M A K I N G O F
T H E C O V E R
Get your knits out
The story behind the world’s first knitted magazine cover (probably)
WORDS
VICKY LANE
ASTHEBROWN,CARDBOARDBOX
is placed in the
postal tray, all eyes swivel towards it. The person
closest snatches it up, and the rest gather to
watch the unwrapping. As the packing tape is
ripped away, the contents are rapidly revealed:
it’s a neatly folded jumper.
This is no ordinary piece of knitwear,
however. Not only has it been made especially
for us, but it will – once we finish pawing at it –
be photographed on the front of the issue you're
now holding.
Welcome to the special festive issue of
The
Traveller,
featuring our first-ever knitted cover.
Choosing a Christmas jumper theme was a
no-brainer. These comforting, woolly numbers have escaped the
stigma of the granny knit in recent years to secure their own patch
in the fashion world. Now cosy, Fair-Isle styles regularly weave
their way into catwalk shows and onto the pages of magazines.
But how to actually do it? A recent copy of
Grazia
,
a weekly
UK women's magazine, had the answer. Inside we saw a story on
Christmas jumpers
have escaped the
stigma of the granny knit
in recent years to secure
their own patch
in the fashion world
Beki Rymsza, the founder of a bespoke knitwear
company. In the two years since she turned her
crafty hobby into a business enterprise, called
Where’s Me Jumper, she has created garments,
ranging from traditional snowflake designs to
football-playing panda bears.
She sounded perfect, though our job was a bit
out of the ordinary. “It
was
one of my more unusual
requests,” she says. “Apart from knitting a shop
sign once, I usually stick to jumpers and dresses,
but I can knit almost anything.”
In fact, the hardest part was working
out what would and wouldn't work in wool.
Complex designs are difficult, so there was
substantial back and forth between Rymsza and our art director
Mat Wiggins before a pattern was finalised, complete with motifs
representing some of this month's main stories (can you tell what
they are?). It then took another fortnight to complete.
"
Some people know exactly what they want, and some have an
idea that we will develop," says Rymsza. "We ensure that the design
is personal to the client and entirely hand knitted.” Depending on the
complexity – "clients can specify knitting techniques or wool type" as
well as design – projects take anything from a few days to six weeks
to complete. With prices starting from a pretty reasonable £250 for a
unique sweater, Rymsza's gearing up for a busy festive period.
As for our piece, when it arrives in the office, it’s like Christmas
has come early. Question is: who gets to wear it on the big day?
For bespoke knitwear visit wheresmejumper.co.uk
EJ132_001_Cover2.indd 001
13/11/2012 11:00
PINS AND NEEDLES
01
Our bespoke Christmas
jumper cover, decorated
with nods to our festive
features
02
Beki Rymsza in one of her
bespoke jumpers
03
Mat and Beki work
together to make a pattern
04
Knitting in action: Beki's
needles as The Traveller
logo goes in
01
03
04
02
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B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S
