New Needlecase

I made another sock needle travel case for my daughter, M, and it turned out even better than the one I made for myself. I used a leftover knitting gauge swatch that happened to be purple and found a pair of purple-handled scissors to put in the implement pockets. I drew out the template for the case on the heavy interfacing using rulers and a bread plate for the curve of the flap. I used this as a pattern for the decorator fabric and the lining.

There is a circle of elastic to hold the "book" closed along with velcro on the flap and at the lower righthand corner. The flap is to keep the sock needles from falling out. The case opens up to show two rows of pockets on the right, and a knitted surface on the left that used to be a gauge swatch to keep the yarn needles, safety pins for row counting, cable needles and a few pins stuck through the knitting.

You can see how much I have improved over the prototype that I made for myself:
Right now I am trying to finish up the husband socks that didn't make the finish line for Christmas. My younger daughter was wearing a really cute sweater this week so she let me take it and take the measurements off of it to reproduce at a later date, so I need to write up a pattern for that. A whole new year of knitting is about to start!

Frosty Day

This is about as cold as it ever looks in our neck of the woods. I think the lowest ever temperature I can remember here was in the low 20's, and today it is in the low 30's with frost on the ground. Life is so tough in the Golden State, well at our elevation anyway.

I am finished with all of my Christmas crafting which is so unusual to be done ahead of time that I don't quite know how to fill the rest of the time until Christmas. Today I am cooking up a pot of vegetable soup and considering making some Christmas cookies.

Retro Knit Saturday!

Here we are back in the World's Fair issue of Modern Needlecraft, Fall Winter 1964. This magazine sometimes had up to four or five fashions on a single page, and it is not a large magazine. The first photo below shows two pullovers and a cardigan. The cardigan is knit of a fuzzy yarn with the yarn held double so that the gauge is about 4 1/2 sts/inch. It is a classic man's collared cardigan with cable trim up the fronts and at the raglan seams. The bulky weight boat-neck pullover is knit in turquoise for the background color and 'oxford' (maybe a dark grey?) for the contrast color. It has dropped sleeves and is knit at 3 sts/inch. The 3/4-length sleeve pullover is knit of knitting worsted at 4 sts/inch. It has a ribbed yoke and sleeves and a cabled body.The cardigan on the left in the next picture below is a raglan-sleeved crocheted cardigan. The texture pattern is created by crocheting one row of sc and the next row of slip stitch. The sweater is made from the top down. The sweater on the right, a roll-collar pullover in knitting-worsted-weight yarn, was a style considered to be popular for college girls and campus life. The argyle plaid pullover has kimono sleeves and a boat neck and is knit in stockinette stitch.

Another page packed with fashions! The suit on the left is knit of mohair. The classic cardigan in blue at the bottom is knit with a double strand of knitting worsted from the bottom up. The simple red coat has raglan sleeves and a V neckline, and the classic shift dress has a pattern stitch made with 'double purl stitches', has a crocheted neckband, 3/4 sleeves and a belt made from yarn twisted on itself.

The outfits below were made on knitting machines. You have to love that hat is all I have to say about that. The left outfit consists of a coat, shell, skirt, jacket and hat. The coat and hat are lined/trimmed with fake fur fabric. The outfit on the right is a sheath dress with matching cape knit on the Passap Duomatic.

Here's the description for the center dress on the next page: 'Framed in center circle, this page, is wonderfully packable, lightweight shift that can be worn beltless if desired. Combining light toast and beige tones, checked shift is made of Reynolds' mohair yarn." Upper right shows another cardigan with embossed leaves marching up the front, but this one also has leaves on the collar. I couldn't think at first what the dolman sweater in bottom right reminded me of, crawling up the neck the way it does and with those short stubby sleeves, but then I realized that it looks like a lot of dog sweaters I have seen. It is supposed to be a French-inspired design.

