FO: Knotty Pillow

I finished the crocheted faux bois pillow, and it turned out so well. The pattern says it's 20"-by-20", but mine is about 17" square. (I stuffed a flattish 19" pillow into it.) I bought 3 balls of Red Heart Soft Touch and 2 balls of Bernat Satin for this project, and I think there's enough left for a second pillow. You know what would be awesome (and pretty easy to do)? Adapting this pattern to make a blanket.



I wish I could photograph this pillow against the wood panelling in my parents' house! That would be crazy.

I spent some time last week putting lots of my vintage Beehive pattern booklets into my Ravelry library. (Rav link.) It was inspiring. I want to use more of those patterns. The patterns for women's sweaters can be tricky, because they were generally designed for women who are smaller than me to start with, and then wearing a girdle or a corset or something, but the sock patterns are gold. They usually have to be adjusted slightly, because today's sock yarns are generally 4-ply while the patterns are usually written for thinner 3-ply (and most of the patterns I have are for men), but that's not hard to do. (For example, I'm planning to start a pattern called "Alternating Rib" next, from Patons book no. 113; the stitch pattern is a multiple of 4 stitches, so instead of casting on 72 sts., I'll cast on 64.)

I don't know if it's cold where you are, but it's super-freezing here. Another week of this winter weather, and then we're off to Cuba for a week! Bill found us a cheap all-inclusive deal in Varadero, and two of our best friends are coming, too -- I can't wait. I'm thinking a lace shawl will be a good thing to take, so I'm packing a skein of Alpaca with a Twist Fino and the pattern for Cleite. Who knows? Maybe I won't knit at all. Maybe I'll read novels! Maybe I'll just look at trashy magazines! But I'll tell you what I won't do: slip on the ice, freeze the tip of my nose off, or stay indoors all the time.

1960s crochet

It's easy to associate crochet with bad 1970s kitsch -- orange-and-brown afghans, poodle tea cosies, Phentex slippers. At the thrift store last week, though, I came across evidence that crochet was just as mod as knitting in the 1960s. Consider exhibit A: McCall's Crochet, 1965:


The secrets to good crochet (both then and now) are colour and gauge (as in, finer gauge is better). Here's McCall's idea of a good project for "new crocheters":


It's nice, right? I like the description -- "straight skirt and boxy hip-tip jacket" -- and I like that the model's prop is a pair of binoculars. I also like these two cardigans:


"Two classic cardigans of identical style and stitch differ only in their smooth or fluffy textures." And look at these fancy coats!


I think both these models are saying "prune." There are fancy outfits for Barbie, too -- a "stylish, easy-to-make street wardrobe":



Exhibit B: Häkeln von A bis Z, publication date unknown:


This booklet is bilingual (German and French) and bicraftual (crochet and knitting). Apparently, diagonal was all the rage in photography when this was published:



Almost every photo is angled like that, with models tilting one way or the other -- and sometimes both on the same page:


I like this girl -- she looks slightly uncomfortable but really modern, and she has such a cute haircut:


Speaking of cute haircuts, I'm hoping to have one by about three o'clock this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for me! You'll see the results when I model my Twilight Scarf for you (so if I show you the scarf on a hanger, you'll know the haircut didn't go so well).

Snug

Yesterday was beautiful, and I certainly did not stay home to keep warm. After all, it'll be 20 degrees colder than that in a couple of months! No, I put on my down-filled coat and super-Sorel boots, and I -- along with a bunch of other local knitters -- went yarn shopping. Ariadne Knits opened its doors yesterday! I was excited to see the new shop, and to buy yarn for Kate's Bird in Hand Mittens and Adrian's Norwegian Snail Mittens, but I was also very excited to pick up a yarn order I'd place on Ariadne's website earlier last week.

