Vintage Book Saturday!

The cafe cardigan is now half assembled. I have one sleeve in and the neckband done. I worked on this while watching the new show, Warehouse 13, which I liked. It is very X-Filesy, but the male lead is a humorous and interesting character.

The spouse had to make a business day trip to the Monterey area again, so I rode along. After dropping him off at the office, I went to Cannery Row to visit the antique mall there. Some of the vendors there do have old knitting and crochet pamphlets available, but the prices are the highest I have ever seen anywhere so I had to pass them up. I did find the book shown below, though, at a surprisingly low price. This book is a real gem, a volume on tatting and netting from 1895.

It is a large book that measures about 8" x 11". It has clear instructions on tatting and on netting, the lost art that my grandmother taught me when I was about 10 (and which I promptly forgot). Tatting can be used to make very pretty laces to trim just about anything.

My grandmother used to use the netting technique to make net shopping bags. I remember it being easy to do, so I will have to use this book to replenish my memory of how to do this old craft. Netting was used for large items like fishnets and bags, but was also done with fine threads to make the base for needlewoven lace. I can't remember what netting tool my grandmother taught me to use, because I certainly did not have the double-eyed needle shown on the page below.

Out in the garden, we are picking so many cucumbers now that I have already made the pickle relish for next year and have given away dozens of them. It looks like we should have green beans in a week or two. It is amazing how much produce you can get out of a small backyard.

The Slow Green Sock

I am discovering that following a chart is not my favorite way to knit, but this sock is so pretty that I keep working at it. The book is Knitting On The Road, and I decided to put ribbing at the top of the sock instead of the edging shown in the photo.

In garden news, here's how the center garden bed looked a week ago. The beans have since reached the top of the trellis, and we are picking dozens of cucumbers, beets, and sugar snap peas. This week we are picking the apples, hoping to save most of them from the squirrels. These apples ripen in the summer instead of in the fall, so it looks like I will be putting up applesauce this week.

Happy Birthday Shopping

My daughter, M, has a birthday coming up this week, and she requested a present from KnitPicks. It was fun ordering a bunch of knitting stuff, and the order arrived in plenty of time for the birthday. Part of the fun of ordering online is that you don't have to drive all over creation trying to find something, and this was an easy and pleasant way to buy a birthday present. Buying knitting supplies is always fun, even if it is for someone else.

Eureka Getaway

We had a short break in our usual activities since the spouse needed to leave the stresses of the office behind for a few days. We headed up to the north coast to the same small towns where we spent our honeymoon years ago. One of our first stops was in Ferndale, a town which still has a lot of its original Victorian charm. The picture above was taken as we walked around in the crisp air remarking on how the town looks even prettier than when we were there decades ago.

We went to the beach in Trinidad, a small town on the coast, and I climbed up on the rocks to take this picture of the tide coming in. In addition to the pretty beaches, mostly empty, the towns are surrounded by pretty farmland, and we were lucky to be there when the wild flowers were in bloom.

I visited a few small yarn shops and bought one skein of sock yarn as a thank-you gift for my daughter who was babysitting my young plants. Now I have to find the sock I was knitting on before we left and try to remember where I was in the pattern. I finished up the Red Heart socks about a week ago and did not get around to taking a picture of them, but I am sure my daughter will post a picture when she thinks of it.

Retro Knit Sunday!

Not much knitting is going on here, just a little on the green socks. We have been working hard on the victory garden and chasing squirrels. In the meantime, I will show some more of the fashions from the Spinnerin Volume 132 from 1955. The sheath below was made to be worn with whichever neckline was preferred in the front. The pattern stitch is done in two colors and uses slipped stitches and lifted stitches.

The description for the following dress reads, "You can watch TV while you knit this sheath in two straight panels or on a circular needle...there's no shaping to worry about." The neckband is a crocheted band of interlocking rings that is sewn to the top of the dress. The dress is knit of a textured yarn at 7 sts/inch.

The following two pictures show a dress and matching jacket. The description says that the jacket is a 'drawstring' jacket, but the model's pose prevents us from seeing the bottom except for the hanging tie. The dress is a sheath with interesting rib details and contrast bands on the sleeves and neckline. It is knit of a dress yarn with ribbon yarn used for the contrast borders. At 8 sts/inch, this would have been a lengthy project.

My goals for this next week are to finish up those green socks and to start assembling the cafe cardigan, but then I say that every week.

Vintage Knit Friday!

There are some really gorgeous outfits in this Spinnerin Volume 132 from 1955. The women look very elegant and pulled together. The popular charm bracelet makes several appearances. A charm bracelet must have been a fun accessory, and owning one meant that people did not have to puzzle over what gift to get the bracelet owner for birthdays and/or Christmas. The charms were used to reflect the wearer's personality and to commemorate different life events. In the first dress below, not only is the model wearing a charm bracelet, but also a wedding or engagement ring. Sign of the times. The description of the dress says, "The front panel of this one-piece knitted dress continues around the neck to form a dramatic neckline". The dress has kimono sleeves and an interesting texture pattern on the front panel. It is knit of a dress yarn called 'Coquette' at 7 sts/inch on size 2 needles.
The model below wears a collared stole that is knit with a triple strand of yarn in two colors on size 11 needles. The piece is finished with an edging of single crochet. She is also wearing a simple crocheted beret made with a double strand of yarn.

I love this knitted suit. It is detailed and feminine, and very 'Fifties'. It is knit of the Coquette dress yarn in moss stitch for the jacket and a rib pattern for the skirt. The double-breasted jacket has faux pockets. The decorative edging is crocheted in ribbon yarn. That almost looks like a knitting needle case she is carrying.

At first glance, I thought this dress below was crocheted, but the description reads, "Gold-glinted yarn creates a brocade effect that knits up quickly on large needles to make this demure dress". By large needles, they mean size 8. The dress has a very Audrey Hepburn look to it. It also calls for tulle to be gathered up for a petticoat and sewn inside the skirt with most of the fullness towards the back.

The outfit below is really a jacket over a V-neck dress. It is described as a 'Mile-a-minute' dress, though it calls for needle sizes 3 and 6 and is made of a lace pattern, so that doesn't sound like a quick project. The garments have crocheted borders, and the jacket has yarn-covered buttons.

I think I am a little tired of grafting toes for the time being, and the next socks I make will be toe-up socks after I finish the green lace socks.

Red Heart Sock

We went to the Peninsula on Saturday and bought some sock yarn, so I am trying to finish up the socks I am working on so that I can start some new ones. This is my first sock using the new Red Heart Heart & Sole sock yarn, and so far I really like it. This sock is knitting up much prettier than I expected. Doesn't look like I have done much more on this sock since the last time I photographed it.

Of the three or four yarn stores we visited on Saturday, we liked Cottage Yarns the best. It was stuffed full of yarn and the people there were very friendly and helpful. They had some varieties of sock yarn that I haven't seen in other shops, and all in all, well worth the drive. It's in South San Francisco at 607 W. Orange Ave. and was very easy to find. Since it isn't too far from where my younger daughter lives, I know we will be sure to go back there.

The only knitting related activity that I have accomplished today is to find various bags of yarn, especially sock yarn, that were in odd places, sort the yarn out and put it away in the proper bins.