back & front

Well.  I am astonished!

The back of my sweater is completed.

From this book:  VINTAGE KNIT

The more I progress with this sweater, the more I am besotted with this book.  In my collecting of vintage knit & crochet books, I have ALWAYS wanted to somehow make those garments pictured in black & white but ALWAYS got completely lost with the terminology of the antiquated directions.

That's why this book is becoming more & more dear to me --- Marine Malak & Geraldine Warner have revived those classic designs and made the patterns SO do-able with beginner knitters like me.

And this sentence ...
The main thing to anticipate when approaching an older pattern is often patience.
...can be applied to so many things.

 Not just patterns.

Ohhh!  Something else I have also learned from this endeavor:

Don't be afraid to take/scribble copious notes when constructing a garment.  

Make a copy of the pattern from the book - find an old spiral notebook the kids' used in science class - and start tabulating all those increases, decreases, repeats, etc.

How lovely is this?...the front panel involves a lace pattern.  And to see just a peek of it nestled among the ribbing is just perfect.

I am learning so much from all of this.

And honestly -- I'm quite shocked (but ecstatic!) that one book sent in the mail could cause such a dogged response from me...

review: VINTAGE KNIT

I was asked by LAURENCE KING PUBLISHING LTD  if I would like to review this book: VINTAGE KNIT.

Hmmm.

Let's see...

1.  Pictured above is just a sampling of the many vintage knit & crochet books that I have in my possession (psssst!  I am obsessed with owning these!  I hunt these down.  Devour them.  Search the world wide for them.)

2.  I love to read books.  'Nuf said.

3.  And then there is knitting.  Sweet, sweet knitting.

So when I was asked to review a book that "offers lovers of retro style 25 beautiful knitting patterns from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s"...

..well?  Yes!  How fast can you get it here?

And this book does not disappoint!  While there are some patterns I would never attempt because they are so not my style, there are just as many lovely, LOVELY sweaters and cardigans that I would love to see will see on my needles.

But wait a minute!

A few pages into the book and I read this:

VINTAGE KNIT is aimed at intermediate--advanced knitters.

What?  I am definitely NOT that.  There is no way I can do any of these patterns.

But then I read this key statement:

The main thing to anticipate when approaching an older pattern is often patience.

I read that sentence over.  And over.  And over.

And then sat down to attempt to knit a proper swatch.  Proper, indeed!  It actually came out!

Then held my breath and cast on for the back.

and look!  ---> an actual back of a cardigan with increases and decreases for shoulders and arms.

I have never (huge emphasis on NEVER) made a garment.  Whether is be sewn, crocheted or knitted -- I have never been able to get over that invisible - but very obvious - hurdle of completing a home-made garment.

So if this sweater gets completed -- then this book is quite possibly one of the best knitting books I have ever owned.

linen & lady slipper market bag

If you love to traipse thru a farmer's market as much as I do ~ you must never forget your market bag.  And when that bag is hand-knitted?...well, you have just sweetened the pot.

I am trying my hand at intarsia knitting & I love the whole idea of this technique ~~ ok...seriously LOVE that I can knit a pattern with just 2 simple colors & it looks like something so labor-intensive.

The pattern is this Harvest Market Bag  from this must-have book:

I think about this bag when I go to sleep at night and when I wake in the morning.  ...You can really make something so wonderfully beautiful with a simple stockinette stitch??... 

I know.  I frighten my family when I obsess about this stuff.

And obsess I do because I even love the back of it.

This is the yarn I used:

...and I can't seem to put this project down.  Wait 'til I knit the handles in a round and insert twill tape to finish it off!

Whew.

Such. Excitement.

f i n a l l y

F i n a l l y ...

...a finish.

My daughter's birthday socks started here.  But now they are done!

(Only 2 months late, but nevertheless --  a just peachy finsh.)

just peachy socks

Just peachy socks.

Yarn from here.

Pattern from here.

They are (were??) for my daughter's birthday ... which happened to be March 14.  Okay.  So a month late, but getting these stripes to match up on each sock ?! ... 

bamboo + balm = beret

Aahh.

Relief in the form of a knitted beret.

Using this delicious pattern:  a fetching ladies beret 

And this yarn:  Petal Effervesce Yarn

I knit this.

I  K N I T  this.    

Y E S.   K  N  I  T    I  T!  

With nary a complaint!  

Thanks to bamboo needles (which I must hold differently than other needles) & applying a thin layer of this soothing balm to my offending elbow.

It has helped!

And now my daughter has a much-wanted, fetching ladies beret.

the tale of 2 dolls

This is doll #1 that I started knitting eons ago.  Read -->long before Christmas.


The pattern is from this book that I found while scrounging at the thrift store.

So cute & so scrappy !  I couldn't wait to get it done and have it sitting on the shelf in the living room looking all festive & lovely during the Christmas season.

There was a just a bit of a teeny problem.

The obvious of course is that Christmas has already come & gone and look! this doll still has no arms attached and is totally faceless.  And doggone it! I am so close to being done.  But I am trying to come to grips with the very real, very cold reality I may never get to finish this doll.

Why?

Scroll back a few stories and I was being very witty about playing tennis.  Not real tennis of course, but I was injecting humor in my very catastrophic inability to knit or crochet because of 'tennis elbow'.  (And please also note ----> I am feeling extremely foolish for being so whiny about this.  I mean!  Seriously!  I know that there are people out there having to deal with waaaaay more serious stuff than this...)

So my bag of knitting sits next to me all silent.  And I wonder if I will ever be able to knit or crochet again.  The possibility stuns me.  Really?  It can't be!  And take it back out & knit a few stitches only to shove it back into the bag because my. elbow. hurts. way. too. much.

What's left?

Feel sorry for myself?  Tried that and my kids & husband were ready to throw my out on my backside.  Seriously, Mom?  It's just knitting! (Plus that gets real old, real fast.)

I started paging through this same COUNTRY DOLLS book and there are lots of cute patterns...oh, look! a pattern to sew a doll...using scraps of fabric and my sewing machine.

Well, it HAS been a bazillion years since I did anything like that...

...but here she is.  Doll #2

I must say, I had forgotten what a treasure it is to sew.  And when she came out looking like this?

...I knew that all is not lost.

tennis, anyone?

Who knew that one could get tennis elbow from something non-related to tennis!?

Well, I did.  Get it, that is.

And it has put me out of commission for many, many loooooong weeks.  And because it's a painful condition from repetitive motions of the wrist & arm ---- let's just guess what motion plays heavily into knitting...or even crocheting?

Yup. Repetitive motions of the wrist & arm.

In spite of all of that (and just let me tell you --- going w/o knitting or crocheting for weeks is one of the most painful things e.v.e.r.!) I did manage to finish these lovely socks from here.

Do I love knitting for the beautiful motion of yarn & needles -- or the vibrant, yummy & gorgeous colors that come out once the project is complete?...

...ehhhh.

It's a definite toss-up.

lacy

Oh, lacy things.

(Deep, deep, contented sigh.)

I finally finished tatting this lacy Clover Doily by Jon.

This doily is made up of 3 individual motifs but once tatted together ~ it forms a lacy mosaic that seems so intricate, but is actually oh, so simple.

My obsession with lace has now seeped into socks & knitting.

I just started this Medallion Lace Sock by Andrea Fox.

And this is what I have noticed...

...I am still completely bowled over that socks are magically appearing from my needles.  I stare down at the movement and think ~ is this really me doing this?

Because it's so therapeutic.

So rhythmic.

So soothing.

And so unbelievably beautiful.