I'd gone out for a walk on Tuesday evening, you see, and while walking and listening to the latest S&B podcast, my ears had nearly frozen and dropped off my head. My fault; I was still in winter-denial and hadn't worn a hat. Last year, it didn't even snow until Boxing Day, but this year promises to be a whole other kettle of fish, and I'm determined to keep warm throughout. Anyway, when I got home from my walk (during which I'd been listening to Nicole and Jenny talk about cozy knit hats and scarves while my ears froze, which was cruelly and unusually apt), I went straight to my Beehive booklets. "What I need," I thought to myself, "is some winter headwear."


I was looking for a balance of style and practicality. Some patterns certainly look practical, but, well, let's say they'd be challenging to pull off. Consider, for example, the ribbed helmet on the right:


I'm sure it's very toasty, and you could even eat with it on! But since I wouldn't actually want to wear it in public, I kept looking. (Or maybe it's just the models' disembodied heads that are a turn-off?)


OK, getting closer, but I don't think the Eyelet Hood would cut it in the wind. Plus, as Bill pointed out, it looks like chain mail. For the knitter on her way to a winter Renaissance faire -- perfect! Not for me, though.


Yes! This is it. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll understand if the appeal isn't immediately obvious to you, and maybe the coldness of my ears affected my judgment, but I settled on the Head Snugs, and I ordered the yarn. I'm going to be knitting a snug (plus, it's called a snug -- how cute is that?) in Warani, a suri alpaca/extra-fine merino blend: chocolate for the main colour, and turquoise for the contrasting Fair Isle. As soon as I finish Bill's Manly Mitts (I'm halfway through the first one), I'm casting on for my snug.

Because of the sudden wintry-ness outside, I've revisited my knitting queue, moving lots of cold-weather accessories to the top. After Bill's mitts and my snug, I'm going to be all about stranded mittens. Stranded mittens are the new socks. And Head Snugs are the new toques. You heard it here first.

Plain mitten perfection

Mittens are finished! It just took a few evenings of TV watching to complete the pair. They are thick and sturdy -- I wore them out today, but it wasn't cold enough and I ended up taking them off. These are mid-winter snowman-building mittens. Have a closer look at one:


That photo alone makes me want to go outside and make a snowball. I used most of a 100g ball of worsted-weight 100% wool; there's probably enough left over for a through-the-sleeves i-cord, if one were so inclined.

It's tricky at best to photograph mittens on one's own hands (Dear Santa: A tiny tripod, please!), so instead I have a perspective-challenging shot for you:


This is now my default mitten pattern. They may have had less yarn to work with in the postwar years, but they knew it was worth using a little more for a sturdy mitten that will probably outlive its knitter.

Back (60 years) to basics

On the first or second snow day this week, I cast on for a plain pair of mittens. At first I was using the Easy Striped Mittens pattern, but I wasn't happy with the worsted-weight gauge of 4.5 sts./inch -- too loose to keep out the cold. So I turned to The Complete Book of Knitting, a hardcover published in 1947 that my mom bought me last year at a church sale. Chapter 1 -- "Learn How Steps" -- explains basic techniques and includes patterns for simple scarves, hats, sweaters, socks, gloves, and mittens. The "Four Needle Mittens" pattern uses worsted-weight wool at a gauge of 6 sts./inch -- that's more like it.



This Georga 100% Wool is a Wal-Mart mystery: made in China, mercerized (?), no yardage given for the 100-gram ball, no info to be found online. But I like it -- it's a good, solid worsted weight. Sturdy. Perfect for winter accessories, and not at all scratchy.

Also on the mitten front, I have some sad news: my Double-Thick Mittens are no more. I was just using the wrong yarn. When the first version was at too tight a gauge for the pattern, I liked the resulting fabric; when I went up to bigger needles to fit the pattern, the knitted fabric was too loose. So it was just a bad match. (Scheepjes Invicta, which I was using, is on the thin side of fingering sock yarns.) I'll try again when I find the proper yarn for the pattern. And in the meantime, my hands will be toasty in my plain Four Needle Mittens.

