Catching up
I'm back in Montreal, and so tired! I don't know why sitting on a train for five hours is so exhausting. At least it is also very good for knitting. In Toronto, I picked up two balls of pale blue Dale Baby Ull, and now I'm just over halfway through a wee cardigan for the newest baby in my extended family. 
The pattern is from an old Patons pattern book, Baby Styles by Beehive (no. 117). I love its simplicity, and the side-to-side short-row construction is quite genius. 
So... what else? I waited too long to buy my ticket for that Stitch n' Pitch Jays game (described here by Stephanie), so I went to Lettuce Knit that evening instead and knit with Laura, Jen (whom I didn't link in my mind to her blog until the next day, duh), and other nice people. I also had lunch two days in a row with Dr. Steph, as we were both on the U of T campus. 
Things went well at the rare book library. I didn't come away with a fully formed thesis topic, but I did have lots of fun reading postwar scandal sheets. Did you know there was a huge preoccupation with morality in the late 1940s? It makes sense, as the war was over and efforts had to be made to establish the social supremacy of the heterosexual nuclear family. Even knowing this, I was a little shocked at the apparent obsession with indecent exposure, as seen in the content of tabloids like Justice Weekly. Hardly a week went by without a major headline about a "sex pervert" -- they were everywhere, it seems! In movie theatres, in Eaton's, in the park, in their cars, exposing themselves willy nilly (so to speak). Crazy times, crazy times.
Anyway, it's nice to be home, and it's Saturday! I finished my little quilt last weekend before I went to Toronto, so it just needs to be washed and dried before it's really done. I'll do that and then show you. I'm pretty excited about it...
19 comments:
That really is an amazing little baby sweater, and the cap is just too cute!
That is a really adorable sweater. Love the color you picked, too!
For some reason, I learned a lot about 1940's morality in high school. The teachers always spoke of it with such disdain. Maybe California hates morality..
The sweater is so cute. I'm glad I kept all my old baby books. I like the finer knits on babies. I have one in which I marked the date as Dec 1967 that I made for my daughter.
Hmm, I wonder if I have that baby book - it looks much cuter in your picture than in the book!
My cousin is having a baby (well, technically his wife is having the baby) in the Spring. I was thinking of Trellis, but I might have to revisit some of my vintage patterns. Thanks for the idea.
Your Toronto trip sounds great. So what if you didn't come up with a topic? You got to hob-nob!
Okay, that "willy nilly" joke was pretty hilarious. Snort.
I love that little baby set - you're right, the simplicity is wonderful. Your research sounds like it'll be interesting. My husband's a historian too, and his work (partly) focuses on moral policing on the home front during WWI. Lots of interesting stuff, especially about how folks were obsessed with monitoring and controlling women's sexuality.
I don't get the tired thing either. Really cute sweater though. Can't wait to see the quilt!
In the States, marriage was at 98%--meaning 98% of all men & women of age were married--by the early 1950's. The war and the post-war propaganda were powerful. The gay culture of the time was pretty fascinating--in retrospect. I imagine it was quite difficult to actually live through.
Whoops, I also meant to comment on the baby sweater -- do you think Baby Ull is a good match for Beehive? I love Baby Ull so it's very promising to see you knitting vintage patterns with it.
Ooooh. That little cardi is so sweet.
Typically stylish, Ronnie F. X
Oh my god. Were you on the corner of Bloor and Spadina in a yellow t-shirt on Thursday night???
I swore I saw someone who looked like you, but I thought... couldn't be, she lives in Montreal.
Next time send an e-mail and we'll yarn crawl!!!
It was neat to meet you! I love talking about Montreal. Oh the memories!
The baby sweater is so cute! And, it sounds like it's fun to knit too. I love unusual constructions.
Love that pic of two of my favorite girls....
It was fun to meet you and try the Chinese food truck.
I'm keeping my eye out for sex perverts now--sounds like they're EVERYWHERE.
That baby sweater is constructed in such an interesting way. Short rows?
I'm glad I'm not living in the 40s. I think I might be labelled a pervert :)
You might want to compare some of the scandals with the UK ones, especially the sort of things recorded by the Mass Observation archive. Post WW1 there was a real fear of the demobbed officer (a huge rise in the population of homeless was one of the reasons for this) become degenerate and criminal. WW2 and WW1 was the war babies fear (all those young women leaving home to work unsupervised by right thinking parents in jobs that made them look 'strong sensible and fit' - shocking!). Lots of moral panics - some really odd (Rodin's statue of The Kiss was hidden in a shed in Lewes for fear it would pollute local minds, for example). anyway, interesting stuff.
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