring a diverse selection of top-quality Canadian merchandise from gourmet foods to unique custom crafts. Enjoy browsing in a magnificently restored circa 1870’s historic building. Maple and Moose is a vendor co-operative located at 398 Queen St, Blyth, ON. You can reach us at (519) 523-4276.

And just in case you are visiting me here for the first time, my name is Sharlene. I’m into knitting heritage and enjoy reproducing vintage and retro knitting patterns. You’ll find history-inspired pillows and blankets, smaller items such as lavender sachets and ring pillows, knitted stuffies for the little ones, as well as mittens, both regular and wristers (fingerless mitts) at Maple and Moose. Look for my shelf display beside Revolution Wool Company. Most of my handmade items are knitted from natural fibres, such as wool from Steele Wool Farm or Revolution Wool Company, but I do also work with acrylic yarn occasionally depending on the project and special requests.

I also offer a curated collection of vintage needlework finds, knitting and craft kits, as well as stitching tools and supplies. These tend to vary depending on what I find when I’m out and about.

If you’d like to order a special handknit item, feel free to speak with the staff at Maple and Moose who will be happy to help out and take your order or send me a message at sbolen@stitchrevivalstudio.ca or call 519-357-7578. Please note that I do work out of a small home studio, so the best way to reach me is either at the store or by contacting me directly as mentioned above.

Store Hours

Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Closed (unless otherwise noted)
Monday Closed
Open ’til 7:00pm on theatre nights

So excited to be in this bricks and mortar (literally) space with so many other creative makers and top-notch Canadian products! And I’m so very grateful and appreciative of this opportunity to share historically inspired knitted items and patterns, found thrift store needlework treasures looking for a new home, as well as other curated handmade crafts discovered on travels in and around Huron County.

Have a great week & stitch well my friends.

Thanks for stopping by!

Log Cabin and home

Just wanted to share an update and photo of the log cabin pillow cover on the needles this month.

With the extra snow this year and long winter nights, I’ve been thinking about warmth and home.

The first quilt I made was a traditional log cabin quilt. I gave it to my parents and it has since come back to me after my parents’ consecutive illnesses, Dad’s passing, and the inevitable move to the nursing home for mom.

This same quilt is on now my bed and when I look at it, I remember my Aunt Margaret, my quilting teacher, the hours we spent together and the times she helped me to quilt it when it was in the frame; I remember mom helping me pick out the fabrics and encouraging me to learn a new skill.

The few things, most of them handmade, that I have kept from my parents’ belongings all have separate, individual back stories, providing a link, a thread to follow back and forth, from memory, loss, joy and laughter and back again.

With my focus going to family, home and connection, an idea for these knitted, wool log cabin squares came to mind. These squares are knit on a 4.5mm needle, the size of needle my mom used to teach me to knit all those many years ago and the garter stitch was the first lesson I got. I still have her old needles; the end is snapped off one of them and they are both a little bent and wonky now.

Making things for others creates a connection and provides a way to say, you matter to me.

The wool for the pillow cover comes from two sources: Steele Wool Farm near Blyth and Revolution Wool Company, Wallenstein. The colours were created with natural plant-based dyes.

Happy Stitching, everyone! 🙂

What is Stitch Revival Studio?

Stitch Revival Studio specializes in handknits inspired by local fibres and vintage needlework.

I’m a one-woman, home-based knitting business based in Huron County, Ontario. I enjoy creating knitted baby bonnets, toys, pillows, mittens, herbal sachets and bridal ring pillows inspired by heirloom patterns, needlework history and naturally sourced fibres and colours.

I came up with the name ‘Stitch Revival’ as a way to explain my knits are inspired by heritage and heirloom pattern research, bringing back old patterns with natural yarns. As well, the process of knitting makes me happy and rejuvenates my creativity. There’s a calming, meditative quality to knitting that is beneficial to my creative process so I primarily work with simple, meditative, calming patterns for my products.

Home decor items

I enjoy making home decor items such as pillows and blankets, inspired by heirloom patterns, and if you have a preferred style or fibre let me know. I get a creative boost when knitting home items as they are give me more opportunity for playing with design, yarns and colours.

Vintage needlework treasures & finds

I collect and rehome vintage needlework treasures that I find in thrift stores and second-hand shops, believing that handmade treasures should be taken care of as they represent a connection to the maker and traditional needlework skills. If you’re looking for a needlepoint, cross-stitch or other needlework treasure, including vintage patterns and patternbooks, let me know. You’ll see some of these collected vintage treasures at Maple and Moose as well.

Knitted mittens

Looking for a pair of knitted mitts? I’m your girl for this one. I’m a maker member of Ontario Fibreshed and enjoy working with locally sourced wool as well as other fibres. If you are looking for a unique, locally inspired gift for those you care about, let me know and I’m happy to help. As I work out of my home, I can take orders by email to sbolen@stitchrevivalstudio.ca or give me a call at 519-357-7578. If you’d prefer to shop in person, I am a vendor at the co-operative artisan market and gift store, Maple and Moose in Blyth, Ontario and so have a number of my knitted items on display there and ready for purchase.