Score!

A quick trip to the Value Village today yielded a sweet yarn score: three balls (plus about a third of another ball) of Scheepjes Invicta Extra sock yarn for a total of $3.99! This is enough yarn to make tall and/or very-cabled socks. Yay! Plus, just for its fun super-saturated colour photos, another Beehive booklet: "Children's Choice for 2 to 6 Years."



Have a good weekend! If you get a chance to see Lars and the Real Girl, you should take it -- it's getting mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it.

Giving it away

Last month I showed you the sweet little garter-stitch cardigan I knit for a new baby in the family, and lots of people have asked about the pattern. It's from a Patons booklet (no. 117) called "Baby Styles by Beehive." I just happened to do a quick pass through Value Village earlier today, and I came across a copy of this very booklet, so I paid the 50 cents and brought it home. The cover is coffee-stained and has some phone numbers jotted on it, and there are a couple of stains and pen marks on the pages inside. Would you like it anyway?


Since several people have expressed interest in the garter-stitch pattern, I'm just going to do a random draw. You just have to leave a comment telling me you'd like this booklet. I'll keep it open for a week, since I'm going to be busy and away from the blog anyway.


The image above shows the inside front cover -- click to make it bigger so you can see all the designs in the booklet: "Feather and Fan Set for 3 Months," "Crocheted Set for 3 Months," "Garter Stitch Set for 3 Months" (that's the cardigan I made), "Cape for 6 to 9 Months," "Eyelet Wardrobe for 6 Months," "Moss Stitch Set for 6 Months," "Popcorn Ridge Set for 6 Months," "Lace Dress for 9 to 12 Months," and "Panelled Suits for 9 to 12 Months." Here are a couple of closer images:



OK, so if you'd like this booklet, just leave a comment before Thursday, November 1, at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern time). Have a great weekend! I'm off to a conference tomorrow, so I'll see you next week.

Finished: Sweetness

I'm so happy with this little garter-stitch cardigan! It took exactly two balls of Dale Baby Ull (colour #5711), which is a great machine-washable wool that I'd never used before. I'd hoped to have some left over for booties or a hat, but when I bought the yarn I wasn't thinking about the yardage-eating quality of garter stitch -- by the end, I was just relieved to have enough for the sweater. The pattern is from an old Patons pattern booklet, as you may recall. It's kind of thrilling to follow a pattern that includes only a black-and-white photo -- the result seems so vivid!


According to the pattern, this sweater is meant to be tied closed: you are to thread a knitted cord through eyelets in the neckband. I decided to go with a less fussy single-button closure instead. I didn't think about this before I started, though, so I hadn't put a buttonhole into the right sweater front. What to do? Well, I was saved by blogs. Just a week or so ago, Ysolda posted a tutorial on sewn button loops. Perfect!

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...

Poll: WSBK?

I have 2,200 yards (2,000 meters) (2 kilometers!) of navy blue fingering-weight wool, which I bought with plans to knit the wrap sweater Arisaig. (Remember the sweeve I made?) Well, I've lost interest in that. No particular reason -- although I do suspect that I wouldn't get a ton of wear out of it. So I've been looking around for other sweaters designed for fingering-weight yarn, and I've decided that there aren't enough! Thanks to cosmicpluto Laura, however, there are these two fabulous patterns: the lace cardigan Serrano and the waffle-stitch pullover Thermal.