Today I am going to start turning the heels on the husband's Christmas socks. I was looking for some decent color of Woolease to make him some more winter socks, but they only had 'girly' colors at the Michaels. The navy they had was much too bright, not a glum man color at all.

Butterflies

What a gorgeous day yesterday was! The spouse had yet another meeting down in Carmel, so I went along for the ride. I dropped him off at the office and then drove to Pacific Grove. This is the view towards the ocean through my windshield, and you can see the ocean and the fog bank behind it.I walked around a bit, investigating several antique shops, then I went into the (free!) natural history museum. While there, I went into the museum shop and bought small gifts for the girls and began a conversation with the nice lady behind the counter. She told me that this is the time of year that the monarchs come back to the area. Somehow I always thought that would be in the spring, not at Christmastime. She told me where the butterfly sanctuary was so I decided to try to find it. I promptly got lost, well, as lost as you can get in a small town, and turned in at the municipal golf course. I asked the cute guy at the golf shop where the butterfly sanctuary was, and he gave me excellent directions. I had only overdriven by about two blocks. I found the location and parked next to the adult school. Monarchs were flying around over my head and hovering over the ivy wall.

Access to the grove is a pathway between two lots.

My goodness, what a beautiful day it was. It is a little sad that butterflies are so hard to photograph unless you are a professional like these two guys with the biggest cameras I have ever seen (not only as big as their head, but as big as their head and an arm too). The following picture shows a flock of butterflies feeding on the grass.

The grove had pathways to walk on, and as you walked the lovely orange butterflies would buzz your head and swirl around you. They would land in the trees.

The lady park ranger person was holding a butterfly that she was trying to warm up by blowing on it, so she posed it for me on the ground:

What a lovely experience. Now that I know what time of year to go there, I will have to take the spouse with me next year.

After that, I drove down Lighthouse Avenue and went to Olio, my favorite store in the area. She had a very good selection of vintage sewing stuff. I may have purchased some items, including a wonderful pattern for a man's sport shirt from the late 40's in just the right size for the spouse. I see some Hawaiian shirts in his future.

Retro Knit Friday!

Here's the last few fashions shown in the Columbia Minerva booklet from the early sixties. The sweaters are worn with slacks, straight skirts, and the sheath dress, which seems to be back in style.
The first sweater is a jacket trimmed with wide ribbon. The ribbon is threaded through gaps in the knitting and trims the sleeves and neckline. The gaps are formed by tying on new balls of yarn for every separate section of knitting, then joining all the sections together. All of these sweaters are made with the yarn called 'Firenze' which knit up at about 3 sts/inch.

The suit has a short jacket and a straight skirt. The sleeves of the jacket are cast onto the body, and all the edges are finished with knitted facings. The jacket closes with applied leather tabs.

This is a nice classic little jacket with cable-trimmed front edges and 3/4 set-in sleeves. It looks great over a sheath dress. The pattern is written in four sizes, from 12 to 18. The size 18 was for a body bust measurement of around 39 inches.

Boy, this pullover has Super Texture - a ridged pattern in the bulky yarn. You would really have to be slim to escape the weight-adding properties of this sporty sweater.

My husband is reporting to me that he loves the Woolease socks that he got for Christmas last year. It hasn't been cold enough to wear them before this fall. He says they are very warm and comfortable and are wearing well so far.

December Projects

I got tired of little finicky crochet so hauled out my afghan to work on. I have already made 10 or 11 new squares. I think I am going to do a black border to mimic the look of Spanish wrought iron work, since this afghan is Latin themed.

I am also trying something I have never done with socks before: knitting both socks at the same time. I am not sure I like it yet, since it seems like you are on the same part of the sock forever and ever.

Now it is the spouse's turn to use the computer so I am going to go dig through the yarn stash to remind myself what is in there.

