Knitting Passion

Business associates of ours have just had a tiny addition to their family - a little girl. I’ve been looking for a knitted hat pattern - something simple, yet somthing they would enjoy. Knitted somethings even in the spring are welcome in Alaska where it can be chilly into late spring.

There are a LOT of patterns out there in the great blue ether, friends! But, I clicked on a link over there to the right - Arabian Knits and from there found a link to Antique Knitting Patterns. Being that I’m a bit of an antique myself, this intrigued me, so of course I had to go and check it out. I found a sweet little hat that I am going to make.

Then I went peeking through some of the other links - oh, my this just reminds me of when I was a small girl: sizes 3-5 years girls knit coat and hat. Says the pattern is taken from Juvenile Styles 1943. I think it is the hat! Definitely the hat.

And just look at the Shirley Temple curls on THIS model! also from Juvenile Styles 1943.

okay - I am off here to go and start that little hat. I’ll post pics as I finish - and, I know, I know -

I owe you a pic of the felted bag I’m working on. I took it to church last night to show my friend - wanted to make sure I was doing it right. Some of the kids (teens) wanted to know if it was a hat - well, sure - if you want it - lol. my friend even modeled it, haha

Thanks to the commenters from the last couple of posts. Nice to see you here.

nostalgia knitting, old fashioned knitting patterns, knitting patterns, knitting, knitted hats, baby hats, free patterns, Shirley Temple curls

Spring and Easter always bring thoughts of my Mom. Her birthday would have been April 11th. She died at a young age - younger than I am now - only 55 years old. (I’ve now outlived the age at which my father died - 46 - and my mother - 55)
We were the average (read poor) family of the 50’s. All of the blah, blah about that is for another blog. What I want to share with you is that my Mom was wonderful in how she always made sure my sister and I had something special for the holidays - Christmases she would stay up late and ruin her eyes making clothes for our dolls - Easters she would see that something small, but new and special, was in our baskets.
She crocheted, didn’t knit, but loved to work with her fingers, which were roughened and work-worn by her job at the hospital laundry. And, yet the things she made us were fine and beautifully done.
I was put in mind of one of her gifts to me while visiting this page. My sister and I wore this same hat - only in crochet. I must be meant to make some of these for the princesses in my family . . . just a week or so ago I stopped in at the knitting group and one of the ladies had made one for her daughter.
Maybe Someone is trying to tell me something - or maybe I am just missing my mom today. We all knit for different reasons - indeed, we all do things that mean something to us for different reasons. But I would hazard a guess that the nostalgic things generally are brought to our minds because of our Moms.

Mom, knitting, crochet, head scarf, hat, nostalgia, knitty.com, knitting group

Each day can be a learning experience - I almost said should be, but I can’t say what should or shouldn’t be for you - only for me, right? But it is wonderful when we have that AHA moment - when we finally get IT - whatever IT might be.

My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was four years old. I sat on the porch and used a big wooden hook that her brother (or uncle, I can’t remember) had whittled. I’d say it was probably a size K at least. She and my Mom would tear strips of cloth and tie them together and then roll them into a ball - I was set to the task of crocheting a rag rug.

It made an impression on me as I recall it quite well lo these 53 years later.

My best friend in high school taught me the basics of knitting - I at least learned to cast on - but had a tough time casting off when I was finished. Thankfully, those early pieces of mine are long gone.

When my girls were young I did more crocheting than knitting - my youngest daughter’s Christening gown won a blue ribbon at the Frankling County Fair in Ohio the summer of 1975. I still have the ribbon. Two of her children wore the gown for their own welcoming ceremony into the Body of Believers.

After my girls were grown I began to knit from time to time - not on a regular basis - just as I had time or had someone to knit something for. Many projects were stuck away in a closet, never to see the light of day. I did several pairs of socks and last year knitted some hats because a friend was undergoing a battle with the ugly C.

And, then one of my friends asked me to join a Knit-along last winter, with the end result being the sweater in one of my first posts. Now I have three projects on needles in various stages of completion. I wish I could be as fast as I used to be - but a car accident nearly two years ago causes my left arm and hand to go numb with aggravating regularity. So, it is knit awhile, rest awhile, knit awhile . . . You notice that quit is not in the equation at all.