There are also some very nice patterns in a pattern booklet that I have: Lux Knitting Book, published in Toronto in 1938. In fact, there are two cardigans and four pullovers that I want to make. Two of the pullovers are Pacific and Atlantic:


But of course, there is also the problem of sizes with vintage patterns. Each pattern is given in only one size, and no schematics are provided. The Pacific pullover, for example, will turn out with the following measurements: bust, 34 inches; waist, 26 inches; sleeve seam, 18 inches; side seam, 12.5 inches. [The pattern includes a skirt, though, so the waist measurement may be only for the skirt and not the sweater.] Wait, I'll get my tape measure... OK, here are my measurements: bust, 37 inches; waist, 33 inches; and my sleeve and side seam requirements fit the pattern. Hmmm. So I'm bigger than the ideal Lux lady, and I have no discernable waist. Another pattern, Jasper (a "pullover cardigan"), specifies that the bust measurement is 36 inches after blocking; no waist measurement is given. (Maybe an inch of negative ease would be perfect?)


If I really want to knit one of these vintage patterns, I suppose the thing to do is to read all of the instructions and try to come up with a basic schematic based on numbers and increases and decreases given. Then I should be able to see whether one of them could be made to fit me without too much fussing. But of course, I want to knit now, and I don't have much spare time these days (and won't till late May), so maybe I should put off any project that is too ambitious and just work on one of Laura's ready-made patterns instead.

What do you think? WSBK? You can simply vote, or if you have other suggestions for fingering-weight sweaters (or if you think I should stick to socks until I've finished the three 25-page papers I have to write in the next month), leave a comment instead. Thanks in advance!

03/29/07: Poll closed. Thanks for voting! Final results are posted here.

On the bookshelf

Alongside such treasured hardcover titles as Fabric and Dress, Today's Etiquette, and The Nancy Drew Cookbook, you'll find on my shelf two small standing files manufactured by National Geographic for the purpose of organizing one's collection of maps. These files happen to also be the perfect size for storing one's collection of small-format knitting booklets. How handy!

No doubt my fellow Canadians Who Thrift will be very familiar with the Patons Beehive series of pattern booklets, which measure 15.5 by 24 cm (6 by 9.5 inches). Here are some of the ones I have:


None are dated, unfortunately, but they are numbered. The three in the bottom row are the oldest of the bunch, as well as the sock book in the middle of the top row -- these ones carry the numbers 105, 110, 113, and 117. The slightly psychedelic Family Headwear & Scarves and the bilingual-covered Family Sock Book/Bas pour la famille are newer. (You can see that the Family Headwear is numbered 98, but it's a revamped "second edition.") So far, I have only used one pattern from all of these books: my dad's Double Diamonds socks (which, unfortunately, turned out to be too big because the pattern called for old-school 3-ply Kroy and I used today's standard 4-ply). There are some pretty great sock patterns in these books, though -- I should try another pair.

One of my very favourite wee books is a version of the Learn How Book published by Coats & Clark. I actually have a big (older) one, too:


The person who wants to knit, crochet, embroider, and tat need look no further. It's all here. These are great, actually -- how to do all the basics, plus a handful of patterns to which you can apply your new knowledge. For example, once you know how to turn a heel, you can go to the next page and start a pair of anklets! What else would you want to do once you know how to turn a heel?

Well, I'd better label this post "procrastination," since that's what I'm doing. Papers need to be written. Laundry needs to be done. I suppose I'll need to eat and bathe. By the way, Mooky wishes to express his sincere thanks to all of you who left comments on the last post -- especially those who praised his dashing good looks. And I'm pleased to report that late last night, when I got sucked into the vortex of What Not to Wear for an hour (OK, it may have been two hours), Mooky stayed put on his new blanket at one end of the couch while I worked on my blanket at the other end.

Found object

My friend thrifted a bag of acrylic baby yarn a year or so ago, because -- why else? -- she and her roommate were having a pompom party. Anyway, tucked into the bag with the partial balls of vintage pink and yellow Sayelle was an index card, onto which had been typed a pattern for "Babies' Bootees." My friend recently passed on the card to me, and I thought I'd share it with you.



