Seeing Red - P.S. Knitted pleats for little girls are back again

Slip stitch knitted pleats

Having got quite nostalgic about Grandma's knitting I was a bit miffed to be reminded recently of one less well remembered knitted Christmas present given to me as a child. I think I must have deliberately made the effort to forget the hand knitted jumper initialed on the chest with the letters P.S. due to one of those little Christmas jests that meant no harm but left a little sting. 

Strangely I had remembered the matching skirt which came with it quite fondly. It was worn so long it became too short! Overtime Grandma had knitted little sets for all the Stillman girls with embroidered initials on each. So there was KS, HS, MS and finally PS all kitted out in little knitted pleats and a top to go over.

To understand the impact of opening the Christmas parcel in question you will have to know something of the Christmas Day ritual at Oakfields. The family gathering at our house was huge and included all Grandma and Pam Pams’ children and their children and in later years their children. Now little PS was about five years behind all the others, so at the time I was the baby of the family and the audience packed the room. 

Christmas 1956

It was always a late start. Grandma and Pam Pam refused to leave their home, some miles away, before the Queen's speech at three o'clock. There were so many to cater for; much of the day was taken up with “final” preparations for the giant spread. No presents were opened until after a huge buffet tea of turkey, roast beef, ham, trifles and jellies, mince pies, chocolate log, meringues, éclairs, batten-bergs, other assorted cakes and six gallons of tea had been well and truly consumed. All presents from everyone were piled high around the Christmas tree. The ceremony began when Daddy started to read out the labels on each and every gift and I was dispatched to pass it over. Every present was opened with eager anticipation while we all looked on and cheered the emerging socks and books, bath cubes and handkerchiefs. It went on long into the night.

Then came the parcel containing the said monogrammed knitting.

"Oh! Thank you Grandma" said I,

"Oh!  P.S.! - well she was a little afterthought” said another.

Laughter ensued.

I was not happy and let them all know.

Somehow it didn’t stop there - endearing references to little P.S. taunted me for sometime. No wonder I'm still shy! 

Pleated effect knitted skirt sewn
on to stretch fabric bodice

Never the less, the skirt was a hit, and similar ones were knitted for the next generation too. So it definitely qualifies as a family favourite. I didn’t have a pattern, but with a little help from good old James Norbury, I learnt that the key to the pleating effect is a slip stitch. So after a little experimentation I was able to reproduce it. Big sister (KS) assures me it is pretty close.

It’s remarkably simple to knit and it’s easy to make a skirt for a pre-school little girl in just one piece. You can elasticate the top or if you put on to a little bodice it will never droop. You can find the stitch pattern here and instructions for making a little skirt here.