How about you? Who taught you to knit or crochet?

Now, Lessa has two cats and a dog - at any given time one of them might be found draped across her lap, her feet, or her keyboard. That’s pretty “normal” as we animals all seek warmth, right?

But a week or so ago the Today Show on NBC made a big deal about the Crazy Cat Lady who’d had a sweater knit from her cat’s fur and was (HORRORS!) wearing it and loving it. There’s a link to the video of the story in the right column on this page. (Cat sweater - purr-fect)

I guess this just tickles me because the same people who laughed about this story may be the same who wear a lamb’s wool jacket/sweater/etc. and think nothing of it. They might come to Alaska and purchase a scarf or sweater made of qiviut.

But they would fuss with someone who takes the offcast hair of her cat and sends it to a company to be spun into wool and then makes a sweater? People are odd, I tell ya!

here, kitty, kitty, kitty . . . heh

crazy cat lady, cat fur sweater, purrfect sweater, knitting cat hair, spinning cat hair, fiber arts, nbc, today show

What does Survivor have to do with knitting? Well, besides the obvious that you can knit while watching the show, right?

My daughter, Lessa, writes the Watching Survivor blog for 451 Press. (in fact, she is the one who encouraged me to submit a resume for this blog!) One night as she was helping me with various computer/blogging/technical/451 Press-type questions, she made a comment that sent me off searching . . .

Hey, Mom, maybe I can write about Survivors knitting with palm fronds!

Lessa - that’s a great idea - let’s go looking.

Of course, my search came up with a lot of patterns in the palm design and even a yarn or two. All of them were lovely, but not quite what I was looking for. I finally found it at one of my (quickly becoming) favorite sites, knitty.com: The Knitting Plant Freak Speaks. The article is written by Julie Theaker with a great sense of humor and a LOT of information of various plant fibers that can be used to knit.

It’s fun to know that there is always something new to learn - now, I wonder if I should knit my palm fronds using my bamboo needles?

palm fronds, knitting with palm fronds, bamboo needles, Survivor, Watching Survivor, 451 Press, fun, knitting fun

I received an email from a friend over the weekend. She recently visited a neighbor . . . well, I will let her tell it:

I was at my neighbor’s today and she was showing me some improvements to her home. They will have a seperate room, yes a whole room, to show off family heirlooms so relatives can come take a look through.

Okay, now for the idea…I recommended to her to store her knits with cloves rather then mothballs (because of the toxicity and smell of the mothballs) to keep the moths out of them as the room is right next door to the pantry where pet foods and flours are stored (both famous for bringing moths or silverfish into the home). Just thought the proper care of woolens might be a helpful hint one day…..

Thanks, my friend

And, for all of you, my faithful readers, I have gone out to look for some sites that talk about just that:
City Line’s Seasonal Storage
a series of Q&A about the subject at Mothproofing Wool Fiber and Felt

I’m sure that there are a lot of other sites with great information out there. Why don’t you leave a comment and share YOUR favorite method of storage and insect repellant.

moth repellent, wool, fiber, knits, seasonal storage, cloves, mint, lavender, natural repellants

With apologies to the song writer (knees up Mother Brown . . .)

I have begun my first pair of toes up socks. Oh, my!!! Getting started was quite (QUITE!) interesting. I think I had several false starts before getting the stitches onto the needles and getting the first row done. But, finally got it done and have now gotten past the toe increases.

So far, so good. I had help from two web sources:

Knitty.com to the rescue for the “magic” cast on approach. Whew! Great pics - and, really, once you get the hang of it, it works like a charm!

The pattern is from knitty.com as well - Widdershins. I’m doing the plain sock this time. Maybe I will advance to the cabled sock next time - once I get both socks under my belt - get both cast on correctly this time - maybe then I can move on to the cabled sock. It IS pretty, though I think I would stick to a non-patterned yarn like pictured. I think the pattern in the yarn I’m using right now (Supersocke 100 from Turkey) would be competing too heavily if I tried the cable with it.

I’ll share pics tomorrow of my sis receiving her socks for her birthday. Happy, happy, joy, joy. She is looking forward to her feet staying warm in her apartment.

Also working on the scarf for the veterans page I shared last. How are you all coming on yours?

toes up socks, knitted sock patterns, free patterns, warm feet