I have not used this pattern (I'm not even sure I understand parts of it), so I can't tell you what the finished bootees will look like. I also don't know if it's meant for sport- or DK-weight yarn. I do know that the needle sizes given on the back are Canadian; metric equivalents are 3.0mm, 3.25mm (US 3), and 3.75mm (US 5). I love that -- for different sizes, don't change the pattern, just change the needles! Anyway, if you use this mysterious pattern, let us know how the bootees turn out.

(I was going to photograph the index card on the living room carpet, but Mooky said, "Have you no shame? You poured catnip on this very carpet the other night, and although I rolled in it and thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn't eat it all. And you haven't vacuumed yet. It's a mess! I must insist that you move along, while I continue to lie on the offending spot, which, incidently, still has the faint aroma of my precious narcotic... Please, just leave me be.")

So 1968!

In her pattern for the Shocking pink coif (see my last post), Megan explains that she was inspired by a cap found in a costume shop, which she figured was "supposed to be a Medieval biggen or coif." That's what I'm going to tell people, even though I have a knitting booklet from 1968 that features the "Earwarmer" patterns above. (They're pretty cute, though, aren't they? Just not as romantic as a biggen or a coif.)

I picked up this booklet -- called "Teach Yourself To Knit The Easy Columbia-Minerva Way" -- a couple of weeks ago for 49 cents at V@lue Vill@ge. I'm not especially interested in designs from the late '60s, but there are a few patterns in here that I like, including this basic baby set:


Actually, I think it's the birds in that shot that I like best. And I would've paid double (98 cents!) just to post this shot for my weiner-dog-loving friend 2L:

Knitted Perennials

I thrifted last weekend and found three pattern booklets, including this one from 1945:


Imagine -- a colour cover in 1945! This is the first U.S. booklet I've come across, published in Passaic, New Jersey, by Botany Mills. Inside the front cover, under the title "Designs for Tomorrow," is the following paragraph (ellipses in original):

"Hand Knit Fashions that have longevity ... up-to-the-minute today, these undated fashions will be just as new and stylish tomorrow and through the years to come ... whatever style changes the future may hold, there is no improving on the fundamental simplicity of classic designs ... the principle is one of quiet and lasting beauty and it is expertly applied to fashions for men, women and children in this volume."

I love this assurance of (quiet) timelessness. Certainly if I'm going to knit an entire dress at 8 sts./inch, I'm going to want it to be stylish for more than a year or two. Here are some of these perennial knits -- all can be made big with a click:


These enterprising young ladies appear to be signing up for the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Their sweaters, knit in Botany Saxatones, are "3 Variations of a Basic Theme" -- from left to right: "Tri-Color Bow Blouse," "Shirtwaist Blouse," and "Ruffle Blouse."


I really like the noir styling of this shot -- the model reminds me of Jane Greer in Out of the Past. She is wearing "Bow-coup Jolie," knit at a gauge of 7 sts./inch.


The snowflake sweater on the left is my favourite of the lot. Without the bow and pompoms at the neck, I'd wear this all the time. I imagine the main colour as red, don't you? The design is called "Cardigan -- Knit-in Snow Flakes," knit in sportweight yarn. (At right is "Jerkin -- Navajo Motif.")


Look at those pleated trousers! What a smart couple these two are, in "Cable News" for him and her. I imagine they are best friends, dishing and watching handsome young men amble by. "Oh, dear -- that one looks like the cad who cornered me by the punchbowl at Winky's shindig last Friday night, boring me to tears with his tiresome account of the insurance business." "Oh yes, he was a dreadful bore. But look over there, Babs! Isn't he delicious?"

My camera batteries died before I could photograph the other two pattern booklets, so I'll show highlights from those soon. I know there are a bunch of sites that show vintage patterns in order to make fun of them, but that's not at all why I love these images. I don't want to disparage them at all. Forget the ironic, postfeminist, this-ain't-yr-grandma's-knitting thing. The knitting I do? It is my grandmother's knitting, and my aunts' and my other female ancestors' knitting. I have nothing but respect and admiration.