Mmmm, Comfort Food (the story of a Berger & Wyse Cartoon)

I just ordered a print of this perfect cartoon:

Used here with the kind permission of Pascal Wyse (click here for a better view of the original cartoon on The Guardian.uk site)

The story behind this Berger & Wyse cartoon began with the Muckle Mitts by MaryJane Mucklestone that Joe Berger's wife, Charlotte, knit (she has a lovely blog too) which he cribbed for the background.

They seem to be the first stranded work Charlotte ever tried. I think they came out brilliantly. Check them out here on her Ravelry page.

The Berger family -- like me -- lives with an unwelcome moth problem. It's a knitter's nightmare, and clearly the spectre of moth damage haunts their every move. In Pascal Wyse's email response to my asking if I could borrow this for my own blog, he told me this story:

 

"If you look closely at the image on the home page of our website, you'll notice a moth flying from Joe's dinner jacket.

"When we went to LA to (not) win an Emmy we were nominated for, the moth travelled with us all the way from the UK, and flew out in the hotel when Joe unpacked his jacket in the hotel. I assume the moth is doing well in LA, but we never hear from him … "

It's hard not to imagine a whole generation of moths with English accents dining on vintage couture in LA. Suppose their dad tells them stories at night of Shetland wool?

 

Comments

[Judy]

LOL...too cool.

[Charlotte]

Hi there! Thank you so much for the mention, what a great post, and how fantastic to have found your blog too, I can see that I'll happily lose an afternoon or more reading back through your posts. Moths are hell aren't they? I recently dug out the first scarf I knitted, only to find that the middle had been eaten away. I think it was the mother nest. We've had the house fumigated and at the moment the house is a moth funeral home. Ha! But I know they'll be back - all our neighbours have them. Just one more thing, and you may already know this, but I remember reading an article about moths in British Vogue some years ago, in which Alexander McQueen was quoted as having said that the two most feared words in fashion were 'fat' and 'moths'.

Charlotte X

[Luni]

Moth story is funny, and totally believable, like the time I was in a very well appointed yarn department in the UK and a moth flew out of the ball of Rowan yarn I had in my hand. I never left a yarn shop so fast! To her credit, the shop clerk practically ran to the rear of the store as I left. I assume she was going for mothballs.

[June]

I can see the pattern jog, so even if you hadn't provided the pattern info etc, I would still know it was real knitting!

I am currently living with a prolonged outbreak of "glitter herpes" (ah, preschoolers and their crafts) but am currently in moth remission. That said, I apparently am inheriting my grandmother-in-law's mink at some point in the near future and also hope to move this year - I am certain this combination will somehow whomp me with a full-force vermin outbreak. I bought traps but haven't set them up yet.