Welcome to

Kathryn Goodwyn's

Embroidery Page




Kathryn Goodwyn

"too many centuries...
too little time"

www.flowersoftheneedle.com

 

contact by email at c(dot)knewell(at)comcast(dot)net

 

 

Flowers of the Needle

Stalking the
Wild Assisi

Johann Sibmacher of 1597

 

Welcome to the embroidery page of Baroness Kathryn Goodwyn, OL.

I am assuming that most visitors will be members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). As such I will be using SCA names with modern names in parenthesis - i.e., Kathryn Goodwyn (C. Kathryn Newell). For those who are not members of the SCA, I will simply say that it is a non profit social group with strong educational overtones. We explore and practice virtually any art, science, or craft originally done in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

This page is the home of several of my works.

"Stalking the Wild Assisi" is an article I wrote on my research into that topic. The article contains charts I used while embroidering my Assisi Learning Sample. It also contains color photos of the band of my samplers, and back photos showing the reverse side. I have received a lot of compliments on this article, and am happy to see how close to the top of the list it is when one Googles the topic. I would especially like to thank Mistress Christian de Holacombe, OL (Chris Laning) for providing the excellent photos of the front and back of my sampler.

I would also like to thank Mistress Mathilde Eschenbach, OL (Rosemary Stecher) for making this article available on the Web for several years, so that it was available to interested needleworkers.

The link below will open a PDF file of the article and its accompanying charts in a new browser window. Please be patient, the file is large and can take a while to load.

The 1597 Sibmacher book - Published as "Needlework Patterns from Renaissance Germany"; (a recharting of the patterns from Johan Sibmacher's Schon Neues Modelbuch of 1597. At the time of my book's publication (1999) the only reproduction of a Sibmacher pattern book was the Dover one of his 1603 modelbuch. This 1603 book is not the same as the 1597 one - the patterns are completely different. The Dover Book has been out of publication for some time - it is well worth having if you can find a copy. The title is Baroque Charted Designs for Needlework, Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1975, ISBN 0-486-23186-0.

One can find a free downloadable copy of the original 1597 book I worked from here:

http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db//0002//bsb00026001/images/

I was interested to see that some of these patterns use two symbols for stitches. This is not a common occurrence in 16th century patterns. I interpreted these symbols as indicating two different colors. I chose to chart them in red and black, but another traditional combination might be blue and red. All of the patterns in this book are charted.

I am indebted to my publisher, Mary Denise Smith, for turning out a high quality publication in 1999. I regret that she disappeared on me, and I never received any royalties. The book never sold well (to my knowledge) so I am offering it here free, to everyone. As holder of the copyright, I rescind her ability to publish this book.

The link below will open a PDF file in a new browser window. Please be patient, the file is large and can take a while to load.

Flowers of the Needle This is a revised edition of the original of 1985, which went out of print in 1992. Years of persuasion by others finally caused me to scan and digitally remaster the work. Flowers of the Needle is a compendium of seven Italian needlework pattern books of the 16th century, from 1531 to 1567. It is a treasure house of linear (i.e. "free form") and charted patterns, originally intended for a variety of uses by both professional and private needleworkers.

I tender special thanks to Mistress Mathilde Eschenbach, OL (Rosemary Stecher) and Countess Ianthe D'Averoigne, OL (Kim Brody Salazar) for their manifest contributions to this work. Ianthe has broken down the work into its original separate components. It is hoped that this will make it easier for people to download, especially if they are not on a high speed service. If there are still problems, a CD version can be supplied on a case-by-case basis for the cost of printing and shipping.

The links below will each open a volume PDF file in a new browser window. Please be patient, the individual volume files are large and can take a while to load.

Future Works

Garden of Delights for the Needle. I have decided to undertake the Herculean task of recharting all of the charted patterns from Flowers of the Needle. This will, in turn, make it friendlier to modern eyes, which will delight in the patterns and use them more easily.

The Goodwyn Miscellany. I had originally intended a small volume of Assisi (voided) work patterns. I still intend this future work to contain some of these designs, but I have also discovered a variety of interesting charted patterns over the years. I hope you enjoy my works, which are humbly offered in the pursuit of the arts.

Acknowledgements

My great thanks to Dame Christian de Holacombe, OL (Chris Laning), Mistress Mathilde Eschenbach, O.L. (Rosemary Stecher) and Countess Ianthe D'Averoigne, O.L. (Kim Brody Salazar) for their help with this Web page. I could never have done it without you!

I would also like to tender special thanks to Mistress Alia Wasa Care, OL (Lynn Symborski) for her advice and patience with my computer illiteracy. This Web Page was designed and is being maintained by her, for which I am most grateful!

I can be contacted by email at c(dot)knewell(at)comcast(dot)net.