Herbal sachets & ring pillows

I make knitted and crocheted herbal sachets as well as bridal ring pillows. Currently, I’m knitting a variety of sachets in local wool and naturally dyed colours. I love working with natural, local fibres and find it gives me a great deal of joy to combine locally grown fibre with the meditative power of knitting and rejuvenating affect of herbal aromatherapy. The sachet patterns are all inspired by old knitting patterns that I have come across, each sachet uniquely different from the other. If you are searching for that special bridal ring pillow, I’m happy to consider a special order for a certain colour, size, fibre and pattern – just contact me at any time to chat.

Natural fibre producers

If you are a natural fibre producer (wool, alpaca, angora rabbit, linen), I’d be interested in connecting and working with your yarn and/or perhaps collaborating on a pattern or two. I also provide shelf space at the co-operative store devoted to displaying locally produced, natural yarn, offering a unique curated collection. Currently I offer yarn for sale from Revolution Yarn Company and from Alpaca Time. Just send me a message at sbolen@stitchrevivalstudio.ca or text 519-357-7578 to start the conversation.

If you’d like to read more about Stitch Revival Studio, please check out the About page.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day – Sharlene Young-Bolen

Huron Wristers – an update

Image of vintage knitted glove from the collection of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol. Photo used with permission of the museum. — Vintage knitted glove from the collection of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol. Photo used with permission of the museum.

I was working at finalizing & editing my pattern for the Huron Wristers, a pair of fingerless gloves. Gotta get it ready for a test stitcher or two. Wool is from Steele Wool Farm . Colourwork is based on a pair of knitted gloves in the collection of Huron County Museum.

New wristers pattern underway

So November is here and there’s snow arriving in Huron County. It’s time to return to mitten knitting.

It’s been years since I’ve made mittens; about 20 in fact. But, I’ve been thinking about a history-inspired stranded mitten pattern and I can’t get the colour-work idea out of my mind.

The fair isle portion (see next post) that I plan on doing is a reproduction of the colourwork pattern of a pair of heirloom knitted gloves in the collection of the Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol located in Goderich, Ontario.

Happy Stitching!

A dress of many patterns

Hi, everyone!

Today on the blog it’s all about a dress recreation project: a dress of many patterns.

I’ve spoken about the idea of recreating a vintage, Edwardian-styled dress from the collection of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol. The plan is to recreate the basic pattern of a tea dress using swatches of recreated needlework items. So, it’s a reproduction on two levels: design & construction.

The dress design will be based on an Edwardian Tea Dress-style wedding dress originally worn by Francis Mason Watson (1890 – 1918) a former resident of Blyth, Ontario. The shawl and dress will be made up of vintage pattern samplers (swatches) based on textile items in the Huron County Museum. Stitchers of all levels and techniques are welcome, beginner to advanced.

The needlework techniques used in the swatches will depend on the skills of the volunteers that take part. If there are tatting experts, for example, tatting reproduction swatches could be worked up and incorporated into the dress.

A visit with 1911 vintage

IA while ago, I enjoyed a visit to the museum and getting a look at the 1911 wedding dress in person. The simply lovely cream-coloured wedding dress dates from 1911. It’s even more beautiful in person – the images give just a hint of its charm. And so you can get a look too, here’s a collection of images of the dress…

The dress’s construction is simple, consisting of basic shapes (rectangles, triangles, and squares) and so would lend itself to a swatch contruction. Portions of the dress have a lovely silky sheen; I can imagine those portions would be lovely knitted or crocheted using a fibre with a sheen to it. Other portions of the dress are matte and would lend themselves to recreation using another fibre, perhaps a fine wool blend.

Let’s stitch some history

Would you be interested in joining in this creative reconstruction project? Needle workers & stitchers of all technique and skill level are welcome to join. The museum has a wealth of vintage textile items (such as knitting, quilting, crochet, embroidery) and you are sure to see a stitched item that would inspire you.

I’ve put together a number of the images of needlework textiles items from their collection. I’ve tried to include examples of crochet, knit, tatting, lace, and embroidery. There are many more textiles in the museum. Have a look at these examples…

a portion of the counterpane baby blanket

crochet bedspread - close-up of the edging

Next steps

What do you think? Want to join us and stitch a sampler? The pattern you recreate or create (if you are inspired to make your own version) would then be published as part of a collection, Stitching Our History – a Collection of Needlework Patterns from the Huron County Museum.

Contact me by email or sign-up for my newsletter if you’d like to get involved or get regular updates on this project.

Please note all photos are courtesy of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol and are used with permission. Thank you to Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol for their support.

Tag: knitting

Beloved knitted bonnet

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Find my handknits at Maple and Moose