February Lady Sweater Finished At Last

We are having a grey rainy day, so I am surprised this picture came out as well as it did, though the sweater looks a little lopsided due to my inexpert picture taking. I tried it on, and boy it looks mondo stupid on me. However, it looks cute on its intended recipient and that is what counts. At least this teaches me that this style is not for me.
Next up, now that this albatross is no longer around my neck, will be some more cardigans and some socks for various people. But first, to get us in the mood for the holiday, we plan to indulge in some greasy cheese fries and maybe a burger or two (the husband declared a cholesterol holiday). Before that happens, though, I have to make a chocolate pie and knit on some socks.

Another Needle Holder

Here's my old needle holder, crocheted from scrap yarn and holding a few sock needles with sewing needles and pins all over the outer surface. I like it, but I just needed one that was bigger and less likely to result in injury to myself and with less snagging on everything in the knitting bag. Today I hunted in the sewing room for decorator fabric scraps and an extra leftover gauge swatch.

Here's the finished project. It opens like a book and has a velcro'd flap at the top so that needles won't fall out. There is velcro on the lower corner and an attached elastic strap to keep it closed.

Inside view: On the right are the pockets for needles, crochet hooks and scissors, and on the left is a black surface of knitting (stockinette stitch knitting swatch). I keep all my yarn needles, safety pins for row counting, my cable needle and a few pins stuck through the knitting.

Here's the opened outside view showing the attached elastic strap for holding the 'book' closed.

Now I feel like I accomplished something today. Cost to make: absolutely nothing.

Retro Knit Friday!

We are still traveling back to 1964 at the time of the World's Fair. The first outfit is a sleeveless dress with I-cord belt and roll collar. It is worn with a bulky jacket that doesn't show too well in the photo, but has sleeves set into dropped shoulders. The dress is knit of knitting worsted at 5 sts/inch. The middle outfit is a three-piece suit. The jacket is trimmed with stockinette bands, and the blouse is color blocked with contrast-trimmed tabs. On the right are two classically-styled cardigans, one with a large fair isle pattern and one with stripes.

This page shows a crocheted coat which the directions say is navy blue with a red piping (backward crochet) trim. The description says it has "twin pockets and toggle buttons for ultra smartness". The interesting part of this pattern is that the toggle buttons are crocheted around a 'button mold'. I have seen forms for making covered buttons, but never one for a toggle button. The cute cardigan with cable trim shown on the same page also seems to have covered buttons, and the bands are crochet.

The next page is devoted to the color green. The first item is a side-vented, two-piece suit. The edges of the jacket are trimmed with 'lattice design embroidery'. The green mohair coat has color bands around the collar, sleeve cuffs, and pockets in a darker green shade. In the lower right is a striped mohair shell in pretty subtle colors. Hard to see in the upper right is my favorite item on this page, a little shrug/jacket with cable borders, pattern stitch on the body of the garment, and 3/4 sleeves.

The gold dress, while rather plain in the front, has a neckline that comes to a V in the back, and an I-cord belt that matches the trim on collar and cuffs. The classic set on the right has a slim skirt paired with a striped shell.

In the circle is a V-neck jacket knit of a loopy yarn. Notice that the buttons are covered in crochet of the white loopy yarn. In the upper right is a jacket/cardigan made in a combination of mohair and ribbon yarns. It looks like the borders are crocheted in the ribbon yarn. In the lower right is a crocheted shell with "colorful ball trim". The pullover in the lower left has deep fringe trim on the lower edge. This type of sweater is called a "rib hugger" and was worn with slacks. The pullover in the upper left is knit by the intarsia method and has dropped shoulders and a boat neck.

Still plenty of patterns left to show in this booklet because you really got your 60 cent's worth in 1964.

Today I am busy knitting some socks for the spouse and sewing a handbag. I am also roasting a turkey, the biggest one I have ever cooked, so that we will be sure and have plenty for sandwiches and casseroles. I am usually the rolls and vegetable person at Thanksgiving, so I have to be reminded to make a turkey for us. This year I didn't have room in the refrigerator to store a frozen bird while it thawed, so I was glad to find a fresh economical bird at the Costco that I could bring right home and roast right away. Smells great in here.

