Margery Allingham's Mysterious Knits by Kate Davies

Margery Allingham was an English author who wrote dozens of novels during the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction” and is considered to be one of its four “Queens of Crime”, alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Ngaio Marsh – female writers who dominated the crime fiction genre from the 1920’s to the 1940’s.  A big fan of Allingham, Kate Davies has created a collection of novel-inspired handknits, together with critical, contextual essays as an in-the-round celebration of her work.   

Kate Davies’ collection speaks to the detective author’s inventive spirit: a single, unbroken strand of yarn transforms itself into a three-dimensional slipper; hats and pullovers are knitted from side to side, while a triangular shawl up-ends itself to eventually become a cardigan. The techniques are all contemporary, but there’s a nod to classic twentieth-century knitting style as well: narrow garter-stitch stripes meet modern short row shaping, while slipped stitches and Art Deco chevrons are incorporated into light knits that will work in many wardrobes. Alongside this most mysterious collection, literary contributors explore themes that illuminate Margery Allingham’s creative world: from the relationship between patterns and plotting, to the fashion, film and popular culture of the 1930s and 1940s; from the wide ranging role played by knitting and knitters in detective fiction, to the distinctive Essex landscape that inspired Margery Allingham throughout her life.  Full of revelations, plot twists, and (of course) the occasional red herring, this highly original exploration of one of detective fiction’s most ingenious authors is sure to surprise and delight.

Soft cover, 136 pages
Language:  English
Ravelry download code included