The Knitting Collections comprise the knitted objects, photographs, postcards and personal papers of Montse Stanley whose collection was acquired by the University in 1999. There are over 900 objects and many albums of photographs and postcards.
The objects range from the everyday and kitsch to the historical, technical and rare aptly illustrating Montse Stanley’s approach to collecting. To her knitting was multi-faceted, international and interdisciplinary. This is also illustrated in her seminal book The handknitter’s handbook: a comprehensive guide to the principles and techniques of handknitting first published by David & Charles in 1986 and reprinted many times. In it she uses images of her collection to explain and illustrate specific techniques explaining for example beaded knitting in relation to her collection of bags and purses.
The Knitting Collections are held by Special Collections which is located within the Hartley Library at the Highfield Campus, Southampton. For further information on access to Special Collections please see www.soton.ac.uk/archives/