Retro Knit Friday!

There are still a lot of fashions to see from the 1964 issue of Modern Needlecraft (site of the recent dinosaur attack). The first photo is an ad for Diamond Yarn Co. The green coat has a removable scarf collar. The grey outfit is a 'Tunic Suit', a term I have never heard before. According to the ad, the fashion colors for that season were muted. Since the whole mod revolution was just around the corner, that wouldn't last long.

The next picture also shows an ad for Diamond Yarn. There is no description of the outfits, both suits, but only a list of available leaflets the company was offering. The cost for a knitting book/pamphlet at that time was about 75 cents.

This next picture brings back memories of a very charming lady who used to knit with me when I was a knitting instructor right out of college. Harby was a real character, a maiden lady who had stayed in the large family home to care for her mother and had missed her chance at a family of her own. She was full of fun and was an excellent knitter. She made this V-neck sweater for herself. I remember one time when a little boy wandered into the yarn department, and Harby said, "What's your name?" The small boy told her to guess. "Kevin?" she says. The boy was astounded and gasped, "How did you know?" but she just laughed. The boy's mom came and took him away, and I asked Harby how she knew his name. "He just looked like a Kevin to me," she said.

Here are two suits, one crocheted of light yarn with darker trim, and one knit in a houndstooth pattern. The white suit shows the influence of the elegant Jackie Kennedy. The patterned suit has an 'easy action jacket closure', a term that mystifies me, and turn back cuffs. Both are posed in front of the globe sculpture from the World's Fair.

We are having beautiful weather here, warm and gorgeous with the fall color at its peak. I have already done most of the onerous chores I was going to do this weekend, so I hope to finish that FLS sleeve and move on to other things.

Change of Pace

I found my stash of old crochet booklets from the early years of the last century and decided to try out some filet crochet. I want to make some insertion for a Mexican top, and also a wide edging for a pillowcase. The insertion is a 'spider' lace. I really like this type of lace, and it is certainly easier to crochet a straight insertion than an edging with scallops. Every once in awhile I go through a period of white crochet work, and it is small and convenient to carry around. There is a box full of yards of laces I have crocheted over the years languishing in the sewing room, so I should go excavate it and actually use those trims.

Retro Knit Friday!

I found this booklet, undated but probably from the early sixties, in a sale bin at a yarn shop in Los Gatos. The whole booklet contains instructions for sweaters using the yarn, Firenze, which the description states is 'a colorfully flecked and textured yarn imported from Italy'. All of the sweaters have a gauge of 3 to 3 1/2 stitches per inch depending on the pattern stitch.

The cover shows a V-neck jacket trimmed with leather buttons and leather trim on the collar that matches the belt. The belt is threaded through slits in the side seams so that the back hangs free. No clue on how to sew leather to a knit, the instructions just say to face the lapels with leather. The pullover on the right has a deep opening in the front which is filled in by a separate dickey.

The raglan-sleeved pullover is trimmed with a large cable on the front and down each sleeve. These sweaters would have been a very quick knit at such a large gauge.

This pullover is of simple design except for the stange 'plastic leather' trim on the neckline and false pockets.

Some of these sweaters combine the Firenze yarn with knitting worsted, as in this pullover. The worsted yarn is knit in a texture pattern that involves knitting a stitch in the row below. These bulkly pullovers were usually worn with stirrup pants or straight skirts.

The instructions for these pullovers are very confusing because the sweaters have 'inserts' that can be knit in the heavier yarn or worsted. They don't show the back, so there is no clue as to how it looks, but I think the sweaters are all one piece with a faux vest.

Not much knitting done this week since I was trying to crochet a white filet crochet trim for some curtains for the girls' room or for an apron. I am working on the second sleeve of the FLS still and ignoring the Monkey socks.